Upgrade Request Submission

[G-Man79]

Okay, I'm sort of living in the stone age here. Power MacG4 with Pagemaker 6.5, PS 6, Freehand 9, IE 5 etc etc. Needless to say, it's time for a new system and new software.

In order to get this done, I've decided to prepare an upgrade request submission. Basically outlining what I'm working vs. what is out there and why a new system/software is necessary.

I've got a solid outline together and was just wondering if anyone has ever done something like this or seen something similar? If so, please post a link so I can compare/contrast.

Thanks!

[Patrick Shannon]

This won't help you, but I'm also in the stone age (not so bad in other ways), but my requests to upgrade fall on deaf ears. He asked what an upgrade to our Adobe Suite would cost, and he scoffed when I told him. (Sad, I as an individual could afford the Suite, and my boss who owns a healthy business cannot).

So what I personally do is when we get a file we can't open (Adobe Suite CS files are pesky), I just reject them and let mein fuhrer know why. Maybe after it happens the umteenth time, he'll get the drift.

[MD]

Running Pagemaker 6.5 how many times a day does your system crash? Eliminating the downtime alone will save enough money to cover the system and software.

[PrintDriver]

You don't say what type of G4. Some of the later G4 DP models are no slouches and can make it difficult to do any type of time study analysis or reality checks on downtime. I was able to justify a leap from a single processor G4 to a dual 2gig G5 just by doing a time study on how long it takes to open a mural image (20 minutes for G4, 4 minutes for G5). That in itself was enough to convince the man with the money.

Do you have OSX? If not, it can be a tough leap that requires a bit of research, especially since most of the software you describe only works in Classic. Getting from Classic thru the OSX interface to your printers is no joy unless your printers are networked rather than directly attached. Drivers for scanners can be interesting too.

How much do you have invested in Pagemaker? Do you have lots of archived files you will need to resurrect? InDesign comes with a Pagemaker plug-in (make sure you get the Pagemaker version) to make it easier to open the PM files in InD but no guarantees you won't get reflow or formatting problems.

Pagemaker and IE are both dead on the Mac platform. InDesign or Quark for layout and Safari or Firefox for browser.

[G-Man79]

I've only had a few problems with Pagemaker stalling/crashing but they were at pinnacle points in various projects. Fortunately, one time was when my supervisor was standing over my shoulder and even he cursed at my Mac.

My G4 is a dual processor (500 MHz) and is not a bad machine overall. I just know that the software I should have as a designer will not run on OS 9. The rep at the local Mac store and a few design friends strongly recommended a complete overhaul.

I'm working on the proposal as we speak so we'll see what happens. More than likely, not a dang thang.

Can't blame a man for trying.

[PrintDriver]

A dual 500 isn't horrible. Probably has a 40 gig drive or less?
Can you get a gig of Ram into it and a second hard drive?
The new programs (OSX and application) are space hogs both ram and disk space. Plus you'll need plenty of scratch.

I'd shoot for the Adobe Creative Suite Premium if you can get around your archived PM files. You can get an upgrade version price if you own Photoshop already.

Running PM thru Classic will cause you nothing but headaches. While you could probably make your machine a dual booter, take it from someone who uses one configured that way when he says it really sux to have to switch back and forth between OS.

[benjo]

Good advice PD.

Get a second drive max out your ram 2gigs and upgrade all software. That alone will make such a diffrence you might faint. if you really wanna feel good buy a new monitor from apple. Just got the 17" Imac G5 and man I feel so good. So much faster then my old G3 (talk about out of date).

[G-Man79]

Thanks for the advice everyone. I was wondering if anyone had any actual documentation that they might have submitted to higher ups so I can compare to the draft of my upgrade proposal. Rawk on.

[D-Zine]

I did an overhaul in the office last June. Managed to get "the man" to order

Quarks v6 (6 serials)
2 Adobe CS Premium Packages (2 serials)
4 eMacs
1 XServe G5

Grand total was about $10k

RESEARCH! As long as you can justify WHY you need the upgrades, you can receive them, I am sure of it. Unfortunately I don't have my proposal here at work anymore. I may have it at home still. If I do I will send you a link to it tonight ok.

Seriously tho, I did about 2 months of major research before the overhaul because I knew I would have to prove to him WHY I needed him to spend over $10k on this hardware and software. Know your stuff, know what you are talking about and go in there with everythign typed out. I took my boss a typed list, with figures, of 2 ways we could go as far as upgrades. He asked me which I thought we needed, and even tho it was the most expensive route, he said ok...bc he knew that I made sure I researched it and knew what I was talking about.

[G-Man79]

Right on D. I have articles about how keeping up with technology benefits business in terms of effeciency, client satisfaction etc. Hopefully, the folks upstair will go for it.