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engaged in effective

Christian Ministry
locally AND globally.

The questions come from those Staff have been asked concerning computer technologies and ministry.

Q: Does a church need to purchase a laptop to be able to use a projector?

A: Not necessarily. Although the price difference difference between laptops and desktop computers has narrowed (laptops have historically been much more expensive), laptops have decreased in price to the point that it makes sense to consider a purchase of one for your projection needs.

Q: What must a computer (laptop or desktop) have in it to be able to do well at supporting/running projections?

A: The most important part is the size of System Memory and the size of Video Memory. Do not purchase a computer for your projection needs that is built with "Shared Memory."

One way manufacturers have brought the prices of computers down is to combine these two memories into what is referred to as "Shared" memory. There is no dedicated Video Memory. What Video memory there is in this "Shared" memory is borrowed from the System Memory. For example, if a computer you are looking at has 512 Megabytes of "Shared" Memory, then the amount of memory available for running programs is 512 Megabytes less whatever memory is set aside for running video. A good place to start today with Video Memory is 128 Megabyte. So, you actually have only 364 Megabytes of System Memory. Such machines are generally slower, despite the fast processors, and often "hang."

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