New Laptop

[Cowabunga]

Apple , everyone else is inferior after .

I am mainly an Apple user but their laptops arevery expensive and have suffered from significant design faults that cause reliability issues in recent models. Lenovo and Dell make far more reliable machines that are much easier to repair should they ever fail.
Here is a buyers guide to used Macbook laptops from an independent Apple specialist.

 

[Y Fan Wen]

Apple , everyone else is inferior after .

And of course, if you've been brought up on Risc OS then every other OS is a pain.

 

[Cowabunga]

Have you tried launching the on screen keyboard in the Ease of Access Center at the logon screen? Be able to enter correct password then to get into the system.

I've tried launching in safe mode and into the Bios but both require me to type the password, which I can't due to the 0 key not responding.
Never seen the Ease of Access Centre as an option on logon. I'll have a look for it at the bottom of the screen, thanks.
The Toshiba keyboard fault is very annoying because when it was put away it worked perfectly well apart from being way out of date at a time when computing speed was doubling every couple of years.

In the meantime, some time today I'm going to fire up the Compaq Presario that replaced the Toshiba to see what's on that. This has W. Vista, which I never liked much.
Earlier in the week I did the same with no bother to a little Toshiba Netbook with W.7 Starter Edition.

 

[steveR]

I appreciate the the OP specifically wanted a Windows machine and I can understand that after using them for a lifetime myself, that they are not bad.... I always spec Windows for my desktop and have various bits of software that run only in Windows. I don't like the constant updates that seem to be foisted on W10 though, with all the problems that appear to keep manifesting each time!

However, for the past 4 years or so, I have found I use my Chromebooks for far more of the time, as more and more work moves online, and to the Cloud. As a laptop, the whole Chrome OS just works so well. No messing with AV either! The issue is whether you are happy using the Google ecosystem... However, I use DuckDuckGo in my browser search, which removes an element of their stalking across my devices ?

 

[steveR]

I've tried launching in safe mode and into the Bios but both require me to type the password, which I can't due to the 0 key not responding.
Never seen the Ease of Access Centre as an option on logon. I'll have a look for it at the bottom of the screen, thanks.
The Toshiba keyboard fault is very annoying because when it was put away it worked perfectly well apart from being way out of date at a time when computing speed was doubling every couple of years.

In the meantime, some time today I'm going to fire up the Compaq Presario that replaced the Toshiba to see what's on that. This has W. Vista, which I never liked much.
Earlier in the week I did the same with no bother to a little Toshiba Netbook with W.7 Starter Edition.

Won't boot with another keyboard plugged in, and recognise it automatically I guess... Too old for that?

 

[Cowabunga]

Won't boot with another keyboard plugged in, and recognise it automatically I guess... Too old for that?

I've been thinking about trying that. I have a keyboard with the old type connector on a redundant old Dell PC that I might try. Don't think I have an USB keyboard.
Not sure with these old machines whether they need specific drivers, but I'll give it a go over the weekend.
Meanwhile my Compaq Presario LIVES!! This one was first used in 2008 and last used in 2012. So the big Toshiba and Compaq laptops were used intensively for six years each. The iMac that replaced them has been used even more intensively for nine years now and is still current and works 100% well, especially since using the RAM from 4 gig to 12 a couple of months ago.

 

[fermerboy]

Apple , everyone else is inferior after .

She has Ipad and Iphone, but due to various bits of education software, and to be perfectly frank cost, a Windows machine it has to be.
Not letting my kids ruin an expensive Macbook, everybody else in my house is already banned from using my nice new desktop! ??
Not dissing the Apple at all but not this time.

 

[Mur Huwcun]

I appreciate the the OP specifically wanted a Windows machine and I can understand that after using them for a lifetime myself, that they are not bad.... I always spec Windows for my desktop and have various bits of software that run only in Windows. I don't like the constant updates that seem to be foisted on W10 though, with all the problems that appear to keep manifesting each time!

However, for the past 4 years or so, I have found I use my Chromebooks for far more of the time, as more and more work moves online, and to the Cloud. As a laptop, the whole Chrome OS just works so well. No messing with AV either! The issue is whether you are happy using the Google ecosystem... However, I use DuckDuckGo in my browser search, which removes an element of their stalking across my devices ?

I'm on chromebook now and really rate them and we've been using the google suite for many years now but I'm sure many schools and local authorities are still using Microsoft and their own servers etc. I would never consider going back to Microsoft and the Office packages now.

 

[ollie989898]

I'm on chromebook now and really rate them and we've been using the google suite for many years now but I'm sure many schools and local authorities are still using Microsoft and their own servers etc. I would never consider going back to Microsoft and the Office packages now.

Office today is so great I'd be lost without it. I understand you can run office on Chrome OS now anyway.

 

[Chae1]

She has Ipad and Iphone, but due to various bits of education software, and to be perfectly frank cost, a Windows machine it has to be.
Not letting my kids ruin an expensive Macbook, everybody else in my house is already banned from using my nice new desktop! ??
Not dissing the Apple at all but not this time.

Will the school not give her a laptop?

We've a school laptop here. She has her own hp too though. One of the brats got a keyboard for his I pad.

My other half is back into school on Monday, which she's very excited about. I expect a lot of gossiping and not much work will be going on!

 

[Cowabunga]

Office today is so great I'd be lost without it. I understand you can run office on Chrome OS now anyway.

You can run Office365 off virtually anything. Literally all your various devices, all synchronised.

 

[Y Fan Wen]

Did you hear the interview with the TfL lost property guy this week? A sealed copy of Office 365 was handed in. It was on 56 x 3.5 inch floppies!

 

[Cowabunga]

Did you hear the interview with the TfL lost property guy this week? A sealed copy of Office 365 was handed in. It was on 56 x 3.5 inch floppies!

Hmm. I joined Office 365 only when the VAT returns went digital-only and it seamlessly downloaded off the internet. Indeed I have not manually loaded a program onto a computer in many years. Probably about ten years since I loaded something off a CD into my Compaq running Vista, which coincidentally I have working today for the first time since 2012. Ever since I got my blindingly fast [sarcasm] 2.5Mbps broadband.
I seriously doubt whether Office 365 will ever have been available for sale on 1.22mb floppies or that the suite would fit on even 56 of them.

 

[Y Fan Wen]

I might be mis remembering and that it was a copy of Word. Even so, what was a floppy set doing swanning round the Underground in the 2020s?

 

[fermerboy]

Will the school not give her a laptop?

We've a school laptop here. She has her own hp too though. One of the brats got a keyboard for his I pad.

My other half is back into school on Monday, which she's very excited about. I expect a lot of gossiping and not much work will be going on!

No chance of that off Moray council!!!??

Unofficially, I've occasionally seen a school laptop home here, but it needs to go back for morning and being part time that can be a pain.
She has her own Toshiba one, but finding that with two boys both needing on at the same time it can be stressful to put it mildly.
From what we are hearing they are going to be at home a lot till at least the end of the year.
Will get on and get something ordered this weekend.

No official return to school for teachers here yet, though there is a lot of behind the scenes stuff going on.
My wife has been setting work for home schooling her pupils right through plus teaching ours at home, reckon that calving a 100 cows is easier!!??

 

[rollestonpark]

I'm on chromebook now and really rate them and we've been using the google suite for many years now but I'm sure many schools and local authorities are still using Microsoft and their own servers etc. I would never consider going back to Microsoft and the Office packages now.

Totally agree, I've used Linux Mint for years on all my PCs and use LibreOffice and the Google Sheets/Docs suite etc, why pay for stuff you can get for free?
Does everything I want and more.

I guess because (why pay for stuff you can get for free), I'll never understand the whole Microsoft Office thing.
Chris

 

[Cowabunga]

Totally agree, I've used Linux Mint for years on all my PCs and use LibreOffice and the Google Sheets/Docs suite etc, why pay for stuff you can get for free?
Does everything I want and more.

I guess because (why pay for stuff you can get for free), I'll never understand the whole Microsoft Office thing.
Chris

I've used Libre Office for many years but the VAT bridging program will not work on it, so had to get an Office365 subscription.
I'm having a new computer in a couple of days time which has the MS Office suite included as part of the package, while the 365 sub is due some time next month. So it is possible that I will cancel 365 because it gives me no advantage over the one-off version.

Linux needs patience to set up that I am lacking. Give me the popular Windows, OSX, Chrome or Android any day over the various versions of Linux available. Basically I buy the computer with the operating system installed and use that. There's more than enough hassle out there.

 

[J B]

Totally agree, I've used Linux Mint for years on all my PCs and use LibreOffice and the Google Sheets/Docs suite etc, why pay for stuff you can get for free?
Does everything I want and more.

I guess because (why pay for stuff you can get for free), I'll never understand the whole Microsoft Office thing.

I suppose it's an 'industry standard' in most places?
When I used to help folks do RHI applications, Libre office spreadsheet thingy wasn't compatible with some of the macros (?) so had to get MS Excel.
Apparently if some folks do their CV on Libre and the employers read it in Word, it *may* look different and thus unprofessional?
I bought a lifetime 5 user sub for Office 365 odd Ebay about 18 months ago for under a tenner

 

[Storeman]

I've used Libre Office for many years but the VAT bridging program will not work on it, so had to get an Office365 subscription.
I'm having a new computer in a couple of days time which has the MS Office suite included as part of the package, while the 365 sub is due some time next month. So it is possible that I will cancel 365 because it gives me no advantage over the one-off version.

Linux needs patience to set up that I am lacking. Give me the popular Windows, OSX, Chrome or Android any day over the various versions of Linux available. Basically I buy the computer with the operating system installed and use that. There's more than enough hassle out there.

Have you tried Linux Mint? Very easy set up, runs straight out of the box. User interface very similar to windows. May be worth a look.

 

[Cowabunga]

Have you tried Linux Mint? Very easy set up, runs straight out of the box. User interface very similar to windows. May be worth a look.

Not going there. I still find new things on OSX and I've got the whole new experience with W10 to 'look forward to' in the next few weeks.