Laptop Choices

[DianNC]

Originally Posted by wizwor

Win8 is really not much different that Win7 if you do not have a touch screen. The only thing missing is the Start Menu. Think of the main screen as your start menu spilled across your desktop. If you click the Desktop tile, you will see the familiar Win7 desktop.

The main screen is a place to consume content and run apps. The Desktop is a good place to do administrative stuff.

After just a couple days, I am really starting to warm up to Win8.

My Win8 laptop was just delivered today, so granted, I haven't had much time to play around with it but I'm not loving it so far.

I had to do a 'search' to find a couple of things I use daily (Notepad, for one) and then another search for the power-off button when I was ready to shut it down.

I was on the 'Desktop', too. Hoping I'll have your experience and warm up to it eventually, but right now I'm thinking I made a mistake.

[HansTWN]

If you don't want to you virtually never even see the start screen. you could just put shortcuts to the programs you use most often on the desktop and you almost never have to leave there.

But in reality the new start is a vast improvement. Settings, search, etc are all much easier. And Windows 8 is extremely fast, especially starting up and closing down.

[sabredog]

Originally Posted by Latinandgreek

That is the model Macbook Air that I have (2012). I couldn't be happier with my purchase. I do travel a fair bit, and I usually have books to carry as well as my laptop when I go to the library to work. The light weight of the laptop makes a huge difference. I hope that you enjoy it. The OS offers many advantages to my work (linguistic research) over Windows as well.

Excellent. Thanks for letting me know how good your experiences with your Macbook Air are.

[RHWright]

I played with it some more & I'm starting to warm to the environment. Got Calibre and Open Office on no problem.

Finding it's mostly touchpad/user issues. The defaults on it are more complex than the older one I was used to. Now, in addition to the traditional movement, tap, or button click, it has different responses for 1, 2, and 3 finger gestures, gestures along the edge of the pad, gestures that cross over the border of the pad---and then not every app/program/website takes advantage of all the gestures. I could turn them off, but then some of the ones that do use them are a little harder to navigate.

Me & my first world problems ...

[SeaKing]

I can appreciate the excitement of getting a new machine or/and a new OS, but I have been through it too many times with Microsoft. I also don't want the Apple route though I appreciate what they do, but it is at 2 or more times the cost I want to take on.

I like XP which does all I want, but I just had to re-jump my desktop when it lost the system drive. Finally I got my old XP working after threading through the maze that MS had to sell a new W7 OS to me for only $137.

The XP on my desktop is XP home and I see no difference between it and an XP Pro (that I ..ugh... borrowed from a friend) except that the super secret and really long password on an excel file had to be shortened for XP Home.
MS was going to kill the XP home on netbooks but then realized that Linux was going to step in and so changed their minds again and so my netbooks have had XP home (or something of the sort) on them.

I am tired and a little mad at MS for all this crap so I have looked into a new platform. Linux I think will be too much trouble. As I get older, I am avoiding trouble more and more, even those ladies that have trouble written all over their skimpy dresses and shorts that I used to chase about. I am a "grand pa" now and proud of it.

Anyway, W8 sounds interesting like some adventurer getting ready to dive into one of those 8 mile deep trenches in the ocean but it is not for me. I prefer to be above the ocean not under it.

Anyway, the point is I am looking strongly at Google's Chromebooks. I hadn't liked the idea of a 16GB HD "offline" even if there were SD card slots, but the $199 Acer C7 has a 320GB Hard Drive which will be much better "offline." Unfortunately it has an old Celelron 2 core chip which runs hotter than the new ARM chips that the Samsung $249 notebook has and the Acer has to have a fan, and has only 3 1/2 hour batter life. If not for that battery life I would have ordered me one up. I was only waiting for better battery life.

Now I hear that before 2012 is out, there will be a Touch Screen Chromebook. I like the idea of a operating system/browser that is automatically updated and protected from viruses and the like without any bother to the operator.

And also for those who care about these things, you can load Linux on the C7 and dual boot if you wish though that does cut down the speed of the normal boot.

I can only say:

CHROMEBOOK for 2013!

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by SeaKing

Now I hear that before 2012 is out, there will be a Touch Screen Chromebook. I like the idea of a operating system/browser that is automatically updated and protected from viruses and the like without any bother to the operator.

And also for those who care about these things, you can load Linux on the C7 and dual boot if you wish though that does cut down the speed of the normal boot.

I can only say:

CHROMEBOOK for 2013!

I just read about that today and I'm intrigued. I'm definitely moving to Chrome OS and will now wait to see this new Chromebook.

There was also mention of a Chrome tablet in that article.

[SeaKing]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

I just read about that today and I'm intrigued. I'm definitely moving to Chrome OS and will now wait to see this new Chromebook.

There was also mention of a Chrome tablet in that article.

Yes indeed. Still I am don't really use general tablets (not Kindle) except for pocketable type devices to have for occasional use on the internet. I do have a Galaxy 7Plus (sometimes) and now do have a Droid 1 which I am using for a small mobile tablet, no phone, at places like the doctors office and at dinner. Beats carrying a tablet or netbook about and even has a slightly larger screen than the old iPod/iPhone equipment.

I will say, I thought long and hard about that Kindle Fire they had at Amazon yesterday for $129. Long and hard. I wanted it, but I just couldn't justify it so I convinced myself that that $129 would go toward my new Chromebook.



For some good info go to:

http://support.google.com/chromeos/b...answer=1056325

[Kumabjorn]

Does ChromeOS support regular FAT, FAT32 and NFTS?

[tubemonkey]

The Nexus 4 is now available again in the Play store.

If it were 16GB and 32GB, I'd get a 32GB; but it's not.

edit: in less than two minutes, both the 8GB and 16GB sold out.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by SeaKing

Yes indeed. Still I am don't really use general tablets (not Kindle) except for pocketable type devices to have for occasional use on the internet. I do have a Galaxy 7Plus (sometimes) and now do have a Droid 1 which I am using for a small mobile tablet, no phone, at places like the doctors office and at dinner. Beats carrying a tablet or netbook about and even has a slightly larger screen than the old iPod/iPhone equipment.

I will say, I thought long and hard about that Kindle Fire they had at Amazon yesterday for $129. Long and hard. I wanted it, but I just couldn't justify it so I convinced myself that that $129 would go toward my new Chromebook.



For some good info go to:

http://support.google.com/chromeos/b...answer=1056325

I jumped on the Fire (arriving tomorrow). It'll be a great stay-at-home cloud tablet. I love the ecosystem. Still, my Nexus 7 (arriving today) will be my primary, go anywhere tablet.

Thanks for the link. I plan to replace my PC with a Chromebook. To me, a computer is the internet and the internet is a computer. In other words, the only time I use my computer, is when it's on the net. I don't see any point in using a computer without the internet.

[SeaKing]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

I jumped on the Fire (arriving tomorrow). It'll be a great stay-at-home cloud tablet. I love the ecosystem. Still, my Nexus 7 (arriving today) will be my primary, go anywhere tablet.

Thanks for the link. I plan to replace my PC with a Chromebook. To me, a computer is the internet and the internet is a computer. In other words, the only time I use my computer, is when it's on the net. I don't see any point in using a computer without the internet.

I have talked with a Google Chromebook guy and he said there were about 100 apps at least that you could make offline applicable and use them anywhere and then when you got back in range of the Wifi it would automatically hook up, sync, and if mail was queued send or receive it.

Also as I have said you have enough room with that 320GB HD to most anything as well as put ubuntu on the computer if you want and utilize it IF YOU WANT. (Dual Boot) I don't see me doing that.

The Google guy said he had heard of a touch screen Chromebook but wouldn't say much specific about it.
He did say that the idea Google had was to make the Chromebook's price competitive with the tablets so that the price would be low. I tried to get a price and he was evasive.

And finally from what I was able to wiggle out of him and what has been said by people talking to reps, if I guessed, it would be a Google (branded) Chromebook, ARM machine with 128GB SSD, and a Touch Screen between $300 to $350. It would be a step up from the Samsung $249 ARM cpu, 16GB machine.

What Acer would do to bring in something higher end than their C7, $199 I don't know. I do know they have said that a higher capacity battery would come if people would pay for it. I guess they mean more than $199.

The Google guy said that the 100MB a month you get for 2 years was mainly just for email.

I told him to put in his nightly report that 3 1/2 hours for the Acer was a NO-GO. They had to do better.

From what I have seen and heard, I would buy the Acer today if it had the same battery life as the Samsung, 6 1/2 hours or better. I don't need a touch screen.

Finally, I loved the machines. They reminded me somewhat of the Mac Air 11.6s.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by SeaKing

And finally from what I was able to wiggle out of him and what has been said by people talking to reps, if I guessed, it would be a Google (branded) Chromebook, ARM machine with 128GB SSD, and a Touch Screen between $300 to $350. It would be a step up from the Samsung $249 ARM cpu, 16GB machine.

That would be a nice machine if it had more RAM and USB ports than the Samsung.

Finally, I loved the machines. They reminded me somewhat of the Mac Air 11.6s.

Hello lawsuit from one round green fruit company

[Teknikal]

I've a Samsung which is a bit low specced now but still going strongly, battery is still fine a few years later, on the other hand my dad got a toshiba about a year ago and the battery won't even hold a charge for 10 minutes now he actually has to leave it on mains.

Also I've never owned one but I've heard a lot of positives about asus lately.

[Prestidigitweeze]

Wizwor and R. H. Wright, et al.:

In terms of keyboards and displays, I've loved the Samsung laptops I've used so far. The older ones almost felt like my piano, and the pleasures of traveling with a matte screen are not to be dismissed. Shiny screens and flimsy keys are often what I've disliked about the newer HPs and Toshibas.

A bad precedent's being set in terms of lightness and flash over solidity. I'm terrified that the high-ppi PC laptops that will surely begin appearing over the next few years will all have inaccessible batteries. I've waited for decades for a laptop screen that doesn't exacerbate eyestrain and now Apple has yoked that feature to the defeat of manual upgrades and repairs.

(Kumabjorn: I'd love to know the specific benefits of a MacBook Air for a person studying linguistics. That might be the least banal endorsement of a Mac I've ever read.)

SeaKing:

I'd be more interested in Chromebooks if the ones I liked had real hard drives and could dual-boot into Windows. But then, I'd also want to boot into some undiluted flavor of linux, as I've been doing with my little netbook for all this time. Non-Android linux can be so beautiful and quiet you sometimes wish you'd never be nagged again by the clueless office receptionist that is Windows at its most diligent.

That said, I really wish I'd seen this thread before Black Friday. Brilliant price on that Lenovo desktop, and great suggestions on laptops overall.

Tubemonkey:

I, too, thought about the Kindle at $129. Problem is that my significant Lothar and I are occasional narrative-driven gamers and that's what we'd be doing for fun -- partly because the real Japanese games often have stranger stories than any film and can be as intricate as a novel. That Sony/Amazon Assassin's Creed PS Vita bundle was a one-of-a-kind thing: The geekiest controls ever to appear on a handheld wedded to perks and discounts that only a true vendor and desperate manufacturer collaboration could yield. The library will be small, but then again, I can't spend a lot of time gaming or playing when I'm supposed to be writing, editing, composing and practicing.

I'd have gotten a second one for her as a present if she didn't find gadgets unromantic.

[wizwor]

Originally Posted by DianNC

My Win8 laptop was just delivered today, so granted, I haven't had much time to play around with it but I'm not loving it so far.

I had to do a 'search' to find a couple of things I use daily (Notepad, for one) and then another search for the power-off button when I was ready to shut it down.

I was on the 'Desktop', too. Hoping I'll have your experience and warm up to it eventually, but right now I'm thinking I made a mistake.

Last night I upgraded my wife's laptop to Win8. It came with Win7 plus a free upgrade. She had been using Vista and did not like Win7, so we decided she might be a good candidate for Win8. At the outset, we agreed to try to experience Win8 as it was intended to be experienced.

I have only installed apps from Microsoft's store. Instead of OpenOffice, we are using SkyDrive. No problem there. We are using the Win8 mail client instead of gmail and that is a hit (she likes the tiled preview). Full screen IE is also popular.

We installed the latest touch drivers and are learning the associated gestures. The large touch pad of the Lenove z580 is very well suited for this.

My most cynical offspring is even interested in the experiment. He loves the Fire, so the idea of gesturing is not new and even welcome for him.

So far, we are spending a lot of time googling the right way to do things -- more than we are figuring them out ourselves -- but this is a pretty nice way to use a computer.