Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, October 2, 1993 TAG: 9310020068
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: B10 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LARRY BLASKO ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
You may be able to out-price and out-perform Megabucks Inc. at every turn, but you won't get the chance if customers perceive you as small change. And those judgments are often made from such seemingly insignificant things as business cards, labels, letterheads and presentations.
Insignificant they may be, but as any visitor to a print shop knows, they aren't cheap. A decent PC and laser printer, plus some software and time, can level the presentation playing field without sinking your budget.
Minimum entry requirements for the PC include an 80386 or better CPU running at least 25 megahertz speed, four megabytes of memory, Windows 3.1, hard disk drive, VGA color monitor. It'll take that sort of horsepower to run some of the graphics in presentations. If you're buying all this new, figure anywhere from $1,500-$2,000.
The laser printer should have scalable type fonts, at least 300 dots per inch resolution, and be able to handle envelopes, labels, and letter-size paper. Unless you're doing many multiple-page documents, don't be too focused on pages per minute. Even four pages per minute is lots faster than you could type. Figure on spending between $600 and $1,100, depending upon speed and how much memory comes with the printer.
Software should include either WordPerfect or Microsoft Word for general use. Figure around $250. Beyond the stuff that generates letters, plan on software for things such as labels, business cards and transparencies for use on overhead projectors.
A nicely designed package in that line comes from Avery for $129.95 and is called LabelPro for Windows. It needs a machine running Microsoft Windows 3.0 or higher, a VGA or better monitor and a printer supported by Windows, which means almost all recent printers.
Avery did a good job with the package, which is geared to its line of computer forms and stock. That ends a lot of layout hassles, since when you tell the machine which Avery blank form you're using, it sets up the borders itself. Using the business card stock, for example, you can run off some 250 business cards for roughly $13.
The software will also print mailing labels with the postal bar codes that allow better (sometimes cheaper) mail delivery. And it allows you to import all common graphics images, plus mailing lists you may have in WordPerfect, Microsoft Word, dBase, Paradox or plain old ASCII files.
Whatever software, pay particular attention to the paper. Spend a little extra for paper with a heavier weight and more cotton fibers so your presentation doesn't look as though it had been photocopied.
Avery products are widely available, but if you need help, call 1-800-25-AVERY.
by CNB