Snell used a score for selecting which Macintosh computer would meet a user's needs. This can be modified to help select which microcomputer would be appropriate for a clinical application.
Sections:
(1) portable vs desktop
(2) high end portable vs low end portable (in the original article, PowerBook vs iBook)
Parameters for portable vs desktop:
(1) price
(2) speed
(3) expandability
(4) mobility
where:
• Additional concerns such as security (from thievery) could be added.
Parameters for portable model selection:
(1) price
(2) size of screen
(3) speed for running operating system
(4) applications being run
|
Parameters for Portable vs Desktop |
Finding |
Points |
|
price |
critical |
8 |
|
|
important |
5 |
|
|
not important |
3 |
|
speed |
critical |
7 |
|
|
important |
5 |
|
|
not important |
2 |
|
expandability |
immediately necessary |
9 |
|
|
nice to have for future |
4 |
|
|
important only for RAM |
1 |
|
mobility |
critical |
1 |
|
|
important |
4 |
|
|
not important |
9 |
score for portable vs desktop =
= SUM(points for the 4 parameters)
|
Parameters for Portable Model |
Finding |
Points |
|
price |
critical |
3 |
|
|
important |
5 |
|
|
not important |
7 |
|
size of screen |
critical |
7 |
|
|
important |
5 |
|
|
not important |
2 |
|
speed for running operating system |
critical |
7 |
|
|
important |
5 |
|
|
not important |
3 |
|
typical applications |
intensive (computational, image manipulation) |
9 |
|
|
mix of applications |
6 |
|
|
e-mail and word processing |
2 |
score for portable type =
= SUM(points for the 4 parameters)
Interpretation:
• minimum portable vs desktop score: 7
• maximum portable vs desktop score: 33
• minimum portable type: 10
• maximum portable type: 30
|
Score for Portable vs Desktop |
Score for Portable Model |
Choice |
|
7 to 18 |
10 to 18 |
low end portable |
|
7 to 18 |
19 to 30 |
high end portable |
|
19 to 33 |
NA |
desktop |
ICD-10: ,
