Dear Matto,
You raise an excellent question. Certainly there are other forums where you
can get some great ideas, but I can't recommend any offhand. Try searching
for techy sites, or, today and tomorrow there is a radio show called The Tech
Guy (Leo Laporte) which takes phone calls, and has a chat room. You can look
up the address for the chat room online, I should think. Leo picks questions
off the chat room during his show, and also takes live calls, but if you're too
shy to go live, just use the chat room, it's free and easy.
Go to Walmart and get one you like. I did that 4 years ago and still works fine for the internet. Might not be the cheapest in the whole world but still cheap and still works as good as more expensive ones..............maybe look on Amazon to get an idea of prices and memory, screen size etc.
I went to Wal-Mart a couple of years ago looking at laptops and the salesman
there said they are not on commission so he doesn't mind telling me that you
can get much better deals and service across the street at Sam's Club. Both
stores are Sam Walton stores. But Sam's Club requires a membership. The
salesman was quite confident that the savings you get with the purchase of
only one laptop far exceeds the price of an annual Sam's Club membership.
The biggest draw is that Sam's Club laptops come with an automatic high grade
free replacement guarantee. I was specifically looking for information on the
keyboard key pads that sometimes come off. I found one display model that
was missing a key pad, and the salesman said that sometimes these key
pads are impossible to replace, for there are so many different configurations,
nobody wants to stock them all, but if you get a laptop at Sam's Club, and one
of those keypads falls off, they will either get you a repair/replacement or else
they will replace your whole computer. I find that a bit unbelieveable, but that
is what he told me. I have not been to Sam's Club to check that out.
I went to Staples the other day and found that they have a pretty good
array of laptops for sale, and one in particular was ON sale. It was an HP.
Hewlett-Packard has been an electronics/calculator pioneer for many decades
now. They were building top grade calculators before Bill Gates turned in his
famous DOS plan to his Big Blue Boss. And it seems they still maintain their
niche in the laptop arena. The model that was on sale had Windows 8 as
standard, and there is a catch for that, below...
If you got really attached to the backlit keys on your MAC, you might be a
bit jazzed to know that some PCs are made with that as an option. But you
have to be sure it is specifically listed as a component when you order, as it
is one of those things, like a car, that COULD be included but might NOT be
in the specific deal you come up with. It seems to me that if you make it
a 'dealbreaker' the salesman may be willing to 'throw it in' in order to get
the sale.
On the other hand, if you're really trying to save money, you might be looking
at a liquidation stock that would perhaps have no such feature available. But
it doesn't hurt to ask. I saw backlit keys on Asus and on Acer laptops, but
it might be on others too, like Sony, Toshiba, Lenovo (new name for IBM as
I recall) or HP. I had an Asus laptop for about 10 years and it was really great.
I think they are made in Taiwan or some place like that. Asus has special
Lamborghini models that match the color scheme and leather stitching of your
car for the fashion conscious. But that's out of your price range, I'm sure!
There are rumors that XP support is going to be 'discontinued' by Microsoft,
but I have to say that I highly doubt it. There are a LOT of users who are
very happy with XP, and even commercial users who do not want to go to
the expense of training their staff to use W8 systems. So there is a market
for XP and a loyal following. It seems to me that Microsoft would be STUPID
to cut that off, and stupid has not been one of their earmarks, so far, that is.
You may want to take a peek at Linux, which has been steadily growing in
market share, especially in Europe where the software for it is FREE. That
has been the hang-up with PCs and MACs in the USA, the copyright on
software - software that GOES OBSOLETE as you change systems, and then
you have to not only upgrade your computer, but also upgrade your whole
library of programs -- $$$$$$.
If you have MAC programs you would like to use on a PC, you may be able
to do so with some translation software they sell at the APPLE store. But I
don't recall the specifics of that.
Another place to check is Fry's Electronics. If you go to the store, you will be
hunted down by salesmen that resemble circling vultures looking for a victim
at large. So if you can deal with that, okay. I have found that if you say you
have a friend who sent you in to collect information for him, that works best.
If you don't have a good idea, say your friend is a truck driver who has no
time to go shopping because he takes care of his mother when he comes
home from work and has to leave at 3:00 am to drive 300 miles a day. That
one turns them off. They do NOT want any more details!
Fry's used to have excellent rebuilt computers, but it seems that so many
customers were snatching those up they have now gone systematic on that
and they get shipments of whole pallets of rebuild computers all the same.
But you said you don't want used. These are only slightly used, because they
have been thoroughly rebuilt, and come with a manufacturer's guarantee.
Which reminds me, Staples (and maybe other stores) have a website where
you can CASH IN your old laptop for $100 up to $400 provided it still works.
You have to give them the charging cable/transformer, and the entire laptop,
with hard drive and battery, and the screen (top panel) must not be broken
or falling off like mine is (Boo-hoo). They send you a shipping box and you
send it UPS or FEDX or whatever, for free. Then they assess it and contact
you by phone or e-mail (how you can get email when they have your computer
is anyone's guess!).
Windows 8 is the newest PC operating system that is less bulky than Vista
or Windows 7, but retains a lot of the look and feel. But it is more complicated
to use than XP. If you are accustomed to a MacIntosh Apple, this might be a
bit much for you to bite off and chew on! HAHAHAHAHA
But seriously, the W8 machines at Staples come with a 'free' half hour of
training for you to 'learn' W8, but that ISN'T ENOUGH TIME!! (gAsP). You are
free to opt for the membership plan that gets you Q&A support for a year, or,
you can choose the $30/hr option of having a guy come to your house to
answer your questions. Staples does not have an over-the-Internet home
call service where they can take over control of your computer from a remote
location and talk to you on the phone while they do so. I'm not kidding, but
it is possible for someone to do this, but it's supposed to be "with your
permission." Okay? Personally, I think it's a great idea, but that's another
topic.
Topic: Advice about a new computer. (Read 4510 times)