I have been using, building, and buying computers since the mid 80's and have found that you just cant beat Dell Computers for the price, support, and customer service combination. I dont even build them anymore because Dells prices are so low that it makes building them not worth the time and effort when I can buy one prebuilt and software preinstalled for a few hundred price difference. I have had terrible experiences with Hewlett Packard and Gateway. I wouldnt even recommend them to my enemies, so I advise against buying from those companies. Deplorable customer service, and very glitchy hardware that needed to be replaced frequently. I had a gateway like 7 years ago that went through 2 motherboards, 4 hard drives, 2 cd drives, and 2 monitors. Supports, while polite, was time consuming, as was the patrs replacement scheduling and delivery. My experience with HP was bad customer service. They didnt know much and all they seemed to do was regurgitate from a manual. Dell reps, the one or two times i have used thenm, seemed to know their stuff and work with me knowledgably to solve issues I was incapable of solving on my own, plus they have an excellent online resource for issues. I do not recommend norton products ... almost all of their products are huge system resource hogs. McAfee is my choice in that area for email, virus, firewall, and enviroment protection. Very low on system resource consumption and complete protection. We get the whole McAfee Protection Suite free with our Comcast Internet Service, so I also recommend comcast cable internet if available to you. Dell still offers Windows XP over glitchy Vista.

To use the wireless service, you need a wireless b/g card; most of the new laptops have this built in. Rather than purchasing MS Office, why not download free Open Office and give it a try? Once you are on cable, the download should not be too much. OO documents are compatible with Office, from what others here say. Several others here use OO and can answer any questions you might have. By all means get 2GB of memory. The size of the hard drive is up to you, but it sounds as if you don't need a huge one, given the history of your desktop. You might also consider later purchasing an external hard drive just for storage of pictures, music, and such. These are not at all costly these days. Look for plenty of USB ports and built-in memory card reader to help in transferring your pictures to the hard drive from your camera. A combo CD/DVD burner is almost a given, as that is pretty standard now. The 15.4" wide screen is not at all bad, but the 17" is nice if you can find it in your price range. Check around and watch the sale circulars. There are some great buys to be found.

Judy, technologies change so fast nowadays that by the time you're ready, all these responds may be useless. A few things you may want to remember when buying a laptop. Laptops are not built like desktops. Most everything in a desktop is upgradeable at your own paste before having to replace it. A laptop on the other hand is not all upgradeable or not easy to upgrade, ie: the CPU (main mother board), video card, etc.. Because of this, you'd want to chose these parts as powerful or "top of the line" as you can afford. Things such as the size of the hard drive and the memory chips, do not need to be so large if you can't afford it. They're easy to be upgraded when you're ready. Size of the laptop also matters. I have a 17" HP laptop and absolute loving it. It has a wider screen and a full size keyboard. It's important because I have long fingers and a full size keyboard is more ergo to type. I work with graphic alot so a 17" display is easier on the eyes. However, a 17" is a 2-3 times heavier than a 14" or 15" laptop. So, if you carry it around alot, it may not be suitable for you. One thing I do recommend. Our today's technology is heading toward wireless, so get one that has a wireless unit built in. You may eventually need it but without having to get extra components that can be costly later on. As mentioned, technology changes constantly. One of the latest tech besides speed, is a swivel display. Check the one below to give you an idea. Some even have different size memory card slots so you can insert your camera memory card into it for easy download of your photos & video clips. There's also those that have a built in camera so you wouldn't need to have a separate one. There are many options and I can imagine that when you're ready, there would even be more. How fast you may ask? I still can't believe my new phone that was purchased barely 6 months ago has already made on the obsolete list! Good Luck and Happy Shopping! Natalie Here is a link that might be useful: HP swivel display laptop

Hello! I have a small NYC apartment and I am in desperate search of a standing desk that I can use for my laptop. I work from home and already have this small glass desk (Vittsjo) from Ikea but I need a standing desk too. I think it could possibly double as a tiny bar when I'm not working! I found two at Ikea but I'm not in love with either of them. 1) Ikea PS 2014 is a good option, but the workspace isn't big enough to use a mouse. 2) Ikea's Knotten is the better option but I know it's a tiny bit too big for my space. I could make it work but I want more options. I LOVE all the storage this has though. Does anyone have any other suggestions? I can't DIY it because I don't have access to workspace or tools! I'd like to keep the price under $300.