Microprocessors in Detectors and Analysis

The increasing need in high energy physics experiments for computation power for both online and offline applications, coupled with the current "microprocessor revolution," has led us to examine the use of microprocessors in various aspects of REP computing. The following article is a brief (and admittedly somewhat biased) review of current hardware products, the costs of developing and producing hardware systems, and the costs of providing appropriate software support tools which allow one to make effective use of physicists' time, and the applicability of certain systems to the various needs of REP computing.