I just saw we are in Oct so started a new thread.

I spent the morning looking over new laptops for the wife and I as she can not do things on hers it is that old.
How old you ask?
Toshiba's L655 running a Pentium P6100 @ 2.00 ghz
3.00 GB of ram yes 3 GB!
312 GB drive and it is not a SSD
Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit (copy right 2009)
and office just as old.

Heck the new laptops cant even run on anything less than 4 GB of RAM for the OS of windows 11 home S.
Looking at either a Intel core 5 ultra with 16 GB of RAM, 512 SDD drive with a 15" screen
Or Intel core i7 with 16 GB of RaM, 1TB SSD drive with a 15" screen.
Both with Windows 11 Home S.

As for Office I see MS wants your money every month for Office 365 at $70 x 2 each think a year or what it goes for at that time they say and you know it will not go down! For just 3 years that is $420 It comes with a lot of stuff I know I will never use or the wife either.
Now you can get MS Office Home 2024 for $150 x 2 for a once only buy for $300 and it comes with only what we would use and no more.

I also see that MS Win 11 Home S is kind of locked down and any APPS you want to add have to come from MS APP's store!
I am guessing you have to buy it as MS dose not give stuff away for free.
No using anything other than what MS offers for web surfing from what I see posted.
MS takes care of virus and malware and that is what the "S" is.
They say you can unlock the "S" but you cant go back and I am guessing good luck finding something to fight virus & malware you can down load for Win 11
This is why we waited so long as we seen this MS only deal coming when we got out of I.T.

Sorry for the rant but I HATE CHANGE!
Dave ----

 

Embrace your new overlords.

I'm running an i9 machine. 32g RAM. 2.5GHz processor. W11E.

If it were me I'd buy the hottest machine you can afford and get the cheapest OS they offer.

Whatever you buy. Will be obsolete next year. Welcome to the club.

 

Oh I know about the "obsolete next year" thing and there is nothing we can do about it

I dont need anything great / fast as I only use it to surf the web and maybe make a few word docs.
I dont do gaming or watch TV on it, I got a big flat screen for that.
So I am thinking that if it last as long as this one I am on, about 15 years, it may be the last one I will need.

In my younger days I would get something with more power / speed.
I guess like my truck with a 300 six and slow shifting trans, I like slow and low power
Dave ----

 

There's nothing wrong with an older 8th gen i5 system if it has decent RAM.

If the i7 is comparable in price it may be worth updating a little.

"Intel core i7 with 16 GB of RaM, 1TB SSD drive with a 15" screen." If this one is affordable that's the route I'd take.

OS your stuck with 11 unfortunately. At least on new machines.

I have an older 8th gen i5 2.3ghz. 16 g RAM. And still running W10. But it won't update the OS any more and basically reminds me every start up to upgrade to W11. Which I decline and it's not happy when I decline.

 

Do you have "auto update" turned on or cant you turn it off on Win10?
I think I got the same MSG for a while but nothing for a long time now.
Last update was back in 2020 think I did it just before MS stopped supporting Win7?
I know i have to start using Chrome as IE would not work on some web sites.
Wife tells me even Chrome is not working on sites she needs to got to.

Part of the problem going with newer equipment and older OS is drivers or lack there of.
Had that issue when I would build my own desk top PC's.
I am at that stage in my life I dont want to start "custom build" a laptop / PC and OS and deal with any issues that pop up when using it.
Now I just want to boot it up and surf!

It dose suck that MS has everything "locked" and you must buy from them and if you dont like it well ........
Yes you can unlock it like a phone I hear of but if you are not into the "custom" part I dont see the need to, yea I am getting old

If I was into programs like CAD I would get a laptop with more guts but the wife & I surf the web and she dose the banking and the cat / dog foster forums on hers so dont need anything great but dont want bare bones either. Think what I posted should work for us.
Beside not spending more money on Laptop's gives more money for car stuff
Dave ----

 

Yeah, auto updates are off but it still likes to "You're eligible for a free upgrade" window, not every time but often enough.

Drivers on the old machine haven't been an issue yet but I may start seeing some being more difficult to update.

If ya'll are just surfing, simple stuff, anything in the past five years should be plenty sufficient.

I also run ad blocker on Chrome. Which a lot of sites hate and some won't allow. Even YouTube has started to purposely making it difficult to watch certain content if ad blocker is turned on. Which is crazy because YouTube is owned by Google.

SMH. Got to love "technology."

 

The world of computers, there are lots of directions you could go. Honestly for the type of browsing and computing you do have you considered just an iPad with a keyboard? They are affordable and you don't have to worry about the virus thing. I use a MacBook Pro for YouTube editing and photo editing. I have a built desktop as well but a barebones desktop can be had for fairly cheap. I do agree that an i7 with 16GB Ram should be the minimum and works very well. To avoid the cost of buying the office products I use LibreOffice, it is a free and open-source Office program. No need in buying office to use it only a handful of times a year. I have office at work if i need it so thats what i use. If you are looking for a more customizable windows experience then i would buy the PRO level.

I hope that helps.

 

I drove to Jeffersonville, IN for a car show this past weekend. I took my wagon and left early Friday morning, 130a. I came back late Sunday afternoon 530p. It was a good time, lots of driving through the mountains of VA, WV, KY and it was a wonderful sight to see!

This week I am diving into the F100. Probably doing transmission first, pan seal and filter, fresh fluid.

Here's the video from this past weekend

 

I saw this is going on this weekend.

 

The wife and I were in I.T. 10 years ago.
Wife desk side support, network, back ups and telcom, me is break fix and desk side support and some back ups so we have a little clue.
Just hate how MS has gone the way of Apple and lock things down just not as bad.
What I got to do is learn more of Win11 of what I can and cant do with it when in S mode.
Its a change I will just have to get over

Twisted that is a lot of driving for a weekend. Yes time to get on that truck of yours so you can bring it out to a cruise or a show.

On the show some of the club member are going to that show in Selma and a few others to a show in Garner.
Myself and at least 2 others are going to the Garner show as it is only like 5 miles from my house, the others are members of the church it is at.
It was a nice show when I went 2 years ago.
It is at Mt. Zion Church 15772 NC 50 north, Garner NC. 10am to 2pm

St Jude's show it the weekend of 19th in Dunn that the club is helping at
And the 20th is the clubs cruise in at the Old North Food Hall in Selma.
Now that it is cooler a lot of shows and cruises are happening its going to be be busy.
Dave ----

 

I'm waiting to hear back if they will let me enter my bike. This is typically a good show with a large turn out.

 

That is a ride out to New Bern.
That would be the Mall on the right on 70 when going out?
Not a lot of shows let bikes in. I think it is because most would not know how to judge them?

When I was working I was out that way a lot with cement for Argos before they sold out to SRM and had their own haulers.
We would help every now and then but the loads came out of the port, PITA and not Durham.
Dave ----

 

Well, I live at the coast so just a short drive for me.

Yes, the old mall on 70 before you hit the bridges.

Some will allow bikes. Or at least allow a dedicated bike area. Even if you aren't judged you can be part of the show.

 

Fuzz. I am actually driving the truck today before I start digging into it. As far as current IT stuff, ive been doing it for the last 23years at all different levels so I know how annoying it is that things are always changing.

I might be able to do the 19th, but the 20th I will be in Farmington with my Beetle for a VW show.
Not sure I can make the 26th, Its my mom's birthday that weekend.

 

Did someone say VW Show?