Is there a local college, or tech school, that might have a student interested in earning a little extra cash?
Back to Gateway — they also have a line of re-furbished machines that really are just as good as new. You can get them preloaded with your Office Suite and your Malware. Gateway offers great phone help.
I’m sure Dell offers the same.
As far as laptop or desktop. I’ve had (have) both. Laptops have more problems and repairs. But, they are more convenient in many ways. Since my knee repalcement, I find it difficult to drag myself upstairs to my desktop, so I rely more on my laptop. But I’ve had it in for repairs SO MANY times.
“Is there a local college, or tech school, that might have a student interested in earning a little extra cash?”
This.
I once had a computer-clueless friend who did exactly as afraidfortherepublic recommended, and it worked out great for my friend. He called the local high school and they connected him with a great computer -savvy kid. Worked out great!!