5. Computer Peripherals

Printers

Apart from your phone and computer, a printer is likely to be one of your most important technology purchases. You can choose between inkjet or laserjet models. The former are cheaper, but have higher running costs and are probably less cost-effective if you expect to print out large amounts of text.

Another choice is between a black-and-white and a colour machine. Not only are colour printers more expensive than black-and-white ones, but their running costs are higher as well. Colour can help with presentation but is probably only really necessary if your work will include an element of design or layout, for example if you need to provide colour proofs for sign-off.

Scanners

A scanner is not essential for copywriting, but, again, can be useful if offered at a discount as part of a package when you buy your computer. The main uses for scanners are to incorporate images into documents and websites, and, in conjunction with optical character recognition programs, to scan printed documents directly into word processors so the text can be manipulated. However, with the increasing use of digital images and soft copy (electronic versions of text that can be transferred over the internet) both of these applications are becoming less critical. If needed, a good scanner and its associated software can be picked up at any high street computer store for under £ 100.

Storage devices

Sooner or later, your computer is going to die. It is a fact of life. And if you have not been saving your work elsewhere on a regular basis, then you (and your clients) will be sorry. Luckily, though, all you need nowadays to make sure that does not happen is a USB flash drive or JumpDrive, available cheaply online or from any computer or electronics store. In fact, you may not even need to buy a flash drive. I currently back up more than a decade’s worth of work onto my iPod, which still has plenty of spare space for music, and if you are starting out then you could probably back up your work on your mobile phone. Being able to carry a full set of files around with you like this is particularly handy if you need to access them while away from base, for instance if you are doing some work at a client’s premises on their computers, but you may want to consider password-protecting access to sensitive files in case you lose the storage device.

Remember to keep your backup files in a safe place.

Other peripherals

It is unlikely you will need anything more than a computer and printer to start with. But as time goes by you could well end up picking up other add-ons, such as a digital camera (which will allow you to download photographs direct to your computer) or cards and connectors that will let you hook your laptop (if you have one) to your mobile (so you can access the internet while travelling). The list of gadgets is almost endless and going into detail about them is beyond the scope of this book.

The only point I would make is that it would probably be unwise to spend your money on anything that cannot help you produce an obvious return. If you do have to buy a new piece of equipment, shop around.