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Post by JGRobinson on Mar 30, 2011 11:07:28 GMT -5
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Post by Clipper on Mar 30, 2011 11:39:12 GMT -5
I have a "cheap" Toshiba Satellite laptop that I bought from HH Gregg for a really good price. It is only a 3G machine, but it does all I need to do and I only use it when we travel. Originally bought it to use when Kathy was in the hospital in Winston Salem for her back surgery. Mostly because I can't stay away from Clipper's Corner and my email for more than a few hours, ROFL. I also bought a cheap but secureable Belkin router from a friend for $20, and it allows me to use the laptop as far away as the carport and kitchen table, which is as far as I go with the laptop around here. My old eyes are too bad, and my fingers too big for notebooks and damn sure would never be able to see or use a cell phone keyboard. I refuse to pay the crazy prices charged for the fancy crap from a cell provider. I have found that where we travel and stay, most campgrounds, hotels, and many restaurants have wifi. I would never take a computer into a restaurant and take up table space in order to browse on a damn computer. There is a group of kids that come to our local Perkin's that takes up a table, even when the place is crowded and they simply sit and drink ice tea and play with their laptops. I did however try, just for the hell of it, and found that wifi at a Bob Evan's restaurant we stopped at, was strong enough signal to reach my truck, parked in front of the building. LOL The wireless mouse was a necessity. I ended up with a surplus when the wireless mouse, wireless keyboard that I had for the desktop ended up just a wireless mouse when I spilled coffee on the keyboard and ruined it. LOL   |
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Post by JGRobinson on Mar 30, 2011 11:55:12 GMT -5
Coffees not the worst, the Latte's and other crap with Sugar in them will destroy anything electronic. If you pour liquid into something and it isnt full of sugar, pull the power cord, batteries, open it up if you can and hit it with a hair dryer until the entire thing is hot then sit it off to the side upside down if possible for a day or two (and pray...). Most of the time, the crap will still work....
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Post by Clipper on Mar 30, 2011 12:09:57 GMT -5
Tried all that, and it was shot. No sugar or cream in the coffee, but the keyboard was fairly old and probably already on it's way to the graveyard. I only paid 30 bucks for it, and only $39 for the replacement that I am typing on right now. This one is a Logtech from Walmart. the only difference between this one and the old one is that this one has an antenna like little square device that has a USB connection in the form of a cord and has to be placed on the desk top to operate the keyboard and mouse. The old one simply had a small thing that looked like a memory stick that plugged into the USB port and that works really well with the laptop, whereas this one would be a little more inconvenient to use with the laptop.
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Post by Ralph on Mar 30, 2011 14:23:57 GMT -5
Not to poke at you JG but I think Acer has more than made a name for itself, especially after its acquiring of the e-Machine several years ago. HP seems to be a decent machine once you get all the crap that comes preloaded off of it, but these days that holds true for most all of them.
I have an HP that I bought specifically for Photoshop work that is now my wife's…..I could still cheerfully put a bullet in it with a smile on my face. I’ve since gone on with a new Acer/eMachine and it has been superb right out of the box.
All that being said, I have recently work on a few netbooks that crapped out and wanted to comment on them. While they were all virus infected and required a bit of digging to bring them back, the Acer had a Ethernet port which let me hook right into my network, but both the HP’s I worked on didn’t. I had to do them both wirelessly. I don’t know if this holds true for all the HP netbooks or not, but the ones I have seen don’t have it.
I used a friends netbook for about week and was not thrilled. I wound up purchasing a used IBM/Lenovo ThinkPad X-40. Once reformatted it worked like a charm. Takes a tad bit longer to load than a netbook, but really has a lot to offer that a standard netbook doesn’t.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 30, 2011 15:33:23 GMT -5
I read through the specs. What is bluetooth technology. I really am dumb at tech stuff. All this talk about 3G and wireless and router goes right over my head. I have a 12 year old Dell Desktop Demension 2400, 2.60GHz, 2.9GHz 256 MB RAM and 80GIG Hard Drive. I wanted something small that I could carry with me so when outside I can read some newspapers. I doubt I will be anywhere I can use free internet connection. |
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Post by dgriffin on Mar 30, 2011 16:16:14 GMT -5
Not to poke at you JG but I think Acer has more than made a name for itself, especially after its acquiring of the e-Machine several years ago. HP seems to be a decent machine once you get all the crap that comes preloaded off of it, but these days that holds true for most all of them. I have an HP that I bought specifically for Photoshop work that is now my wife's…..I could still cheerfully put a bullet in it with a smile on my face. I’ve since gone on with a new Acer/eMachine and it has been superb right out of the box. All that being said, I have recently work on a few netbooks that crapped out and wanted to comment on them. While they were all virus infected and required a bit of digging to bring them back, the Acer had a Ethernet port which let me hook right into my network, but both the HP’s I worked on didn’t. I had to do them both wirelessly. I don’t know if this holds true for all the HP netbooks or not, but the ones I have seen don’t have it. I used a friends netbook for about week and was not thrilled. I wound up purchasing a used IBM/Lenovo ThinkPad X-40. Once reformatted it worked like a charm. Takes a tad bit longer to load than a netbook, but really has a lot to offer that a standard netbook doesn’t. Ralph, my HP netbook does have an ethernet port, but I don't know if all models do. I do remember when I bought it there were various models with differing capabilities. The only thing I don't have on the HP netbook is an audio in jack. Instead it has four lobe stereo play/record jack, but I've been unable find one to buy. Wish I could, because it's convenient to slap the netbook right on top of the digital keyboard to record into the Audacity software. Now I have to do it aurally. |
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Post by dgriffin on Mar 30, 2011 16:22:27 GMT -5
Alan, you probably want laptop that you can use to replace your old desktop and can take outside. I consider laptops to be a bit too heavy to take where I want them, so I got a netbook and have been pleased with it. But as someone else posted, I don't think I'd want a netbook to be my only PC most of the time unless it had to be, as it was for six weeks when I was away last month.
I'll let Ralph explain blue tooth. My only use of it is in connecting my cell phone to my wife's blue tooth receiver in her car. For phones, it's like a transceiver that allows wireless communications between your phone and a blue tooth box that talks through her radio and allows hands free cell phone use. It's like a short range wi fi for non-PC stuff.
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Post by JGRobinson on Mar 30, 2011 18:31:18 GMT -5
No poke inferred Ralph, As I said at the Git Go, I work outside the Box, I use many computers but Im not a computer Aficionado by any means. The net-books have been for the most part more communicators than computers. They do have limited I/O Ports and less than robust processing power, that said they can work well for the internet cruzer.
Acer has never been a great consumer electronics manufacturer, If you have had good luck with there computers, thats good news!
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Post by Ralph on Mar 31, 2011 1:52:58 GMT -5
JG, Acer was never a big consumer item till a few years ago, but has been a big business supplier for years. That was where I first ran into Acer, but back ten years ago they were strictly stock business machines with no frills at all. It wasn’t till there started partnering with AMD that they started to get out into the consumer world. I think that was why they acquired eMachines, to get farther into the consumer spotlight.
But let’s face it, the hardware almost always comes from the same suppliers overseas. If you pull the MoBo’s out of most machines they all are pretty much the same. Sometimes you get a jewel, sometimes you get a lemon…..most just get a decent running PC.
Wow Dave, you have a lot of faith in me!!!
Bluetooth is a highly secure short range wireless PAN, or Personal Area Network.
These days it is used to synchronize and connect just about anything, to just about everything.
PC’s, mice, cell phones, GPS, iPods, headsets, speakers, game stations and controllers, etc.
Sort of like a mini wireless router for anything……I expect that soon there will be Bluetooth enabled toaster ovens!
It even has applications for the sports/fitness/health industry and some medical applications as well. I quit following it a number of years ago as the applications just keep growing exponentially in what seems to be a day to day environment, far to wide and complex for an idiot like me to keep up with.
Best thing to ask when buying a Bluetooth enabled piece of equipment is to ask the salesperson just what it means for you in your daily life.
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Post by dgriffin on Mar 31, 2011 7:08:50 GMT -5
But let’s face it, the hardware almost always comes from the same suppliers overseas. If you pull the MoBo’s out of most machines they all are pretty much the same. Sometimes you get a jewel, sometimes you get a lemon…..most just get a decent running PC. I follow radio manufacturing and development more than computers ... though I am far from being very knowledgeable ... but I imagine quality issues are similar. You can't trust brand names anymore without a bit of inquiry since anyone with the money seems able to buy a brand name and slap it on their junk. I'm thinking of Grundig. As for Far East manufacturing, the Chinese are more than capable of very high quality, if you want to pay for it. All the cheap Chinese stuff we're seeing on the market today .... bolts from the hardware store with heads that twist off, radios that have almost zero selectivity, tools that break easily, etc. ... are the result of American retailers buying stock cheaper, selling to you for the same price or higher and pocketing the difference. They call it business. |
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Post by JGRobinson on Mar 31, 2011 10:05:50 GMT -5
You said a mouthful Dave, RCA, GE, Crosley, Philips, Philco, Magnavox and 5 other brand names are nothing but different stickers on the same junk. Their actually is an FCC code on the back of every piece of electronics that will tell you who really made it, sometimes its worth looking.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 31, 2011 10:13:05 GMT -5
Thanks. Best Buy seem to have a good deal and very gret reviews on this netbook:
Toshiba - Mini Netbook / Intel® Atom™ Processor / 10.1" Display / 1GB Memory / 250GB Hard Drive - Blue
Model: NB505-N500BL | SKU: 1853531
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Post by JGRobinson on Mar 31, 2011 11:11:14 GMT -5
Toshiba has made descent stuff in the past, does it have a hard wire net connection or just wireless?
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Post by JGRobinson on Mar 31, 2011 11:19:39 GMT -5
Toshiba has made descent stuff in the past, Looks like a good machine, reveiws looked good at < $290, its a inexpensive solution. Note that the office software is limited, the anti virus is only 30 days and others warned that 1 Gig of RAM was not enough, 2 Gig is recommended by most Geeks anyways.
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