whats the best solution

[rikardo]

my mate is after opening an internet cafe with 15 machines and 1 server whats the best to buy but also the cheapest cos he's a tight git help would be much appreciated thanks in advance

[sniper]

Nescafe Gold Blend

[/dev/null]

Depends on how legal he is being... For simply browsing, all he needs is a pentium II and crappy 15" CRT monitors etc but then it's installing windows on them which will cost.
You could set it up in linux which would be a lot cheaper!

[andyinlondon]

wait for the next £150 jobbies from dell or something simmilar m8.
then they will have their xp licence already.

[nickmurphy]

there's a place called GCM in barnsley which deal in second user/ex-corporate machines, prices are reasonable and machine quality is good due to them being used in banks etc-give it a try, one word of advice-i was going to set up an internet cafe 3 years ago and i couldn't compete then!

[rikardo]

also he is now setting it up in menorca so it wouldn't realy matter about licences s

[johnenty]

also he is now setting it up in menorca so it wouldn't realy matter about licences s

How do you work that out? Microsoft is worldwide no matter where you are you need to have licenced software espacially if you a business inviting people in to your the equipment.

Examples
Windows 2003 server with 5 CAL's is about £600 extra CAL packs of 5 about £80
Windows XP pro OEM is about £75
£1800+ just on software

For there reliability and the fact very few people can come close to the prices buy the pc's from dell and they usually come with windows XP home so make sure he upgrades to Pro as home wont log on to a domain.

For the server he has a few options, buy a ready built one maybe from dell or build your own proberbly cheaper to build your own but when buying the pc's and server from dell he could get a good deal and seeing as the server will only really be used for security it doesnt need to be the biggest and best thing available

It isnt worht the risk of not being legal I know a company that got done because they had 2 office licences missing even though they had over 60 legal licences

[Tim.Lad]

heres some internet cafe software ive seen in use rather good...

http://www.antamedia.co.yu/caffe/index.htm

[andyinlondon]

How do you work that out? Microsoft is worldwide no matter where you are you need to have licenced software espacially if you a business inviting people in to your the equipment.

Examples
Windows 2003 server with 5 CAL's is about £600 extra CAL packs of 5 about £80
Windows XP pro OEM is about £75
£1800+ just on software

For there reliability and the fact very few people can come close to the prices buy the pc's from dell and they usually come with windows XP home so make sure he upgrades to Pro as home wont log on to a domain.

For the server he has a few options, buy a ready built one maybe from dell or build your own proberbly cheaper to build your own but when buying the pc's and server from dell he could get a good deal and seeing as the server will only really be used for security it doesnt need to be the biggest and best thing available

It isnt worth the risk of not being legal I know a company that got done because they had 2 office licences missing even though they had over 60 legal licences

i agree with the above its not worth it not to be legal for a business.

it is right that you cannot log onto a domain with the home edition but you can still network and connection share using workgroup. so if you are not bothered by the active directory features and added security of a domain then home edition will be ok.
obviously given a choice then the pro edition is better for this situation.

but if you will be using a third party software app to run and administer the network and internet cafe bit and want to save a few quid then home edition will do it.