IT Help please

[inaspin]

I think it is fair to say when it comes to computers i am no genius, and the time has come where i need to replace my old one which is about nine years old now and runs on xp.

Now the problem i have is this, i have been into the local pc world and basically come away again copletely bewildered and baffled, after a short conversation with a very nice young man, basically it went along these lines.

Him "Do you need any help sir"

Me "Yes please i am in the market for a new computer"

Him "Desk top lap top or notebook"

Me " Desk top that is what i have now and don't have the need to carry one around with me so happy to stick with that"

Him "This is the applemac something or other and then changed into speaking a language which i can only assume was martian or that of some other intergalactic being"

Me " I sorry but that is way above my price range i simply could not afford or justify spending that sort of money, The one i have now is a compaq and it has been very good . can you show me something like that please"

Him " This is probably simular to the one you have runs on windows 8."

Me " Sorry could i just ask you please i have heard that there is a lot of problems with the windows 8 System what are your thoughts on it?"

Him "That is correct sir it has not proved to be the most reliable of systems but there is a new version out soon windows 9 perhaps you should leave it and see how that is it may be more reliable"

Me " I see well thank you for that i will have a think about it thanks for your help byby."

Whilst i appreciate his honest reply it has left me wondering what to do next and if there are any other avenues to explore, any help would be very much appreciated. Also apparently none of the windows systems come with microsoft word installed anymore, and that it has to be purchased separately does anyone know of any alternatives to this such as downloads which are safe and reliable.

Kind Regards
Berns

 

[DrPhill]

Yes, a minefield of choices.

If you are used to windoze then you probably want to stick to windoze (not my choice, but you will have lots of company). That reduces the field nicely. So does choosing a desktop. If you go for a new desktop with windoze installed it will be Windoze 8. Windoze 8 has some issues. Wait long enough and there will be windoze 9 instead. That will have issues. Different ones, to be sure, but they will still be there. It is the nature of the beast.

Dont worry about these issues. XP had them in its day. Buy a machine, apply the patches, and pretty soon you will have something just as good as XP.

If I were going that route I would choose a modest-spec machine from a reputable maker and ccheck that it comes with some free support. Dell have done fine by me (I have bought four in a row). Other people will have their favourites.

As for MSWord. It is a separate product. Like drill bits - they dont come with the drill. That is good for the likes of me that do not want to pay for 'free' extras. A pain for you as you will have to add the extras. If you go via Dell I think they will install MS Office for you (for a fee). It then becomes part of the support package. Other manufacturers will likely do the same - it is more profit for them (bit like the guy at the hard ware shop who asks 'do you want some drill bits to go with that drill sir?")

HTH

 

[Woodchips2]

Hi Berns
Are you after a faster computer, need more storage capacity or is the current machine unreliable? I still use a fairly old desktop running on XP and have upgraded the RAM and use an external hard drive to store all my photographs. I stay with it because it is reliable and I know where everything is. My wife has a faster laptop running on Windows 7 but I do not find that anywhere as user-friendly (hammer) .

Regards Keith

 

[RogerS]

Berns...you're only just down the road from me. PM sent.

No, chaps, I'm not going to twist his arm and make him buy a Mac :lol: (even though you know it makes sense !)

 

[woodfarmer]

For the last 5-6 years I have been running ubuntu on three cheap computers from Novatech (about £250. I also run a win xp partition so the machine is dual boot. I only run the xp partition because the printer driver for my very old Epson printer in windows will tell me which ink cartridge has failed whereas the old ubuntu general purpose driver does not. All modern Epson printers have full drivers on the epson website for Ubuntu and in fact if you plug in a new printer Ubuntu will automatically down load the drivers from Epson and install them.

I have never had crash/freeze on any of them . one is my daily user, the other my wife's. The third I use for development work and backups.

Ubuntu (a version of linux) is free. as are applications. a more win xp look can be had either by downloading and installi Mate front end or start off with "Mint" which is basically Ubuntu with Mate already installed.

I know this sounds complicated but it isn't. also when you buy a bare base unit (less any fee to Micksoft) you can try out a few versions very easily. the only small thing is when you have the configuration of Ubuntu you want start clean again and install win xp first. then install Ubuntu. It will ask if you want dual boot, and also how much space to allocate for each partition/operating system. You can copy files between the two drives just like having c: and d:.

 

[RogerS]

Berns...another thought. Why not go to one of the smaller computer shops in Malvern or Worcester?

 

[nev]

As far as MS Office goes - LibreOffice does it all, is more than compatible, basically works the same and is completely and utterly free!!
http://www.libreoffice.org/

 

[DrPhill]

I would like it if the OP went linux...... but he sounded a bit cautious. My advice was tailored to the 'I want to stick with windows' flavour I assumed from the tone of the post. Get a box, turn it on, and it runs....... but I bet Linux would run a damn sight faster on his old box than XP does. The software is free. My wife and I have been running Mint trouble-free for about 18 months. A couple of minor problems showed up, but they were each solved using the prompt, helpful, free, and fast advice on the Mint forum. 24 hours tops.

It seems to me as if the proportion of Linux users here is greater than the population at large. I wonder why?

 

[RogerP]

Another Linux user here since the very early days with lots of terminal typing.
Now I'm using Ubuntu 13.10 on a modern machine and boy does it fly!

 

[mseries]

Mrs Mseries uses Windows 8 on a cheap Toshiba laptop we got from CCL Computers. It's been absolutely fine for her with no problems. She uses Libre Office too. I use Linux Mint 13 on an old laptop which also runs Libre Office.

 

[Sheptonphil]

Go to any reputable local independent computer shop they will custom build a PC with windows 7, a system which works perfectly well without the learning curve and frustration of Win 8. As independents, we are now in a position to supply the public with laptops and pc's the big boys are not allowed to due to licensing deals with Microsoft. Whilst we do not sell the cheapest product, the computers we do sell are far more user friendly to the majority of older computer users. The personal advice and support we give far surpasses anything PCW can even aspire to achieve.

Windows 9 is nowhere near imminent, Win 8.1 patch has just been released, and has further compounded the dire state of Win 8 with unreliable download (it is 3.5gb so needs a really steady, reliable broadband connection, and is not available even to our workshop as a redistributable image) and does not address many of the issues originally raised.

Phil

 

[inaspin]

Hi Everyone

Just got in and overwhelmed by all the helpful sujjestions that have been posted, i will read through them more carefully when i am not so tired but for now its goodnight from me.

Thank you all so very much.

Berns

 

[inaspin]

Hi
once again thank you all for you help and guidence on this topic, i think i am sorted now and would like to give a huge thankyou to Roger s who went out of his way to supply me with some very helpful litreture.

Regards

Berns