<p>I am getting a free IBM Thinkpad R52 (512MB Ram, 40GB Hard Drive, CDRW/DVD, 14.1" XGA Display, XP Professional, 64MB ATI Radeon Video Card, etc...) from my college as part of my scholarship. I know its not the top of the line but it is free and still a good all around laptop. Does anyone have any recommendations as to software or accessories that I might want to buy? It comes with a 1.3 Megapixel Logitech Quickcam, 256MB Memory Key and a leather Laptop case. I know I need to get a good surge protector. I bought an HP Laserjet so I'm good with that but I need to know about software and accessories. Thanks.</p>
<p>I'm jealous... that's close enough to top of the line for me. :) You might find the keyboard and mouse to be cramped, so I would suggest buying a keyboard and mouse, though they may have to be USB to work with your laptop. If you have the money, get wireless mouse/keybard because they're not obnoxiously cord-y (about $50 for a wireless keyboard and mouse that's not name brand, about $70 for the set from Logitech). Other than that, you might want to download iTunes for music or buy office pack or whatever for powerpoint and whatnot, but make sure you buy that through the school because it will be much cheaper with an educational discount. If it has a short battery life or you want to carry it around alot, you might want an extra battery, I guess, but most people don't get one.</p>
<p>Yeah I'm planning on keeping it in my room most of the time so I'm not too worried about battery life and it comes with Office XP. I'm thinking about getting the mouse and keyboard combo though.</p>
<p>if it's only going to be used as a desktop replacement type of machine, i'd look into possibly getting an external monitor ~17-19" in size. obviously it's not a requirement and you may want to wait a few months, but, 14" on a main pc isn't very attractive.</p>
<p>my laptop has a 10" screen, but i can't imagine doing hours of nonstop work on it on a daily basis.</p>
<p>:)</p>
<p>Do most monitors connect to laptops? I have a 17" flat LCD now for my desktop and I want to bring it to college with me, but I'm worried it won't connect to my laptop. Are there converters and such?</p>
<p>Some laptops connect and some don't. I think getting the additional port thingy is about $100, so I would look for a laptop that already has the VGA out or whatever it's called would be good.</p>
<p>Yeah I had thought about getting a monitor, but with my laptop being free I think I'm gonna stick with what I have. It does enough for what I need.
Any recommendations on software?</p>
<p>as in productive software or something that will keep you busy until 2 am when you should be writing a paper instead?</p>
<p>Productive.</p>
<ul>
<li>MS Office for Students (Word/Excel/Powerpoint)</li>
<li>Anti-Virus software: check with your school. Many schools distribute anti-virus programs for free or at very low cost.</li>
<li>Anti-spyware software: lots of low cost or free programs available.</li>
</ul>
<p>firewall - zonealarm is what i use [its free and very good], but you might get one bundled with your antivirus.</p>
<p>almost ALL laptops (except the ultra small ones) have VGA or DVI out. a 14 inch laptop though is much larget than a 15 inch CRT so...its not a huge issue.</p>
<p>Docking bays are nice though, they replicate all of the ports so you just have to put the laptop in the bay and the other stuff can stay connected to the bay. Just pick up the computer when you want to take it away.</p>
<p>oh, even the ultra small ones have monitor out ports (mainly these are used for presentations, so it would be a waste not to). you'll need a dongle though, but that just snaps right in.</p>
<p>What's a dongle? </p>
<p>Is it impossible to connect your computer to a printer if you lack a parallel port?</p>
<p>Some printers are USB. Our HP deskjet 5500 is, but older printers will be only parallel ports.</p>
<p>a dongle is an intermediate connector. since VGA ports take up a relatively large amount of space when compared to a small laptop, the designer instead has a smaller port into which an adaptor [which comes with the pc] plugs in...this adaptor plugs into your monitor.</p>
<p>in some cases, dongles are used to authenticate expensive software programs. the program comes with a dongle which HAS to be plugged into the computer for it to run.</p>
<p>:)</p>
<p>i didn't even know they made your every-day-printers with parallel ports anymore.</p>
<p>Aren't USB ports wonderful? I think everything should be plugged into them and there should be strips of them on every computer =)</p>
<p>The right one is the closest to my laptop (It's a Dell Inspiron 600m). Mine has 1.60 GHz Centrino, 512 RAM, 60 gig hdd, 8X cd-rw/dvdrw, 14.1" viewable, 3 year all-covered warranty, carrying case, 256 USB flashdrive stick, and lock - all for $1251; free shipping. We got it for a deal - saved $500 with special online deal. My mom is paying $200 of it, the rest is on me. It's sweet!</p>