Thread: Everex Computer ?

Originally Posted by Wildtim

Can you guys get open office to talk to powerpoint which the kid might have to use when presenting his presentation?

I've had problems doing this. Their Word format and their Excell format work fine but for some reason the lasat Impress presentation I put together wouldn't run with powerpoint.

Otherwise I love Openoffice.

I've never had a problem with it, but I don't do very complex presentations. There are some known bugs with animations and dynamic images (like graphs) that I have heard of.

Great suggestions everyone...thank you! School contact is now a must and and a laptop may be the way to go too. Sometimes a good deal can be found with an open box at Best Buy or Circuit City. I hadn't even considered one. I am happy that I posted this.
Sue

Originally Posted by jockeys

I've never had a problem with it, but I don't do very complex presentations. There are some known bugs with animations and dynamic images (like graphs) that I have heard of.

That explains it then TKX

Sue,
Microsoft Office is expensive no matter how you look at it, and PowerPoint is part of it. The low budget computers won't come with it and a student license will probably set you back about $100 in addition to the computer.
A PowerPoint - like presentation is perfectly doable with the free alternative to Microsoft Office, called OpenOffice.
You will probably save about $50 on Linux vs. Windows machine. The Windows has the advantage that most people in school would be using it, the Linux I think is nicer and if the kid can get to use it, it'll be an advantage from the skill point of view. Also he won't be able to play as much games on Linux as if he had a Windows computer and that'll be a good reason for me to pick Linux for my kid - if he wants to play a game, he better be able to program it himself.

My favorite example is my parents who never used computers much and when they did it was Windows. I gave them my old Linux computer and my brother in law installed Windows so that they can pick whichever. They decided they much prefer Linux, even though none of their friends uses that and for example they couldn't have a video chat for a while.
Now their workplace has decided to switch from Windows and MicrosoftOffice to Linux and OpenOffice, so they automatically have an advantage.

In the end of the day it doesn't matter much, the way I see it is that if somebody can handle Linux, being in the minority, they can handle Windows and Mac as well, while if they can only do Windows the chances are they'll be afraid to venture into something slightly less familiar.

Anyways, I think Dell makes few cheapish laptops, a friend of mine recently bought 'mini' which he likes.

I found this Best Buy- "Black Friday" package for $300 What do you think? I never - ever spend this much on the Grandkids Christmas gifts but he needs it for school and won't have a computer otherwise. I wasn't able to speak to someone at the school to find out specifics. Does this look like it would fit the bill for homework and power point presentations?

Black Friday Ads 2008 - eMachines EL1200-01e Desktop with 18.5" Widescreen LCD Monitor and Canon Color Printer at Best Buy

The photo ad shows a keyboard and mouse also but not in the written description.
Sue

That looks like a much better deal.

Of course you'll have to be at best buy at OH MY GOD oclock on friday to get one of the limited number per store.

Keyboard and mouse should be included. If not, they're a drop in the bucket. What the ad doesn't show is the included software (other than the antivirus)? It says Vindows Vista Home Premium. I don't know that Microsoft Office is included in that? I think you want MS Office home/student edition. Vista is the operating system. MS Office is the suite of applications like Outlook (email, etc.), Excel, PowerPoint (in the Student edition), etc.

I wondered the same thing and i have read bad comments about Vista.
Sue

Originally Posted by Sue

I wondered the same thing and i have read bad comments about Vista.
Sue

I don't think there's anything really wrong with Vista in this application. It's just if you migrate to Vista from an earlier OS you can have a lot of problems or with drivers for external devices, etc. You/he would be starting from scratch with everything compatible so no problem there. If you had a lot of existing hardware and software then it could be a problem. MS Office doesn't automatically come with any of the OS's. It's the PC maker/sellers that bundle all that together.

The Best Buy Black Friday offer is a great solution for you. Don't worry about MS Vista, that machine comes with 2 GB memory, that's all you need for it.
The only add-on you'll need is MS Office, which you can get the Home and Student 2007 Full version at Staples for $120 ($140 - $20 rebate)
Great set up for around $420

Another option is a laptop, shop around at Walmart and you may find good deals.