wmw999 2,588 #1 December 15, 2010 I'm thinking about getting together with some folks to configure a laptop for a friend who wants to start volunteering. He's a quad, and needs Dragon Naturally Speaking on it, and needs it on a laptop. Having something to do is good. Obviously price is an object, but Nuance has some fairly stiff requirements, so of course I'm trying for a reasonably inexpensive way to get things done. He has a desktop, this is something he can use on the road to help people learn how to use Dragon. I'm looking at a wiped-clean-and-refurbished riggedized Dell, with a new copy of Windows XP on it, which I then make sure has updates loaded onto it. XP is a whole lot cheaper than 7. This puts it into a halfway reasonable price range, because we'd still have to get Works or Word or something like that as well to demo word processing on. Thoughts? I'm all over thoughts that anyone might have to reduce either cost or risk. thanks. Wendy P.There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
warpedskydiver 0 #2 December 15, 2010 All you need is openoffice,org. Forget paying MS. If someone is a student there is an MSDN AA alliance download of Win 7 Professional that is free. Get a toughbook, used of course. Being in a chair and using a laptop it is probably going to get knocked around more than you think. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
theonlyski 8 #3 December 15, 2010 Quote Get a toughbook, used of course. Just don't let it freeze. "I may be a dirty pirate hooker...but I'm not about to go stand on the corner." iluvtofly DPH -7, TDS 578, Muff 5153, SCR 14890 I'm an asshole, and I approve this message Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
warpedskydiver 0 #4 December 15, 2010 Also get a large capacity Flash Drive to provision half memory and half for storage, it is not the best but does increase performance. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
anthonyfellows 0 #5 December 16, 2010 I wouldn't even consider using XP anymore, but if price is an object ... Do the student copy of the OS and use "Open Office" for free rather than paying for Works or MS Office. Why does he need a tough book? I saw an AT&T guy with one of those once and laughed my ass off. Those things are effin gay :) The Dragon requirements aren't all that stiff ... Seems pretty standard to me ... If you go with an Intel processor, don't go cheap with the i3. Get the i5. Memory is cheap these days, so I wouldn't go with anything less than 4 gigs.Serious relationships turn into work after a few weeks and I already got a fucking job :) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ H.A.F. = Hard As Fuck ... Goddamn Amateurs Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
