Purchase the laptop, refuse the installation of Office on the computer, if
they offer it, and purchase the Office 2003 Student and Teacher editor or
the Office 2007 Student and Home edition for about $150 if all you need is
Word, Excel, and PPT. The Office 2007 Student and Home edition also comes
with OneNote - great for note taking.
Both Office editions can be installed on up to three computers, provided
they meet the requirements. Software you buy preinstalled (called OEM
versions) are typically licensed only to the computer it was installed on
and is non transferrable. That means you can never install it one another
computer - even if the one you purchase is damaged beyond repair.
Plus you need to rely on the OEM for support. Lose a CD key - good luck
getting a replacement. Lose or damage the installation CD (if you actually
get them - regardless of what they might promise) good luck getting a
replacement. OEMs are *really* bad about replacing both of these. They blame
it on Microsoft, Microsoft blames it on them and you're still out of luck.
With a retail version Microsoft will replace CD keys and installation CDs.
And since you purchased the installation CDs you're guaranteed to get them.
There are many situations in which you need the installations CDs, for some
updates, switching computers, etc. Most OEMs do not include the installation
CDs. They might provide an image on the computer but that's not the same
thing. They say Microsoft doesn't provide the installation CDs and Microsoft
says they do. It's far easier if you cut out the middle man. ;-)
Please post all follow-up questions to the newsgroup. Requests for
assistance by email cannot be acknowledged.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Beth Melton
Microsoft Office MVP
Coauthor of Word 2007 Inside Out:
http://www.microsoft.com/MSPress/books/9801.aspx#AboutTheBook
Word FAQ:
http://mvps.org/word
TechTrax eZine:
http://mousetrax.com/techtrax/
MVP FAQ site:
http://mvps.org/