EQUIPMENT: COMPUTER-BASED
1.	Inventory
2.	Status of the equipment
3.	Type 
•	Computer 
•	Peripherals
4.	Provenance
5.	Passwords, keys and dongles
6.	Power requirements
7.	Condition assessment
8.	Maintenance, Servicing, Failure & Repair 
9.	Risk of obsolescence

1.	  INVENTORY
•	Please list all the hardware which came as part of the purchase of the work 
•	Please list all additional equipment required in order the display the work
•	If the equipment has been provided with a unique reference number as part of your collection management strategy – please list it. 
2.	STATUS OF THE EQUIPMENT. Please describe what is important about this equipment in relation to the work of art. The status of the equipment will determine how important it is to gather detailed information about it.  
•	Is the hardware considered part of the work of art? If so how and by whom? (artist, registrars, curator, artist’s gallery etc)
•	Is the equipment visible in the installation and valued as part of the visual appearance of the work of art? 
•	Is it purely the function of the equipment that is significant? 
•	Is the equipment obsolete and therefore not easily replaced? Is the function difficult to understand or unusual? Has the equipment been modified for either technical or aesthetic reasons? 
3.	TYPE
•	COMPUTER
o	GENERAL  
•	Type
o	Server
o	Laptop
o	Desktop
o	PDA
•	Make
•	Model no
•	Serial number
•	Motherboard (more important to get details on if the system is built as a one off)
•	RAM
•	Network Interface  
•	Details of where the equipment was acquired from 
•	Warrantee information
•	Date purchased or received
•	Dimensions (packed and unpacked including weight)
•	Voltage
•	Battery details (if applicable)
•	Operation manual?
•	Service manual?
•	Other details (please specify)

o	CENTRAL PROCESSING UNIT (CPU)
•	PROCESSORS
o	Number
o	Make
o	Model number
o	Clock speed
o	Other details (please specify)
•	COOLING SYSTEM 
o	Details of fans
o	Passive heat sink
o	Active heat sink
o	Water cooling
o	HARD DRIVES
o	Number 
o	Configuration
o	Type 
•	Serial ATA
•	Parallel ATA
•	SCUSI
•	IDE
•	Other (please specify) 
o	Capacity 
o	Amount of free space
 
•	FILE SYSTEM
o	FAT32
o	NTSC
o	HFS
o	Other (please specify)

o	SOUND CARD
•	Sampling rate (kHz of input and output)
•	Sampling rate  (kHz  of input and output) 
•	Built in RAM?
•	Polyphony (number of distinct channels that can be output simultaneously and independently)
•	Method connected to the motherboard
•	Specification of the digital-to-analogue converter
•	Driver name and location 
•	Outputs and inputs: (colours refer to Microsoft PC99 colour coding)
o	Analogue microphone input (Pink)
o	Analogue line level input (Light blue)
o	Analogue line level output for the main stereo signal (Lime green)
o	Analogue line level output for rear speakers (Black)
o	Analogue line level output for side speakers (Silver)
o	S/PDIF digital output or analogue line output for a centre speaker or sub-woofer (Orange)
		
•	GRAPHICS CARD
o	Number of video buses 
o	Type and style (e.g. PCi Express, style e.g. parallel or serial)
o	Size of video buses (capacity)
o	Internal Memory (VRAM, SDRAM)
o	Outputs:
•	Composite
•	Component
•	SVideo
•	Dvi
•	HDMi
•	Other
o	Other details
•	MODEM
o	Make 
o	Model
o	Type (e.g. wireless etc)
o	Speed 

•	PORTS  
o	Number 
o	Type 
•	USB
•	Firewire
•	Other 

•	PERIPHERALS
o	Integrated 
•	DVD drives
•	LTO drive 
•	Other (please specify)
o	Accessories and external peripherals
•	Joystick
•	Cables or adapters supplied
o	Other (please specify)

4.	PROVENANCE (if the equipment came from the artist’s gallery or the artist they may be able to provide this information)
•	Supplier
•	Cost 
•	Warranty information 
•	Date purchased or received
•	History
5.	PASSWORDS, KEYS AND DONGLES REQUIRED
•	Please give details including any key operational reminders regarding access to menus etc.

6.	POWER REQUIREMENT
•	Voltage required
•	Adapters provided (please give details)
•	Built-in uninterrupted power supply (please give details)
•	External Uninterrupted power supply provided or required (please given details)
•	Current drawn 

7.	CONDITION ASSESSMENT 
•	Programmes and content all loading smoothly 
•	Drives have been de-fragmented 
•	Virus free
•	Back up image created? – name the programme that created it and the location of the image
•	Back up drives, available, loaded and tested? 
•	Expected hours to failure (if known, make a note of what is likely to fail first and the cost of such repairs. Often this information is as much the result of experience as information provided by the manufacturer.)
8.	MAINTENANCE, SERVICING, FAILURE & REPAIR 
•	Provide details of recommended maintenance and servicing schedules
•	Provide ‘Mean-Time-To-First-Failure’ rates or ‘Mean-Time-Between-Failure’ rates if provided by the manufacturer.
•	Specify which parts are most likely to fail and an estimated or known cost of replacement. 
•	Provide details (if known) about where to get parts or where best to go to have the equipment serviced or repaired
9.	DIMENSIONS & PACKING DETAILS 
•	Unpacked dimensions
•	Packed dimensions
•	Weight
•	Type of packing
o	Manufacturer’s box
o	Flight case
o	Other (please specify)
10.	RISK OF OBSOLESCENCE OF THE EQUIPMENT 
•	Is the equipment still being manufactured? 
•	Are parts still available?
•	How many years is the manufacturer committed to providing parts?
•	Difficult elements to replace with other systems