I need a new computer!

[winchester85]

i had a mac for a few years. i never really liked it, it was on its 3rd hard drive. the track pad started going bezerk and then the computer locked up again. that was it, after a long day of employees, i smashed the thing. and for good measure, i shot it too.

so i bought a chromebook. i am NOT impressed. i have wasted over an hour trying to get a photo to where i can send it to someone. i click "share" and the computer locks up, it will sit there for at least 10 minutes and do nothing. i went to the online help place and tried to follow their directions and i still am no closer to getting a photo ready to send.

what else is there? i did not like how the mac did some things, it was like the people that wrote the software try so hard to be clever that many things are just not intuitive. i had pc's in the past but got tired of the things crashing.

[BrassMagnet]

You should have had the chromebook watch the mac.
It's like the difference between American law enforcement and Russian law enforcement.
American police officers fire warning shots.
Russian police shoot the suspect and let that be a warning to the rest.
Russian police don't need to stockpile billions of rounds of ammo. They don't have that many suspects.

[DeputyDog25]

You should have had the chromebook watch the mac.
It's like the difference between American law enforcement and Russian law enforcement.
American police officers fire warning shots.
Russian police shoot the suspect and let that be a warning to the rest.
Russian police don't need to stockpile billions of rounds of ammo. They don't have that many suspects.


Here, Here, well said ole chap, thought you might have been a tad cheeky, but what does this limey know.

[seagiant]

Hi,
All BS aside I think that HP makes the best no frills laptop! I travel a lot and I'm pretty rough on stuff and mine has held up well!

[bangerjim]

If you REALLY need a notebook (mostly obsolete today) look at either Dell or HP. I do most everything on this iPad these days! And when I really DO need a PC, I have Dell's in the office.

If you are doing actual work, a desktop cannot be beat. Expandable, modifiable, universal. I do NOT like MAC's and have used PC's extensively for decades. Just recently have I began using the iPad for work, presentations, travel, MIDI music composition and performance, email, movies.......virtually just about everhthing my old 5# notebook did. I have not turned it on in over 2 years! Have 2 of them collecting dust.

Shop aorund. With back-to-school specials around, there are some real good deals!

bangerjim

[9w1911]

i suggest you look into a a refab Lenovo

[Uncle Jimbo]

Hi,
All BS aside I think that HP makes the best no frills laptop! I travel a lot and I'm pretty rough on stuff and mine has held up well!

Toshiba make a really bullet proof laptop also. And i got to agree with bangerjim, desktop are the best.

[Freightman]

My Lanovo is good.

[MtGun44]

Toshiba stole the top secret software the US used to design quiet sub propellors during
the Cold War and sold it and the special gigantic 5 axis milling machines necessary to make
these huge props to the Russians.

I will NEVER own anything made by Toshiba.

Stay away from Windows 8 unless you want a phone operating system for your computer.
You can usually order any computer now with Windows 7 which is a darned good and stable
operating system.

Bill

[Ajax]

I am a fan of Acer laptops. Never had one fail due to its own issues.

Andy

[Geraldo]

Stay away from Windows 8 unless you want a phone operating system for your computer.


I run Windows 8.1 on a touch screen Dell and there is nothing at all wrong with it.

[Moonie]

I can recommend the HP laptops, and not because I work for HP. Personally I have a Dell, but it is a huge desktop replacement monster. My work laptop is obviously an HP but my 15 year old daughter has a nice low priced HP that has served her very well for the last year. The wife just bought a nice new touch screen HP, the envy 15t. I'm impressed with it and can recommend it highly. I've recently upgraded my Dell to an SSD drive and installed win8.1 and Fedora 20 linux. I'm fine with 8.1 as long as I install classicshell so I have a real start button. I never use the tiles screen, yes, great for a phone, not so much for actually getting things done.

You really need to determine a budget and get the best laptop for that budget. A $350 laptop is not the same as a $1,500 laptop and you can't compare a tablet of any kind to a laptop. Yes tablets are handy and light but they just don't have the horsepower that a laptop does.

Desktop? Do people still use those things? I do computers for a living, in the house we have 7+ laptops, the only desktop is setup as a virtualization server that sits behind my entertainment center, with no monitor, mouse or keyboard. It has an 8 core processor, 32GB of ram (same as my Dell laptop) and 3TB of HD space.

[lylejb]

Two Lenovo laptops here, both lower end. Happy with one, not so much with the other.

Hate to say it, but get the INTEL pentium (or higher) processor NOT the AMD processor.

I had been a fan of AMD for a decade or more, have built a dozen or so desktops based on amd's and always happy with them.

When my wife wanted a new laptop, I didn't hesitate to grab an AMD based one. I regret that now. The low end AMD just doesn't have the horsepower to get the job done.

Later, when my daughter wanted a laptop, I had done some checking, and found the Intel chips were much faster.

My daughter's happy with her laptop, the wife's mostly sits in it's bag.

This applies to the lower priced laptops. While I'm sure both companies make better high $$$ chips, I'm not able to consider those.

[kerreckt]

Asus laptop. I have been using one with Windows7 for over 4 years. No crashes....no problems at all.

[dragon813gt]

I run Windows 8.1 on a touch screen Dell and there is nothing at all wrong with it.

Same here but I'm running it on a Lenovo Ultrabook. Everyone freaks out because Win 8 is very different. All it takes is the "classic shell" extension, or one of the many others like it, and it looks and works like the windows you know. W/ the notable exception being no blue screens of death. I sill had them w/ Win 7 and that OS was slow as molasses. On my Ultrabook w/ SSD the boot time is fifteen seconds. It is a touchscreen but I use a mouse for serious work. And I don't use metro mode ever.

I'm wondering what is wrong w/ the chromebook. They are stripped down laptops that usually work very well if you aren't doing serious work on them.

[HATCH]

Chromebooks are more like over sized android phones.
If you just do facebook, ebay and email then they are fine.
I just never been really impressed with them.

At home I use a 7 year old dell notebook. It was my dad's but I bought him a new one. I replaced the screen on his old one and its been working fine since.
In the shop I run a Dell USFF (ultra small form factor) desktop. I have a wall mount bracket for it so it sits up on the wall.

[wyrmzr]

If your problems with freezing were happening largely online, then the chances are your computer, in and of itself, was fine. I'd blame bad plugins for most behavior from websites.
As far as what to buy next, I tend to recommend higher end laptops if you go that route. This usually means systems labelled as "gaming" or "multimedia". You get higher end parts in those systems (at least usually), and higher end parts tend to last longer, along with the reduced need for upgrades.
I've worked on every major brand, have been for almost 20 years, and I don't buy most of them anymore. I build my own. In the event I find I need a portable system, I go with a cheap tablet. Unless you overload them with add-on software, cheap tablets will do 99% of what people do with them, like check email, watch videos, etc. Add to that the fact that if you break it, you can replace it cheaply (7 inch tablets can be had under $100 easily, and 10 inch tablets are getting to that price point).

[MtGun44]

LOL, "... using Win 8 on a touchscreen computer. . . . . like I said, it is a phone OS.

You just have a really large phone, without the ability to make calls. :kidding: :bigsmyl2:

Bill

[6bg6ga]

So far about 15+ post on which computer is best. Simple... cheap is good and use a good anti virus program. I'm still on XP with a computer I put together years ago. Wife has a Walmart computer $300.00 or there abouts with Windows 7 on it and it works fine.

[lavenatti]

I have a similar Walmart computer. Like you said $300 and I've never had a problem. It's an E-machine.
Walmart.com also has refurbs for less than $150 sometimes.

[mold maker]

ACER

Same here, I have had one with Windows XP, and bought 4 for the family with windows 7.
Never a problem that I didn't create.
The battery in the first one gave out after 7 years, but it still worked off the charger. Acer has more standard features than some offer as extras.

[skeet1]

I also have an e-machine from Walmart and it is the best I have had. Never a problem just keeps on working.

Ken

[76 WARLOCK]

i suggest you look into a a refab Lenovo I just got one, I had never seen one before. Bought it used for $240 and it works better than anything I have ever used.

[Moonie]

I just got one, I had never seen one before. Bought it used for $240 and it works better than anything I have ever used.

Lenovo purchased the PC hardware division from IBM. Lenovo is a Chinese company...

[Lee]

Well, what I just heard on the TV, you as a genius can get your 11 year old daughter genius a Dell computer that will turn her into a drone flying genius. And, by association, you also. All for $399. Of course if you think thru this chit, Amway will get the $299 drone with software. Plug the legs into it, DL the CD intop the USB, and PRESTO, you are a genius up and flying. If that is your definition of genious! God I love modern advertising! Pay attention to the above posters. They know of what they speak! ..... Lee
P.S. IBM et. al is a Chinese company. They might say assembled in here, but guess where "most" of the chips and MB's come from? Do your research!

[BrassMagnet]

Mrs Brass just told me what laptop she wanted to replace her desktop. A Dell with Windows 7 and a 15.1" screen. I told her to order two and get the warranty. She got a two year warranty on both laptops.
At work we use laptops and they don't last! One year my work laptop had to be replaced six times!
I feel like I am paying to use a laptop for the length of the warranty and not actually buying one.
Why? Because they do not have to sell you repair parts after the warranty ends! If they run out of parts before the warranty ends, they they give you a nice discount on a replacement!
I will play games on my desktop and haunt S&S with the laptop. You think you've seen fast? Wait until I get this one all trained up!