I am heading to lawschool this fall, and I need to purchase a laptop. Now, I do not want to (nor can I) pay over 700 dollars for it. The way I figure it, all it needs to do is word process with MSWord, send email, connect to the internet, play DVD/CD and burn CDS , and not blow up or melt down at exam time.
Are there any recommendations? I have looked at Dell and Gateway, as well as Laboratory Computers, but I am pretty lost when it comes to this stuff. For all I know there is a wee little hamster running in a wee wheel in the middle of the computer, which powers it all.
My main issue with Dell is that I have to pay sales tax (TX company), they charge a lot for having Office installed (could, um, borrow it from a friend though), the cheap rebuilts do not have a internal wireless card (I break things), and their warranty is outrageously expensive (around 350 bucks), and they are heavier than Gateway.
Of course, I always hear that Gateway is struggling, so it would be nice to have a company that is still around in a year or two.
An idea of what is out there:
Gateway M250/M360
Dell Inspiron 2200/6000
Or what about Macs. They scare me, but much like clowns and short people, I think I could learn to live with them. But man oh man why no right click button?
Thanks. Any input is appreciated.
Are there any recommendations? I have looked at Dell and Gateway, as well as Laboratory Computers, but I am pretty lost when it comes to this stuff. For all I know there is a wee little hamster running in a wee wheel in the middle of the computer, which powers it all.
My main issue with Dell is that I have to pay sales tax (TX company), they charge a lot for having Office installed (could, um, borrow it from a friend though), the cheap rebuilts do not have a internal wireless card (I break things), and their warranty is outrageously expensive (around 350 bucks), and they are heavier than Gateway.
Of course, I always hear that Gateway is struggling, so it would be nice to have a company that is still around in a year or two.
An idea of what is out there:
Gateway M250/M360
Dell Inspiron 2200/6000
Or what about Macs. They scare me, but much like clowns and short people, I think I could learn to live with them. But man oh man why no right click button?
Thanks. Any input is appreciated.