Posted on 09/30/2012 3:50:06 PM PDT by Allen In Texas Hill Country
My elcheapo Compaq has started acting up. The screen goes blank/blur sometimes when I move it up or down for viewing. Had it 3 or 4 years and don't mind spending another 3 hunert for a new one,,,,,,,,,,, except........
This, since retired computer geek/jerk just doesn't see the need to relearn where everything is in W7 and/or W8. And don't anybody say its all the same. This computer I'm typing on is Vista and I would never try to do any work on it. Only use it for Mozilla. Of the 6 computers I have its the only Vista. Four are XP Pro and one is W7 Home which I haven't turned on in a year or more. I'll put XP on it when the need arises.
So I started looking at new laptops and hhhmmmmmmmm, XP drivers for new chipsets seem nonexistent :<(((((.
Anybody know of a new XP compatible laptop????
Hey, I just went to XP Pro from Win 98 3 years ago.
And we’re talking three hundred or so, right? sarc/
Panasonic Toughbooks are legendary for longevity. I’m sure you can pick up a good one off of ebay that still works well and has XP on it, and for not too much money. You should research the models and make sure you get one of the newest models that still has XP on it, as there will be tons of very old Toughbooks on ebay.
However, I gave my mother a Win7 machine. For her, it's the best choice. She is totally computer illiterate, and she had no trouble switching from XP to Win7.
At this point, I would recommend anyone running XP to upgrade to Win7. Avoid Win8 for the time being (and maybe forever). But Win7 is the best version of Windows available.
A few things to consider: First and foremost - the only way you’re going to be running XP is in a virtual machine on another platform. The last six months have really left XP behind in terms of drivers. There are a few geek clubs out there who are dedicated to making XP compatible drivers available, but the time investment to do that seems silly.
Next, we’re nearing the good old Black Friday sales - stock is rotating in for preparation for those sales, and prices aren’t going down until they can discount it for the holiday season. There’s some great deals on referbs right now, but a new laptop right now is a financially bad exercise. If they can stick it to a few parents to get them to overpay for old technology for kids, they’ll do it.
And especially since your budget is running the floor, every dollar counts. A $400 machine discounted to $300 during Black Friday can be twice to three times the machine that same $300 buys today.
So my advice: hold off on buying a replacement for the moment, extend the effort into learning W7 rather than spending fruitless hours trying to find XP drivers, and then pick up a great deal in November.
For myself, 90% of my browsing is now done on my Nexus 7 tablet, most of my streaming goes to my television, and my laptop can sit for days without use.
If you really want one, there are plenty of used XP laptops for about $300 on Amazon.
At that price I would probably just replace or zero the existing laptop hard drive and install Linux Mint 13. That's what I did with an old Dell laptop that a friend gave me. Replaced the hard drive, bought a new power supply, and it has been a great second laptop, responsive and fairly easy to use. Linux still requires a bit of extra work, but nothing like the bad old days.
“Uninstall the Adobe Flash player on your system and install a previous version and your problem may be solved”
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That is interesting.
I think I had recently upgraded my Flash player.
Just minutes ago I did the latest Firefox upgrade.
No stuttering so far this morning, but if it starts again, I will try the older Flash.
Well consider this...Linux was invented by Richard Stallman, a self-avowed atheist who often wears an "Impeach God" button on his clothing. He's a socialist who eschews personal wealth and believes that all software should be free. He's a Green Party supporter who admires Nelson Mandela and Ralph Nader among other commie types.
Need I go on?
Let's just stop trying to fit our political ideology into the computers that we use, or the music that we listen to or the movies that we watch, etc. We are bound to be disappointed. Just go with the best.
Get a MacBook Pro. Most dependable computer I've ever owned and it replaced my desktop as well. Get a tablet (i.e. iPad) for web-surfing and email on the living room couch. Scrap the bug-ridden virus-attacking Microsoft OS's (though Windows 8 does look promising). Also, if it make you feel better, the OSX operating system on the MacBook Pro is based on Linux.
Get whichever one you like and download and run: “Windows XP Compatible Mode” which you can get for free here:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/virtual-pc/download.aspx
I left off the /sarc tag on the initial post.
A few years ago, I started tabulating a list of retail outlets that were “off limits” by FReeper condemnation.
Eventually we got down to the St. Vincent de Paul Thrift Stores as the only remaining option.
Then someone posted an anti-Catholic screed and we were out of business completely, LOL.
Hey! Don’t forget to include The Samsung Galaxy 3S! The worlds geekiest phone:
http://www.engadget.com/2012/05/03/samsung-galaxy-s-iii-preview-hands-on/
My wife bought me an IPhone 4s which works but when I renew I’ll be upgrading to the Galaxy.
No, Linux was "invented" by Linus Torvalds, and is now developed by people with every political-sexual-religious affiliation under the sun.
For what it's worth, from the Torvalds Wikipedia page,
In 2010, Torvalds became a United States citizen and registered to vote in the United States; he is unaffiliated with any U.S. political party, saying, "I have way too much personal pride to want to be associated with any of them, quite frankly."[5]
Off topic,
Just toured the hill country with thoughts of moving there. How is dsl service in kerrville, fredericksburg, Bourne?
I’m retired but wife needs fast dsl for job as researcher/writer.
Get a cheap tablet or a netbook......remember it always costs twice as much to go first class.
IBC! (In Before Correction:
I’ll be upgrading downgrading to the Galaxy.
Should mention I tried to love Apple. I bought a $1700 IMac 27” with the latest “Mountain Lion”. Downloaded XCode for iphone Dev and started tinkering.
After spending 30 or 40 hours I’ve come to the conclusion that I had originally. Apple is a bunch of elitist snobs and don’t give a darn about developers or anyone else.
Kinda of like Cisco.
Both companies have good hardware but they both have way to draconian EUA’s and licensing.
Not saying that all Apple or Cisco users are that way of course!
Both companies make beautiful hardware.
But their software either does what you want it to or too bad!!!
Are you referring to youtube.com or utube.com? They are two different websites.
bookmark
Well to be specific, Linus Torvalds invented the Linux kernel. It was Stallman who had the original idea of a free operating system (based on UNIX) and already had the other tools in place that Torvalds made use of (compiler, text editor, debugger, etc.)
Touche’
!!
“Are you referring to youtube.com or utube.com? They are two different websites.”
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I never noticed the spelling, as I do not use it myself.
It is “You Tube”. They have many short videos that are great for toddlers.
I just looked up “Utube” on start page. I wondered if it might be a porn video site, hahaha.
It seems to be celebrity oriented, but on the up and up.
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