brumdaisy

and I thought buying a laptop would be easy

Can anyone tell me 1. what the difference is between XP Pro academic and XP Pro retail? 2. Would u risk saving £££ and getting it off ebay?

Oh and if anyone is feeling really generous and wants to talk me thru the whole laptop/hardware/software purchasing nightmare Im having just let me know

HHxx

What's the nightmare?

The difference between the 2 versions you quoted (theres more than 2 )
XP Pro Retail
Full boxed copy - License can 'legally' be transferred to another machine. Opposite to this is OEM versions.

XP Pro Academic
You get a box with some forms you fill in, get signed by someone at this "academic" place that can verify you are either a full time student or staff. Send this to MS and they send you the cd and license keys..

The Academic license stuff is how I remembered it from my Uni days. Note, this section of the brain is getting cloudy

As for buying on ebay. I don't see a problem with this as long as you have done your research!!!!!!!!!!!!1112222

brumdaisy

ta for that...

academic version not an option as i dont know anyone bent enough who works in education...

next question.... if u feel like answering it is that a friend... who knows a fair bit about IT has recommended the following Dell laptop but its all gibberish to me and I just need someone to say yep that'll do or no its a piece of ****, bearing in mind Im just going to be doing basic excel/word/photoshop stuff...

oh and where's the best place to buy software from - I had no idea it was so expensive - no wonder local government is going bust with people like me around

dell inspiron 1300
intel celeron M processor
1.5 ghz
1mb L2 cache
operating system XP home SP2
PC rsstore recovery system by symantec
no resource CD
3 yr at home service
256 mb memory (I know this is a bit low but only planning to run a few applications)
40gb hard drive
14" lcd
dell wireless 1370
McAfee 15 months subscription

all for £536

good deal or not??????

555-Shaggy

Sounds like the lappy I just picked up for my mum.. only got the 90 collect and return warranty tho but paid £288 delivered to my door - so about half the price then...

jpor

iTrader: (1)

Sounds a bit expensive to me for the level of equipment. Although I did own a Dell laptop in the past and found them very reliable. I'd have a look at maybe the AMD equivelant or have a look at www.ebuyer.com to see what deals are going on there.

lightning101

http://www1.euro.dell.com/content/pr...hs1&l=en&s=dhs


The dell 1300 is £348 inc vat and delivery new with all software on CD.

FREE upgrade to Microsoft® Works Suite 2006 or FREE Kensington PilotMouse Mini Wireless!

jpor

iTrader: (1)

For some reason http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatal...Notebooks.html

Sell it cheaper at: £364.95 + V.A.T that's if you live close to fenton.

Edited: Ah I see they only sell that model with 256MB RAM where as Dell provide it with 512MB.

brumdaisy

yeah thats the one ive got my eye on - sorry forgot to mention that my price includes 3 yr service and printer...!

seems to be a good buy....


thanks for all the comments

jpor

iTrader: (1)

I would seriously consider spending the extra £48 for the ne with 512MB RAM and the bigger screen. That way you have a bit more future proofing. Especially if you decide to upgrade your software or need software later on which needs the bigger RAM. Plus you should get more on the screen with bigger documents you need to look at.

lightning101

Don't buy the printer

Get a cheap canon or epson, the running costs far outweigh the printer buying.


Agree with the 512 of ram, 256 really isn't enough, especially if you are going down the PRO route.

brumdaisy

Now u see this is why I need peoples advice
I thought the extra ram cost £100 so I was going to get a mate to upgrade it for £30

The 4in1 printer is about £95. I compared this to a few others via my works supplier and seemed to be a good price?


Daisy goes off to spend afternoon on dell website

lightning101

Why not have a look at the price of the inks, as you may be replacing them every other month and even remanufactured dells are £12-15 inc delivery per cartridge from e-bay, originals can be twice that.

Go for an epson CX6200 or CX3200 and the compatibles are about 70p to £1 each and very easy to get hold of.

The dell ones are rebadged lexmark printers and are complete garbage.

brumdaisy

i do like an honest opinion

tonybooth

Remember you qualify for MS Academic licences if you are using the PC as the family PC (i.e. not for business use) and you have at least one child living who is in full time education living with you.

Cheers

TONY

brumdaisy

Great I'll nick one off the street for a few hours - always thought they must have some use