|
Post by Jack Teems on Jul 22, 2015 16:44:16 GMT -5
I'm getting a little tired of the short life of most laptops. We've gone through Dell, Toshiba, HP, Gateway, ad nauseum and find their average live span usually not more than 2 years. Most reviews seem to agree with that and Lenovo of late seems to have the best reputation. I'm specifically looking at Lenovo's G50, priced at Best Buy @ $329. It has 6 GB RAM, 500 GB HD, and AMD A8 processor with 2.0 GHz speed. I'd really like your comments if you have first-hand knowledge of this one, or others within that price range you would recommend (or warn against).
My computers are fading fast; otherwise, it might be advisable to wait a few months until Windows 10 is firmly in place. I suspect that remaining inventories with Win 7 and Win 8 will then be marked down.
|
|
|
Post by drmark on Jul 25, 2015 4:26:48 GMT -5
boy have times changed--or maybe we have. We have less problem spending for a month's worth of coffee than for a computer.I think if you get two years of computing for $300.00 that is pretty cheap computing when broken down by the month--less than most people spend on coffee in a month.
|
|
Peter
Software Review Panel
Posts: 174
|
Post by Peter on Jul 26, 2015 9:37:27 GMT -5
Perhaps it's just we don't like being on the planned obsolescence treadmill. It seems to me that such an incredible little bundle of technology shouldn't be in the same category as a kleenex.
|
|
|
Post by drmark on Jul 27, 2015 3:01:05 GMT -5
Well, I for one am not looking for Kleenex that can be reused for two years.
|
|
Peter
Software Review Panel
Posts: 174
|
Post by Peter on Aug 31, 2015 20:06:13 GMT -5
I guess they were called handkerchiefs, once upon a time...
|
|
Peter
Software Review Panel
Posts: 174
|
Post by Peter on Aug 31, 2015 20:12:29 GMT -5
.... Lenovo of late seems to have the best reputation. I'm specifically looking at Lenovo's G50, priced at Best Buy @ $329. It has 6 GB RAM, 500 GB HD, and AMD A8 processor with 2.0 GHz speed. I'd really like your comments if you have first-hand knowledge of this one, or others within that price range you would recommend (or warn against)... It may be a bit late, as your post was some time ago. But I saw this article by Bob Rankin (of Tourbus fame, once upon a time) via PC Pitstop today: askbobrankin.com/lenovo_caught_installing_immortal_crapware.html?pcpi suspect that you are already well on top of this. But if anyone else is looking at the Lenovos mentioned in his article, this may help.
|
|
|
Post by blueboxer on Dec 5, 2015 0:03:39 GMT -5
Sheesh! What are you guys doing? I'm typing this on an Acer Aspire V3-771 I bought about six years ago because my Acer Aspire 5500 which I bought secondhand on Craigslist was getting tight for space. But I still use that as an "expendable" computer when I'm travelling. When I bought it I passed my Aspire 3000 on to my wife, who used it for a couple of years before buying a Dell Vostro in December 2012 which she is still using happily. But the 3000 still is working happily; I was checking it yesterday to see if it might be a candidate for a conversion to Unix. My wife likes a dot matrix printer so uses a 24-dpi Panasonic for her personal journal and the family finances; her Amiga 3000 handles it nicely. I even have a Coleco Adam that works.
And those are just the laptops. I'm sure that if I excavated the basement midden that houses my retired Everex 356-16, dealer-built Win 95 and Win 98SE desktops I'd find them working too.
So you-all baffle me totally. I can't kill a computer short of taking a sledgehammer to it. What on earth are you-all doing anyway to kill them in 24 months?
|
|
Peter
Software Review Panel
Posts: 174
|
Post by Peter on Dec 6, 2015 4:16:18 GMT -5
Sheesh! What are you guys doing? Hi Blueboxer: I am with you, and am happy to be still using an 8-year old laptop and 7-year-old desktop, along with my more recent 4-year old main work computer. Unfortunately, the software that I have to use to carry on my business requires that I keep on "updating" Windows. I cannot use any Windows version earlier than Win 7, and soon that will again be moved on "up" to Win 10. My laptop is already unable handle Win 7, so I am going to take it out of commission (as far as my work is concerned) and install Linux on it. At least, I will still be able to do all the fun stuff on it, and using Libre Office, I will even be able to do some of the work-related correspondence, presentations, spreadsheets and etc. I have so far avoided the push to go to Windows 10, and am even close to deciding not to do the "free" move at all. Perhaps in a year or so, I will not need this work-program, so will be able to abandon Windows entirely. "O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!” I will chortle in my joy.
|
|
|
Post by blueboxer on Dec 11, 2015 0:07:59 GMT -5
My sympathy, Peter, from a fellow Canadian.
I've been luckier, I must admit. When I retired 25 years ago I was still nagging the administration to get me a respectable computer for my office; maybe they did so for my successor. But ever since my computers have been, basically, my personal toys. I've been able to hold off buying new machinery, and upgrading my operating system, until I felt the time was ripe. The Adam couldn't manage the emergent internet, so I got an Everex 386-16 at a bankruptcy auction with Windows 3.1 on it. Caught the first availability of Netscape Navigator, bought dialup from a little independent ISP who still supplies my DSL line today. Found the online info sources (Jack with NNT among the first) and when they agreed a new OS revision was indeed worth getting, I got it - thus missing the buggy first take on Win98 till SE came out. Was warned off ME but took up XP when it came along; ditto skipped Vista and moved to 7 when the word was it was a veritable upgrade. So far, caught the snarks and dodged the boojums. Have not installed 8 and have blocked 10.
Meanwhile, critics on the Linux scene are singing competitive rhapsodies in praise of Ubuntu GNOME and Linux Mint saying they not only work intuitively enough for us non-techies but are pretty, efficient, durable, malware-resistant and come in many delectable flavours. I will download them using live disc, try them out on the XP machine, and if they taste as good as advertised it's Redmond, goodbye.
And if the implication in your closing line has the meaning I suspect, yes, go retire. I've been free for a quartet of a century now and loved every minute.
|
|