A New Lap Top

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Torrox_campo
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Re: A New Lap Top

Postby Torrox_campo » Tue Jan 24, 2017 1:16 pm

Wicksey wrote:I just bought a new netbook laptop, sticking to HP which I had before. I did find it a bit cheaper on Amazon but bought it in the end from Worten as I wanted to be able to take it back easily if necessary.

I am surprised that your new one didn't already come with Windows 10 installed - the computers I have bought before all came ready installed. I just had to turn it on and away I went....
HP is a good choice brand and would be my personal choice too. :D Other like Toshiba or Sony are also OK.

Given the globalisation situation the pc manufacturers only need to produce the main board, ie motherboard and the case, other main components such as processor, memory and hard drive are outsourced. Yet even within a well-known brand, you can find some models only exist in a large electronic seller eg. PCWorld, John Lewis etc. because they asked the manufacturer to produce the products for a particular price during a promotional period like Christmas. When I was still in the industry I have found few laptop examples in Toshiba, Dell or even HP where a new laptop model just came out, yet another looked similar but with inferior components for a lesser price. Inspecting closely it is either i3 instead of i5 processor, 4MB instead 6 or 8MB, 1TB hard drive instead of 250GB SSD etc.

Like Plexo I do not buy electronic products that come from the "country" awashes with stories about the spyware incorporating in the system, collecting personal data then send back to their server without customer knowledge. Google "the country" + spyware, you will see Lenovo BIOS, android phones etc. No wonder USA and Canada banned their departments from buying these products from this land whose people don't play or obey the international rules. Caveat emptor!

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Re: A New Lap Top

Postby markwilding » Tue Jan 24, 2017 1:32 pm

Maybe the OP didn't have to download Windows 10 for the first time. Maybe he had to update it to a newer version, something all of us,, who took up Windows 10 from the start, have had to do at least twice over the last couple of years.

Windows 10 is not a free upgrade anymore so I doubt the computer had to be upgraded from an earlier version of Windows because some money would have had to pass hands.

Updating software on gadgets is pretty normal these days. before being able to use them, I have had to update software on just about everything I've bought over the last few years including my TV, Now TV box, Amazon fire stick, IPhone and I pad among others.

I tend to go for HP or Sony basically because they have a wide range. I can look at many similar models and can trade off processor speed with memory etc. to bring it within my budget. As already mentioned they often look the same until you look at the specs.

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Re: A New Lap Top

Postby El Cid » Tue Jan 24, 2017 4:29 pm

Torrox_campo wrote:
Wicksey wrote:

Like Plexo I do not buy electronic products that come from the "country" awashes with stories about the spyware incorporating in the system, collecting personal data then send back to their server without customer knowledge. Google "the country" + spyware, you will see Lenovo BIOS, android phones etc. No wonder USA and Canada banned their departments from buying these products from this land whose people don't play or obey the international rules. Caveat emptor!
That rules out Apple and most of the major computer manufacturers!

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Torrox_campo
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Re: A New Lap Top

Postby Torrox_campo » Tue Jan 24, 2017 4:45 pm

Yes it's a difficult one but at least Apple and HP and Sony etc. are owned by foreign companies who play the same rules and have their reputation to upheld. There have never been any scandals regarding the BIOS malware from any above mentioned company even though their PCs were manufactured in that country.

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Re: A New Lap Top

Postby maureenscot » Tue Jan 24, 2017 7:11 pm

Try the Which? assessments. They have a Lenovo as a don't buy. Not sure of serial number but other Lenovos may be ok. Asus gets thumbs up for best cheapo

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Flexo
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Re: A New Lap Top

Postby Flexo » Tue Jan 24, 2017 8:46 pm

El Cid wrote: That's good to know. Since they turned over $81 billion last year that must be a lot of keyboards.
I can assure you that those billions did not come from their personal computers but their server racks, cloud services and super computers. There are several old predictions from IBM that goes like "There is only a market for five computers in the world" and "Why would anyone want a computer in their home". It is from that era that IBM built their corporate culture.

They do nice keyboards though.

El Cid
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Re: A New Lap Top

Postby El Cid » Tue Jan 24, 2017 8:59 pm

But you said the only area they were relevant in was keyboards???

Perhaps we should agree to differ and get back on topic.

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Re: A New Lap Top

Postby Flexo » Wed Jan 25, 2017 9:37 am

El Cid wrote:But you said the only area they were relevant in was keyboards???
No, I wrote "like keyboards" and it was a bad phrasing from me because even though we were explicitly talking about laptops I forgot that some people tend to take everything out of context.

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Re: A New Lap Top

Postby Pamela1 » Wed Jan 25, 2017 9:42 am

When i decided to buy my very first computer i hadn't a clue what to look for or which brand was reliable etc...I bought a what computer magazine and chose one from their best buy guide..It turned out to be the biggest load of rubbish ever...My first laptop was a Sony from PC world on special offer, i wish i had left it on the shelf! 2nd laptop was a Dell and apart from the plastic casing holding the screen coming away the most annoying thing was the keys sticking and having to refit them...

I now have an HP....2yrs old, well built and no problems so far at all..touch wood.. :thumbup:

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Re: A New Lap Top

Postby El Cid » Wed Jan 25, 2017 10:36 am

Laptops tend to be less robust than desktops as the weight has to be pared down to the minimum.There are some really good alloy based laptops (like Apple) but they tend to be pretty pricy.

I have a six year old Dell laptop which I use as a data logger for my weather system. The keys don't get used a lot and it doesn't get moved around, but it has been running 24/7 for 6 years without a glitch (apart from the occasional Windows crash!) and power cuts (needless to say, the battery died years ago!..

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Re: A New Lap Top

Postby Lavanda » Wed Jan 25, 2017 12:03 pm

It's discussions such as this that make me thankful I have only ever used Apple Macintosh computers. The first was one of those enormous strawberry desktop things that weighed a ton. The second was a huge screen desktop iMac and my current one is a MacBook Air. Each computer lasted nine or ten years and this one is currently just over a year old. Yes! They are expensive but they are totally simple to use and when I look at, and listen to, my OH rant at his Acer computer and yell at Window 10 I am so thankful I do not have that stress in my life.

I would never buy anything from Amazon (but that's another thread). I bought my MacBook Air from Carrefour, with a warranty and all that, and I got it for €200.00 less than from the local MacShop in Cáceres. So far ... so good!

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Re: A New Lap Top

Postby markwilding » Wed Jan 25, 2017 12:23 pm

I've bought loads of stuff from Amazon with hardly any problems.

I've bough at least 4 HP laptops (None of them from Amazon) and 2 needed their batteries replacing and one needed the keyboard replaced twice. Another needed the Hard drive replacing, although that was done through the warranty.
I've had a HP desktop and the fan and needed replacing. It had two hard drives, one failed so I transferred windows to the other, then the other went so I gave up on it.
I replaced it with a Sony all in one (From Amazon) and got problems with the software so I did a clean Windows install without any of Sony's bloatware and have had no problems since.

I prefer not to blame brands because quite often much of the hardware is the same in all of them. Had I bought different brand, would I have fared better? I think not. You only need to go into an Apple store near the back to see that they are not exempt from problems ether, However. I bought my son one and he's never had anything go wrong

My current laptop, an HP is close on three years old, works fine and, touch wood, I've never had any problems at all. Purchased from Staples in London. not because out of any loyalty to them but because I knew more or less what I wanted. I checked Amazon, John Lewis, PC World and HP's own website amongst others and they were all different specs, even though they looked exactly the same and eventually found more or less what I wanted on the Staples website.

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Re: A New Lap Top

Postby Pamela1 » Wed Jan 25, 2017 1:17 pm

Lavanda, I'm not surprised that you were happy with your Apple computers, the place where i used to work used nothing else but Apple Mac's in the graphic design studio..The people who worked in there said they were easy to use compared to a PC especially for graphic design work..The only draw back they found was that when clients sent artwork via publisher from a PC the mac's couldn't open the publisher documents...we got round that by opening them on a PC and saving them in a format which the mac's could open...Apparently not many people are using publisher now so i've heard they receive very few publisher files..

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Re: A New Lap Top

Postby firsttango » Wed Jan 25, 2017 2:05 pm

Lavanda Absolutely spot on :thumbup:
Last edited by firsttango on Wed Jan 25, 2017 5:50 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: A New Lap Top

Postby chrissiehope » Wed Jan 25, 2017 2:35 pm

I've just had to buy a new laptop, even tho' I already have 3 plus an old netbook ! Reason being my ISP, who I signed a 2 yr contract with last August, informed me, when I lost internet access, that they hadn't supported XP since Microsoft stopped support in 2014 ! I wasn't a happy bunny, but I needed internet access, so I went to a local shop (they'd been extremely helpful over the phone ) and bought a Compaq with Windows 7 on it. After years of XP, W7 takes a bit of getting used to, and some of my software will not work on W7, so I've had to buy new versions (assuming they still exist - one doesn't :-( ). So at the moment, I have a pc with XP & all my files on it, and a laptop with internet access and recent emails on it. Now, what to do with 3 laptops & a netbook with XP on .......;-)
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Re: A New Lap Top

Postby markwilding » Wed Jan 25, 2017 4:25 pm

Hi Chrissie,
I think you've made a mistake going for Windows 7 because you going to come up against the same problem again much quicker than to would had you bought a Windows 10 one
We all have to get used to new versions at some point so better now than later. You might also come up with software compatibility as well where software companies stop support there programmes on older operating systems.
Anyway, Windows 10 can be used in a way similar to windows 7. In many cases using Windows 10 is much easier than 7 because there are apps creating especially for it.I love their simplicity and most of the icons are bigger so easier to navigate and use.

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Re: A New Lap Top

Postby HarryJ » Wed Jan 25, 2017 5:47 pm

Pamela1 wrote:Lavanda, I'm not surprised that you were happy with your Apple computers, the place where i used to work used nothing else but Apple Mac's in the graphic design studio..The people who worked in there said they were easy to use compared to a PC especially for graphic design work..The only draw back they found was that when clients sent artwork via publisher from a PC the mac's couldn't open the publisher documents...we got round that by opening them on a PC and saving them in a format which the mac's could open...Apparently not many people are using publisher now so i've heard they receive very few publisher files..
Plus Macs are not affected by all those nasty Windows virus's out there

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Re: A New Lap Top

Postby gerryh » Wed Jan 25, 2017 6:07 pm

chrissiehope wrote:... Reason being my ISP, who I signed a 2 yr contract with last August, informed me, when I lost internet access, that they hadn't supported XP since Microsoft stopped support in 2014 ! ....
Am I missing something?
Can't see why your ISP should be concerned what OS you are using. :think:
Surely an ISP just provides access to the internet via a supplied modem.
What you connect to the modem shouldn't be of any concern to the ISP.
Currently I am using PC/laptops/tablet running a mix of XP, Win 7 and Win 10 and smartphones/ tablets running Android 4, 5 and 6 all connected to my modem via wired connections or WiFi
Cheers
Gerry
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Enrique
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Re: A New Lap Top

Postby Enrique » Wed Jan 25, 2017 6:27 pm

Hi gerryh,
Not missing anything........Chrissie's ISP wasn't interested in helping.
All my best learning experiences start with a problem I need to solve.

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gerryh
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Re: A New Lap Top

Postby gerryh » Wed Jan 25, 2017 6:40 pm

Ah I see he just gave an answer that he hoped the customer would not realise he was talking cr*p and go away and stop asking him questions. :thumbdown: :thumbdown:
Had a similar "discussion" with Vodafone.
Lost the mobile signal and 3G signal for internrt access.
Got in my car and drove to somewhere I could get a signal so I could phone Customer "support".
The person on the other end was obviously reading from a script.
I said I had no phone signal or 3G signal at home.
Kept asking me what OS I was running, I said that was not relevant as I didn't have a signal, kept asking what OS I was running.
Asked to speak to her supervisor who accepted the fact I had no signal at home.
When I got home the signal was back.
Cheers
Gerry
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