±Recent Visitors

Recent Visitors to Com-Central!

±User Info-big


Welcome Anonymous

Nickname
Password

Membership:
Latest: cgsimpson
New Today: 0
New Yesterday: 0
Overall: 6645

People Online:
Members: 0
Visitors: 746
Total: 746
Who Is Where:
 Visitors:
01: Community Forums
02: Community Forums
03: Community Forums
04: Community Forums
05: Community Forums
06: Photo Gallery
07: Community Forums
08: Community Forums
09: Photo Gallery
10: Community Forums
11: Community Forums
12: Home
13: Community Forums
14: Community Forums
15: Photo Gallery
16: Community Forums
17: Community Forums
18: Photo Gallery
19: Community Forums
20: Community Forums
21: Home
22: Photo Gallery
23: Community Forums
24: Community Forums
25: Community Forums
26: Community Forums
27: Photo Gallery
28: Community Forums
29: Community Forums
30: Community Forums
31: Community Forums
32: Photo Gallery
33: Members List
34: Community Forums
35: Community Forums
36: Community Forums
37: Community Forums
38: Community Forums
39: Home
40: Community Forums
41: Home
42: Community Forums
43: Community Forums
44: Downloads
45: Community Forums
46: Community Forums
47: Community Forums
48: Community Forums
49: Community Forums
50: Downloads
51: Community Forums
52: Community Forums
53: Community Forums
54: Community Forums
55: Community Forums
56: Community Forums
57: Photo Gallery
58: Member Screenshots
59: News Archive
60: Community Forums
61: Your Account
62: Community Forums
63: Community Forums
64: Community Forums
65: Community Forums
66: Community Forums
67: Community Forums
68: Community Forums
69: Community Forums
70: Community Forums
71: Community Forums
72: Photo Gallery
73: Community Forums
74: Home
75: Downloads
76: CPGlang
77: Community Forums
78: Photo Gallery
79: Photo Gallery
80: Photo Gallery
81: Community Forums
82: Photo Gallery
83: Community Forums
84: Downloads
85: Home
86: Home
87: Community Forums
88: Photo Gallery
89: Photo Gallery
90: Community Forums
91: Community Forums
92: Photo Gallery
93: Photo Gallery
94: Community Forums
95: Community Forums
96: Community Forums
97: Community Forums
98: Community Forums
99: Member Screenshots
100: Community Forums
101: Photo Gallery
102: Community Forums
103: Community Forums
104: Home
105: Community Forums
106: Community Forums
107: Members List
108: Community Forums
109: Community Forums
110: Photo Gallery
111: Community Forums
112: Photo Gallery
113: Community Forums
114: Downloads
115: Community Forums
116: Community Forums
117: Community Forums
118: Downloads
119: Community Forums
120: Community Forums
121: Community Forums
122: CPGlang
123: Photo Gallery
124: Home
125: Photo Gallery
126: Community Forums
127: Member Screenshots
128: Community Forums
129: Community Forums
130: Photo Gallery
131: Downloads
132: Home
133: Home
134: Community Forums
135: Home
136: Photo Gallery
137: Home
138: Community Forums
139: Home
140: Community Forums
141: Community Forums
142: Community Forums
143: CPGlang
144: Community Forums
145: Community Forums
146: Community Forums
147: Home
148: Community Forums
149: Photo Gallery
150: Photo Gallery
151: Community Forums
152: Photo Gallery
153: Home
154: Community Forums
155: Community Forums
156: Community Forums
157: Photo Gallery
158: Community Forums
159: Your Account
160: Community Forums
161: Photo Gallery
162: Photo Gallery
163: Home
164: Community Forums
165: Community Forums
166: Community Forums
167: Community Forums
168: Photo Gallery
169: Community Forums
170: Community Forums
171: Community Forums
172: Community Forums
173: Your Account
174: Community Forums
175: Photo Gallery
176: Community Forums
177: Community Forums
178: News
179: Community Forums
180: Photo Gallery
181: Community Forums
182: Home
183: Community Forums
184: Your Account
185: Community Forums
186: Community Forums
187: Community Forums
188: Downloads
189: Community Forums
190: News Archive
191: Photo Gallery
192: Home
193: Community Forums
194: Community Forums
195: Downloads
196: Photo Gallery
197: Community Forums
198: Community Forums
199: Community Forums
200: Community Forums
201: Photo Gallery
202: Home
203: Community Forums
204: Community Forums
205: Photo Gallery
206: Photo Gallery
207: Community Forums
208: Home
209: Community Forums
210: Community Forums
211: Your Account
212: Community Forums
213: Community Forums
214: Your Account
215: News
216: News
217: Home
218: Community Forums
219: Photo Gallery
220: Home
221: Home
222: Home
223: Community Forums
224: Community Forums
225: Photo Gallery
226: Community Forums
227: Photo Gallery
228: Community Forums
229: Community Forums
230: Member Screenshots
231: Community Forums
232: Community Forums
233: Photo Gallery
234: Member Screenshots
235: Community Forums
236: Community Forums
237: Community Forums
238: Photo Gallery
239: Downloads
240: Photo Gallery
241: Community Forums
242: Photo Gallery
243: Photo Gallery
244: Community Forums
245: Community Forums
246: Community Forums
247: Community Forums
248: Community Forums
249: Community Forums
250: CPGlang
251: Community Forums
252: Community Forums
253: Community Forums
254: Community Forums
255: Photo Gallery
256: Community Forums
257: Community Forums
258: Photo Gallery
259: Community Forums
260: Photo Gallery
261: Community Forums
262: Photo Gallery
263: Home
264: Photo Gallery
265: Community Forums
266: Photo Gallery
267: Photo Gallery
268: Photo Gallery
269: News Archive
270: Downloads
271: Community Forums
272: Community Forums
273: Community Forums
274: Community Forums
275: Community Forums
276: Downloads
277: Community Forums
278: Member Screenshots
279: Home
280: Community Forums
281: Statistics
282: Community Forums
283: Community Forums
284: Community Forums
285: Community Forums
286: Photo Gallery
287: Community Forums
288: Community Forums
289: Your Account
290: Home
291: Community Forums
292: Community Forums
293: Downloads
294: Community Forums
295: Community Forums
296: Community Forums
297: Photo Gallery
298: Community Forums
299: Photo Gallery
300: Community Forums
301: Photo Gallery
302: Community Forums
303: Community Forums
304: Your Account
305: Member Screenshots
306: Photo Gallery
307: Community Forums
308: Community Forums
309: Community Forums
310: Your Account
311: CPGlang
312: Community Forums
313: Community Forums
314: Community Forums
315: Photo Gallery
316: Community Forums
317: Community Forums
318: Community Forums
319: Photo Gallery
320: Community Forums
321: Downloads
322: Community Forums
323: Photo Gallery
324: Your Account
325: Home
326: Community Forums
327: Home
328: Community Forums
329: Home
330: Home
331: Photo Gallery
332: Community Forums
333: Community Forums
334: Community Forums
335: Community Forums
336: Community Forums
337: Community Forums
338: Photo Gallery
339: Downloads
340: Community Forums
341: Downloads
342: Your Account
343: Your Account
344: Photo Gallery
345: Community Forums
346: Photo Gallery
347: Community Forums
348: Downloads
349: Home
350: Community Forums
351: Photo Gallery
352: Community Forums
353: Community Forums
354: Community Forums
355: Community Forums
356: Your Account
357: Community Forums
358: Home
359: Community Forums
360: Community Forums
361: Downloads
362: Community Forums
363: Community Forums
364: Community Forums
365: Downloads
366: Home
367: Community Forums
368: Photo Gallery
369: Community Forums
370: Photo Gallery
371: Photo Gallery
372: Downloads
373: Community Forums
374: Photo Gallery
375: Community Forums
376: Community Forums
377: Community Forums
378: News Archive
379: Downloads
380: Community Forums
381: Member Screenshots
382: Community Forums
383: LinkToUs
384: Photo Gallery
385: Community Forums
386: Community Forums
387: Community Forums
388: Photo Gallery
389: Community Forums
390: Photo Gallery
391: Downloads
392: Community Forums
393: Community Forums
394: Photo Gallery
395: Community Forums
396: Community Forums
397: Community Forums
398: Community Forums
399: Community Forums
400: Community Forums
401: Photo Gallery
402: Community Forums
403: Community Forums
404: Community Forums
405: Community Forums
406: Community Forums
407: Community Forums
408: Community Forums
409: Community Forums
410: Photo Gallery
411: Community Forums
412: Photo Gallery
413: Community Forums
414: Community Forums
415: Photo Gallery
416: Photo Gallery
417: Photo Gallery
418: Photo Gallery
419: Community Forums
420: Downloads
421: Community Forums
422: Community Forums
423: Community Forums
424: News
425: Community Forums
426: Community Forums
427: Home
428: Community Forums
429: Home
430: Photo Gallery
431: Downloads
432: Community Forums
433: Home
434: Home
435: Home
436: Community Forums
437: Community Forums
438: Photo Gallery
439: Treasury
440: Community Forums
441: Your Account
442: Community Forums
443: Community Forums
444: Community Forums
445: Community Forums
446: Community Forums
447: Community Forums
448: Community Forums
449: Community Forums
450: Community Forums
451: Downloads
452: Downloads
453: News Archive
454: Home
455: Community Forums
456: Downloads
457: Photo Gallery
458: Photo Gallery
459: Treasury
460: Photo Gallery
461: Community Forums
462: Community Forums
463: CPGlang
464: Community Forums
465: Home
466: Member Screenshots
467: Photo Gallery
468: Photo Gallery
469: Member Screenshots
470: Community Forums
471: Community Forums
472: Photo Gallery
473: Downloads
474: Community Forums
475: Home
476: Community Forums
477: Your Account
478: Member Screenshots
479: Community Forums
480: Photo Gallery
481: Photo Gallery
482: Photo Gallery
483: Community Forums
484: Member Screenshots
485: Home
486: Community Forums
487: Community Forums
488: Community Forums
489: Community Forums
490: Photo Gallery
491: Community Forums
492: Community Forums
493: Community Forums
494: Community Forums
495: Photo Gallery
496: Community Forums
497: Photo Gallery
498: Community Forums
499: Community Forums
500: Home
501: Community Forums
502: Photo Gallery
503: Community Forums
504: Member Screenshots
505: Community Forums
506: Community Forums
507: Community Forums
508: Community Forums
509: Community Forums
510: Community Forums
511: Home
512: Home
513: Statistics
514: Community Forums
515: Community Forums
516: CPGlang
517: Downloads
518: Community Forums
519: Community Forums
520: Your Account
521: Home
522: Community Forums
523: Community Forums
524: Community Forums
525: Community Forums
526: Community Forums
527: Home
528: Photo Gallery
529: Community Forums
530: Home
531: Community Forums
532: Community Forums
533: Community Forums
534: Home
535: Photo Gallery
536: Community Forums
537: Member Screenshots
538: Community Forums
539: Community Forums
540: Member Screenshots
541: CPGlang
542: Community Forums
543: Community Forums
544: Member Screenshots
545: Downloads
546: Photo Gallery
547: Community Forums
548: Photo Gallery
549: Home
550: Community Forums
551: Photo Gallery
552: Photo Gallery
553: Community Forums
554: Photo Gallery
555: Community Forums
556: Photo Gallery
557: Community Forums
558: Community Forums
559: Photo Gallery
560: Community Forums
561: Community Forums
562: CPGlang
563: Community Forums
564: Member Screenshots
565: Community Forums
566: Community Forums
567: Community Forums
568: Photo Gallery
569: Community Forums
570: Photo Gallery
571: Community Forums
572: Community Forums
573: Photo Gallery
574: Community Forums
575: Photo Gallery
576: Community Forums
577: Community Forums
578: Community Forums
579: Community Forums
580: Community Forums
581: Member Screenshots
582: Downloads
583: Photo Gallery
584: Community Forums
585: Home
586: Community Forums
587: Photo Gallery
588: Community Forums
589: Home
590: Community Forums
591: Community Forums
592: Community Forums
593: Community Forums
594: Photo Gallery
595: Community Forums
596: Photo Gallery
597: Member Screenshots
598: Downloads
599: Community Forums
600: Community Forums
601: Community Forums
602: Photo Gallery
603: Community Forums
604: Community Forums
605: Community Forums
606: Community Forums
607: CPGlang
608: Community Forums
609: Member Screenshots
610: Community Forums
611: Home
612: Community Forums
613: Search
614: Home
615: Member Screenshots
616: Community Forums
617: Community Forums
618: Community Forums
619: Community Forums
620: Community Forums
621: Photo Gallery
622: Community Forums
623: Community Forums
624: Community Forums
625: Community Forums
626: Community Forums
627: Photo Gallery
628: Community Forums
629: Community Forums
630: Photo Gallery
631: Community Forums
632: Community Forums
633: Community Forums
634: Community Forums
635: Community Forums
636: Community Forums
637: Community Forums
638: Home
639: Community Forums
640: Community Forums
641: Community Forums
642: Community Forums
643: Community Forums
644: Photo Gallery
645: Community Forums
646: Downloads
647: Photo Gallery
648: Downloads
649: Your Account
650: Community Forums
651: Community Forums
652: Community Forums
653: Community Forums
654: Photo Gallery
655: Community Forums
656: Community Forums
657: Community Forums
658: Home
659: Community Forums
660: Community Forums
661: Home
662: Community Forums
663: Community Forums
664: Community Forums
665: Home
666: Photo Gallery
667: Community Forums
668: Community Forums
669: Community Forums
670: Your Account
671: Community Forums
672: Downloads
673: Community Forums
674: Photo Gallery
675: Photo Gallery
676: Community Forums
677: Community Forums
678: Community Forums
679: Photo Gallery
680: Community Forums
681: Community Forums
682: Photo Gallery
683: Community Forums
684: Your Account
685: Community Forums
686: Community Forums
687: Community Forums
688: Community Forums
689: Community Forums
690: Home
691: Community Forums
692: Home
693: Member Screenshots
694: Photo Gallery
695: Member Screenshots
696: Member Screenshots
697: Community Forums
698: Community Forums
699: Community Forums
700: Community Forums
701: Photo Gallery
702: Community Forums
703: Community Forums
704: Downloads
705: Photo Gallery
706: Community Forums
707: Community Forums
708: Community Forums
709: Community Forums
710: Community Forums
711: Downloads
712: Community Forums
713: Home
714: Community Forums
715: Your Account
716: Community Forums
717: Photo Gallery
718: Community Forums
719: Home
720: Community Forums
721: Community Forums
722: Photo Gallery
723: Community Forums
724: Home
725: Community Forums
726: Community Forums
727: Community Forums
728: Community Forums
729: Photo Gallery
730: Community Forums
731: Community Forums
732: Home
733: Community Forums
734: Community Forums
735: Photo Gallery
736: Community Forums
737: Community Forums
738: Photo Gallery
739: Home
740: Community Forums
741: Community Forums
742: Photo Gallery
743: Community Forums
744: Community Forums
745: Community Forums
746: Photo Gallery

Staff Online:

No staff members are online!
Short course, need laptop, no Vista, what to do....? :: Archived
Resolve issues with your computer problems here or read about the latest computer parts and information.
Go to page Previous  1, 2
Post new topic    Revive this topic    Printer Friendly Page     Forum Index ›  Hardware

Topic Archived View previous topic :: View next topic  
Author Message
JG300-Stoopy
Power User

Offline Offline
Joined: Jan 05, 2005
Posts: 5840
Location: Group W bench
PostPosted: Sun Feb 25, 2007 8:03 pm
Post subject: Re: Short course, need laptop, no Vista, what to do....?

Hmmm..okay: From what I know of your preferences, you want to walk into a store somewhere and just get the stuff, rather than buy online. And also keep it simple, and not spend more than you need to. So here's what I think I'd do (as a matter of fact I think I'll go get the first item myself soon).

Go with the Office 2007 products rather than the 2003 products, becuase you'll get MS Word 2007 and won't have to deal with the trouble in the future of having MS Word 2003 which won't be able to open documents made with Word 2007.

In that light, youcan go right to Best Buy if you want and pick up Office Home and Student 2007, which wil give you 2007 versions of Excel, PowerPoint, Word, and OneNote (note-taking thingamajig). So you have Word Processing, Spreadsheet, and presentations:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8129447&type=product&productCategoryId=cat01083&id=1158320998618

That's $149.99

Then for $98.99 grab MS Outlook 2007 off the same shelf....and you have your fancy new latest & greatest email program.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8168323&type=product&productCategoryId=cat01083&id=1162593933838

Total $250 so far. Dell wants $275 for Office 2007 Small Business Edition which is about the same thing with a sales contact manager thing if you need that....

BUT, the nice thing about buying these seperately and not packaged with the Dell, is you will have a legal end user license agreement to install these on two seperate systems - say, one desktop and one laptop system.

And while you're there, go to the other aisle and pick up your router (Dell wants too much for the same thing, $120)....for about seventy bucks:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?id=pcmcat25300050001&type=category&parentCatID=false&initialize=false&initialize=true&_requestid=53561

So that's $320 in add-ons, plus the price of the D820 with 1Gig of RAM which is $1149, gets you to $1470 and tax......pretty close to your upper limit but about all you're gonna need.

If it makes you feel more confident, I wrote all that while sitting here by the fireplace on my exact similar laptop:


_________________
"Once your reputation is ruined, you can live quite freely."
Back to top
View user's profile Visit poster's website Photo Gallery
JG300-Ascout
Power User

Offline Offline
Joined: Jan 05, 2005
Posts: 6257
Location: Cyberspace
PostPosted: Sun Feb 25, 2007 7:53 pm
Post subject: Re: Short course, need laptop, no Vista, what to do....?

- JG300-Stoopy
Forgive me if I stumble, becuase my company has a corporate license fo reverything and simply installs it all on a new laptop, sol I'm not an expert.....from what I see (and this may depend on whether we're talking about Office 2003 and Office 2007, just so they can make things more confusing) there are choices of:

- Office Basic 2003 (MS Word, MS Excel spreadsheet, and MS Outlook email)

- Office Professional Edition 2003 gives MS Word, Excel, Outlook, plus MS Access (database, if you need it) PowerPoint (for your presentations) as wel as Publisher 2003, which if you are gonna do web page stuff I imagine.

- Office Student/Teacher 2003 version gives you MS Word, MS Excel, AND MS Powerpoint, and "OneNote" which I haven't a clue what it is - but DOESN'T come with Outloook, which seems silly. However I see you can buy it in a bundle with Outlook added for $239.

http://www.amazon.com/Microsoft-Office-Home-Student-2007/dp/B000HCZ8EO/sr=1-3/qid=1172435163/ref=pd_bbs_sr_3/103-1662106-6543021?ie=UTF8&s=software

Here's the fun part - there's also Office Professional Edition 2003 ( Academic Version ) - seems to be the best of everything - all the trimmings, with Outlook, and Publisher, and Word, Excel, Powerpoint and Access:

http://www.amazon.com/MICROSOFT-Professional-Academic-Version-Windows/dp/B0000C1204/sr=1-1/qid=1172435530/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/103-1662106-6543021?ie=UTF8&s=software

I think I'll dig into this some more....


Stoop...the first one you got linked there is actually for 2007, which is what is pretty much what is for sale via Dell anyway...and who wants do a bunch of upgrades for 4-5 year old software anywho? I'd get the '07 variety. Mainly, I'm wondering what's the diff between "Home and Student" and the "Office Standard"...both seem to offer Word, Excel, Powerpoint and like that there...and that's the main thing. We both have email so Outlook is no biggie. She just needs to do her biochemist thang. Presentations and so on... Data stuff.

And her MP3 Stuff (so I can get it the heck off my computer!) and her pics an' stuff, cuz' gawd knows, I got enough of those cluttering up my own system now.

Mainly, we have a "competition" for the computer issue at home that we need to relieve, and the smaller unit will be nice for using elsewhere in the house.

Hey, if it has wireless, what do you need to take advantage of that at home? (I'm not sure I want to go that way at home...I've heard of security issues with neighbors and stuff).

_________________
"All facts go to clearly prove that Shades is a thrice-cursed traitor & mentally deranged person steeped in inveterate enmity toward mankind"
Back to top
View user's profile Photo Gallery
JG300-Stoopy
Power User

Offline Offline
Joined: Jan 05, 2005
Posts: 5840
Location: Group W bench
PostPosted: Sun Feb 25, 2007 7:37 pm
Post subject: Re: Short course, need laptop, no Vista, what to do....?

Forgive me if I stumble, becuase my company has a corporate license fo reverything and simply installs it all on a new laptop, sol I'm not an expert.....from what I see (and this may depend on whether we're talking about Office 2003 and Office 2007, just so they can make things more confusing) there are choices of:

- Office Basic 2003 (MS Word, MS Excel spreadsheet, and MS Outlook email)

- Office Professional Edition 2003 gives MS Word, Excel, Outlook, plus MS Access (database, if you need it) PowerPoint (for your presentations) as wel as Publisher 2003, which if you are gonna do web page stuff I imagine.

- Office Student/Teacher 2003 version gives you MS Word, MS Excel, AND MS Powerpoint, and "OneNote" which I haven't a clue what it is - but DOESN'T come with Outloook, which seems silly. However I see you can buy it in a bundle with Outlook added for $239.

http://www.amazon.com/Microsoft-Office-Home-Student-2007/dp/B000HCZ8EO/sr=1-3/qid=1172435163/ref=pd_bbs_sr_3/103-1662106-6543021?ie=UTF8&s=software

Here's the fun part - there's also Office Professional Edition 2003 ( Academic Version ) - seems to be the best of everything - all the trimmings, with Outlook, and Publisher, and Word, Excel, Powerpoint and Access:

http://www.amazon.com/MICROSOFT-Professional-Academic-Version-Windows/dp/B0000C1204/sr=1-1/qid=1172435530/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/103-1662106-6543021?ie=UTF8&s=software

I think I'll dig into this some more....

_________________
"Once your reputation is ruined, you can live quite freely."
Back to top
View user's profile Visit poster's website Photo Gallery
JG300-Ascout
Power User

Offline Offline
Joined: Jan 05, 2005
Posts: 6257
Location: Cyberspace
PostPosted: Sun Feb 25, 2007 6:30 pm
Post subject: Re: Short course, need laptop, no Vista, what to do....?

What's really the difference between MS Office "Home and Student" and "Office Standard", besides $250? Seems to have same programs...so what are the real functional diffs?

I think we're gonna go witht the Latitude 820 mid-level as suggested:

www.dell.com/content/p...l=en&s=bsd

_________________
"All facts go to clearly prove that Shades is a thrice-cursed traitor & mentally deranged person steeped in inveterate enmity toward mankind"
Back to top
View user's profile Photo Gallery
JG300-Ascout
Power User

Offline Offline
Joined: Jan 05, 2005
Posts: 6257
Location: Cyberspace
PostPosted: Sun Feb 25, 2007 5:34 pm
Post subject: Re: Short course, need laptop, no Vista, what to do....?

- JG300-Stoopy
off to the airport in the Moostang (which oughta be exciting).


Traction control ON!

_________________
"All facts go to clearly prove that Shades is a thrice-cursed traitor & mentally deranged person steeped in inveterate enmity toward mankind"
Back to top
View user's profile Photo Gallery
JG300-Stoopy
Power User

Offline Offline
Joined: Jan 05, 2005
Posts: 5840
Location: Group W bench
PostPosted: Sun Feb 25, 2007 4:59 pm
Post subject: Re: Short course, need laptop, no Vista, what to do....?

Yup, good point, that sounds like the way to go. I didn't know if you can buy it locally or have to go theough someone like Amazon. com. I was looking at it myself for my son who is using starting to use Powerpoint now. Haven't got it yet for here at home, so he uses my laptop for his projects when needed.

Warranty seem to be about 3 years......normally I havent had a proble,m the screen on my old Lattitude is going pale on one side, but that may be becuase it's been sitting on it's side at work, stowed away unused, for a long time. Once in a while I fire it up to snag some tool I've made or something that I forgot to transfer.

The Latitude 820 comes out at $1403, but that includes 1Gig RAM, and ALSO the Linksys Wireless ROuter you need, plus MS Office BASIC (no Powerpoint). There's an option to delete that, and sub $145 off the price, at which point the Student/Teacher vers. can be ad for about $100-$120 bucks (smart way to go I'd say, if it can be done).

The 131L, which has an AMD processor and not Intel, and a slower DVD drive, comes out at $1050 but also without MS Office at all (add $145 or more for whatever version you want). Not a bad choice though, I think I'd be tempted in this direction if I werent an Intel purist (has to do with my work stuff anyways).

Dangit, there used to be a way to save custom quotes at theor site and share the URL so you can send it to someone - I don't see a way to do that right now, but I'll look. I'd be happy to help, but be advised I'm just about to go outside to shovel 5" of snow we got this morning, then shower, poack and head off to the airport in the Moostang (which oughta be exciting).

_________________
"Once your reputation is ruined, you can live quite freely."
Back to top
View user's profile Visit poster's website Photo Gallery
JG300-Ascout
Power User

Offline Offline
Joined: Jan 05, 2005
Posts: 6257
Location: Cyberspace
PostPosted: Sun Feb 25, 2007 4:45 pm
Post subject: Re: Short course, need laptop, no Vista, what to do....?

- Shades
I agree with Stoops on the Dell desktop / laptop scenario.
As you say Mrs Ascout is fairly nunlike (*dribbles*) and only looking for Word, Excel, etc., I would suggest 1Gb should be okay for her with XP. 2Gb will be better but she should be okay to go running Office in XP with 1Gb. Any heavy visual / audio prog's will run better with more (Photoshop, etc) and running a lot of prog's simultaneously will also open more quickly with more. The more RAM you have the better, if you can afford it, the same with faster RAM, BUT make sure you don't start slowing the existing RAM down by getting too much (XP over 2Gb may run into this speed botleneck, Vista over 4Gb).

I would also suggest that you don't write Vista off altogether.
As we all know, right now it's crap.
In all likelihood, it's still going to be crap after SP1.
SP2 (or before) should see everything come together properly, and then M$ will be starting to make their usual, "We're-going-to-stop-supporting-XP-now-so-that-you-all-HAVE-to-buy-Vista" noises.
Try to get something that's Vista-compatable so you can upgrade later or you'll have to buy something new in a year or so's time.

Student/teacher licences are for student/teachers.
If Mrs Ascout is a student/teacher she can get special discount on Office and a lot of other software (including XP and Vista).
OR..., she could get Open Office and pay diddly (For full details of 'Diddly', look in Wikipedia, under "Bushwhacker" Wink ).


Well, I'm given to understand that XP will get support for the next seven years, then nada. That should suffice.

Among my all too numerous "hats" I'm also a designated official "Coordinator of Continuing Medical Education Program" so I qualifies for the Teacher thingy. We want to stick with software she's been using and is compatible with what is in use by her company at work and elsewhere. If necessary, I can use that moniker to buy the software at Circuit City, for example. I want to be able to get upgrades online without MS giving us crap. I like to be "official".

_________________
"All facts go to clearly prove that Shades is a thrice-cursed traitor & mentally deranged person steeped in inveterate enmity toward mankind"
Back to top
View user's profile Photo Gallery
Shades
Forum Tree-Rat

Offline Offline
Joined: Mar 07, 2005
Posts: 6473
Location: 3rd Branch up, 'Ye Olde Oak', Green Wood.
PostPosted: Sun Feb 25, 2007 4:18 pm
Post subject: Re: Short course, need laptop, no Vista, what to do....?

I agree with Stoops on the Dell desktop / laptop scenario.
As you say Mrs Ascout is fairly nunlike (*dribbles*) and only looking for Word, Excel, etc., I would suggest 1Gb should be okay for her with XP. 2Gb will be better but she should be okay to go running Office in XP with 1Gb. Any heavy visual / audio prog's will run better with more (Photoshop, etc) and running a lot of prog's simultaneously will also open more quickly with more. The more RAM you have the better, if you can afford it, the same with faster RAM, BUT make sure you don't start slowing the existing RAM down by getting too much (XP over 2Gb may run into this speed botleneck, Vista over 4Gb).

I would also suggest that you don't write Vista off altogether.
As we all know, right now it's crap.
In all likelihood, it's still going to be crap after SP1.
SP2 (or before) should see everything come together properly, and then M$ will be starting to make their usual, "We're-going-to-stop-supporting-XP-now-so-that-you-all-HAVE-to-buy-Vista" noises.
Try to get something that's Vista-compatable so you can upgrade later or you'll have to buy something new in a year or so's time.

Student/teacher licences are for student/teachers.
If Mrs Ascout is a student/teacher she can get special discount on Office and a lot of other software (including XP and Vista).
OR..., she could get Open Office and pay diddly (For full details of 'Diddly', look in Wikipedia, under "Bushwhacker" Wink ).

_________________
Skwerl's place.

Com-Central's cutest, fluffiest, twitchiest, tail.
CPU > Intel i9-9900k (o/c 4.9GHz); COOLING > BeQuiet! Dark Rock Pro 4;
MOBO > ASUS PRIME Z390-A; RAM > 2x32GB Corsair LPX 2666MHz;
GPU > Gigabyte GEFORCE GTX650Ti PCI-e 3.0 2Gb GDDR5;
AUDIO > Creative X-Fi Xtreme Music (plus - Universal Audio UAD2 Quad Custom accelerator);
HDD > 3x1TB+ M.2. SSDs; LCD > DELL - S2419HGF (1920x1080);
PSU > 650W be quiet Straight Power 11 - 80+ Gold;
CASE > BeQuiet! SILENT BASE 601; OS > Windows 11 Home Advanced (64-bit).
Back to top
View user's profile Visit poster's website ICQ Number
JG300-Ascout
Power User

Offline Offline
Joined: Jan 05, 2005
Posts: 6257
Location: Cyberspace
PostPosted: Sun Feb 25, 2007 4:12 pm
Post subject: Re: Short course, need laptop, no Vista, what to do....?

- JG300-Stoopy
Sure thing - I edited my above post BTW abotu the D820, I'll spec that for ya.....and I was gonna mention the wireless adapter they come with and the router dealy you'll need. If you go with a LInksys W54G-series, you'll have the same as me and some others here which makes support on using it a bit easier.

You'll need to select your won carry case 'cuz I don't know if th'lady prefers a backpack or case style. I have a leather Samsonite backpack which is AWESOME.......rugged, comfy when worn as a backpack at airports and also when commuting for work on the bike...these things just don't fit in saddle bags too well (trust me!) and she's got the Bonnie still I imagine.... Smile


Thanks, Bud....she's off at the store now...I'll have her read this thread later and let her type her own questions/reply over my login if you don't mind and we can proceed from there. Wink
(Suggestions on warranty coverage an' stuff are something to think about, if applicable...what software too...was I on the right track with what I mentioned...should I just buy that locally?)


_________________
"All facts go to clearly prove that Shades is a thrice-cursed traitor & mentally deranged person steeped in inveterate enmity toward mankind"
Back to top
View user's profile Photo Gallery
JG300-Stoopy
Power User

Offline Offline
Joined: Jan 05, 2005
Posts: 5840
Location: Group W bench
PostPosted: Sun Feb 25, 2007 4:06 pm
Post subject: Re: Short course, need laptop, no Vista, what to do....?

Sure thing - I edited my above post BTW abotu the D820, I'll spec that for ya.....and I was gonna mention the wireless adapter they come with and the router dealy you'll need. If you go with a LInksys W54G-series, you'll have the same as me and some others here which makes support on using it a bit easier.

You'll need to select your won carry case 'cuz I don't know if th'lady prefers a backpack or case style. I have a leather Samsonite backpack which is AWESOME.......rugged, comfy when worn as a backpack at airports and also when commuting for work on the bike...these things just don't fit in saddle bags too well (trust me!) and she's got the Bonnie still I imagine.... Smile

_________________
"Once your reputation is ruined, you can live quite freely."
Back to top
View user's profile Visit poster's website Photo Gallery
JG300-Ascout
Power User

Offline Offline
Joined: Jan 05, 2005
Posts: 6257
Location: Cyberspace
PostPosted: Sun Feb 25, 2007 3:56 pm
Post subject: Re: Short course, need laptop, no Vista, what to do....?

- JG300-Stoopy
I would say "ptooey" to Dell desktop systems (which I finally ditched almost two years ago) however I am a very happy customer of their laptops for several years running. This is primarily because I do NOT try to make a gaming/simming rig out of them nor do I hold them to the same criteria. I imagine this is for MS Office and other regular stuff, not FS9/FSX/CFS3/IL2 ...

I go with the Lattitude family simply because they use a common docking station (aka "port replicator") which I use at my work. On the road and at home, I go without. Lotsa road miles on my systems and the only reason I upgrade is to get a faster processor and bigger hard drive every few years. Currently I'm using a Lattitude D820.

You have to price the thing out usign the "customize it" option to really see HD sizes, this is one downside in that unless you exercise almost nun-like self discipline and don't click any options, the initial price is really just a teaser.

The 131L has a 60Gg HD for that proice but only 512MB RAM.....no bueno!!!! Anything you get these days I'd recommend minimum 1GIG and prefereably 2GIG RAM....the 1Gig RAM version with 80Gig HD goes at $899.


It's for Mrs. Ascout, Stoop....she's pretty "nun-like" in her requirements. She uses for her science thing at work. We'll use a modem-router-splitter thing I guess for my our T-Warner cable connection at home (I'll need advice about that too) so we can be on internet at same time. But apart from maybe her MP3 files and her still image files, it's all bid'ness for her. No gaming. Basic stuff. Need CD burning, but's that's standard right?

Could you spec that out for us and tell us what to buy, please? I won't hold you liable. Keep under $1,500, including the software package. Under $1,000 is better, but not absolutely essential.

Thanks, Bud!

_________________
"All facts go to clearly prove that Shades is a thrice-cursed traitor & mentally deranged person steeped in inveterate enmity toward mankind"
Back to top
View user's profile Photo Gallery
JG300-Stoopy
Power User

Offline Offline
Joined: Jan 05, 2005
Posts: 5840
Location: Group W bench
PostPosted: Sun Feb 25, 2007 3:45 pm
Post subject: Re: Short course, need laptop, no Vista, what to do....?

I would say "ptooey" to Dell desktop systems (which I finally ditched almost two years ago) however I am a very happy customer of their laptops for several years running. This is primarily because I do NOT try to make a gaming/simming rig out of them nor do I hold them to the same criteria. I imagine this is for MS Office and other regular stuff, not FS9/FSX/CFS3/IL2 ...

I go with the Lattitude family simply because they use a common docking station (aka "port replicator") which I use at my work. On the road and at home, I go without. Lotsa road miles on my systems and the only reason I upgrade is to get a faster processor and bigger hard drive every few years. Currently I'm using a Lattitude D820...one of the models you mention!

Both have a nice 15/4" display, very readable, does a good job, which is one of the things I'm happy about.

You have to price the thing out using the "customize it" option to really see HD sizes, this is one downside in that unless you exercise almost nun-like self discipline and don't click any options, the initial price is really just a teaser.

The 131L has a 60Gg HD for that proice but only 512MB RAM.....no bueno!!!! Anything you get these days I'd recommend minimum 1GIG and prefereably 2GIG RAM....the 1Gig RAM version with 80Gig HD goes at $899.

If you go to the "customize" option for the D820, The "Better" (middle collumn) D820 with 1Gig RAM and an 80MB HD at $1149 is close to what I have, and is about what I saw as the sweet spot in terms of features and price...although it wasn't my personal money, but I shop as if it were.

_________________
"Once your reputation is ruined, you can live quite freely."


Last edited by JG300-Stoopy on Sun Feb 25, 2007 3:59 pm; edited 1 time in total
Back to top
View user's profile Visit poster's website Photo Gallery
JG300-Ascout
Power User

Offline Offline
Joined: Jan 05, 2005
Posts: 6257
Location: Cyberspace
PostPosted: Sun Feb 25, 2007 2:48 pm
Post subject: Re: Short course, need laptop, no Vista, what to do....?

Thanks!

Thoughts on 131L and D820 here? What is default HD size on these...I don't see it?

www.dell.com/content/p...sort=price

I gather we have to buy the "Student/Teacher Office suite? thing separate now because of the lawsuit thing (about $150) so she can have Word, Excel, Powerpoint and IE7 and all and be legal?

_________________
"All facts go to clearly prove that Shades is a thrice-cursed traitor & mentally deranged person steeped in inveterate enmity toward mankind"
Back to top
View user's profile Photo Gallery
Shades
Forum Tree-Rat

Offline Offline
Joined: Mar 07, 2005
Posts: 6473
Location: 3rd Branch up, 'Ye Olde Oak', Green Wood.
PostPosted: Sun Feb 25, 2007 9:19 am
Post subject: Re: Short course, need laptop, no Vista, what to do....?

Hi Ascout,
It will be a far simpler operation to get the laptop withouyt Vista installed.
Over here dealers are starting to offer this because so many people are asking for it.
Dell (PATOOEY!) are one of those offering it, but if you go with Dell, get it completely clean as their own install is even crappier than Vista.

If you try to uninstall Vista you basically will have to format the boot drive to get rid of it so you can retrograde, otherwise your XP authentication will be revoked (Vista supercedes licence versions of earlier Windows OS).

_________________
Skwerl's place.

Com-Central's cutest, fluffiest, twitchiest, tail.
CPU > Intel i9-9900k (o/c 4.9GHz); COOLING > BeQuiet! Dark Rock Pro 4;
MOBO > ASUS PRIME Z390-A; RAM > 2x32GB Corsair LPX 2666MHz;
GPU > Gigabyte GEFORCE GTX650Ti PCI-e 3.0 2Gb GDDR5;
AUDIO > Creative X-Fi Xtreme Music (plus - Universal Audio UAD2 Quad Custom accelerator);
HDD > 3x1TB+ M.2. SSDs; LCD > DELL - S2419HGF (1920x1080);
PSU > 650W be quiet Straight Power 11 - 80+ Gold;
CASE > BeQuiet! SILENT BASE 601; OS > Windows 11 Home Advanced (64-bit).
Back to top
View user's profile Visit poster's website ICQ Number
JG300-Ascout
Power User

Offline Offline
Joined: Jan 05, 2005
Posts: 6257
Location: Cyberspace
PostPosted: Sun Feb 25, 2007 12:01 am
Post subject: Short course, need laptop, no Vista, what to do....?

Guys...

Wife needs laptop. We won't have Vista. So, I gather it's possible to delete it and install Windows XP (after acquiring it and the student/teacher Office suite thingy) and installing. (Most of what's out there seems to have Vista installed already, so it's gonna' have to be surgically "excised".)

I'll probably be doing the same with a new desktop soon, too.

What, exactly, do I need to know to do this and what do you recommend before we buy and proceed?

Don't wax techy on me, be precise and step-by-step, please.

Thanks in advance!

_________________
"All facts go to clearly prove that Shades is a thrice-cursed traitor & mentally deranged person steeped in inveterate enmity toward mankind"
Back to top
View user's profile Photo Gallery
Display posts from previous:   
Post new topic    Revive this topic    Printer Friendly Page    Forum Index ›  Hardware
Page 2 of 2
All times are GMT - 6 Hours
Go to page Previous  1, 2

Archive Revive
Username:
This is an archived topic - your reply will not be appended here.
Instead, a new topic will be generated in the active forum.
The new topic will provide a reference link to this archived topic.