I received my current computer (a desktop) as a high school graduation gift, so it is now 6 years old, very slow, and thoroughly riddled with viruses. After usung my work laptop daily since septempber, I’ve finally decided to bite the bullet and buy myself a new computer. I got a Dell Inspiron 1545 Intel Core 2 Duo T6400; 2.0GHz, 800Mhz, 2M L2 Cache; 3GB, DDR2, 800MHz 2 Dimm; 250G 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive (I pasted that from the purchase order email, but I did do research before I bought it and I actually know what most of that means!)
So, on to my question(s). What should I put on this new machine? What is a neccesity? What will make my life better, easier, more fun? I have two categories: WANT and NEED. For example:
I NEED security software. I don’t want to go the Norton route, because my dad has always been a Norton user, and when he installed it on my old computer it was a nightmare. I know there are links/threads in GQ with some ideas, but does anyone have any reccomendations? This is an area I’m a bit clueless on.
I NEED a word processor. I’m a bit unclear on whether my new laptop will have Word; I will likely download OpenOffice as well. Any other options/ideas?
WANTS:
I am definitely going to download the Netflix Movie Viewer so that I can watch some of the things in my instant queue. My husband’s computer is pretty slow and it drives me bonkers trying to watch anything with the lag & jumpiness.
I am also thinking about getting some sort of website creating program; NetObjects has afree one that looks neat. My current website is a bit bland, and I’d like to do some small-business website design (I’m primarily a copywriter, but if I can offer an inexpensive, no-frills website featuring my copy as a complete package, it makes sense to do so).
I’d go with OpenOffice, unless you’re inextricably tied to the Office 2007 ribbon idea, or Microsoft OneNote, both good ideas/programs, so it’s up to you to decide whether you want to shell out the cash when a perfectly good free one is around the corner
OpenOffice also opens those pesky .docx files as well.
The laptop looks great! It’s speedy enough to run everything you need to run.
We use OpenOffice at my work (I’m actually the only one who has Word on my computer, as the laptop is very new), so I’m comfortable with it. My only concern is document formatting - I want to be able to send things to people and have them be openable, viewable, and printable the way I created them. I’m not sure if that always works correctly with OpenOffice to Word transfers.
For security, I just use the Windows firewall and AVG Free virus scanner. Haven’t had any problems.
I think OpenOffice is sufficient for basic word processing. On the other hand, Microsoft Office Home & Student edition is only $88.99; it’s worth the price just for OneNote and Powerpoint. (I use Powerpoint for a lot of things. I find it’s the quickest way to create a simple memo or flyer that includes pictures. OneNote is useful for jotting quick notes and filing various information.)
I’d be inclined to try OpenOffice for a while, to see if it works for me, before shelling out for MS Office. If you want it later, you can always get it reasonably quickly.
That spec looks pretty good to me; balanced and powerful without being ridiculously over-priced.
A list of free software that I use and would recommend:
Audiograbber - CD ripping software
AVG - anti-virus
CDBurnerXP - CD and DVD burning program
Firefox - Browser
Foxit PDF Reader - Replacement for Adobe; much faster and lighter
MediaMonkey - music management software
Picasa - photo manipulation
RealAlternative - plays RealAudio files
Skype
Spybot Search and Destroy - anti-spyware
These are all the general-purpose ones that I can think of off the top of my head; I’ll add others as I think of them.
You don’t really need CD/DVD burning or ripping software as long as you’re not uninstalling Windows Media Player, as it will do both.
AVG is good, although the new version appears to be a bit pants. You might want to give Avast a try.
Spybot and AdAware are musts. CCleaner is also handy for when you want to clear out accumulated registry nasties and installation fragments and the like.
Firefox is good. I’ve been experimenting with Google Chrome for the past couple of weeks and I like it a lot.
One of the things I’m really excited about with my new laptop is the chance to really play around, explore, learn about various programs. I’ve used both Firefox and IE before, and as most of the computers I use have them both installed, I tend to use whichever one my mouse lands on first, but I have no opinion as to which is better because I’ve never really been able to play around with their capabilities. It will be kinda neat to start playing with all these “add-on” things I’ve been hearing about
How many security things should one have? A free AVG and a weekly spybot run through? More? Less? Different? Do the GQ stickies have all this information, or there a good comprehensive thread someone knows of? There are lots of random spyware comments, so I haven’t had good luck with my searches.
OpenOffice comes with a save as pdf option (at least the Linux version does, so I’m pretty sure the Windows version will too), so just save anything as a pdf and it will look exactly the same on everyone else’s computer.
If you want this computer to avoid becomming “thoroughly riddled with viruses” (as well as other crap) I’d give some version of Linux a shot. Download an Ubuntu live cd and try it out – won’t affect your computer at all unless you choose to install it. But, I’m pretty sure that Netflix doesn’t write Linux software.
I’ve also not had problems with Comodo firewall, though it is pretty noisy.
