Uh oh!- JG300-Ascoutif it has wireless, what do you need to take advantage of that at home?
- JG300-StoopyHmmm..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:
- JG300-AscoutStoop...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).
- JG300-Ascout
I LIKE that plan...because I DO plan an upgrade at home and want that flexibility for the desktop as well!
Say...this leads me to another question....
Should I even buy another desktop for me, or just a strong laptop with a big-a$$ accessory monitor and keyboard for gaming purposes? Can I get enough USBs and ports and stuff for accessories or is the desktop not dead yet?
- JG300-Stoopy
The trick might be getting a WIndows XP system.....just for fun I went to Gateway's website and saw that all systems are offered with Vista now. I won't question your reasons for not wanting it.
Anyway, I did notice that in teeny tiny print below the Vista selections it said "Looking for a Windows XP system? Click here to talk to live sales rep"......hopefully, this might be because MS is pushing vendors to list only VISTA on the options list, but the vendor doesn't want to loose sales to XP fans and so will configure an XP system in a discreet manner. I mean, I hope the rep's job isn't just to try to convice everyone to go with Vista.
.
- JG300-fr8ycatDang it I guess I'm to late to offer your misus one heck of a deal.
For an In 'n' Out DD/W cheese/animal style she can have it.
Dell inspiron 3200 notebook
233Mhz w/512Mb ram (smokin fast)
Came with Windows 95 but has been upgraded to 98 (want charge ya for that upgrade bud)
4G HD
56K ext. PC Card modem
lmao- JG300-Ascoutyou don't want Vista? Well we get a LOT of calls like that
All times are GMT - 6 Hours