Bought a new laptop? Here's what it needs

Sunday, October 28, 2007 04:28 IST

AP Rodriguez

You've gone out and splurged on that new laptop, only to find out that it's not as fully loaded as your SUV. Here's what you need to kit your machine with the essentials

So you want a laptop that does a lot more than... well... look good on your lap. You want it do computery stuff, enough to make you look tech-savvy, but not so much that you come off looking like a geek. Here's a primer on what it is your computer needs to get up and go.

Boost productivity levels
For most people, the office suite of choice is Microsoft Office. In case you decide to walk the different route, there are many freeware options that you can look at. First on the wallet-friendly software line is the OpenOffice.org suite from www.openoffice.org. This suite has all the productivity tools you need such as Writer (Word Processor), Impress (for presentations), Calc (spreadsheet), Base (database) and maths (mathematical function creator). Some of the OpenOffice.org-based variants that you can opt for instead include IBM's Lotus Symphony Suite http://symphony.lotus.com) and Novell's OpenOffice Windows edition at www.novell.com.

A PDF reader/maker is the next essential tool to pick up. Adobe Acrobat Reader still remains the most popular PDF reader and is a free download from the Adobe website. If you don't want to use the full Adobe Acrobat suite (which is not free), there are many freeware options that can be obtained from sites such as www.download.com. You will also need archival utilities like WinZip (www.winzip.com) or WinRar (www.rarlab.com) to open compressed files such as the zip format files. Both these are free, and easily downloadable.

Hello, world!
When buying a brand new laptop, do make sure that it comes with an internet browser. And if you are tired of the constant Internet Explorer threats, Mozilla's Firefox (www.firefox.com) is a great free option. The browser offers immense modification and customisation flexibility due to availability of extensions and themes.

If you want to have a fully loaded free web browser based on the Firefox platform, Flock from www.flock.com is worth a try. Flock is referred to as a 'social web browser' by its makers due to its integration with various social networking services such as del.icio.us, Flickr, Photobucket, YouTube and other blogging tools. The Opera web browser from www.opera.com is another free option that you can opt for.

Entertainment Inc
Unless you've gone ahead and purchased an entertainment laptop, don't expect your new one to have any state-of-the-art software for listening to music, watching video clips, etc. Apart from the more than sufficient inbuilt Windows Media player, some of the options you can consider are the Winamp player (www.winamp.com), Cyberlink's PowerDVD, and Real's media player options (www.real.com). You will also need to install the DivX codec from www.divx.com to play all those DivX movies.

For those who like to play around with their photographs and edit them, you will need free-to-use image viewers such as IrfanView (www.irfanview.com) or the pay-to-use ACDSee from www.acdsee.com. Another option is Picasa, a basic photo management software .

If you need more capabilities than what Picasa can offer, Adobe Photoshop is the best that you can go in for. But if you are looking for a free-to-use Photoshop replacement, GIMP from www.gimp.org is a workable alternative to consider.

When it comes to DVD and CD writing software, the Nero solutions (www.nero.com) are among the most popular at the moment. You can also have a look at options such as Cyberlink Power2Go www.cyberlink.com) and Ulead's solutions. The Nero Express software usually comes for free when you get a DVD/CD burner. A further list of other DVD authoring software can be found in Wikipedia's list. Go to http://en.wikipedia.orgwiki/ist_of_optical_disc_authoring_so ftware and check out your options.

The key is to get your laptop up and running with minimal fuss.

Thannks for sharing the info! 😊
When I buy my own laptop then sure I will use the tips. 😉 There is still lots of time.

I had problems with Microsoft office when I brought my new computer. They didn't give me the full version even though I asked for it. So anyway I had to go work in the library for a while. Wish had these tips before.

Thanks for posting.

Thanks for posting! im getting a laptop soon so these tips were very helpful!

Originally posted by: samir_soni

I had problems with Microsoft office when I brought my new computer. They didn't give me the full version even though I asked for it. So anyway I had to go work in the library for a while. Wish had these tips before.

Thanks for posting.

Same here...the trial version gave so many problems

I personally use Media Player Classic (not to be confused with Windows Media Player)...it runs almost all media formats under the sun.

This link has all the codecs + media player I think. Codecs are critical to run media files.

In case that link has only codec then download the media player from here...

Hey thanks...I do have trouble sometimes running videos from the tv capture softwares we use...me waiting ki new desktop mein PCTV kab install hoga...it will be a relief.