Posted on 12/23/2013 12:43:41 PM PST by savedbygrace
So, I want to buy a new PC. I have a 4 year old Asus laptop and the screen has a lot of bad pixels. And I do not want to install Win7 again, but Start and Shutdown are both taking a long time, so I know I should re-install if I keep it.
So, my options are to buy a laptop with Win8, or a combo laptop/touch-screen with Win8. I will not buy a desktop PC.
What are the advantages of each, and which models would you recommend? I want as much RAM as possible, maybe 8GB, and the fastest processor I can afford. I want to keep it under $800, or not much more than that.
Note that I will not buy anything from Toshiba.
Go.
download adaware (free) from lavasoft. Run it and see if it doesn’t speed it up.
I’ve been impressed by the idea of the new systems that are both a laptop and a tablet. Haven’t yet seen one that functions really efficiently in both modes, though.
Also not crazy about the ones with a detachable keyboard, as I’m sure you’d invariably not have the keyboard with you when wanted. Not to mention chance of loss.
I finally dumped my PCs and bought a Mac Book Pro. It is more expensive, but I think the cost is worth it. The retina display is incredible.
Toshiba is one of the best. Like ASUS. And Lenovo.
(This reminds me of people who swear by one brand of gasoline, and promise never to buy another named brand.)
Try installing Ubuntu Linux on your old laptop. It won’t help with hardware issues like dead pixels but it will fix OS related issues. Best of all it is FREE.
Check compatibility first and you can even run the os from a thumb drive (without actually installing) to test compatibility.
My 7 year old dell laptop was dying a couple of years ago. I installed Ubuntu and it has been running like a champ ever since.
http://www.ubuntu.com/download/desktop
You missed the most important part which is what the heck you plan on doing with it. That will determine what the parameters of the laptop should be and since you did not tell us that there’s not much to say.
My children and I like Windows 8.1 on a $1500 touch-screen desktop we bought from HP. We mostly use it in desktop mode, but touch is convenient and fun for the kids. It is fast. Skydrive, which gives you 7 GB of storage in the cloud, is neat.
If your laptop is stationary, can you connect a $100 monitor to it? My ex has a Mac Air with an effed up screen and a 24’’ monitor which works just fine.
What’s the noise level on that? (My current pc sounds like a jet engine taking off.) I’ve been thinking about a Mac Pro, but want something quiet! Thanks.
I hear Ethan Krupp uses a Mac.
Wait until January. Lots of places will have big sales to boost sales and dump inventory.
I’ve been using Windows 8 on the new HP for a few days and I like it. It takes some getting used to but no biggie.
I’m looking at Ipads but need a “normal” sized USB output.
Are there any “Lightning-to-USB” adapters on the market?
I have 4 older laptops that are either WinXP or Win7. I’ve made all dual boot with Linux Mint with the Cinnamon desktop. Mint is very easy to install and, for older machines, the Mint 13 version is generally compatible. The current version is 16.
1) Add memory. If you are using 2gb of memory, or even 4gb of memory then put in 8gb or whatever max your laptop may have. Memory is pretty cheap.
2) Remove your old hard drive and install an SSD hard drive. You will be blown away at what a difference this will make in terms of start up times and overall performance. SSDs are pretty cheap now. I just bought a 256gb SSD for $139. You can get a 500gb on sale for less than $250. You can even get a 1tb SSD for about $550 now.
Do both of these combined and you probably won't need to buy a whole new laptop... unless you want to.
BFL...
Thanks for the tech referral on the software.
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