Get Set Up Here's all the home-office technology you need--for less than $2,000.

You've found a spare room in your house. It may be thebasement or an extra bedroom. Now, you're ready to transform itinto the home base for your new business. The first step tobuilding a home office is finding a space that is separate fromyour daily life. Add a good desk and a comfortable chair, and youhave the foundation to add the next step: technology. First,we'll give a general overview of the components and then getdown to a specific setup. Since you probably already have a cellphone, we're going to skip that.

Getting Started

Your computer will be the basis of your entire technology setup.Your choices boil down to two main options: desktop or laptop. Orif your budget and needs allow, you might consider investing inboth. Let's start with the desktop. You'll be diggingthrough a mire of megabytes, hard-drive sizes, processor speeds andextras, but it's worth the effort-and you won't have tospend a fortune.