You'd think that after all these years, I'd have learned that trying to save a buck when it comes to computing just doesn't work........but NOOOOOOOOOOOOO....

The mess that I have now is kaput and I'm going to have to do what I should have done: Get something new. I want to get it right this time so I'll get help from my geek cousin. I also hope I can get back some money for the piece of crap I bought last week or so.

Meanwhile, I'm back at the library for a few more days. I'll check in when I can.

Rats.

Charlie

Charlie, I know you don't want to hear this, but don't be in a rush to buy one.  If you watch and wait, there can be some GREAT specials out there!!!  I week or two ago, I found a fantastic deal on an HP laptop for $499.99

I picked it up for the ex, and she LOVES it!  It has everything that she needs without a lot of unneeded crap on it.  It has 320 gig hard drive, 4 gig memory, built in wireless, built in mic, speaker, and webcam, CD/DVD player/burner.

So, try not to be in a hurry, and watch for the deals.  They ARE out there!

Sorry your dinosaur died on you!

Good luck ...

Chuck

Chuck

Did you take my advice about the high protein peanuts for the gerbils running in the squirrel cage to power your computer? The extra kick in voltage will wake up some of the older more tired boards! ;)

Bummer dude....computer owies suck. Need you back here at full speed...and soon!

Joe

Guiseppi wrote on Apr 18^th, 2009 at 4:15pm:

Did you take my advice about the high protein peanuts for the gerbils running in the squirrel cage to power your computer? The extra kick in voltage will wake up some of the older more tired boards! ;) Bummer dude....computer owies suck. Need you back here at full speed...and soon! Joe

Hey Joe, if you have gerbils in your computer - that's just wrong dude.

XO

QnHeartMM wrote on Apr 19^th, 2009 at 2:04am:

Guiseppi wrote on Apr 18th, 2009 at 4:15pm: for the gerbils running if you have gerbils in your .. .. .. .. .. that's just wrong dude.

Now that is TWO of you that have mentioned gerbils ...  Are you trying to imply something ?? Hmmmm ?? ?? ??

Sorry Charlie,

  Most cheap computers are junk, and they come with junk operating systems. The best hope is to build your own system if you can, but even then after lots of reading specs and reviews you can still get junk.

  The cheapest Mac is a Mac mini $600 which doesn't come with a monitor, keyboard or mouse, which I assume you have already. There might be a learning curve though I have never used Mac OS X.

  You can get a Dell with Linux cheap but it won't run screen savers and other trash on the internet. Of course that might be a good thing as it won't run any of the viruses written for Microsoft windows. You would have to learn some things like not having to click start to shutdown your computer.  

   All in all I don't see many options for users these days. I tell them I have no idea what they should get.

Paul

Here's a pretty good deal for $549 + $5 shipping  START PRINTPAGEMultimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!!  You need to or END PRINTPAGE

HP dv7-1245dx AMD Dual-Core 2.1 GHz 17” 4GB DDR2 320GB HD eSATA HDMI Webcam Notebook

Pretty good system for the price, even refurb

If you decide on a Mac, (I'm very partial to Mac's...YMMV) ofttimes the best way to buy one is to shop for a reconditioned machine from the factory via the internet.  New computers with a full warranty--but you can usually get them at a deep, deep discount.

Best,

George

George wrote on Apr 20^th, 2009 at 9:46am:

I'm very partial to Mac's...

I KNEW that there was something seriously wrong with you ...  Now we know what it is ...

;)   ;D

Chuck

ClusterChuck wrote on Apr 20^th, 2009 at 9:53am:

George wrote on Apr 20th, 2009 at 9:46am: I'm very partial to Mac's... I KNEW that there was something seriously wrong with you ...  Now we know what it is ... ;)   ;D Chuck

Now, now...

;D

EJ's business is wired out the ying-yang with Dark Side OS--HP's and such--but we're all Mac at home.  2 MacBooks, and El's big wide-screen iMac for her graphics.  Sweet machines.  Our experience with OS X is that it's as solid as a rock, and trouble-free.  

Mac made a customer for life with one of our laptops a while back.  Our MacBook was stolen in transit by a local delivery driver (who was subsequently convicted), but when I received an empty box from the factory, the computer was replaced at no cost, no questions asked, within two days.

Can't beat customer service like that.

Best,

George

I have to admit, I thought switching to Mac was going to be a little bit of a pain.  I have spent so many years on PCs, not to mention all the money I have spent on Microsoft classes getting my MCSE certification (which has come in handy).  As a 'PC' guy, I thought a Mac would be 'cute' for doing the fluffy stuff (photos, web sites, publishing), but I had no idea Mac OS X was so powerful and easy to use.  When I finally switched, I found out it was totally worth the extra money.  In fact, now I am convinced that the 'extra' wasn't really extra at all.  With my PCs, I keep spending money to keep them in shape and updated, while my Macs hum along merrily, never causing me any grief.  I am convinced my PCs are more expensive over the long run.

I have only on PC left in my house, and that one is not going to live forever.  When it dies, I will be 100% PC-free.

The best part is my Macs all run Linux and Windows as well (or better) than any of my PCs.  VMWare is a beautiful thing.

-Shawn

Shawn wrote on Apr 20^th, 2009 at 12:08pm:

...As a 'PC' guy, I thought a Mac would be 'cute' for doing the fluffy stuff (photos, web sites, publishing), but I had no idea Mac OS X was so powerful and easy to use..... -Shawn

That line is so funny.

Apple coin the term PC, meaning personal computer. IBM then stole it with their machine the "IBM PC". Companies copied the IBM PC, which were called "IBM PC compatibles" That was shortened to PC meaning Intel x86 processors.

  Apple later went to IBM processors called "Power PCs" shortened to PPC. Apple changed to Intel x86 processors making the apple hardware the same as the PC's already sold. Apple then has to make the PC a term for Microsoft Windows, rather than the hardware.

   With Intel unable to get a 64 bit processor people would buy, AMD makes their own. Intel then copies it and it is now called x86-64 even though AMD created it first.

If this wasn't true no one would believe it.

I run a PC ( IBM PC compatible with AMD x86-64 processors. START PRINTPAGEMultimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!!  You need to or END PRINTPAGE

Paul [smiley=smokin.gif]

Ironically, my first PC really was a PC (Apple).  I am guilty of using the terms fed to me by the marketing machines, but I know what you mean.

It is true, Woz (Apple) did come out with the first truly 'personal' computer, meaning you didn't need to be a math major or rocket scientist to use it.

I think the term 'Mac user' leaves room for usage of Windows and Linux, since all of those OS's run just fine on my Mac hardware.  My Mac easily runs an entire LAMP stack without any troubles, and I can do anything on it that I could do on my large data center hardware.

Windows does serve a purpose, and I'm glad I know what I am doing with it, but I do prefer OS X to any other OS right now, including all flavors of *nix.

I'd never try and put the average user on Linux though, Paul.  I find the 'average' user needs to be able to get support from friends and family, and the odds of finding somebody to help you with your Windows problems outweigh any benefit to using an OS like Linux.  Linux may have less issues, but if I put my mother-in-law on Linux, I'd have to support her 100x more than if I put her on Windows.  If I put her on OS X, I'd probably never get a support call from her.

   I have put some users and lusers ( the ones who can't copy paste, even the easy UNIX way) on Linux and they did just fine. The biggest problem is that most of them are behind a NAT now and it isn't easy to remote into their machines and see what is wrong. Most of the problems are hardware anyway, these were old boxes I gave away.

  If they can't get a hold of me and they take it to a repair shop the repairer's eyes glaze over, because they don't know how computers work, just how Microsoft windows works. They always end up with a pirated version of windows xp.

   I have corrupted my daughter, she hates Microsoft windows because it is so hard to make it do anything, hates OS X because it crashes all the time ( her school must have a really bad sys admin) and uses Linux at home. She somehow messed up her Windows xp install so the passwords no longer exist and you can't log on which is part of the problem. The restore disc can't repair and will wipe the whole disk clean, meaning it will be a lot of work to get back where it was before. She doesn't miss it in the least.

I START PRINTPAGEMultimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!!  You need to or END PRINTPAGE about how all OS's suck. I do play games, and will be doing some video editing on Linux shortly.

Paul [smiley=smokin.gif]

I don't know Paul, I'd argue that the OSs are smarter than a lot of the users.   :o

Personally, my life would be easier if we went back to timesharing.  This would be before the 'personal' got into computing.  But, by easier I mean unemployed.

You guys kill me. I didn't know English was a second language here.... 8-)

I'm supposed to have something back this week. Looks like I'll have exactly what I had....and wanted before...fine with me. I got enough of my money back on the thing they tried to dump on me so what it amounts to is sort of an expensive repair. I live and learn. I'm a tough sell....I feel that getting on line should be something that works in the evening as well as morning.   >:(:o

I believe that this was like buying a refrigerator. You pick out the one you want and Sears tries to unload one of the units with the noisy motor or scratches that they keep in the back room.

If I have to watch any more tv, I'll go postal. Unbelieveable crap. No more prison tours for me, please.  :o

Charlie

I'm stunned! For the first time in three days, I'm able to use this soon-to-be-dumped system to look around here. On a whim, I gave this a shot so I might get a look at my email. Incredibly, it worked. :o The other post today was done at my library.

I tried this thing three other times today but wasn't able to connect.

I'm at a loss for words and it's been so long since I could post from home that I'm shaky about doing so. Finally, TV isn't my only option tonight.

Wow....what am I gonna do? I guess there are other things on this here internet thing?  8-)

Charlie

But NONE as exciting as CH.com!!!!!!!!!!!!

Joe

Charlie wrote on Apr 21^st, 2009 at 7:48pm:

I guess there are other things on this here internet thing?

OMG!!!

Tell me they DIDN'T wipe out all your porn site addresses!!

I can send you some of mine, but I think they just MIGHT be a different flavor than the ones you want ...

Chuck
EDITED TO ADD THIS LINK:  START PRINTPAGEMultimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!!  You need to or END PRINTPAGE

Charlie I know you don't normally go to these links because of your slow dialup, but you might really enjoy this one.  It a song: The Internet is for Porn sung by the muppet characters.