Hittman's Hideout

[hittman]

Ours started out in the 50's and is in the 20's now. The work day flew by today. My boss is on vacation all week so it's going to be interesting trying to get anyone to do anything. I always have lots to do and what others do mostly doesn't affect me.

 

[FranC]

Glad the day went by good We've dropped to 48 now. 32 for overnight.

 

[hittman]

Good morning. We might get some freezing rain today. I hope not.

 

[FranC]

Good morning,HittGot to 54 yesterday and supposed to have that one more day.

 

[hittman]

Good for you. You needed a break from the cold.

 

[FranC]

Hitt,what would you recommend for computer brand?

 

[Sugar_and_Spice]

Hitt,what would you recommend for computer brand?

Hi Fran,
Not to just charge in but if you tell me what all your essential must haves are in the way of computers I may have a suggestion. I kinda know a bit about 'puters since that was my career field. lol

 

[FranC]

Hi Fran,
Not to just charge in but if you tell me what all your essential must haves are in the way of computers I may have a suggestion. I kinda know a bit about 'puters since that was my career field. lol

I had to do yet another system restore this morning just to get online.Sold our car and figure it's time to get a new one. Well even though I don't do much on here. {Browse,Pay CC and other bills and access my bank site} I still like reasonable speed,decent speakers (cordless?) Cordless keyboard and mouse ( which I already have.) Bigger monitor (27 inch). Something that will last so I don't have to buy another.(hopefully). I'm not good with this stuff so questions??

 

[Sugar_and_Spice]

How about I tell you what I have done and see if its something you may want to look into. Needless to say, when I retired the last thing I wanted to do was computer upkeep of endless programs, storage, etc. So, I ended up looking at Chromebooks and settled on 1 that was was from Acer. I have the Acer Chromebook 11 which I purchased from Amazon at around $200- 250 ish. Let me tell you why.

First off I have minimal storage so If you need to save anything it can be done online at google(mygoogledrive--their version of the cloud) OR what I do for personal information is to use a thumb drive(aka as a flash drive) that just plugs into a usb port(computer has 2 usb ports). Do you have a gmail account? Its free so you can also keep using the online email you already have through the internet via the Chrome browser. All the programs you will use are maintained and updated via google and they take care of all of that for you.

Next like you, I wanted a wireless keyboard and mouse and separate monitor(big one).
I got my monitor at Best Buy and it is a HP 25es and got it on sale for around $100.00 If you already have a wireless mouse and keyboard those should just be plug and play with little to no intervention from you. So I am sure you are wondering how to put 3 separate devices(not monitor) on a computer with only 2 usb ports? I got one extended usb device that has multiple places to plug in up to 4 usb devices.($10 or under at walmart) and put the keyboard and mouse on that one, leaving the other one for the flash drive or anything else I may want to use there.

The monitor you get should be HD and have the HDMI port on the back of it and it should come supplied with the cord for hookup. The back/side of the Chromebook has a place to plug in both HDMI and the old style VGA monitors.

Well this post is getting long so take a read- ask questions, etc. LOL

 

[hittman]

I've had really good luck with Dell computers and that's what I ordered for ten of our workstations at work. It seems like all computers hit a point where it's not worth upgrading or working on them any more but I've gotten the best life out of Dell computers. I have had sony, hp, Lenovo, and probably a few others over the years. I bought an inexpensive Dell computer for at home two years ago and it's still running great. I don't remember for sure but I think my work computer is 4-5 years old and still in good working order.

 

[Sugar_and_Spice]

I've had really good luck with Dell computers and that's what I ordered for ten of our workstations at work. It seems like all computers hit a point where it's not worth upgrading or working on them any more but I've gotten the best life out of Dell computers. I have had sony, hp, Lenovo, and probably a few others over the years. I bought an inexpensive Dell computer for at home two years ago and it's still running great. I don't remember for sure but I think my work computer is 4-5 years old and still in good working order.

Yes, we used Dell at work all the time along with HP and they are work horses and reliable. I personally bought a Lenovo when I retired and hate it. It wants to control everything I want to do and then i spend endless hours finding work-arounds. It sits on my desk unused except for the occasional firmware update which these firmware updates seems to need a full computer.(grr).

 

[hittman]

I'm sure they are better now but I bought my wife an Acer laptop several years ago and it was a lemon. We might have just gotten a bad one. I don't have any experience with chrome books. I think if I was going to buy a laptop now it would be a MacBook Air. Both of my kids use them. My oldest has hers for almost four years of college now and last time she was home she told me how glad she was that we spent the extra and got the mac air. Several of her friends have been through two or three of the windows laptops while hers is still going strong.

 

[hittman]

Yes, we used Dell at work all the time along with HP and they are work horses and reliable. I personally bought a Lenovo when I retired and hate it. It wants to control everything I want to do and then i spend endless hours finding work-arounds. It sits on my desk unused except for the occasional firmware update which these firmware updates seems to need a full computer.(grr).

I made the mistake of buying my wife an inexpensive Lenovo laptop a couple years ago as a gift and it's a total piece of junk. I see some of what you are talking about it trying to control things.

 

[Sugar_and_Spice]

I'm sure they are better now but I bought my wife an Acer laptop several years ago and it was a lemon. We might have just gotten a bad one. I don't have any experience with chrome books. I think if I was going to buy a laptop now it would be a MacBook Air. Both of my kids use them. My oldest has hers for almost four years of college now and last time she was home she told me how glad she was that we spent the extra and got the mac air. Several of her friends have been through two or three of the windows laptops while hers is still going strong.

I know little to nothing about Mac as my work always used windows so I never had the need or want to learn one. I do know compared to the pc the mac's are very expensive.
Sorry to hear about your experience with Chromebook. I have not had a moments worry with mine(hope I just didn't jinx myself lol). I have had mine going on 3 or 4 years(will have to look at amazon to see when I purchased it) and can't say enough good things about it. Sorry you got a lemon.

 

[FranC]

How about I tell you what I have done and see if its something you may want to look into. Needless to say, when I retired the last thing I wanted to do was computer upkeep of endless programs, storage, etc. So, I ended up looking at Chromebooks and settled on 1 that was was from Acer. I have the Acer Chromebook 11 which I purchased from Amazon at around $200- 250 ish. Let me tell you why.

First off I have minimal storage so If you need to save anything it can be done online at google(mygoogledrive--their version of the cloud) OR what I do for personal information is to use a thumb drive(aka as a flash drive) that just plugs into a usb port(computer has 2 usb ports). Do you have a gmail account? Its free so you can also keep using the online email you already have through the internet via the Chrome browser. All the programs you will use are maintained and updated via google and they take care of all of that for you.

Next like you, I wanted a wireless keyboard and mouse and separate monitor(big one).
I got my monitor at Best Buy and it is a HP 25es and got it on sale for around $100.00 If you already have a wireless mouse and keyboard those should just be plug and play with little to no intervention from you. So I am sure you are wondering how to put 3 separate devices(not monitor) on a computer with only 2 usb ports? I got one extended usb device that has multiple places to plug in up to 4 usb devices.($10 or under at walmart) and put the keyboard and mouse on that one, leaving the other one for the flash drive or anything else I may want to use there.

The monitor you get should be HD and have the HDMI port on the back of it and it should come supplied with the cord for hookup. The back/side of the Chromebook has a place to plug in both HDMI and the old style VGA monitors.

Well this post is getting long so take a read- ask questions, etc. LOL

I do have a gmail account but know nothing about flash drives (computer dummy here). My daughter is good with computers also but she's not here. Going to take a look at those Chromebooks.

 

[Sugar_and_Spice]

I made the mistake of buying my wife an inexpensive Lenovo laptop a couple years ago as a gift and it's a total piece of junk. I see some of what you are talking about it trying to control things.

My lenovo was anything but inexpensive. Got it at Best buy and always have something mess up on it. That is just 1 reason its sits lonely... but it drove me to explore other options and ultimately led me t Chromebook.

 

[Sugar_and_Spice]

I do have a gmail account but know nothing about flash drives (computer dummy here). My daughter is good with computers also but she's not here. Going to take a look at those Chromebooks.

Ok. Flash drives are the same as thumb drives and just as the name implies it is the size of a thumb and plugs into a usb port where you can save files. There are no programs on it, only storage room. Some of them can hold a whole lot of file storage on them so nothing real elaborate, nothing to fear from messing it up or anything,

 

[FranC]

That's funny. I have a Lenovo laptop and I like it but I like my desktop a lot more. It's what I'm used to where I bought the Lenovo for camping so it hasn't been used much. It's at my daughters now and I use it on weekends.
I had one Dell a few years back and I did like it.

 

[FranC]

Ok. Flash drives are the same as thumb drives and just as the name implies it is the size of a thumb and plugs into a usb port where you can save files. There are no programs on it, only storage room. Some of them can hold a whole lot of file storage on them so nothing real elaborate, nothing to fear from messing it up or anything,

I'm not sure that I have anything to store.....LOL. Me computer dummy.

 

[Sugar_and_Spice]

That's funny. I have a Lenovo laptop and I like it but I like my desktop a lot more. It's what I'm used to where I bought the Lenovo for camping so it hasn't been used much. It's at my daughters now and I use it on weekends.
I had one Dell a few years back and I did like it.

It really depends on what you are comfortable with and the amount of money spent. All I can say is I love my chomebook and could not be happier with it. I will go to amazon and find a link and when I purchased it--although I am sure newer models have come out by now.