Restaurant Project Essay Example Essay Example

Restaurant Project Essay Example Paper Restaurant Project Essay Introduction The world is becoming more and more inclined towards vegetarian food and need for high quality vegetarian food is growing rapidly. â€Å"Being a doctor, as well as a model, I know that eating veg is the first and most important ingredient in keeping fit. If you eat chicken or other meat, you’re consuming toxins, fat and cholesterol. Veg food is powered with all the vitamins and protein you need to be at your best. † – Aditi Govitrikar â€Å"Vegetarianism saves animals’ lives and can’t be beat for maintaining a muscular body and building endurance. Vegetarian food contains all the vitamins and protein you need to be at your best and is free of all the fat, cholesterol and toxins found in meat. † – Anil Kumble One has to understand customers preference and sense of taste to produce an alternative method frequently. So that customers can opt for one particular restaurant to check out with new options and try out . So we need to understand customer demand frequently to and discover for alternatives . The project aims at designing such a high quality restaurant to attract the customer and build high satisfaction and recurring demand for the restaurant’s food. Restaurant Project Essay Body Paragraphs PRIMARY OBJECTIVES OF THE PROJECT: The aim is to analyze the various factors in starting a restaurant and to decide upon suitable size, location, stock availability (availability of various dishes), inventory maintenance (buying vegetables and other goods at lesser cost and maintenance of necessary goods), facilities to be made available in the restaurant, level of customer satisfaction, capturing restaurant market share and making handsome profits. Once the primary objectives are met, the project proposes plans for development of the restaurant, financial objectives and other aspects to be looked into. If the first restaurant meets its objectives by the end of two years, the objective is to expand its presence, thereby increasing its market share continuously and make excellent profits. ANALYSIS OF RESTAURANT BUSINESS: Food is a basic need for all living beings. The lifestyle and preferences of human beings have changed so much that their taste and food preferences have also grown w idely. We are of the view that variety is the spice of life. Though restaurant business is highly competitive, there is absolutely enough space in market for healthy and tasty food. Further, people in today’s busy world, have very less time to cook for themselves and their family, thereby increasing the need for restaurants. As people are health conscious, we propose to start of our business with healthy and tasty foods at a fair price. The restaurant being a high class one, we cannot afford to fix the price at low cost, which may become a disadvantage in building our brand image. The predicted growth trend for goods is really encouraging to start this high class vegetarian restaurant. More and more people are becoming vegetarians to maintain their health thus increasing the demand for healthy vegetarian foods. The proportion of income spent by the consumers for food is relatively higher. And people are not hesitant to spend on healthy quality food for their family. DEVELOPME NT PLAN: The most important part of this project proposal is the development plan of the restaurant which considers the most important decisions such as location of the restaurant, layout design, resource allocation to manage constraints, etc. While choosing the location of the restaurant various factors like the density of population in that area, approximate number of visitors for shopping or other reason to that area, affordability of people for a high class mean, forecasted demand for quality restaurant in that area, availability of basic facilities such as power, water, infrastructure, government incentives, rent or cost of land, building, availability of labour, proximity to the vegetable market, store, security and several other factors are also considered. Among the several sites that seemed to be complying with our various requirements, we have chosen one of the prime sites using a customer survey model and giving weightage to the areas based on the various available resour ces and advantages. Location Factor: Check for travel distance Analyze the area deeply according to basic factors (Mall, Shopping area, People, Costs, density, age group.) Look for competitor Facility Layout Work study and Method Study about the area Location/Factors| Parking| Polution| competitor| cost| Marketing Stratgies| Anna Nagar| X| X| X| X| X| Nungambakkam| X| X| X| X| X| T. Nagar| X| X| X| X| X| Purasawakkam| X| X| X| X| X| ECR| X| X| X| X| X| Mount Road| X| X| X| X| X| Velacharry| X| X| X| X| X| We have also used other alternative methods to arrive at the location decision like the +Transportation model +Cost Evaluation method Business is all about planning, coordinating and controlling Customer feedback Quality Scheduling Maintenance Alternatives Taste (SSample Customers Preference Customers Customers Customers Inputs Outputs We have chosen the location as Nungambakkam after considering all the above models and also the critical factors, subject and objective factors so to decide upon the best location for our high class restaurant. The reason being the density of population being high in this area and also the affordability of people is high and preference for a good vegetarian restaurant is also high. LAYOUT PLAN : The location chosen for our project using the above models consists of a storeyed spacious building with adequate power and water facilities. However, enough care must be taken while designing the layout so that consumers enjoy a peaceful meal without much interference and disturbance. Layout plays a very important role in this regard. After much research we have decided as per the customers preference the layout of our restaurant. A simple model of our ground floor layout structure is given below. In our layout design, there are separate ways for customers and employees so that the moving in and out of employees does not disturb the customers, and the employees can also enjoy a freedom. The parking lot is also differentiated and t he we have planned to train our employees well to serve up to customer expectations. Our survey also indicated the customers prefer the reserved tables to be in a separate area and we have designed our layout in such a way that separation is between the reserved and unreserved tables. Further the reserved areas are well distinguished with an aim of attracting more people towards it. This in turn will help to estimate the number of customers clearly which will help us to save time, cost and better customer satisfaction. The groundfloor design is as below Employees parking and employee entrance Kitchen and store room General a/c dining hall Reception and waiting area Reserved tables Beverages and vegetarian chats Car parking Car parking Customer entrance OPERATIONS PLAN: Inventory and its maintenance is a difficult business to forecast, especially maintenance of perishable goods inventory and availability to meet a no stock situation is really difficult. Our operations plan aim at mak ing the dishes available to the customer when they demand and also providing service at very minimum time. We have to decide upon various factors as cost, space cost, storage cost, obsolescence, spoilage or deterioration costs, inventory procurement costs, etc and decide upon a optimum order quantity for vegetables and other necessary products and also decide upon what dishes at what quantity to be cooked to meet the customer demands which is highly varying and definitely difficult to predict. As the variety of dishes are cooked in large size, we have adopted the batch production method for some dishes, customer specific orders for special dishes, etc and have arrived a economic batch quantity and optimum storage level of inventory. As cooking needs multiple raw materials, the procurement and maintenance of them also becomes difficult. To avoid excess storage cost and wastage of materials we have adopted several techniques of inventory management and control and also the re-order le vel and quantity. PRODUCT AND SERVICES REQUIRED: We have decided to offer new kind of products and service to people to attract more customer and build our market share. There will be three ways a customer can purchase food. They may sit down at one of the seats in the dining room and get full service from a waitperson. A separate take-out counter will service those who wish to pick up their food. Most take-out food will be prepared to order with orders coming from either the telephone or fax. Delivery (an indirect form of take-out) will be available at certain times and to a limited area. We also have a separate chat section for people who prefer lighter and healthier food. We have also plans to increase our service level once we kick start our business and also adopt new innovative ideas for customer satisfaction. THE TARGET MARKET : Although we have proposed to start our restaurant in one prime location initially, we target to a variety of diverse and densely populated groups. Al though it will be located in a downtown urban setting, it is an area where people travel to eat out and one that is also frequented by tourists. It is also an area known for and catering to the demographic group we are targeting. We have planned to attract the customers from 3 major segments; Local population Student population Visitors We will write a custom essay sample on Restaurant Project Essay Example specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Restaurant Project Essay Example specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Restaurant Project Essay Example specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer

Destroy College Stress With These Solid Tips

Destroy College Stress With These Solid Tips Its going to happen count on it. Sometimes it builds up slowly; sometimes it comes quickly when final exams hit for the first time. However and whenever it happens, stress in college is going to happen. If you are wondering how to be stress free, wonder no more. You cant be. You can, however, learn some basic tips for destroying it when it does come. Dont Procrastinate One of the key factors in college stress is too much work piling up all at one time. At the beginning of each semester, you get a course syllabus for a good reason. Your professors want you to know what is due when. Inevitably, they all have papers due at the same time, as well as mid-terms and finals. This can be a killer for you if you put stuff off. All of a sudden, you have 3 papers due in a week and havent started. If you are wondering how to destroy stress that comes from these situations, there really are only two ways: Get yourself organized at the beginning of the semester and calendar your assignments so that you do them over time. Pick your easiest paper first it will encourage you to go on to the next. Find an excellent academic writing service and order some of those papers. Pick those that are for courses not in your major field of study that really wont matter later on. Get Enough Sleep Of course, this is easier said than done. Lack of sleep comes with the territory of being in college, especially if you have a really active social life. Find times for naps, however, and you will be grateful later on. If you know that you are going to be pulling an all-nighter to study for an exam, then get a nap early in the afternoon. And if it is finals week, find times when you can grab and hour of sleep or so during the daytimes. Your body and mind will both thank you. Eat Better During Times of Stress Its so easy to stock up on chips and candy bars so you can snack while you bang out those papers. And that is fine, as long as you are eating correctly during meal times. But usually you are not. So, consider some different kinds of snacks dry roasted nuts (they are absolutely addictive), granola bars, and beef jerky. These will give you long-term energy and wont pile on any fat. Find Some Humor Whether it is pranking your roommate or watching hysterical YouTube videos, getting in a good laugh or two is one of the keys in how to free stress from yourself, at least temporarily. People who have a good sense of humor and who share that humor with others tend to be far less stressed than those for whom everything is just always serious Get Physical Exercise If you are seriously asking, How can I be stress free? remember that the answer is you cannot. But you can deal with it in healthy ways so that it has little to no impact on you. One of these is to get physically active in any way you can. Bicycle, jog, pay basketball or volleyball; go to the campus gym and get a serious workout in. Even if you do 30-minutes of brisk walking with your iPod in, you will be amazed how much brighter your world will look to you. And you will sleep better too. Get in Some ME Time Being around friends, partying, and studying hard is all a part of college life. But it is also good to have some alone time, to just reflect and think about all of the positive things in your life right now. Go to a coffee shop all by yourself, turn off your phone, and just sit with a beverage. Or to a zoo if there is one in your town, and just watch the animals. And if you have time in your room or apartment when your roommates are gone, all the better. Read a book, keep a journal, or try some meditation techniques. Ask for Help if You are Overwhelmed Every campus has a health center. There are counselors there you can talk to, openly and freely. They can give you even more tips than you have here, as well as a good listening ear. Sometimes, just verbally getting out what is really causing you stress in a stress-reducer in itself. Stress is not just a factor of college life. It is a factor of life long after college is behind you. The things you do now to relieve it are good habits to form they will help you for a lifetime.

Airline Financial Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Airline Financial Management - Essay Example Hence, in order to ensure the integrity of the company's systems and financial operations and minimize the possibility of loss through mismanagement or fraud, the treasury department of the corporation can come to help. Through the formulation and implementation of a through risk management process, the likely and not very likely, both kind of unpleasing events can be avoided, and/or their damage minimized. The primary objective of the treasury department would be to minimize and provide for the various types of risks confronted to the company. This main objective can be broken down in smaller aims and objectives, all forming elements of the broader risk management process. Risk management as an organizational process can be separated into five general activities: identify risks and determine tolerances; measure risks; monitor and report risks; control risks; and oversee, audit, tune, and realign the risk management process. Risk identification is the process by which a company recognizes and, in some cases, detects the different financial risks to which it is exposed through the normal course of conducting its business. Risks can be left unidentified for reasons ranging from poor internal controls that allow the unnoticed booking of risky financial transactions to basic oversight of fundamental exposures. The process by which members of a company review, analyze, and discuss their risk profiles is an indispensable means by which risks can be identified, and, hence, managed. Our airline company transports passengers from the United States to Europe and back. The obvious risks faced by the company include the risk of plane crashes, maintenance-related delays, equipment damage from fire, and a loss of customers. Less obvious but perhaps equally significant are also the financial risks to which our company may be subject, such as the risk of rising jet fuel prices or the risk of fluctuations in the euro/dollar exchange rate. Without a systematic process to analyze these different risk exposures, our company's shareholders may never realize fully the different avenues through which the value of their capital can be adversely affected. Given the risks the company has identified, senior managers and directors must agree on tolerable levels of those risks required for the operation of the firm's primary business. This determination should be made explicitly by the firm's key stakeholders, including senior managers, the board of directors, and sometimes major creditors. Measure Risks Risk measurement involves the quantification of certain risk exposures for the purpose of comparison to company-defined risk tolerances. The process by which different risks are quantified is a critical component in an organization's broad risk management program. Without a good measure of risk, a determination can be hard to reach about whether the company is taking too much of some types of risks-or, conversely, not enough of another. Monitor and Report Risk A third component of the risk management process is risk monitoring and reporting. The risks to which a firm is subject can change for two reasons. The first is a change in the composition of a company's assets or liabilities. To monitor changes in

Corporate governance Literature review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Corporate governance - Literature review Example A comparison of different perspectives will also be discussed in this paper. Corporate Governance, in broader terms, can be defined as regulations, legislation and the procedures, which govern, standardize and control the whole business operations. Corporate Governance encompasses internal elements, such as managers, executives, shareholders, or organizational structure, and the external elements, such as customers, suppliers and government laws. The purpose of defining the corporate governance is to generate the well-organized and prescribed structure of the organization in a way that operates in the best manner for all organizational members. It guarantees that the corporation has implemented the prescribed rules, moral duties, and best practices. That is why, organizations have developed their operations effectively at local level, state level, and also global level. Within contemporary years, the concept of corporate governance has been attending much focus, as there has emerged eminent outrages, such as misuse of corporate authority and purported illega l actions taken by corporate managers. The establishment of â€Å"civil and criminal suits†, against the people who misuse the name of the corporation to fulfill their illegal interests, is a vital part of corporate governance (Rouse, 2008). Corporate Governance is basically the established structures, codes, and procedures, which controls the corporations. It establishes guiding principles which help in providing direction and managing the organization in order to achieve organizational objectives in the most effective way. Such established systems enhance the organizational value and are fruitful for all members in the long run. Organizational members include all stakeholders which are affected by such system, such as directors, stockholders, suppliers, managers, employees, and general people. The organizational management undertakes themselves

Police Officers Discretion Essay Example for Free

Police Officers Discretion Essay Discretion is defined to be an individual’s capabilities and freedom to make responsible preferences and judgments. People working in all fields require making decisions in every day life; however, some need to be more proficient at it. Police officers usually fine themselves in chaotic and critical situations, where their decision can change the entire scenario. The most appropriate decision within the legal boundaries must be made, varying from situation to situation. Discretion is broadly characterized as five different subjects – discretion by judgment (sense of bending rules in legally appropriate ways to fit the situation), discretion as choice (to show courage and give personal contribution to form decisions as the authority in that situation), discretion by discernment (to be diplomatic, tolerant, considerate and cautious and not very generous while making decisions), discretion as liberty (to not be restricted by the law and stretch boundaries of freedom as long as it is acceptable) and lastly discretion as license (basically the permission to act there and then in whichever way thought to be appropriate without the permission of the superiors). There are some police officers who abuse their right of discretion; they believe that they are unaccountable and since they are the authority at the point of chaos, they can do as they will. Having the right of discretion does not mean that an officer can make whatever decisions that they will; they are restricted by professional, society, legal and ethical norms (Sullivan, 1972). The officers these days have just the right capacity of discretion. The only major areas that they use discretion in are domestic violence, drunk driving, mental illness, hate crime, use of force and even vice crime. These are the areas where the personal opinion and judgment of the police officers matters while arresting or giving punishments. In the rest of the important and critical areas such as rape, murder, dacoits and robberies; they have to abide by the law whether they personally approve of it or not. Only easy and fields of everyday crime are left up to the intellect of these officers. Since, there are only some areas where officers are given the right to exercise discretion, it is easy to conclude that the officers are neither given too much or too less of power. Giving them the right to decide is rational because they have been selected as officers and have been given good enough training, which gives them the sense of making correct decisions. These officers make up the entire police force, thus, their opinion should also matter – however, to only some extent. The problems that these police officers face while enforcing laws and giving verdicts is that there are hardly any fields involved in the police forces that are uncontroversial; usually, everybody has a different stance on things. Also, there is a problem is public confidence – the public is too unpredictable to please (Walker, 1993). They desire accountability but nothing seems to satisfy them; also, they wish for strict enforcement in only those areas that they are not related to, that is, they want leverage for themselves but not others. This controversial and unpredictable attitude makes it difficult for the police offers to come up with the right solution that will make everybody happy. I have witnessed one such event myself where differing opinions lead to confusion. A mentally disabled boy of around seventeen became a source of disturbance to other boys playing cricket. One of them was violent and hit the mentally disabled boy out of frustration, who hit the boy back causing him to bleed. Surprisingly, a police car was passing from there at that instant and stopped to check the situation. Everybody demanded that the mentally disabled boy should be punished for his act as he often becomes a cause of nuisance in the neighborhood. The police officer was by nature sympathetic and was of the opinion that the mentally ill boy should be let go of as he is underprivileged and does not possess the ability of making sensible decisions. Here, in this chaotic situation, even when the public was against the officer’s decision, he used his power of discretion and made an appropriate decision according to his judgment instantly. This shows that the right of discretion is extremely important for an officer to deal with everyday situations. Although, if you look closely, it was not a situation where major or critical decisions need to be made; thus, the police officer without any doubts and fear abided by his opinion – this shows limitation of power of discretion to only some areas.

Investigating the rate of diffusion of ammonia :: GCSE Chemistry Coursework Investigation

Investigating the rate of diffusion of ammonia Investigating the rate of diffusion of hydrochloric acid in agar Planning You can change different things you do to an experiment like the amount of acid, temperature, size of the agar or concentration of the acid. We can measure/observe on how long it takes to diffuse or the amount diffused each minute. My partner and I are going to predict and measure the rough time it will take to diffuse at different temperatures. The factors that may affect the readings of our results are if the temperature of the room may reduce the temperature of our water baths or if the windows open. There may be a human error were the person which is timing may not get it exactly correct or you may not be able to measure the amount of acid correctly. We are going to do the experiment three times and work out the mean time by adding the times together then dividing by however many readings you’ve added. You have to do them three times just in case the temperature varied. But you should get them roughly around a time. To make it a fair test you must only change one factor. The factors that we are keeping the same are the amount of acid you test it in, the size of the agar cube and the container you do the experiment in. You have to keep the container the same because with a wider container will make it seem like there is only a small amount of acid were as a boiling tube would make it seem like there is quite a lot. The factor that we are changing is the temperature of the water bath, which we will keep it in for however long it takes to diffuse. I predict that the higher the temperature of Hydrochloric acid , the faster it will diffuse. Found my information at www.britannica.com What are the factors that affect chemical reaction rate? Answer: foundation energy, temperature, method, concentrations, particle size, and surface area Reactive impact: Chemical reaction takes place only when two reactants collide under the right conditions. The higher the temperature the more reactants with kinetic energy above the activation energy Effect of temperature—increasing temperature to overcome the activation energy barrier and to increase entropy (a measure of the confusion of the molecules in a substance) Effect of concentration—increasing colliding frequency When you heat a solution up the partials speed up and in this case move the partials in the agar so much it forms a chemical reaction. The apparatuses we are going to use are: 1 cm ² agar, boiling tubes, water baths at different temperatures, ice, boiling tube rack,

ICT System Specifications

For my database to run efficiently, the luxury car dealership needs a computer with certain specifications in order to run the certain software. I have researched the necessary system requirements for the software I use to create and run databases. These programmes include the operating system (the OS) and the program I use to create the actual databases. Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate * 1Ghz 32-bit or 64-bit processor * 1GB of system memory * Direct X 10 * 128Mb Graphics Card * 40GB HDD with 15GB of free space * DVD-ROM Drive * Audio Output Capability * Internet Access Capability * Keyboard and Microsoft mouse or compatible pointing device Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2007 * 500-MHz or faster processor * 256Mb of RAM or greater * 2GB of Hard Drive Space * DVD Disc Drive * Windows Vista, Windows XP Home, Professional or Media Centre Edition with Service Pack 2 * Super VGA (800Ãâ€"600) Monitor or greater * Broadband Connection * Programmes included are the 2007 versions of: Microsoft Access, Communicator, Excel, InfoPath, Outlook, PowerPoint, Publisher and Word. Microsoft Office includes all of the necessary programs for the car dealership's database including Microsoft Access to create it and Microsoft Word for the mail merge. It is quite expensive but it is compatible with all documents and is a quality product, used by many businesses every day. I myself use these Microsoft Office programs so it is easier for me to create the database. As well as Microsoft Office, there is also another type of software currently found on the internet and as a free download. The program is called â€Å"Star Office†. This is available for free from a website: www.sun.com, where you can download the program for free. The program can be linked with Microsoft Office, as there is a word processor (Microsoft Word), spreadsheets (Microsoft Excel), presentations (Microsoft PowerPoint), E-Mail Client (Microsoft Outlook) and Databases (Microsoft Access). The system specifications of â€Å"Star Office† are: * 320Mb of Hard Drive Space * 128Mb of RAM * Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition/Professional/Media Center Edition 2005 with Service Pack 2 * For Download from the Internet – Broadband Connection * For Installation by Disc – DVD Disc Drive The advantages of using Star Office are that it is free from their website, it includes most of the functions from Microsoft Office and it does not take up a lot of space on the Hard Drive or RAM. The fact that the software is free is that is it not as good as Microsoft Office because it cannot open all the documents, which could be difficult for the dealership if they create a document on Microsoft Office (say from their home) and when they try to upload it onto the computer at work, it might not be able to open. I decided to choose the Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2007 for the company because it is a quality product and it is compatible with all documents. It is also the top of the range version with all of the necessary programs for the dealership, unlike Star Office. It is also much easier to use for both new and existing users of the dealership. However, it is quite expensive but the overall cost is less than using Star Office. The computer's operating system is also made by Microsoft, which is a genuine company and are also the company who make Microsoft Office, so they are compatible. The company users may also have used Microsoft Office before so it would be familiar to them. The company have also asked me to purchase new computers that will benefit them. I have looked at several computer websites and tried to find a computer with at least the exact specifications shown above for Microsoft Windows Vista and Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2007. As I have been with the knowledge of computers for a long time, I know which computer manufacturers to trust. I looked at several online stores including PC World, Currys Digital and Sony Centre Online and I have found two PC's that meets my needs and the company itself. I chose Sony as the computer manufacturer as they are very reliable, they build quality computers and they have a superb repair service if the computer crashes. I have found this laptop on Sony's website that suited the company and me: Sony Vaio AR Series with Blu-Ray Disc Drive Specifications * Intel(r) Core(tm) Duo Processor T2500, Supports Enhanced Intel SpeedStep(r) Technology * Microsoft(r) Windows(r) Vista Ultimate * 1920 x 1200 Display * 1024Mb of RAM * Blu-Ray Super Multi Double Layer DVDà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½RW/BD-RE drive * NVIDIA(r) GeForce(tm) Go 7600 GT with 256MB dedicated Video Memory * 802.11a/b/g Wireless Receiver * HDD (Hard Drive Disc) 160Gb This laptop costs à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½2000 from Sony's website or from Sony's store. This might seem quite expensive yet it has all the necessary specifications and more. The RAM (Random Access Memory) is very large – 1024Mb. This means that they can load up a lot of programs at once without any lag time. This will benefit the company as they will be able to open many programs at once e.g. opening the database and Microsoft Word at the same time and they would not have to close a program down to open another. It also has Windows Vista Ultimate. This will benefit the company because most of the users would have used a Microsoft operating system before so all of their documents are compatible and they know how to use Microsoft Windows without any training. It also has a DVD Disc Drive, which means they are able to write and re-write DVD's. There is also a Blu-Ray Disc Drive. The Blu-Ray discs can hold up to 60 GB of data and it is re-writeable. This means that the company can save documents and files on several large discs and is able to re-write any disc placed in it (as long as the disc is re-writeable). This means that they can back-up all of their documents and files onto the disc so that if their laptop crashes, the documents will not be deleted. The laptop is ideal for the company because it is portable, so the manager can load the specifications of the car and show the customers the specifications next to the car, rather than looking at the car then looking at the specifications. The hard drive is also very large – 160 GB – which can easily store all the necessary programs and more programs if the company wish to install more programs. The laptop also has a wireless card built-in which means that if the company has a wireless router, they can access the internet wirelessly. This means that they can carry the laptop anywhere and have a wireless connection. They can show the customers the car manufacturer's website when they are looking at that particular car so that they can see what the specifications are and what the price would be when bought new from the cars dealership. Finally, the laptop has a large screen, which means that there will be no difficulty looking at the screen and not being able to see what is on there. The screen is also backlit so if the room is dark, you can see the screen more clearly and easily. The backlit screen is brighter when plugged into the mains but darker when portable in order to save battery life. The other computer I was looking at was another Sony desktop computer: Sony Vaio VGC Series (Black) * Intel(r) Pentium(r) D Processor 820 (2.80 GHz and 800 MHz FSB) * Genuine Microsoft(r) Windows(r) Vista Ultimate * 250 GB SATA hard disk drive * 1 GB (2 x 512 MB) DDR2-533 SDRAM, maximum 1 GB * 20†³ WXGA (1366 x 768) widescreen X-black LCD screen with double lamp technology * ATI Mobility(tm) Radeon(r) X700 graphics card with 256 MB HyperMemory(tm) * Wireless LAN 802.11b/g * Wireless QWERTY keyboard with pointing device (touch pad type), wireless optical mouse and remote control Between the Sony laptop and the desktop, I have chosen the desktop as the company's new computer. The reasons why I chose the desktop are that the desktop is very slim, similar to the laptop. Also, the desktop's power is from the mains, not from a battery pack which the laptop has and needs recharging every two hours or so. The desktop has a wider screen than the laptop, making it easier to see. The screen is also backlit, similar to the laptop but it is always bright. However, with the laptop, when portable, the screen is dark and not backlit. The desktop has all the necessary requirements and features the company need. The desktop specifications are much better than those of the laptop. Firstly, it has a 250GB hard drive disc, the laptop has 160GB. The desktop also has a 1024Mb which is equal to the laptop. The desktop is bundled with a wireless card so at the company can connect to the internet wirelessly without any Ethernet cables. The laptop has a wireless card yet it uses a lot of the laptops battery life and significantly reduces it to one hour's battery life when connected wirelessly. Finally, the desktop is bundled with a wireless keyboard (useful for typing on desks or when standing), a remote control (to control presentations such as slide shows and picture galleries) and a wireless optical mouse (useful when working on a desk). The most important reason why I chose this desktop was that it was à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½500 cheaper than the laptop – the desktop costs à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½1500. I thought that the selling price was quite good considering that when you buy the desktop; you have higher specifications than the laptop which costs an extra à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½500, which has poorer specifications. I chose the computer manufacturer Sony because they make high quality computers with excellent specifications, reliability and at a reasonable price. An alternative to using Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate is using Apple's OS X Tiger 10.4. This is very similar to Windows yet it uses different programs, so the same applications are not cross compatible, so the company's employees would not be able to view documents made on a Macintosh on a Windows PC. I did not choose Mac OS X because the employees and I have no training in using this software. Also, the Mac is more graphically advanced than Windows, yet this is unnecessary because the computer is only needed for running a database and does not have to have a lot of graphical power. Finally, Mac OS X is much more expensive as it includes all the software made by Apple. Most of the software is unnecessary for the dealership so purchasing a Windows Vista PC is more beneficial as the user can choose what programs you wish to purchase. Printers There are two types of printers available to purchase; inkjet and laser. I decided to choose one suitable inkjet printer and one laser printer for the dealership and then work out which would be the best to purchase. I decided to choose â€Å"Lexmark† as the printers manufacturer because they are very reliable, efficient, cheap and a well known brand. I myself have a Lexmark printer and I recommend their printers to all of my customers. Lexmark Z845 * Inkjet Printer * USB Connection * 100 paper tray * 24 pages per minute in black * 18 pages per minute in colour * Windows and Mac compatible * à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½50 This printer is very cheap – à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½50. This is beneficial for the user and the dealership because it would save them quite a lot of money on a laser printer, like the one below. It also prints both colour and black ink so the user can print out documents such as reports as well as print out photos of the cars if he wishes to. The printer can also hold a lot of paper before it has to be refilled which is good because the user could ask the computer to print 100 pages and would be able to leave the printer printing for a long time. However, this printer is inkjet so it takes a lot longer to print both colour and black ink pages than a laser printer which could be annoying and time consuming for the user as he may have to print out the documents as quickly as possible for a customer waiting. The ink also runs out very quickly, which means that the user would have to purchase more and more cartridges. These are also very expensive, which is not beneficial for the company. Lexmark E120N * Laser Printer * USB Connection * 165 paper tray * 20 pages per minute in black * Windows only compatible * à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½80 The alternative to the inkjet printer is this laser one. It holds 165 pages until it has to be refilled – 65 more than the inkjet printer. This means that the user is able to leave the printer for a long time to print out documents until he has to refill the paper. It also prints 20 pages per minute in black which is quite a lot. This means that the user can print off reports very quickly, saving the user time and effort. The toner is also very long lasting and is quick and cheap to change – unlike the inkjets cartridges. This will save the user time and money when the toner has run out. However, this printer only prints in black so the user would not be able to print any colour documents or photos from the printer. It is also more expensive – à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½30 more than the inkjet printer which is not beneficial for the company. I decided to purchase the Lexmark E120N for the company. Firstly, it is laser so it is able to print a lot of black pages very quickly and efficiently, saving the user time and money replacing the cartridges of the printer as the toner is much cheaper. Also, the printer holds more paper than the other one so the user does not have to keep refilling the paper tray as often as using the laser printer. Unfortunately, the printer only prints black pages. However, the company would not need to print out anything in colour as it only needs to print out reports, so buying an inkjet printer would be inadequate. Also, the printer is more expensive but by saving money from buying toner rather than inkjet cartridges, the money is effectively paid back from the saved money. Internet I also decided that the company should purchase a broadband connection for many reasons. Firstly, if the company were to expand in the future, they would be able to communicate with the other dealerships across the region, saving time and money spent on making phone calls to the other dealerships for information. Looking at the software requirements of Windows Vista Ultimate, the company needs to have an internet connection so that they can register their computer and OS with Sony and Microsoft to prevent any illegal copies of it being made. The internet connection also benefits the company as they would be able to update vital downloads on their computers. The internet may also benefit the company because they would be able to compare their prices with other companies who rent luxury cars, so that they know if they are over or under charging for their rentals, benefiting the company and the customers themselves. Also, the company is able to download new information from the car manufacturer's website including new cars and new details. They could also purchase new or used cars from the manufacturers directly through the internet. I recommend to the company that they purchase a fast internet connection of 8Mbps. This would benefit the company and the user because they would be able to download updates from Microsoft very quickly and efficiently, they would be able to access website quickly saving a lot of time for the user, they would be able to surf the web and download items at the same time and it would be future proof for the company so that they would not have to upgrade their internet speed for a long time. However, if the company purchase an internet connection, they would have to purchase some software to protect it against viruses and spy ware. A program they should purchase is Norton Anti-Virus 2007. This can be purchased via the internet or as a software package. This would provide protection for the company's computer against viruses such as â€Å"Trojan Horse† and spy ware which allows other computers to access information and document from your PC, effectively ruining your privacy. If the computer was attacked by one of the 114,000 viruses on the internet, the computer's data could become corrupted and any valuable data could be lost. By purchasing this software, this will prevent any damage happening to the company's computer.