Jeff McNeill

For someone who wantes a minimum (low-cost) computing environment with Windows, here are the recommendations.Total about $1,600 with shipping and tax. Have to shop at Amazon, Dell, and Ebay to get the best prices (but it is worth it for the savings, cannot get what you want at one place and cannot get best prices at one place).

Dell Laptop Model XPS M1330 Processor: Core 2 Duo Hard Drive: 320gb or more Memory: 2gb or more Optical Drive: DVD/RW Video Card: 128MB or more (NVidia or ATI, NOT Intel)

Go to Dell Outlet http://outlet.us.dell.com/ARBOnlineSales/topics/global.aspx/arb/online/en/InventorySearch?c=us&cs=22&l=en&lob=INSP&MODEL_DESC=XPS%20M1330&s=dfh * Min Hard Drive = 320; Optical Drive = DVD/RW; Video Card = 128; Minimum Memory = 2000 * Click FILTER RESULTS * Sort on PRICE - Should be able to get <$1,000

Dell Laserjet 1110 (not the 1100) - ~$69 on Dell Outlet *Note this is a “cheap” laser but with USB 2.0 (no ethernet), should be fine. I believe the next best price point is a $350 color laser, or double-sided, networked, faster B&W for around $250, but that is so not worth it unless you are in a multi-user office Monitor: E228WFP 22-inch Widescreen (1680×1050) - These are going for $229 at Dell Outlet, only $30 more than the 20″, so this is the new best value for monitors these days (same resolution as 20″ but bigger screen = easier on the eyes, and don’t have to set the fonts to 120% to see at native resolution)

Optical Mouse/Keyboard - Search in Ebay - $25-30 w/shipping http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dll?satitle=dell+optical+mouse+keyboard+new Note: don’t mess around with wireless, its a big pain

External Hard Drive (Backup) @ Amazon.com - $100 http://www.amazon.com/LaCie-Desktop-301285U-External-Drive/dp/B000WA009Y/

DVD+RW Media (25) @ Amazon.com - $25 http://www.amazon.com/Memorex-4x-DVD%2BRW-25-Pack-Spindle/dp/B0000A98AC/

Speakers @ Amazon.com - $25 http://www.amazon.com/Logitech-970264-0403-X-140-2-0-Speakers/dp/B000IF4788/