Hey all! A friend of mine is running a small office. He wants a laptop and possibly two desktops. He will only be using Microsoft Office and maybe a few low end applications, nothing really huge. I don't believe he needs top of the line technology here. I'm looking at Dells and such. If you were buying in this situation what would you recommend. I want to keep cost low, but have relaible machines. Anyone out there running on 1Ghz or slower for a small office? Is there any real need to buy the state of the art? Thanks Rex

If buying major brand names, I'd go the Dell route. No manufacturer/supplier is perfect... but overall Dell has pretty good reputation. Some seem to like IBM (laptops)currently... I'd avoid HP (which now owns Compaq too); and Compaq are far too proprietry - you can not easily add in other non-Compaq extras in many cases... You might also consider Sony Vaio series laptops (and perhaps the desktop); colleagues seem to like them OK. Also perhaps consider local manufacturers/suppliers (your local PC store/s); they may have OK kit? For the average small office you don't need the latest top speed systems - unless you are into 'serious' number crunching apps/graphics etc. Just add in a decent amount of RAM (perhaps 256Meg - 512Meg. max) with a decent CPU - anything approaching 1GigaHerz would/should be more than adequate. Advantage of one supplier (e.g. Dell) for both PC and laptops is that all is under one roof/company for support? Generally there are decent deals for Dell these days. Also in the US there are often 'warehouse' deals/specials going from Dell? These are sometimes returned/refurbished kit; sometimes cancelled orders that may be all you want (with a few other extras included too)? Perhaps check the warehouse site out via Dell? In Micron-land (e.g. SLC, Ut.) they have (had?) similar warehouse/distribution outlet deals... Quite how well Micron stand up these day I'm not sure (are they still around?). It's five years since I last investigated Micron so my input there may be out of date? (You will proably get a wide range of input on this one; your - or your friend's - choice in the end...)

Thanks for the info trvlr. Yeah, I've seen the Dells and I am impressed with them too. I would never use a compaq! I like the sony vaios, but sony seems to be targeted at graphics and multimedia. I don't know anything about Dell laptops, but you are right, should keep everything under one roof. Thanks again. Rex