New laptop?

[proton]

32 minutes ago, KannikaP said:

You are doing something wrong then. SIX laptops going tits up needing repairs and then lasting only 3 years.

FOUR over a number of years lasting no long than 3 years

[NanLaew]

Just finished upgrading a redundant Acer Aspire E14 that I had previously upgraded from the awful W8 it came installed with many moons ago. It was a student's laptop who has now graduated and thus the laptop was discarded. It needed a new battery (800 baht) and the charger had also gone missing (200 baht). Added 4 Gb of DDR3 RAM (180 baht) and replaced the original HD with a spare 500 Gb SSD (forgot the price). Reinstalled W10. Flies like a bird.

 

The OP is not in Thailand so the price of a replacement depends on that local market but minimum i3 CPU, 8GB RAM, 500 Gb SSD and running W11 is pretty much standard and shouldn't be hugely expensive.

Edited January 3 by NanLaew

[NanLaew]

14 minutes ago, proton said:

FOUR over a number of years lasting no long than 3 years

 

Acer... the Toyota of laptops.

Edited January 3 by NanLaew

[Purdey]

Honestly, if you aren't doing much except browsing the web and emailing, and you have an old Windows XP or Win 7 CD-ROM at home, wipe the disk and install one of them. Add an antivirus and it should be enough.

 

I still use Windows 7 on my home PC and Windows 11 on my work laptop. There isn't a lot of difference when browsing and emailing only. I have used several Linux flavors on very old PCs and they are great too.

[KannikaP]

1 hour ago, proton said:

FOUR over a number of years lasting no long than 3 years

Oh yes sorry. The Dells lasted a bit longer.

[lopburi3]

12 hours ago, still kicking said:

Thanks Eddie but I am computer illiterate I am 76 years old 

Do you have grandchild available?  Find them invaluable for smartphone/computer knowledge.  It really is easy to do and even at western rates should not be that expensive if someone does for you.

 

If buying new do you really need a laptop?  Getting a mini computer with large 32 inch monitor I have found to be best world for 81 year old eyes.  And they are not that expensive - you could use cheap TV set to make even less expensive.  Only have to hook up a keyboard and mouse.

Edited January 3 by lopburi3

[BigStar]

Linux masterrace thread on reddit:

 

Does hardware ever truly become obsolete?

 

 

[NextG]

7 hours ago, KannikaP said:

A further 4GB RAM would have sorted that out then.

A fallacy. A solid state drive will make far more of a difference than adding RAM, which would only create a minimal improvement. 

[NextG]

16 hours ago, still kicking said:

I am running an old laptop I guess about 8 years old it is getting verry slow now. It is an Acer E 15. So is it worse reformatting or just buy a new one which are pretty cheap here where I live, I am not in Thailand. What would you recommend? Not talking about brand but about ggb and ram. What do I need to run a laptop just for websites and mail (no gaming) Since I am in the west now no need to send me prices, I am just interested in the size of a decent laptop, my old one has 4 gb and 500 gb hdd. Any suggestion?

Take a gander at this video:

 

 

It demonstrates the effects of adding RAM and a solid state drive to an existing device. 
Note in particular the comparison between 2GB of RAM but with an SSD fitted and 8GB of RAM but with an ordinary HDD for storage(as you have now). 

 

 

[Hamus Yaigh]

Guys, some of you must have missed the thread title - two pages of no answers at all. He wants a new laptop, not tips of installing RAM, SSDs on ancient CPUs or Linux on aging CPUs. He can buy a new laptop cheap as chips these days. FWIW I was running Linux on a 10 year old Intel CPU laptop, and whilst it works, it cannot surf the net, YouTube or do graphics as well as the chips are too old. Get a new PC and no it does not need to be a Mac.

[scottiejohn]

32 minutes ago, NextG said:

A fallacy. A solid state drive will make far more of a difference than adding RAM, which would only create a minimal improvement. 

BS!

RAM vs. SSD: What's the Best Upgrade for Your PC? (makeuseof.com)

[lopburi3]

7 minutes ago, Hamus Yaigh said:

Guys, some of you must have missed the thread title - two pages of no answers at all. He wants a new laptop, not tips of installing RAM, SSDs on ancient CPUs or Linux on aging CPUs.

Actually the question mark normally means it is a question.

 

Quote

New laptop?

 

[Lacessit]

IMO the OP might be surprised if he deletes Windows , and installs a Linux OS. I suspect the system is getting slow with fatware and bandaids.

[KannikaP]

1 hour ago, NextG said:

A fallacy. A solid state drive will make far more of a difference than adding RAM, which would only create a minimal improvement. 

Incorrect. An SSD will make the PC boot faster, that is if you shut it down every night, and will possibly save you a minute every time you do boot up. Programs stored on the drive will load faster, and data will be accessed faster. But the actual computing speed of the PC is mainly governed by the amount of RAM available, as that is much faster than an SSD. 

[DudleySquat]

18 hours ago, still kicking said:

I am running an old laptop I guess about 8 years old it is getting verry slow now. It is an Acer E 15. So is it worse reformatting or just buy a new one which are pretty cheap here where I live, I am not in Thailand. What would you recommend? Not talking about brand but about ggb and ram. What do I need to run a laptop just for websites and mail (no gaming) Since I am in the west now no need to send me prices, I am just interested in the size of a decent laptop, my old one has 4 gb and 500 gb hdd. Any suggestion?

 

you stated you were retarded when it comes to technology. 

 

Buy yourself an inexpensive Chromebook. 

 

 

Edited January 3 by DudleySquat

[DudleySquat]

5 hours ago, Purdey said:

Honestly, if you aren't doing much except browsing the web and emailing, and you have an old Windows XP or Win 7 CD-ROM at home, wipe the disk and install one of them. Add an antivirus and it should be enough.

 

I still use Windows 7 on my home PC and Windows 11 on my work laptop. There isn't a lot of difference when browsing and emailing only. I have used several Linux flavors on very old PCs and they are great too.

 

Everything you just wrote, with the exception of using Linux, was horrible advice. 

[NextG]

37 minutes ago, KannikaP said:

Incorrect. An SSD will make the PC boot faster, that is if you shut it down every night, and will possibly save you a minute every time you do boot up. Programs stored on the drive will load faster, and data will be accessed faster. But the actual computing speed of the PC is mainly governed by the amount of RAM available, as that is much faster than an SSD. 

Did you actually watch the video before you posted? You could have saved yourself the embarrassment of posting something entirely made up and not based in reality. 

[ravip]

19 hours ago, soi3eddie said:

If you can upgrade to 8GB of RAM memory (or more) and an SSD drive (size of your choice) then reinstall Windows 10, you'll get a new computer experience for sure. Should cost from just 80 USD (depends on RAM and SSD capacity) and a bit of time to do so. This is what I do to extend life of laptops I seem to acquire.

 

Absolutely correct!

8GB RAM & a SSD works wonders! (Try only the SSD first).

If your present PC has no serious issues and if you don't have any special high resource demanding applications, this upgrade would be ideal.

 

I am running a HP ProBook 4530s which  is more than 10 years old and no complaints! 

Running Windows 11 Pro

Edited January 3 by ravip

[NextG]

1 hour ago, Hamus Yaigh said:

Guys, some of you must have missed the thread title - two pages of no answers at all. He wants a new laptop, not tips of installing RAM, SSDs on ancient CPUs or Linux on aging CPUs. He can buy a new laptop cheap as chips these days. FWIW I was running Linux on a 10 year old Intel CPU laptop, and whilst it works, it cannot surf the net, YouTube or do graphics as well as the chips are too old. Get a new PC and no it does not need to be a Mac.

We didn’t miss it; you did.

It’s “New laptop?” followed by “So is it worse reformatting or just buy a new one which are pretty cheap here where I live?”

So a suggestion of simply upgrading what he has now, is entirely on-topic. 

 

[NextG]

1 hour ago, DudleySquat said:

 

you stated you were retarded when it comes to technology. 

 

Buy yourself an inexpensive Chromebook. 

 

 

He didn’t state that at all. 
Apart from that, your suggestion that he dumbs down even further, is just….amazing. 

[NextG]

2 hours ago, scottiejohn said:

BS!

RAM vs. SSD: What's the Best Upgrade for Your PC? (makeuseof.com)

Look at the video I posted, rather than making a complete fool of yourself. 
That article looks as if it was written by an idiot for simpletons. 
I guess no one explained to him that everything is loaded into RAM… from the storage drive. If the storage drive is an HDD… bottleneck. A lot of activity is small files. HDD much slower in this respect, so that slows the whole thing down. My video shows how it actually works, as opposed to some totally dumbed down theory which is plainly flawed due to it’s omissions. 

[NextG]

2 hours ago, scottiejohn said:

BS!

RAM vs. SSD: What's the Best Upgrade for Your PC? (makeuseof.com)

Since no one actually reads what came before they posted, here is the video just for you: 

and then perhaps you can re-evaluate what you thought that you knew. 

[NextG]

1 hour ago, KannikaP said:

Incorrect. An SSD will make the PC boot faster, that is if you shut it down every night, and will possibly save you a minute every time you do boot up. Programs stored on the drive will load faster, and data will be accessed faster. But the actual computing speed of the PC is mainly governed by the amount of RAM available, as that is much faster than an SSD. 

Same video for you: 

 

Computing speed is governed by the CPU, not the RAM 🤦🏻‍♂️
What are you talking? Are you just making it up as you go along?

SSD first, RAM second. RAM is useful if you want to run lots of programs at the same time. But SSD will make your PC faster in day to day use. 

Edited January 3 by NextG

[ravip]

1 hour ago, KannikaP said:

Incorrect. An SSD will make the PC boot faster, that is if you shut it down every night, and will possibly save you a minute every time you do boot up. Programs stored on the drive will load faster, and data will be accessed faster. But the actual computing speed of the PC is mainly governed by the amount of RAM available, as that is much faster than an SSD. 

Sorry, I will disagree on this. RAM will hog the machine ONLY if the available RAM is not enough to cater to the current demand. If not, you can increase the RAM as much as you can, but there will not be any difference.

[ravip]

34 minutes ago, NextG said:

Look at the video I posted, rather than making a complete fool of yourself. 
That article looks as if it was written by an idiot for simpletons. 
I guess no one explained to him that everything is loaded into RAM… from the storage drive. If the storage drive is an HDD… bottleneck. A lot of activity is small files. HDD much slower in this respect, so that slows the whole thing down. My video shows how it actually works, as opposed to some totally dumbed down theory which is plainly flawed due to it’s omissions. 

WOW! What an explanation regarding IT matters!

Really, is there not a better way to say this?

 

I've been dabbling with PC's for over 3 decades. ALL users are NOT experts. But... they are NOT idiots or simpletons. If you are a top Professor in IT, would be great if you learn to teach non IT people in a more courteous manner. Otherwise... LOL we know...

Edited January 3 by ravip

[scottiejohn]

40 minutes ago, NextG said:

Look at the video I posted, rather than making a complete fool of yourself. 
That article looks as if it was written by an idiot for simpletons. 
I guess no one explained to him that everything is loaded into RAM… from the storage drive. If the storage drive is an HDD… bottleneck. A lot of activity is small files. HDD much slower in this respect, so that slows the whole thing down. My video shows how it actually works, as opposed to some totally dumbed down theory which is plainly flawed due to it’s omissions. 

What a load of BS!

[scottiejohn]

2 hours ago, KannikaP said:

Incorrect. An SSD will make the PC boot faster, that is if you shut it down every night, and will possibly save you a minute every time you do boot up. Programs stored on the drive will load faster, and data will be accessed faster. But the actual computing speed of the PC is mainly governed by the amount of RAM available, as that is much faster than an SSD. 

Absolutely spot on but @NextGwill argue against you even though the rest of the sane technical world knows he is WRONG!

[scottiejohn]

48 minutes ago, NextG said:

Same video for you: 

 

Computing speed is governed by the CPU, not the RAM 🤦🏻‍♂️
What are you talking? Are you just making it up as you go along?

SSD first, RAM second. RAM is useful if you want to run lots of programs at the same time. But SSD will make your PC faster in day to day use. 

BS!

[still kicking]

7 hours ago, lopburi3 said:

Do you have grandchild available?  Find them invaluable for smartphone/computer knowledge.  It really is easy to do and even at western rates should not be that expensive if someone does for you.

 

If buying new do you really need a laptop?  Getting a mini computer with large 32 inch monitor I have found to be best world for 81 year old eyes.  And they are not that expensive - you could use cheap TV set to make even less expensive.  Only have to hook up a keyboard and mouse.

No don't have any children or grandchildren and yes, I prefer a laptop since I live in OZ now but travel a lot to LOS. Not practical for me to buy a computer since I like to keep in contact with friends and family in Europe. Also have many friends in LOS which live in different cities, so a laptop is handy. Yes, new laptops are not expansive now I just wondered if it was any point in reformatting or better buy a new one. But thanks for your opinion. Reformatting is a lot of work involved so I guessed I be better of buying a new one and start from fresh. 

[scottiejohn]

1 hour ago, NextG said:

Did you actually watch the video before you posted? You could have saved yourself the embarrassment of posting something entirely made up and not based in reality. 

NO I did not watch it! (nor will I ever!)

I use my many years of hand's on experience in my professional IT experience to state my case or try and make my point!

My observations are not based on other poster's illogical/uninformed posts on this subject!

I  make my responses based on the correct correlation between the various components of a computer's components and their interaction with each other!