Electronics

[oceantown]

On 5/6/2014 Lyn08 said:

............Maybe I missed this, but what laptop did you buy for your husband? Where did you buy it, did it come loaded with Office (or did you buy that separately), and what anti-virus did you purchase for it?

I am not at all computer savvy, so I appreciate all the help you can offer me.

You asked chickenbutt, not me, but I thought I would chime in here.

We bought our current toshiba satellite laptop at staples, & this model was a close-out, and super cheap. It has been such a great computer. It does not have office though. I have transferred some of my Word documents (specifically all of my recipes) to the laptop, and I use Open Office which I installed, free.

We also installed Avast anti-virus and MalwareBytes. Also free.

We have had this laptop a little over 2 years, and it is a 15.6 inch display.

I hope you can get some good advice, and can find a laptop that is perfect for your needs.

[Lyn08]

Good grief, I typed a reply, and it went into outer space. So will try again.

A high-level iYogi technician called me, stayed on the phone, and also logged on to my computer. He was aware of the problem I was having with intermittent audio buzzing (about every 30 seconds) on my laptop whenever I played an iTune, video or DVD, and had done extensive research. He rolled back the Intel(R) ICH9M-E/M SATA ACHI Controller from the device manager, and that fixed the issue. The problem occured because of an Optional Windows update I ran. I'm not the only one who had this problem, because I also had done research in Google. Also, I changed my Windows updating settings to check with me before running updates.

So, since my computer seems to be working fine now, I will not be ordering a new computer at this time.

I want to thank all of you for your laptop recommendations.

[glb613]

You can change the Windows update settings to tell you they are available but you choose which ones to install. I rarely install optional updates especially drivers.

[chickenbutt]

I'm so glad your existing computer is back to normal! Yay for that!

I do as Gail recommends - have the Windows Update settings to let me know that updates are available and I will install what I want out of it. I only keep software like antivirus, anti-malware, etc, on auto-update.

Next time Win Updates comes up, or if you just go there and pull it up, you can 'hide' the ones you don't want. Just right-click on the item and choose 'hide update'. That way it won't come up anymore and you won't accidentally let it go through. Additionally, if you ever want to revisit those you have hidden there is a choice for that too. So it's not like you can never access the update again.

[oceantown]

Lyn, glad your computer is all fixed up! Thanks for letting us know.

[Lyn08]

On 5/7/2014 chickenbutt said:

I'm so glad your existing computer is back to normal! Yay for that!

I do as Gail recommends - have the Windows Update settings to let me know that updates are available and I will install what I want out of it. I only keep software like antivirus, anti-malware, etc, on auto-update.

Next time Win Updates comes up, or if you just go there and pull it up, you can 'hide' the ones you don't want. Just right-click on the item and choose 'hide update'. That way it won't come up anymore and you won't accidentally let it go through. Additionally, if you ever want to revisit those you have hidden there is a choice for that too. So it's not like you can never access the update again.

Thanks so much for your help. I did as you and Gail recommended to have Windows Update settings let me know when updates are available, and I decide which updates to install. I also went in to see which Optional Updates were showing ready to install (Note: that Intel(R) ICH9M-E/M SATA ACHI Controller update that caused all the problems for me was there again ready to install), right-clicked on the items and chose "hide update". It didn't completely hide the update, because I could see it, but it grayed out the update.

[chickenbutt]

Hi Lyn! Well, it actually will hide it next time you are in there - you won't see it at all. It just greys it out for that session and then next time you look it won't be showing at all.

[Wen_Woman]

My last Dell (a desktop circa 2009) didn't fare so well, several components went bad on it with very, very, light usage. I'm kind of over Dell.

My kids have had Toshiba laptops that have done very well. My last laptop was a Compaq (I know, but it hung in there a long time and STILL works fine).

I now have a HP that I got for $350 ish on sale at Best Buy with gift cards I got over the holidays. I like my HP so far...no problems at all. Specs on the computer are more than sufficient for me since I am not a computer gamer these days.

I would personally buy Toshiba or HP again.

[Lyn08]

Thanks for all the recommendations for a new laptop. Since my Dell laptop now seems to be working okay, I'll keep it going until if and when I have problems again. I have cancelled my order for the Dell laptop TSV.

My cousin bought an HP Laptop from QVC that was a TSV awhile back. She hasn't used it much yet, but so far is happy with the laptop.

[autumnsunset]

On 5/12/2014 Lyn08 said:

Thanks for all the recommendations for a new laptop. Since my Dell laptop now seems to be working okay, I'll keep it going until if and when I have problems again. I have cancelled my order for the Dell laptop TSV.

My cousin bought an HP Laptop from QVC that was a TSV awhile back. She hasn't used it much yet, but so far is happy with the laptop.

We bought that same HP TSV it was on air April 13 received it April 30 I am very happy with my new HP laptop it was a lot cheaper then the Dell we cancelled and for our needs it is fast enough.