A laptop is a compromise, only buy one if you need a laptop, otherwise use a desktop.
How much are you going to spend?
Desktops are still easier to repair. Likely cheaper.
This is purely a matter of personal preference. Today’s laptops work every bit as well as desktops, with only the added benefit of portability.
In before the majority.
Depends on what you intent to use it for.
MACBOOK AIR/PRO. You won’t be sorry.
I haven’t owned a desktop in about 10 years. I see no need, unless you want a big screen, though you can hook a laptop up to another monitor as well. Any laptop will take a USB mouse.
I have no idea what the hell I’m doing.
Got that out of the way.
Walmart is as good as any place to buy cheap laptop. Don’t be too cheap tho.. A large Hard Drive 1nTerabyte or larger may Be in order if you do recover old files., at least a 15 inch screen helps too.
Good luck!
Your HD in the old computer may still be functional. Itd be good to check.
NO MA'AM!
If we can't talk you through it, you call Geek Squad or a trusted friend.
YOU SHOULD NOT be inviting Walmart employees to your home.
Well, do you need something portable? If not, a laptop might not be the best choice, because laptops have a lot of drawbacks. You will get a slower processor, less memory, a smaller screen, and less upgradability than a similarly priced desktop.
Also, they tend to have problems overheating with extended use nowadays, as the processors can generate more heat than the laptop fans can handle. Even with an external laptop cooling pad, I find trying to do anything processor intensive crashes my laptop from the heat in a hurry.
I suggest you invest some dough in a good surge protector as well.............................
Sometimes power surges like lightning will only take out the power supply. If you have a working power supply around, you could install it and see if the old computer fires up. I have run in to this sometimes and sometimes this is the case and worth checking.
CGato
WE need a rapid response FR team of tech gizzards uhh wizards to make themselves available for a emergency just as this.
Spank me but ,, FREepathon looms 8-o
Lenovo computers (made in China) have been known to be sold with pre-installed malware. All the others just have bloatware. :-)
Whatever you do, try and save the HD from your old machine. The data may still be intact even if the motherboard has blown. You still may be able to transfer data/files from the old to the new.
While I used to build my own desktops, I purchase Dells now. And remember, you get what you pay for. (Don’t be cheap) ;-)
I'm sure your FReeper family will give you good advice.
Keep these three things in mind: CPU (fast for what you need it). Memory (can't get enough memory). Storage (large amounts).
Good luck.
5.56mm
Did it blow through your surge protective device?
Surface pro 3
Laptop is a good choice. You want to go out on the deck and browse freerepublc just pick it up and go out there. Set it on the counter in the kitchen to follow your recipes. Go somewhere for the weekend and no more waiting until you get home to check out something on your computer.
Every brand has it supporters and opponents.
DON’T BUY SAMJUNK, however. I bought an $800 i7 processor laptop with Win7. It worked fine until the month following the expiration of the warranty. It died. Local shop said it was the motherboard. They tried to be a replacement from Samsung. Apparently, Samsung didn’t make replacement parts. So, I have an $800 door stop.
I replaced it with a Dell i5 processor with Win7. It was always sluggish. After about 8 months, I seemed to have problems with the hard drive. I bought a new, faster hard drive locally and installed it using the Dell image disk. Have not had any problems since — and that was about 2-1/2 years ago. The Dell laptop is heavy, however.
Best Buy has techs who do onsight installations, etc., but I have no experience with them. I have always installed my own. Win7 was real easy to set up, connect to the internet, set up the local network, etc. Win XP was not.
I have no experience/advice with Win 8 or 8.1 or the coming 10.