Electronics

[lilypadfrog]

I have a computer repair man coming on Monday to take a look at my computer. There's been so many repairs over the last two years. He told me a time or two ago that I should just buy a new one. I tried to use my daughter's window 8 laptop but I don't need the frustration. I didn't ""grow up "" with computers. These things have always been hard for me to understand. Thanks everyone for the ideas. I will look on line rather than in a store.

[betteb]

On 4/19/2014 lilypadfrog said: I have a computer repair man coming on Monday to take a look at my computer. There's been so many repairs over the last two years. He told me a time or two ago that I should just buy a new one. I tried to use my daughter's window 8 laptop but I don't need the frustration. I didn't "grow up " with computers. These things have always been hard for me to understand. Thanks everyone for the ideas. I will look on line rather than in a store.

Lily, those are all good choices in my post #20 and all are from reliable retailers.

[Nuttmeg]

On 4/19/2014 ROMARY said:

I love my 7, and had no problems to begin with. Just perfect! Too many folks are still trying to 'learn' 8. People who have top jobs using computers, etc. Even the folks at the various PC stores were/are having troubles trying to figure 8 out. Customers were tired of having to carry in their '8' laptops into the stores for help.

Window 8 is a total change for Windows, but there are many resources online to help people learn this OS. YouTube for one. If you have any tablet or smartphone, the learning curve gets a little easier.

[gardenman]

A few quick points here. Back to the OP for a minute, if all you do is online banking and web-surfing then something like a Chromebook might be ideal for you. They're cheap, reliable, virus/malware proof and very easy to learn to use.

As to Windows 8, it was designed to be a cross-platform operating system so if you learn it once you can use it on all of your devices including your Windows smartphone, computer, tablet, and even X-Box One. Instead of having to learn two, three or four ways of doing things, you only learn one way of doing things and can apply it across all of those devices. Now making an effective cross-platform operating system isn't especially easy and requires a new interface with the end user, but underneath that interface is still the more familiar Windows environment.

You will likely never find Microsoft going back to Windows 7. Cross-platform integration is the future and Apple is heading there too. Learning one operating system, even if it feels alien to start with, is easier than having to learn three or four separate ones. With the majority of people now using computers, tablets, smart phones, and gaming systems, creating one operating system that's compatible across all of them just makes too much sense. Software/apps you buy for one works on all. (At least theoretically.) Files transfer seamlessly from one device to another. Everything is integrated and unified and largely effortless for the user. For companies like Microsoft/Apple it's a clever way of locking consumers into your products. If you want an effortless sharing of apps/data between devices then you have to stay in the same family of devices thereby buying a computer, smart phone, tablet, or gaming device using that operating system.

Over the long term a few days/weeks learning a new way of doing things isn't so bad as that's how you'll likely be doing things for a long, long time into the future.

[lilypadfrog]

Gardenman, I have a Samsung tablet. Would that be safe ie virus free like you mentioned the chromebook is? This tablet is new and I do use it for my email and now to go on the q forums. I just never thought this was safe to pay bills from or to do my banking on. The computer man said he could fix my computer again but told me I shouldn't. He said it was throwing good money away, but he would fix it. He said that my computer is 8 years old, has had several updates so I just need to let it go. I don't even remember what the original operating system was on it. Anyway if this Samsung is safe to use, then maybe I will talk to the computer man about it. He wouldn't take my computer today to fix. He told me to think about it and he would be back in a day or two.

[Nuttmeg]

On 4/21/2014 lilypadfrog said: Gardenman, I have a Samsung tablet. Would that be safe ie virus free like you mentioned the chromebook is? This tablet is new and I do use it for my email and now to go on the q forums. I just never thought this was safe to pay bills from or to do my banking on. The computer man said he could fix my computer again but told me I shouldn't. He said it was throwing good money away, but he would fix it. He said that my computer is 8 years old, has had several updates so I just need to let it go. I don't even remember what the original operating system was on it. Anyway if this Samsung is safe to use, then maybe I will talk to the computer man about it. He wouldn't take my computer today to fix. He told me to think about it and he would be back in a day or two.

I had trouble posting in this thread with a tablet. Paying bills to me could be hit or miss. A computer is a better device for this task.

[Mindy D]

I have 8.1 and I have found out that some of the inconveniences and disorganization I attributed to it are coming from Explorer 11. They are a pain to work with. When I'm looking at something the pages jumps off the screen and something else comes into view and I have to try to get back to it over and over. The Charms are stupidly placed on the Right side of my screen and only show up when I go to the upper right corner. On a large laptop, it's inconvenient to scroll, as you have to move the arrow to the far right of the screen and then you can use your fingers to scroll. I will admit that a touchscreen would work better with 8.1. As for the Windows App Store, in comparison with the App Store on my IPhone, it's a complete joke. The apps are dinky little nothing's that waste your time and space on your computer. So far, the best thing about it is the recorder. This can record accurate voices from across a lace room.