by Mary Kathleen Flynn

Write this down and memorize it: No single computer answers every need. A few years ago, experts generally recommended buying a machine with the newest and fastest processor, period. This year is different. A computer that uses the latest muscle chips -- Intel's superfast Pentium or Motorola's PowerPC -- is no longer universally prescribed. 

        "Nobody needs a Pentium PC, just like nobody needs a Lexus or a Ferrari," declares Carl Stork, director of hardware program groups at Microsoft. Compaq, which should sell more PCs than any other maker this year, doesn't even offer a Pentium PC in its Presario consumer line. Most machines sold by Compaq and others are still built around Intel's 486 processors, which offer acceptable performance for all but the most specialized applications, such as video editing and sophisticated desktop publishing. That is also true of the Macintosh consumer line, called the Performa. The faster Performa models use Motorola's 68LC040 chip, which should meet the needs of most home users for now. 

        Hobbled speed demon. The most powerful Pentium systems run nearly twice as fast as the quickest 486 machines, according to PC Magazine's tests of raw speed. But using off-the-shelf software, the advantage shrinks to 10 to 15 percent. Dramatic performance gains require software specially written for the chip, yet very few Pentium programs are available, and none for home use. A wave of Pentium-optimized programs won't crest before the end of next year. Only then will Pentium PCs supplant 486 PCs. Macintosh systems using the PowerPC chip are two to four times faster than those using earlier chips, according to Apple, and don't face a software bottleneck; more than 350 programs that exploit the chip's abilities are on the market. 

        Low-end Pentium systems are available for as little as $2,000 -- some $500 more than a typical 66MHz 486DX2 system near the top end of the 486 breed. That may tempt shoppers. But bargain-priced Pentium systems tend to cut corners, skimping on hard-drive capacity and memory, for example. If you're on a budget, a slower processor -- a 486DX instead of a Pentium or, if things are really tight, a slower 486SX instead of a 486DX -- is preferable to compromising on hard-disk space or memory. 

        Those who want a Pentium would be wise to wait until spring. Prices will be lower, and Microsoft is due to release Windows 95, a major revision of Windows that should be easier to use and less prone to crashing. The new Windows also will include Microsoft Network, an online service announced at last week's Comdex trade show. Network will let users create links and shortcuts between information stored online and on their hard disks. You could be looking at a spreadsheet containing your investments in a personal finance package and click on a Nasdaq logo, say, to automatically dial up Network, pick up current prices of stocks you own and update your spreadsheet. Windows 95 will come installed on most new PCs and will also include Plug and Play -- a potentially valuable feature that will tell the computer how to recognize and work with specific printers, CD-ROM drives and other devices with little intervention on the user's part. 

        So much for generalized advice. What you really need is recommendations attuned to the activities you want to pursue with a PC. Below are suggestions tailored to four types of users. 

         MARRIED WITH CHILDREN By now the edge a household computer gives a child in school has become conventional wisdom. Reports are neatly printed and can be slicked up with clip art and different typefaces; encyclopedias, atlases and other references are available on disk at the click of a mouse button. But youngsters aren't the only beneficiaries. Software stores bulge with packages that can make adult chores like paying bills, calculating taxes and creating personalized invitations easier -- and more fun. 

        Fun may be what a family PC is really about. Whatever the original intention, families use PCs for entertainment more than anything else, according to a recent survey by Computer Intelligence-InfoCorp. These days, fun on a PC means multimedia -- programs that use music, animations and video clips to engage the user in much the way movies and TV do. 

        Only a year ago, multimedia commanded a premium of $500 or so -- or trading off computing power -- to keep the price down. But most home systems now come with a double-speed CD-ROM drive, soundboard and speakers. Multimedia buffs will prefer a deluxe soundboard, wide-range speakers and a quadruple-speed drive for smoother video. But since most multimedia programs are still designed for double-speed drives, you may as well save a couple of hundred dollars. And you can upgrade the soundboard and speakers later. 

        A 486SX system can run multimedia programs, but not well. Far better: a 66-megahertz 486DX2 system. That means passing up entry-level models. In Compaq's Presario line, for example, the 500 series of models, in which the computer and monitor are one unit, starts at $1,700 and isn't even available with a 486DX2. A DX2 calls for moving up to a 700 model -- already $200 more expensive than the 500 model and designed with a separate monitor and computer -- and then paying another $300 to get the more powerful chip. In Apple's Macintosh Performa line, a 68LC040 instead of the slower 68030 adds at least $200 but is a better long-term investment. 

        Most home systems come with 4 megabytes of random access memory (RAM), but the programs that run under Windows 3.1 and Apple's System 7 run much better with at least 8MB. The additional 4MB will cost between $40 and $75 per MB depending on the make, model and type of memory. To store all your programs, the smallest hard drive you should accept in an IBM-type PC is 340MB. The 270MB hard disk that comes in the least expensive IBM Aptiva model is inadequate. The smallest hard disk in Compaq's current Presario line is 420MB -- and a good thing, since the machine comes with a rich list of 23 applications, including Microsoft's Encarta multimedia encyclopedia, Intuit's Quicken for Windows Special Edition and Books That Work's Home Survival Toolkit. Installed software took up more than 130MB of hard disk space on the Presario tested. 

        Communicating with friends and family by E-mail, making travel arrangements online, updating personal finance records and downloading magazine articles are all valid reasons to get a system that includes a modem that transfers data at 14,400 bits per second instead of the slower 9,600. As electronic banking services become more attractive, fast modems will be all the more useful. All of Compaq's Presarios have the faster modem, and more than half of IBM's Aptivas do. The all-in-one-box Apple Performa systems, incredibly, come with an archaic 2,400 bps modem. To get a faster one, you have to buy an external modem from another company. 

        The software to use an online service like CompuServe, America Online or Prodigy comes with most home machines. The Presarios include free trial memberships to all three services. The Aptivas come with just Prodigy, a joint venture between IBM and Sears, and the Macintosh Performas sold in stores come with a trial subscription and access to eWorld, Apple's new online service. 

        If PTA newsletters or team rosters are among your targets, an easy-to-use desktop publishing package like Microsoft Publisher ($100) should be on your list. Most families will find a printer a must. To save money, get an inkjet printer like the Canon BJ-200e (about $300). Kids particularly enjoy adding color to greeting cards and posters made with software packages like Broderbund's Kid Pix 2 ($40) and Microsoft's Fine Artist ($50). (The latter comes installed on Gateway 2000 Family PCs.) A color inkjet printer like the Hewlett-Packard DeskJet 560C (less than $500) will do the trick. 

         ENTREPRENEUR To keep clients happy, self-employed people must be available just about all the time. They need to answer questions, which increasingly come on E-mail, look at electronic documents and send files when traveling on business and sometimes even when on vacation. A 6-pound notebook PC can do double duty as a desktop and a portable, though the lighter "subnotebooks," with their small displays and cramped keyboards, are too impractical to be your only computer. 

        Starving writers who just need a word processor and an E- mail package can consider Toshiba's Satellite monochrome notebooks, which start at $1,500 for a 486DX2 with a 200MB hard disk and 4MB of RAM. A color screen boosts the price to $1,850. Gateway 2000's ColorBooks are another popular tight-budget choice. They start at about $2,000 for a 486SX with 4MB of RAM and a 250MB hard disk, though most home-office workers need the $3,200 model, which has a 486DX2, a 340MB hard disk and 8MB of RAM. 

        Consultants or other entrepreneurs who need to give snazzy multimedia presentations to clients can benefit from Panasonic's pricey but lightweight multimedia color portable. At about 9 pounds with battery, the V41 has a built-in CD-ROM drive, soundboard, speakers and color display for $4,300. An even brighter, sharper color screen brings the price up to $7,200. 

        Anyone who wants to impress clients with cleanly printed text and graphics will invest in a laser printer, like the four- page-per-minute Hewlett-Packard LaserJet 4L, available for under $550, thanks to $100 rebates offered by many dealers. If convenience is more important than the laser-printed look, a combination printer-copier-fax machine from Hewlett-Packard, Okidata or Panasonic makes a good all-around office machine (HP's OfficeJet, a new entry, is described on Page 131). 

         COLLEGE STUDENT Writing papers and sending friends E-mail are the two biggest reasons college students use PCs. A portable is a tempting choice, since space is at a premium, and a portable permits note taking at the library. The machine also can be brought home on holidays. Apple's PowerBook line of portable Macs is especially popular on campuses, many of which use AppleTalk networks. The least expensive color PowerBook 520 has 4MB of RAM and a 160MB hard disk and costs about $2,270. Older monochrome models start at $1,470 for the PowerBook 150 with 4MB of RAM and a 120MB hard disk. 

        An alternative might be a multifunction desktop that combines a multimedia PC, voice mail, speakerphone and, sometimes, a TV. AST, AT&T, Compaq, IBM and Packard Bell all make multifunction systems of one kind or another. The Compaq Presario CDTV 520, with built-in TV, speakerphone and answering machine with 10 voice mailboxes, seems especially suited to students. At about $1,900, it smoothly integrates the various functions -- you can display a TV news program in a window while composing an essay on the rest of the screen, for example. The picture is darker on some channels and the motion jerkier than on a regular TV, and the TV models are available only with slower 486SX processors. But it's still a decent-quality, all-purpose machine students should enjoy. One way to trim costs is to skip a printer. Students can borrow a friend's or roommate's or use one in the campus computer center. 

         IMAGE MAKER Desktop publishers, photo editors, interior designers, architects and others who work in the visual arts need the greatest possible raw computing power. They may well be the only users who must get Pentium- or PowerPC-based computers. The Macintosh has long been the choice of most artists and designers, who prize its graphics- oriented design and ease of use. And most of the software made for desktop publishers and other designers still comes out on the Mac first. Professionals are giving the PowerPC-based Power Macs (starting at $2,600 and going up to $6,380) rave reviews. 

        Monochrome printers don't cut it for most artists. Color inkjet printers like the Hewlett-Packard DeskJet 560C (under $500) are affordable but useful only to generate quick drafts. Color printers based on laser, thermal-dye or thermal-wax- transfer technologies produce much more photorealistic color but usually cost between $4,000 and $19,000. An exception is the Fargo PrimeraPro Color Printer (about $1,600), which combines thermal dye and thermal wax transfer and recently won high praise from PC Magazine. Anyone working with photos or other art not created on a computer also will need a scanner like Hewlett- Packard's ScanJet Ilcx (under $1,000) to store digitized images. Such an esoteric device is a long way from the PC in the den where the family gathers to play games. But who knows? With the right system and good software, you just may discover a computer artist in the family.