Cheap as chips

[peahouse05]

Hi all
Are most people being conned?
A couple of miles out of Bude, just past Box's Shop there is a second-hand computer place. For about £80 you can buy a used PC - OK if you want an LCD monitor it will cost more. But, if you borrow a copy of Linux Mint , or umpteen other distros, you will be online for the cost of the broadband connection.
I would love to know how many people only use a PC to connect to the Internet, and as for laptops -how many have them only sit on a solid surface?
Yes I know there are games - but if you stick to games where you actually run around, the above would do you, and with some sort of Office stuff you could type a letter, and you could work out how to download music. Bu--er I may have lost the argument.
However my youngest daughter, son-in-law, two neices (and their children), my eldest daughter's neice and nephew all have laptops and only connect to the Internet via XP, Vista or Windows 7.
Could we start some sort of campaign to save people money?
Cheers
peahouse05

 

[TriplexDread]

doubt it mate.

I build them all the time from bits I have laying around from stuff given to me. Problem is people do want ONLY laptops now really because of the portability of the things

If they want to play games they will usually have a console of types

The die hard PC gamer of course will build his/her own to simply install the best hardware, ie the best GFX card, however simply because of the size of it it wont fit in a standard case. yah you can get a highend laptop to play games - is it as upgradable as a standard desktop? No way!


Laptops are great if you wanna sit in front of tv but as you say beaware the heat issues and put a book under there aswell

portability is the thing but will evetually stop things can only go so small i suppose,,,,

heres to miniturisation

 

[floppybootstomp]

I think TXD summed it up admirably there.

As for the question 'Are people being conned?' Of course they are.

Always have been and always will be.

Just look at SKY and Virgin for starters, the list is endless.

A little knowledge, a little research - is NOT what the average Joe will do and will usually sign up on fancy promises without looking at the small print.

Free laptop Sir? Certainly. Just sign here.

Now then, your 24 month mobile phone contract will charge you so much you could actually have bought a decent laptop outright and had an unfettered week down the pub had you signed a normal mobile phone contract and banked the difference in price.

Lots of people are fools, one could almost say they deserve it. But NO! That's not true.

Shoot the sales rep.

 

[peahouse05]

Must agree
Bought a Toshiba Laptop for £1000 in approx 2002 so I was conned, but that was before I joined the forum. There was no salesman but I fell for the advertising - I didn't need a laptop.
On the upside my daughter still uses it after I replaced the HDD, RAM and installed a new XP at various stages (no thanks to Toshiba for the 'recovery discs') and thanks to members for their expert advice.
A distant nephew by marriage tells me he has an Apple laptop 'because it is cool'. Can any member translate this into technical advantage over the additional cost - what is different inside this thing?
Apologies - this is turning into a rant
Cheers
peahouse05

 

[Ian]

A distant nephew by marriage tells me he has an Apple laptop 'because it is cool'. Can any member translate this into technical advantage over the additional cost - what is different inside this thing?

I guess for the same reason as people buy an Aston Martin rather than an Astra, even though they both get you from A to B. To be fair to Macs, they are pretty good at some things - but they can be very expensive in comparison to a similarly powered laptop. The design and novelty of Apple products is the reason for most of the expense, such as the super thin and super light Macbook Air. That costs about £1000, so it could be the one your nephew has:

http://www.apple.com/uk/macbookair/

I'm still using my 5 year old laptop if I'm on the move, and it still chugs along quite happily .

 

[floppybootstomp]

I think Ian hit the nail on the head there, some people will willingly pay out more sterling for coolness points. If that's what rocks your boat who am I to argue?

Myself, however....

 

[TriplexDread]

And I too have two laptops both of which still are in working order

The first one I got for a simple PC upgrade which cost me 150 at time 7years ago

The second which was given to me which is 6years old which I have recently fitted a new inverter

They both fine for what is needed of them. Simple programming and surfing, emails etc while I sit on my sofa (with a book underneath)

 

[peahouse05]

Thanks for all the replies
I understand - it's got to look right (cool).
Next question - what about these solid state hard drives? This really gets me going - nothing happens - no strange noises - they just work, but off course at vast expense. Which size of these HDDs would accommodate Linux Mint?
I fully recognise that I am entering the poseur categorie of my nephew with his Apple thingy.
Cheers
peahouse05
BTW is there anything different inside an Apple or is it just the OS?

 

[Abarbarian]

. Which size of these HDDs would accommodate Linux Mint?

http://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?f=49&t=628

 

[floppybootstomp]

Thanks for all the replies
I understand - it's got to look right (cool).
Next question - what about these solid state hard drives? This really gets me going - nothing happens - no strange noises - they just work, but off course at vast expense. Which size of these HDDs would accommodate Linux Mint?
I fully recognise that I am entering the poseur categorie of my nephew with his Apple thingy.
Cheers
peahouse05
BTW is there anything different inside an Apple or is it just the OS?

Abarb's link says 10Gb minimum for Mint. I'd look and see what mine takes up but I also have loads of photos and videos on the OS HDD.

Solid State HDD's are generally speaking a good thing.

Inside an Apple Mac the motherboard architecture is a little different but Macs can now run MS Windows since they decided to use Intel processors a few years back.

Prior to the Apple switch to Intel CPU's Mac's were exclusively OSX, or Leopard, or duck billed platypuss, whatever they call their OS

 

[peahouse05]

Thanks both
I love technology but from your replies I don't need a faster or quieter PC or an Apple, I'll let wife and daughter play with the laptops. My PC is fine with XP, Windows 7 and Linux Mint on a 250GB SATA HDD.
Might get a socket 754 motherboard (had two fail during the winter) and restart crunching in my shed - have a PSU, plenty of RAM and a couple of AMD Athlon CPUs.
Cheers
peahouse05

 

[Quadophile]

I had a lot of fun almost a decade back with a very high end desktop which I had built myself. I invested a lot in it and learned many things while at it. Being part of PC Review I had the privilege to get a lot of guidance and feedback on this forum from the likes of Ian Cunningham, Muckshifter, floppybootstomp, and some others. I always made it a point to share anything and everything here in terms of feedback and to discuss problems. Those discussion became part of database and I am sure many may have found those to be useful.I was also able to teach my son about computers not just in terms of software but hardware as well. I used to put together rigs for friends and family and he used to be on my side, I considered it an investment back then and I must say it paid off in the long run. We used the rig not only for communication but for many things including but not limited to gaming, photography use audio etc etc.

I am at a stage where I do not have enough time to devote to doing this so I have settled for a nice IBM laptop T43 which is giving me great service as a communicating tool. However, I do experiment with Linux and use it as my primary OS and whenever I get an opportunity to introduce it to someone I go out of my way to set it up for them and teach them the basics to get them going. Many have settled for Linux and are loving it, knowing that they do not have to spend a fortune to maintain and use the computer. The people who I convert are also my teachers as they comeback with problems and that is an opportunity for me to learn if I already did not know about it. By proper introduction to Linux and basic help along the way I do not see why folks cannot be converted to the advantages of Linux. It offers almost everything that one may need and more. The user friendly distro's these days have come a long way and it is very easy to set it up. I normally go for dual boot options and get them to use it and switch to it gradually.

I personally will continue to use this laptop for a while before I get myself another one. This is meeting my needs of dual operating system and primarily for communicating. It is also being complimented by the Blackberry phone that I use which takes off a lot of load off my laptop. I have Internet on the go as well since I drive a lot during the day and work in the insurance industry. My Blackberry works as a wireless modem for my laptop. I have a software to use it in windows and I have just configured it with Linux recently as well, in tethered mode I can be sitting on a park bench and getting my work done.

Those who are unable to afford new computer and have to do with what they have, here is an option to consider.

The Linux advantage

• The user can get a demo on his own system in less than 15 minutes using the Live CD
• The OS can be installed in less than an hour with all the basic software that one may need
• No driver disks to go through and no special configuration needed.
• On the part of user, no real worries about being infected with virus and malware
• no real maintenance of the software as the updates are automated and simple to understand and implement
• The current distro's are extremely user friendly and anyone with a brain slightly larger than a pea can learn to use it - its really a no-brainer!

 

[peahouse05]

Hi Quodophile
I agree - would not have wanted to miss the experience of the various OSs and old and not so old PC specs and laptops - all with help of advice from Forum members.
However I still have the nagging feeling that many people just want Internet access and that that could be via a five-year-old PC or Celeron laptop with a Linux distro OS.
What about this latest i-thingy but with no 'apps' - must have a solid-state HDD - would it support a Linux distro? I know, not now, but how long before there are millions of them on eBay after the next itty-bitty thing appears?
Cheers
peahouse05

 

[captain zed]

PCReview rocks......where else would you go for pc info or help ?

 

[peahouse05]

Hi Captain Zed

Absolutely agree
Cheers
peahouse05

 

[floppybootstomp]

The current distro's are extremely user friendly and anyone with a brain slightly larger than a pea can learn to use it - its really a no-brainer!

Ok, I was with you until I reached that last bit.

My brain is a little larger than a pea, being the resident Village Idiot in my part of the manor I am blessed with a brain that's at least the size of a walnut so I speak with some authority here.

For the most part, the above rings true but hit a problem that most semi-clued-up Microsoft Windows users can handle and an inexperienced Linux user can run very painfully into a brick wall.

Things that Linux doesn't take care of automatically can be very difficult to handle unless a user is not even a little familiar with basic Linux console commands.

Having said that, I will acknowledge there is a wealth of help available online and a million and one helpful Linux bods at one's disposal.

What I'm saying, basically, is although I personally think Linux has come of age and most things run smooth as clockwork, being able to handle even basic software installation, patching, drivers where needed and updates can be a little bewildering if working purely from a console.

Myself, I'm sold on Mint but I'm still not 100% there on it handling evrything Windows can. But, hopefully, I'm getting there.

 

[Urmas]

But, hopefully, I'm getting there.

No "hopefully" about that. You'll get there. If that's your wish, you'll get there.

I would like to thank monsieur Quad for this bit:

The people who I convert are also my teachers as they comeback with problems and that is an opportunity for me to learn if I already did not know about it.

That is sooooo right, and that learning aspect explains them "a million and one helpful Linux bods". That – and the idea of "giving back".

 

[EvanDavis]

What about this latest i-thingy but with no 'apps' - must have a solid-state HDD - would it support a Linux distro? I know, not now, but how long before there are millions of them on eBay after the next itty-bitty thing appears?

Hi Peahouse. Yes you can run Linux on the iPad aswell as Windows 7 and all other flavours of Windows...