Death of a computer

[Dee]

Well, I knew it would happen one day soon and today was the day. My six-year-old PC is dead. Dead I tell ya. So next week I'll be shopping around for a new one, more than likely a laptop this time.

Anyone have any decent laptop recommendations?

[aforeyego]

aaaawwwwwwwwwwwwww,,,, so sorry, Dee :(
I cannot help you,,,, but may I ask what PC you are using just now ?

(I got only my "Donald" = desktop-PC, if he would die, I'd have to go with him :p)

btw: I hate the keyboards of laptops & co!

[richthelandlord]

btw: I hate the keyboards of laptops & co!

So do I, with a passion - I need more travel in the keys, like on the old-fashioned terminals...

[aforeyego]

I bet you edited it because you put usw the first time... :)

nope,,, I put "btw" to it,,, there are times in a day, when I am right - unbelievable to myself, but true ;)

[richthelandlord]

there are times in a day, when I am right - unbelievable to myself, but true ;)

Good grief, you were quick off the mark... :p

[aforeyego]

So do I, with a passion - I need more travel in the keys, like on the old-fashioned terminals...

Exactly so, Richard :D

[paularoid]

Well, I knew it would happen one day soon and today was the day. My six-year-old PC is dead. Dead I tell ya. So next week I'll be shopping around for a new one, more than likely a laptop this time.

Anyone have any decent laptop recommendations?

I'm sure liking this Dell Inspiron 6000 that I working with/on right now. It has the ability to handle peripheral everything (for which I am very grateful). I've got an regular keyboard plugged into it (negating the need to use the the laptop keyboard) and I'm also using a wireless mouse with it (negating the need to use that infernal touchpad). All those complaints rightfully used by others here have been addressed by these actions. AND . . . I can just fold it up and take it with me to use any wireless access that I may find out and about wherever.

[Dee]

Thank you, Paularoid. I was already planning to buy one that can also handle a mouse, full size keyboard and WIFI.

At the moment I am one-finger typing on the 3.5" touch screen of my NOKIA N8 phone so any laptop keyboard would seem like a luxury! LOL

[aforeyego]

At the moment I am one-finger typing on the 3.5" touch screen of my NOKIA N8 phone so any laptop keyboard would seem like a luxury! LOL

WOW, Dee, you're a genius! That's amazing :cool:

[paularoid]

Thank you, Paularoid. I was already planning to buy one that can also handle a mouse, full size keyboard and WIFI.

At the moment I am one-finger typing on the 3.5" touch screen of my NOKIA N8 phone so any laptop keyboard would seem like a luxury! LOL

I know how that works... or doesn't, however the case may be. I've been texting my boys and their wives a lot with my LG phone with a regular phone keypad and that can be a real chore. I'm improving with practice. Texting by the way with my phone only costs 30 cents per message so that can be a LOT less expensive since my boys are all at long-distance rates away from me. Also, if you are going or choose to go the texting route for your phone, I've found that a pen works quite nicely for punching the keys.

If that touchpad gives you any fits (like it does with many people, myself included :rolleyes:) I've found a little freebie application that locks it out so you can touch it by mistake and it won't foul things up completely. Also I've found that if you don't want to install and use that little lockout utility and just want to go with the "duct-tape and bailing wire" routine, just tape a small piece of light cardboard over the touchpad and no worries, or just deactivate it altogether.

The "Touchpad Blocker" is a "Program automatically blocks accidental taps and clicks when the user is typing text on a laptop keyboard." and it can be found here (http://karpolan.com/software/touchpad-blocker/):
http://karpolan.com/software/touchpad-blocker/

[richthelandlord]

I know how that works... or doesn't, however the case may be.

Which is precisely why I chose a phone with a qwerty keyboard, Blackberry-style - a Nokia E-63.

I can't get over how expensive text-messaging is over there... the worst tariff here would be something like 10p, and if it's within the same network more like 3p is more typical... and you often get several hundred free texts each month as a bonus.
With a contract rather than pay-as-you go it's cheaper still.

[Dee]

I actually like the touch screen, but I am beginning to wonder if I could sharpen the end of my finger in a pencil sharpener?

BUT ... to get back on topic, any other laptop recommendations would be welcome!

[paularoid]

Even though my phone is an LG it's actually a TracPhone. It's a "pay-as-you-go" type of deal. No contracts with anybody. You just add minutes as needed. That's why the texting may or may not be expensive depending on your perspective. For me, texting is 30 cents a message no matter what length or where you are. Phone calls depend on what area you're calling and what area you're in. If I'm out of my "home area" then calls from there are more expensive. If I'm calling TO somewhere out of my "home area" then calls are more expensive.

[richthelandlord]

Even though my phone is an LG it's actually a TracPhone. It's a "pay-as-you-go" type of deal. No contracts with anybody. You just add minutes as needed. That's why the texting may or may not be expensive depending on your perspective.

Mine's the same, pay-as-you-go... it doesn't get used enough to make a contract better value for me as I don't top up as much as the monthly charge would be.
My last £10 top-up lasted me something like 5 months because the only time the phone is on at all is if Babs & myself are in different places... that doesn't happen very often.

[Amy in Vermont]

I'm a Dell Latitude fan, but I also like the Lenovo laptops. Truly, from a hardware perspective, anything but a MAC is OK by me, but I can tear down and rebuild a Dell pretty damned fast these days.

[Dee]

Thank you, Amy!

[razal]

Dee, I have a desktop going on 7 years old so I suppose I will be looking for a new computer soon also. Like you, I will probably opt for a laptop, but I will want to be able to connect a regular size keyboard and wireless mouse as well.

This last computer has lasted so long because I followed the advice of buying the computer with the largest capacity (memory, speed of processor, hard drive, etc) and most updated technology I could afford. I am now wondering if it is so necessary to do this since there are very portable hard drives available that people are using as back ups. Any thoughts on this?

Anyway, I hope you will share with us what you finally decided upon.

[richthelandlord]

I'd suggest the fastest/most memory you can afford in the hope that it'll still be able to run the next incarnation of Windows - that could significantly extend the life of the machine.

The system requirements tend to creep up a little each time a new version happens, and the upgrade is sometimes forced upon you by the end-of-life withdrawal of support by M$ so it's no longer possible to secure the system well enough to use the web safely.

My 'back office' still contains computers with maybe a decade or more of service left in them that couldn't be trusted outside the perimeter firewall any more if they were still running Windows... Ubuntu to the rescue, in this case.

External drives are a great way to back stuff up, especially portable ones.

If you run a network at home, network attached storage is well worth considering too - it's not very expensive to buy a NAS device with 2 drives in it, so it can automatically make two copies of everything at a time... that redundant storage makes the data very robust, if either drive fails the remaining one still contains everything, and can be duplicated back onto the replacement for the failed one.

[Amy in Vermont]

Were I to buy a new machine I would go for:

Minimum 4 GB of RAM
Minimum 250 GB Hard drive
DVI video output ( if desktop, not totally necessary on laptop.
If desktop, the BEST monitor I could buy (high res, DVI input, etc)

Rich's suggestion of NAS, is a good one. I have a USB port on my router, and have $100 external 500 GB drive there. Cloud storage for critical data is a good idea too, if you can be sure it's secure, in the event of fire, earthquake, etc.

[dreamchaser728]

I got one word for ya Dee:

MAC

[Mary6906]

I got one word for ya Dee:

MAC

Make it two... my little smoochie face! I love my MacBook Pro laptop.

[Dee]

Thanks for the feedback everyone. I've done some online research on the boyfriend's computer this morning and I am liking one more than others quite a lot. It has everything I wanted in terms of connectivity and ports and storage, built in web cam and so forth for $399.99 CAN. At this point I have no need of external storage (except perhaps for backup purposes). Something else to consider getting. If all goes according to plan I'll be ordering one next week.
http://www.futureshop.ca/multimedia/Products/250x250/101/10159/10159378.jpg
HP G-Series 15.6" AMD Athlon II Dual Core P340 Laptop - Black

FEATURES:

* Enjoy quick, reliable performance with an AMD Athlon II Dual Core P340 processor and 4GB system memory
* Store files on the 320GB hard drive
* A 15.6-inch display with an HD resolution offers impressive clarity
* Burn your own DVDs up to 8.5GB in size with the SuperMulti DVD drive with Double Layer support
* Create your own customized DVD discs with LightScribe Technology
* Video chat with friends, family, and colleagues by using the webcam with built-in microphone
* 802.11b/g/n WiFi offers optimized wireless speed in any wireless hotspot
* Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit

[richthelandlord]

I got one word for ya Dee:

MAC

There's something I really don't understand - along with the huge majority of folk this side of the ditch - why on earth are Macs so popular over there? :confused:

Over here they cost twice what a PC does, for half the performance on anything except Photoshop, have little software, and zero after-sales support... :eek:

[DaveM]

I just paid $79 (with free shipping) for a 1.5TB Iomega external HD (actually, Iomega only makes the case--the drive is a Samsung). Have had an 80GB external HD for some years, but it's amazing how quickly one can fill things up, especially if you put movies and music on your computer.

At any rate....I can now do complete backups and hopefully the HD will outlive my now five year old computer.

[angelclare]

yeah, my trusty computer died a few days ago,too. I am using an old, slow laptop at the moment. I would love to get a new laptop this time. (I usually have a desktop). A lot less wires and cords everywhere. And I personally have no beef with the keyboards on laptops. But I do insist on using a mouse. That HP laptop you describe looks good to me, too. When the tax return refund appears........

[richthelandlord]

That HP job looks a good choice to me too... and it would be a good price even in £Sterling, let along $can.

[angelclare]

Hey Dee, I forgot to mention this before. You may already be aware of this site: Ottawa.kijiji.ca. I have used the Belleville site and got a lot of good things, including my old PC (Of course it wasn't old when I bought it.) Usually has a lot of computers listed. If you find something suitable, you may well save money and avoid tax.
I have used belleville.kijiji.ca a lot and always had a good experience when I bought something that way.

[Dee]

Thanks for suggesting that Angelclare but I am going with this brand new one. The price is reasonable for the features it has and it comes with a warranty, something that is important to have. Actually, I was pleasantly surprised to find just how much prices have come down in the six years since I bought my desktop PC. I paid $1,500 for that. Oy! LOL

[richthelandlord]

It's a sobering thought when you work out how many hours salary some of the older computers equated to... this one cost well under a week's work.
My first cost nearer to two months.

[paularoid]

Although I can't speak for the models of today because I haven't worked with one for ages, it should be made known that in the past both HP and Compaq computers were -extremely- proprietary. Dell computers (particularly of a certain model that I can't remember) -used- to be that way as well until they realized that building what the customer -actually- wanted rather than building something and -telling- the customer that's what they wanted was far more financially sound.

Just be aware.....

[Amy in Vermont]

I can also suggest:

outlet.dell.com

Look at the scratch and dent models.. good deals

[DaveM]

HPs are indeed full of proprietary infrastructure (forget it if you want to add a graphics card to most, for example). However, they do have a great set of deals on "factory refurbished" computers. Most of these are customer returns that have been rebuilt, "cosmetic blemishes", and the like. My current machine (a 2005 model purchased in 2006) was evidently sold to someone who sent it back under warranty with a blown motherboard. HP put a Dual Core Athlon board in it (the case claims it has a Pentium 4), added a larger than specification hard drive, and sold it to me for about one-third off the lowest retail I could find. Their refurbished products come with the same warranty as a new machine.

Despite their limitations, I must say that HP machines do seem to do well in the durability department. A 1998 model I used for several years before purchasing the current unit is still in use. Chances are it won't run the software one finds in the bargain bins any more, but with a wireless card added, it is keeping an internet addict quite happy. Still on the original hard drive and Windows 98 at a screaming 533 mhz.

[Eva]

I'm with the Mac people.

Eva

[Dee]

Finally ordered the laptop. Delivery in 3 to 5 business days. And boy will it ever be nice not to be typing on this teeny weeny mobile screen anymore!

[Randy & Betty in Pa]

Hey Dee,

My laptop (a year old now) has offered me no problems at all so far.... 17.5 Monitor, I have a mouse attached and sometimes I plug in a second monitor... It's an HP G-61 with Windows 7.0..... I like everything about it but did have to pay additional after 30 or 60 days for windows and I also have paid for online Norton support....

The initial purchase price onsale at Walmart was $498ish....

Best and good luck

R

PS.... Recently I had purchased a new Dell with Vista and it was a disaster....

[paularoid]

PS.... Recently I had purchased a new Dell with Vista and it was a disaster....

And THAT (with Vista) I would wager was the major problem. :rolleyes:

I've seen and worked a little bit with Windows 7 and other than the fact that it -requires- that your system has to be a comparative hotrod just to run it, it's far and away a vast improvement over Vista.

Just my opinion for whatever it is or isn't worth.

[richthelandlord]

I skipped right over Vista, having had to support it for other people... but Windows 7 has been superb for me... the first ever Microsoft product I don't begrudge paying for.

[Wildflower Fever]

I have a 7 year old Dell desktop that is slowly faltering, but still works. I haven't replaced it because I always have a relatively new company issued laptop as a backup. I just can't use it for personal things like storage of music. If I were to replace it, I'd go with a desktop again as I already have a laptop and absolutely hate it (keyboard, etc.). In my experience, desktops last longer if maintained properly. I'm a firm believer in fully utilizing antivirus/firewall, and the fact that I always shut down the PC before I go to bed. I think folks that leave them on 24/7 simply wear them out sooner, like a TV. I think the small things like portability and the screen being attached add to the wear and tear on laptops that shorten their lifespan. However, if I had a proper office, I'd probably go laptop with sync up to a large screen monitor and desk mounted keyboard, I could live with that.

This is my company issued laptop, a monstrosity called the HP EliteBook 2740P. As you can see, the screen can be turned around and closed to convert it basically to an Ipad with full windows/MS capability. It has touchscreen, that works both with fingers and a stylus pen. It's also so advanced (with Windows 7, MS Office 2010, and too many other features) that it needs fixing from IT almost weekly. Yuck:

http://www.uncrate.com/men/images/2010/02/hp-elitebook-xl.jpg

[richthelandlord]

One reason desktops tend to last longer than laptops - particularly for people with long hair - is cooling.

Laptops have very small cooling ducts that tend to clog easily if they're not regularly cleaned, and few people bother to do so.
Many that come to me with overheating problems are clogged, and long hair entangled in the fan is a very common culprit.
Knowing that is half the secret of avoiding the problem - keep your hair out of the hole. :)

Desktops generally have room for a decent filter which avoids that problem, and they're a lot more accessible for DIY cleaning too.

[Dee]

Note to self: Keep hair out of hole. Got it.

So I FINALLY got an email at 4:15 today saying the thing has shipped. Will someone please tell me again about the advantages of online shopping because so far I've seen NONE at all!

[Mary6906]

Is a clogged cooling duct on a computer the same as having belly-button lint? :rolleyes:

[razal]

So I FINALLY got an email at 4:15 today saying the thing has shipped. Will someone please tell me again about the advantages of online shopping because so far I've seen NONE at all!

Um. Being able to go shopping in your PJ's? :confused:

[richthelandlord]

Is a clogged cooling duct on a computer the same as having belly-button lint? :rolleyes:

Pretty much - but often involving longer hair, either cat or human.

The cooling air intake seems to behave a lot like a little vacuum cleaner, but without the benefit of a filter to protect the fan.

[DaveM]

A local computer repair place used to have a machine on display in their front window. No idea what the story was behind its arrival at the shop (presumably it stopped working?) but all of the empty space inside the case had been filled by a nest constructed of a variety of materials by a most ambitious mouse. No idea how he or she got in there, but I suppose it was nice and warm and seemed a perfect place. I do not know whether the mouse was still inside the computer when it was delivered to the shop, but I would have loved to have seen that tech's face when he opened the case!

[richthelandlord]

A local computer repair place used to have a machine on display in their front window. No idea what the story was behind its arrival at the shop (presumably it stopped working?) but all of the empty space inside the case had been filled by a nest constructed of a variety of materials by a most ambitious mouse. No idea how he or she got in there, but I suppose it was nice and warm and seemed a perfect place. I do not know whether the mouse was still inside the computer when it was delivered to the shop, but I would have loved to have seen that tech's face when he opened the case!

Read this and weep... http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/11/06/dirtiest_pc/

The 'related' stories tell some rather sorry tales too. :eek:

[Dee]

Well, according to the tracking info I have from Canada Post, it was sent last evening from Toronto and processed in Ottawa at 5:50 this morning. So I expect it will be delivered this morning at some point. Should be interesting going from a 3.5" screen to a 15.6" widescreen. LOL

[Dee]

It's here! It's here! :D

[Marcia Drummergal]

Yay! Have fun with it!

Marcia :D

[richthelandlord]

Enjoy yourself, Dee... :)

[Dee]

Just finished copying 2000 mp3s onto my laptop from DVDs where I had them backed up. Good thing I did that on a regular basis or I might be weeping and weeping right now.

:p

[richthelandlord]

Just finished copying 2000 mp3s onto my laptop from DVDs where I had them backed up. Good thing I did that on a regular basis or I might be weeping and weeping right now.

:p

Been there, done that - only worse.

I lost 5 years worth of photographs several months ago - a circuit-board went phut in my PC while my backup was running and completely trashed both the source and the drive I was cloning to so all my data was toast... I couldn't even find enough of it that was coherent enough to attempt a forensic recovery that would take less than a couple of years.

Putting it (very) mildly, I was not a happy man...

[Dee]

Ouch! That sounds very discouraging, Richard.

I didn't know this until I researched it but I can indeed run my old Altec Lansing desktop speakers through the "headphone" jack of the laptop. This is music to my ears (so to speak) because laptop speakers are no better sounding than a couple of tin cans I swear. So even tho the documentation said "No digital audio output" there actually is. Maybe I should write Hewlett-Packard and tell them? LOL

:)

[coffeegyrl]

Maybe I should write Hewlett-Packard and tell them? LOL

:)

No don't! Then they'll want to charge extra.

[richthelandlord]

Maybe I should write Hewlett-Packard and tell them? LOL



Maybe best not - they're right... that's an analogue output. ;)

[aforeyego]

Been there, done that - only worse.

I lost 5 years worth of photographs several months ago - a circuit-board went phut in my PC while my backup was running and completely trashed both the source and the drive I was cloning to so all my data was toast... I couldn't even find enough of it that was coherent enough to attempt a forensic recovery that would take less than a couple of years.

Putting it (very) mildly, I was not a happy man...

aawwwwwwwwww,, poor Richard http://www.smilies.4-user.de/include/Traurig/smilie_tra_067.gif

That is one of the reasons I backup
° to a 2nd internal HDD
° to a 3rd external HDD
° to CD/DVD

[richthelandlord]

That is one of the reasons I backup
° to a 2nd internal HDD


That's what I was in the process of doing at the time... the IDE controller failed midway and wrote incoherent trash to both disks at once.

My backup regime now includes only external drives so at least one drive at any time goes nowhere near the controller on the motherboard.

[aforeyego]

That's what I was in the process of doing at the time... the IDE controller failed midway and wrote incoherent trash to both disks at once.
My backup regime now includes only external drives so at least one drive at any time goes nowhere near the controller on the motherboard.

holy cow! Do you mean both drives crashed > including your O/S ?
..... is there anything worse than worst case ..... myomy :eek:

[richthelandlord]

holy cow! Do you mean both drives crashed > including your O/S ?
..... is there anything worse than worst case ..... myomy :eek:

The OS was ok - I had 2 secondary drives because I always keep OS and data separately for resilience sake (irony?) and I was backing up from the 1st secondary to the 2nd one when the controller died.
The 'ok' OS wan't much help though, given that the motherboard was toast.

I just bought a new machine - I was ready for an upgrade anyway as I wanted to move to Windows 7 and the old machine wasn't powerful enough.

Of course, Babs had a new one too at the same time... and we've worked our way through the systems now bit by bit - we replaced the old CRT monitors at Christmas with wide flatscreen ones, and we each have a big external drive too... once bitten... damned expensive hobby when you have to multiply everything by two...

[aforeyego]

The OS was ok - I had 2 secondary drives because I always keep OS and data separately for resilience sake (irony?) and I was backing up from the 1st secondary to the 2nd one when the controller died.
The 'ok' OS wan't much help though, given that the motherboard was toast.

I just bought a new machine - I was ready for an upgrade anyway as I wanted to move to Windows 7 and the old machine wasn't powerful enough.

Of course, Babs had a new one too at the same time... and we've worked our way through the systems now bit by bit - we replaced the old CRT monitors at Christmas with wide flatscreen ones, and we each have a big external drive too... once bitten... damned expensive hobby when you have to multiply everything by two...

Now I got it,,, just glad that you love Windows 7 :D
So at least that payed. Yes,, that's very expensive,, but wouldn't you agree that it is more than a 'hobby' :confused:

Different question:
do you happen to know Symantec Norton GHOST 2003 ?

There's something 'growing' in my mind,,, replace internal HDD [master = main HDD with O/S XP]*, HDD2 = slave, replaced Jan 2011 > BOTH primary channel {ultra DMA6-ultra133} | CD-drive (master) + DVD-drive (slave) = secondary channel ..... IDE | ATA !!!
Old board "ASUS A7N8X-X" - got even same board again as replacement .. in case!

>>> Ghost mirror image (XP!!) to new HDD, once NOT built in, yet + jumpered as slave [connect to end of IDE-cable = where now CD-drive is 'plugged' (?)] ???! POSSIBLE ? AND HOW TO ... step by step ?? {{.... and all that in English that is even understood by aforeyego :p }}.

I run Ghost in DOS with 2 floppies (CD/DVD-floppies!!! = drivers!) ....
IF you know Ghost, I would give you more info in new thread. Will take time, though. [incl. *.pdf about my board, hardware &&&&&]. Present 'main' HDD is 2 1/2years old. Might need to be replaced in maybe 2-3 years.

* have to be lucky to find someone to format the new HDD for me + at least system-partition.

[richthelandlord]

I don't use Ghost so I can't help you there I'm afraid... but in principle what you want to do is feasible and should work well.

[aforeyego]

I don't use Ghost so I can't help you there I'm afraid... but in principle what you want to do is feasible and should work well.

mhhh, if you say so, I might get there (somehow/someday) ...
Thank you :)