Posted on 12/23/2013 12:43:41 PM PST by savedbygrace
So, I want to buy a new PC. I have a 4 year old Asus laptop and the screen has a lot of bad pixels. And I do not want to install Win7 again, but Start and Shutdown are both taking a long time, so I know I should re-install if I keep it.
So, my options are to buy a laptop with Win8, or a combo laptop/touch-screen with Win8. I will not buy a desktop PC.
What are the advantages of each, and which models would you recommend? I want as much RAM as possible, maybe 8GB, and the fastest processor I can afford. I want to keep it under $800, or not much more than that.
Note that I will not buy anything from Toshiba.
Go.
Here is the latest model. It even includes a steering wheel.
http://www.comicsbulletin.com/main/sites/default/files/busted/images/081004/busted081004-computer.jpg
Dell Precision M6500:
i5 2.53Ghz, 4GB Ram, 2-320GB SATA HD, DVDRW, 17” LCD, 1GB Video Card, Windows 7, Great Work & Gaming PC
$350.00 laptop
$)89.99 1 yr warranty
Dell Latitude E6410 14" Notebook -- i5 @ 2.40GHz, 2GB DDR3,
160GB HDD, Win 7 Pro Price: $199.99
These are bussiness lease returns. Most done at about 3 yrs.
He's lived in Palm Beach and NYC. Both places are filled wall to wall Democrats.
I have three laptops, two Toshibas and one Asus. I also have an older Dell desktop and a fairly new Asus desktop.
For “real” work with a computer I still don’t believe that one can beat the desktop. And to make it even better attach it to an IBM “clicky” keyboard so you can fly when you type. Trying to hunt and peck with those laptops drives me half nuts although my older Toshiba had a pretty decent keyboard.
I got the Asus from Newegg for 50% off and it has been fantastic. $399 delivered.
I agree about Windows 8.0. It is just nuts what Microsoft did with it. 8.1 is better but I don’t see the point. Windows 7 does everything I want and expect it to do.
You can replace a bad screen for the laptop. I did and it cost about $120. Google the laptop model and screen repair. The plastic bevel around the edge you can pop out using a plastic card. It is about 4 to 5 screws and a electrical connection you unplug. Put the new screen in and plug it in.
Of course a new laptop is better and does not cost a whole more and it would be faster, sharper picture... I would get a new one but also repair the old as a 2nd computer. I recommend Windows 7 as Windows 8 will drive you mad.
If the screen is too small for you, you can get a universal docking station for about $75 so you can plug in a big monitor and a keyboard. You now have 2 monitors if you keep the lid open.
All iPads come with a lightening to USB cable so you can plug it into your computer.
Perhaps you could be more specific in what it is you need?
I suspect you want to plug in a standard USB memory stick.
You might want to consider bluetooth solutions instead.
There are a number of drives that connect to the iPad via bluetooth.
http://www.laptopmag.com/review/wireless/seagate-wireless-plus.aspx
Yes, you can use a remote monitor.
I don’t know how it works with Apple products but when my screen went belly up on my HP laptop, I used my 22” PC monitor.
HP has a simple button to go back and forth from the laptop screen to the remote one, and of course a receptacle designed to plug one in.
Google it, I think you find a solution.
“What the heck is up with the latest version of IE. It seems to get sick after a while, slows down, crashes, locks up.”
IE has always been a piece of crap, from day one. Unpin it from your taskbar, get Opera and make it your main browser, with FF as a back-up. Opera is small, powerful and slick.
Agreed. We have several and all have windows.
Linux has come a long way in recent years. Compatibility is a lot better for home users. Then again, maybe I got lucky.
You should give it a try.
Have to be careful about those hidden switches otherwise you get crappy tool bars that are impossible to uninstall, etc.
This is kinda what I'm looking for but the USB side needs to be "full USB side" - not Mini or Micro.
Mint is based on Ubuntu with a choice of several desktops. I like the Cinnamon edition. I don’t really like Ubuntu’s desktop but that’s just a preference on my part. Mint 13, which works with older computers, will be supported until 2017.
And yes, Linux is far more secure than Windows and that fact is even more evident since the NSA revelations. I do run some Windows programs on Linux under Wine.
I am never, never going to use Windows 8.
IE has never been great, but the latest versions have been complete fail.
Ubuntu is a very smooth and well put together version of Linux. I just tried something called LinuxConsole 2.0 off of a USB and it was nowhere near as nice. Tapping the touchpad did nothing, I had to use the button.
I am so glad I picked Ubuntu when I had to put a clean HDD into my laptop.
I’ll be trying a different distro on my USB soon.
It’s not there yet, but I think Linux only needs a couple of improvements to become THE thing in computers. One, of course, is games. Somehow the companies that make games need to stop thinking Linux users won’t spend money.
The second is easier ability to make things click and play. If you download from Ubuntu’s software center those things will work that way. Other things will not.
There are others but I think those are two of the biggest right now.
I do have Ubuntu on one laptop (in fact, it’s the one I’m using now). I’ve tried Debian, Mint Debian, Fedora, Puppy and a couple of others but settled on Mint.
Prism-break.org does not recommend Ubuntu as there are some data leaks but these can be fixed pretty simply. (That site is a great resource by the way.)
Cool. I don’t like the push button version of Linux either. Nice to know there are other options. Thanks.
I will try to put a MINT variant on my USB and see how it looks and feels.
That’s the wonderful thing about Linux (besides being free and open source). You can try live distros to your heart’s content and then settle on one or more that you like.
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