Windows 7 Premium vs. MS Office Home and Student

untranslatable

Thanks again to all of you - I think Windows 7 Home Premium will probably do for the time being. Now I have to decide on a laptop.

As I said before, 400 GB hard drive and 4 GB RAM are the main criteria - apart from this I don't really know what to look for. A decent screen and keyboard, okay - what else?

Curry will be my first port of call - any ideas which ones in my price range are good? I like Dell, but I am not prepared to pay for the brand name. What do you think of HP's budget range, Compaq Presario?

http://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/laptops/315_3226_30328_xx_BA00002918-BV00196045-BA00002920-BV00196049/xx-400-criteria.html

untranslatable

!!!!!! wrote: »

6 instances of Word (newest versions don't run MDI)
IE with multiple tabs open
Several translation apps running

If you want it to be doing all that at the same time and not slow down you need a pretty powerful laptop.

Most of it is Computer Chinese to me; I only understand your last sentence - a pretty powerful laptop.
How powerful?

BTW, I don't need to *run* several translation softwares at the same time, but I will need to install a few ones to pick from, depending on what the agency wants.

untranslatable

f1charlie wrote: »

If you are a student or you have children at school/college you can get Office 2010 Professional for £38 here:

http://www.software4students.co.uk/Microsoft_Office_2010-software.aspx


How about this laptop as it has a 17" screen whereas most of the others are 15":

http://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/dell-inspiron-q17r-17-3-queens-laptop-black-10562291-pdt.html?intcmpid=display~RR~Computing~10562291

Uiii, a Dell! *Like*:)

But why is it so cheapish?

Mr_Toad

untranslatable wrote: »

Thanks again to all of you - I think Windows 7 Home Premium will probably do for the time being. Now I have to decide on a laptop.

As I said before, 400 GB hard drive and 4 GB RAM are the main criteria - apart from this I don't really know what to look for. A decent screen and keyboard, okay - what else?

Curry will be my first port of call - any ideas which ones in my price range are good? I like Dell, but I am not prepared to pay for the brand name. What do you think of HP's budget range, Compaq Presario?

http://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/laptops/315_3226_30328_xx_BA00002918-BV00196045-BA00002920-BV00196049/xx-400-criteria.html

I've always liked the Asus PCs.

The memsahib had one 6 years ago and although replaced now it was passed on to a friend and it's still going strong. We bought our daughter one to go to Uni and that's still going strong 4 years later.

I also have an Asus Netbook which is a wonderful little thing.

f1charlie

untranslatable wrote: »

Uiii, a Dell! *Like*:)

But why is it so cheapish?

Quite possibly because it isn't in stock (locally to me anyway) :mad:

untranslatable

f1charlie wrote: »

Quite possibly because it isn't in stock (locally to me anyway) :mad:

"Unavailable for home delivery" it says, but it seems to be in stock, to "reserve and collect within one hour".

Hmmm ... shall I do it?

f1charlie

Have you actually put it in your basket and checked whether it is in stock at your local store?

untranslatable

Arrgghh!!:mad: Not available!

I! want! it! Now!

giraffe69

Although most of thius has been said in previous posts you still come across as a bit confused as to the difference between Windows and Office so:

When you buy your computer you need an operating system. Windows is the main one and it does come in several flavours. Netbooks often use Windows Starter(a cut down version). For most users unless they have a special need Windows Home Edition is fine.

If you want a program for word processing or presentation or spreadsheeting then:

Windows comes with a very limited free program for word processing called WordPad.

Many computers come with Microsoft Office 2010 which works for 60 days and then needs you to buy a licence.

There are at least two decent free alternatives. I use one called libreoffice and it does all I want and any file sent can be read by other users PROVIDED I remember to send then in the right format which I can easily do. I'm sure there are things it can't do but I haven't found any yet.

untranslatable

@ Giraffe: I definitely get the terminology mixed up (guess why I don't translate IT-texts), but I am well aware that my question was about the "different flavours". Windows 7 Starter is not sufficient for my needs as I have found out the hard way; Windows7 Home Premium might do - and that's what the laptops I am looking into normally come with - and if I need the full Office suite one day, I will probably upgrade. But to be honest, I can't see myself fiddling with the free versions - they are for people who know what they are doing.

Anyway. I went to Currys at the Metro Centre this afternoon, but without much success: They are closing down and have only a few laptops left which are out of my price range. Nevertheless, I learnt one thing: 15" is definitely big enough for me. I could have bought a Toshiba Satellite with 4GB / 500GB for £380 at House of Fraser (funny place to shop for a computer, I know), but I didn't really fancy that little beast. Hm ... maybe an Asus then ...