computer people inside

[WayFast84]

My mom has a windows 7 laptop and a windows xp computer that is a joke. She is a writer and also back in school for a masters so I need to get her a computer for Christmas but I don't know anything about them so i need your help.

It will be used primarily for word documents and emailing and I need the word processors to be 100% interchangeable.

Help me out?

[fbirdfreak]

No matter what your word processors are going to be interchangeable if you're just using microsoft word (and if you don't have a full copy a quick trip to our pirate bay friends should take care of that) however seeing as you said your mother is a writer she should have a CD for word laying around somewhere.

If you can't get microsoft word and are against pirating software, you can just go ahead and get a free program that mimics a word format, here's a list of some of the popular ones off of wikipedia.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_word_processors

Personally, I always used Abiword and Openoffice (I preferred open office because it looks identical to microsoft word making it more easy to relate with)

Other than that, as far as a good computer is concerned everyone's going to tell you something different. As a nerd, I always hated Dell laptops because they would always overheat on me, the only good laptops dell put out were their alienware gaming laptops, so a good computer for your mom runs in what your budget is. Personally, the only laptops that I get are HP and Mac's. I ran my HP to the ground after about 5 years of owning it and am still running my Mac from 2 years, however a Mac is probably a little out of budget for the christmas fund lol.

So really you should just avoid getting her a cheap kind of bargain brand name laptop (like asus or acer, formerly gateway), because every one of those that I've owned or had has just taken a dump in under two years, which nobody likes.

Hope that helps you out.

[maroman88]

ive had a toshiba for a bunch of years with no issues at all, was about 500 bucks 3-4 years ago

[WayFast84]

Just to clarify, She has a laptop but I'm looking to upgrade the desktop. It's not going to be used much but I figure if I get her a nice desktop and a new office chair she will sit down in her office more instead of take up the kitchen table.

What I mean about word is the older ones open up on the new word but the new word doesn't open up n the old one this is a problem since I always send her my papers to proofread and to print them out, she does the same with me and I am looking for a new laptop around January before the next semester starts. I just want the all to be compatible together.

[WildBillyT]

Originally Posted by WayFast84

Just to clarify, She has a laptop but I'm looking to upgrade the desktop. It's not going to be used much but I figure if I get her a nice desktop and a new office chair she will sit down in her office more instead of take up the kitchen table.

What I mean about word is the older ones open up on the new word but the new word doesn't open up n the old one this is a problem since I always send her my papers to proofread and to print them out, she does the same with me and I am looking for a new laptop around January before the next semester starts. I just want the all to be compatible together.

Word 2003 does not open docx formatted files. You need Word 07 at a minimum.

However I know there is a free compatibility pack for some of the office 2007 programs. Do a search and see... I don't remember if there is one for word.

At the very least you can just save your papers in the old .doc format and she will be able to open them.

In short, its not the computers, is is ms office.

[Tru2Chevy]

If she already has a nice laptop, why not look into getting her a docking station for it to use at her computer desk. Then she can keep everything stored on the laptop to have access to all of her work at all times, and still use a full size keyboard / mouse / monitor at her desk when she's home.

- Justin

[WayFast84]

Is there a general dock or do I have to get a specific dock for a specific model?

[WildBillyT]

Originally Posted by WayFast84

Is there a general dock or do I have to get a specific dock for a specific model?

Specific model. Non-business models will not have a dock capability.

[qwikz28]

Windows 7 has some cool features for students, such as Windows Live Mesh that allows you to sync folders. For example, when I start every semester I create a folder on the desktop of both my laptop and my desktop and sync them. If I work on my paper at school, the updated copy is already on my desktop when I turn it on without me doing anything. If she doesn't like using her laptop to type, a desktop wouldn't be a bad idea. I like to split screen Word and whatever source I'm using, so that is much easier on my 21" Desktop monitor than it is on my 13" laptop.

Check out fatwallet or dell.com for good deals on desktops if you think that would be good for her.

Actually, there is a great deal going on with dell right now, go on dell.com and click on 12 days of deals. There is a desktop for 500 with built in wireless and a 20" screen. Has no graphics card though, so if she does photoshop or any games, you need to up it.

[WayFast84]

New question will MAC word files interchange with a window word file?

[WildBillyT]

Originally Posted by WayFast84

New question will MAC word files interchange with a window word file?

The short answer is yes, as long as the versions are 2007 or newer.

[fbirdfreak]

Easiest Solution:

When you save your document, just do a format change on the document. Now it can be opened by any word file (this is straight off my microsoft office) Just save it as a .doc nd you're good to go

[WayFast84]

Thanks a lot guys. I've decided now.