Death Of A Laptop. What To Do?

[Saan]

I have a 9 year old Acer laptop which has just about run its race. The keys are starting to fall off and it is painfully slow. It has constantly recurring screen freeze and other problems that are beyond my ability to describe being almost computer illiterate. The upshot is I need a new computer. Nothing flash as I really only use it as a glorified typewriter. I have about 5000 books stored on the old one but apart from that nothing much else.

Can anyone advise me as to what I should buy as a replacement - something reasonably inexpensive? Where is the best place to buy a laptop? Also I have used Vista and Windows 7 and I don't like them. Probably my fault but I don't find them user friendly. XP I could handle but is there any problem using such an old program?

Any advice would be appreciated.

[noob7]

You can set up Win 7 to almost xp alike.

But here you go :

http://www.sevenforu...ndows-7-xp.html

Also:

http://windows.micro...de-in-windows-7

For your next Notebook, these days there are lot's of 10-12k baht offers available. I mean 14 or even 15 inch models, not the eeepc or however they called.

Most of them performing better. than your 9 years old ever did. (I do assume, it wasn't a high end model)

Supercheap (I know it from Phuket, only. but think, it will be the same at your place) has a good range of notes. Many of them are even cheaper, as the 'Banana It' offers (p.ex.)

Almost all notes under 20k are coming with 'no' win 7, these days. But supercheap isn't charging for the 'no' windows. It's installed, already. Many other shops chargingt 4 or 5 hundred baht for this solution.

Edited February 1, 2013 by noob7

[bluweyze]

I advise you to go to Pantip Plaza and choose from the vast selection and prices. Most dealers there will install Windows XP if you request but having just changed from XP to Windows 7 there is hardly any difference in using it after the first couple of days.

[bobl]

After many, many years of using desktop, portable, laptop and netbook computers I'm now seriously considering my next machine be an Asus Transformer.

If Windows isn't a priority for you, you might be doing yourself a favour by looking at these. Around $500-700 depending on model, you get a reasonably capable 'netbook' type machine (albeit without Windows) with the bonus of having a tablet - which sounds like it might be right up your street given your '5000 books' comment.

[jackr]

Get yourself an older model (not secondhand) ASUS--ask em if they'll give you something for your old machine (being sure to remove drive). Transformer sounds good, or get yourself a cheaper 14" notebook and a Kindle for your books. W7 over XP any day... not much different but some useful features. They'll put either on for free.

Goodspeed in Pantip (1st floor) is good and there's a couple just under IT City also.

[scorecard]

Three months back I bought a new ACER at IT City, at Pantip, CM. Details as follows:

- Aspire E1 - 531

- Intel B960 processor (2.2 hz, 2MB, l3 cache)

-15.6 inch LED LCD screen (Wide screen model, but still fits easily into a standard computer bag.)

- 2 Gb memory, but the store upgraded it to 6 Gb free

- 500 Gb HDD, can be upgraded, but I don't know the details on this point.

Came fitted with full windows software 7, with Microsoft office (the full software, not the one that expires at 90 days or similar). Sorry I can't advise how to adjust this XP, i'm also close to illiterate on these subjects. But I must be honest, I'm finding 7 to be quite easy to use and certainly does everything I'm looking for.

Fairly light weight.

Surfing etc., is quite fast and smooth, but that of course depends on your internet connection.

13,500 Baht (incl. VAT)

I couldn't be happier, best notebook I've ever owned.

My Thai adult son is something of a nerd when it comes to notebooks etc., his notebook is an ACER, now about 5 years old. He now borrows my new ACER all the time, and has given a number of less than subtle hints that he'd also like one for his birthday coming soon.

Good luck.

Edited February 1, 2013 by scorecard

[isanbirder]

Before your computer finally packs up, OP, go to your friendly neighbourhood computer shop, buy a thumb-drive, and get the shop to transfer all the books/files on to it. Then at least you can read the books on your new machine, whatever you decide to buy (so long as it has a USB port).

Yes, I'm as much a computer ignoramus as anyone on this thread, but that is what I did, and it works.

[orang37]

At either Panthip Plaza on Changklan Road (Night Bazaar area), or Airport Plaza (3rd. floor rear), or the older Computer Plaza on Mani Noppharat road (one-way west-to-east northern outer boundary of the moat), you can examine many laptop/netbook/notebook, etc. models.

You can get cheaper devices that run on Android, or Linux, but I'd strongly suggest you spend some time directly working with, or having demonstrated for you, those operating systems, before you decide to switch from Windows. And, yes, you can pretty much get Windows 7 to appear and behave like XP, although there is little reason to do so.

You don't say what your budget is, what your screen requirements might be, etc., so hard to say more.

Buying any computer here in Thailand, I'd go with a name brand, from one of the larger stores, like IT City, or GoodSpeed, and be sure and get solid information about the warranty period. Toshiba portable computers here, which cost more relative to other models with the same specs, have a 1 year warranty, while other brand-names, Dell, Acer, Asus, etc. have longer warranties.

I seriously doubt any retail store will give you a "trade-in" for an old portable with problems. You might find some private repair shop that will give you a token amount for using it "for parts."

good luck, ~o:37;

Edited February 1, 2013 by orang37

[weary]

Make sure you thoroughly wipe your hard drive from the previous computer if you have sensitive info (passwords, credit card, internet bank, etc.) on it, and plan to give it away/sell it.

(Merely formatting the hard drive is not enough. You need to use a tool that overwrites the old sectors several times. There are freeware ones, this is one: http://eraser.heidi.ie/ )

[Swiss1960]

Do NOT go down the XP route... end of support is 03/2014, you will receive no more updates and the thread of being hacked will go up exponentionally... further more, most programs, both new and old, will also stop XP support, i.e. office or readers for books...

[barefoot1988]

what budget and how much do you deem in inexpensive?

laptop 9 years back are expensive, but now with just 18000 baht you could get a i5 processor with gt630m graphics

[noob7]

what budget and how much do you deem in inexpensive?

laptop 9 years back are expensive, but now with just 18000 baht you could get a i5 processor with gt630m graphics

And the very same model for 20k and genuine win7

[endure]

Make sure you thoroughly wipe your hard drive from the previous computer if you have sensitive info (passwords, credit card, internet bank, etc.) on it, and plan to give it away/sell it.

(Merely formatting the hard drive is not enough. You need to use a tool that overwrites the old sectors several times. There are freeware ones, this is one: http://eraser.heidi.ie/ )

Much better to remove that hard drive before you get rid of the old PC and buy a cheap external drive case to put it in. You'd then still have all your books and a drive to back stuff up to.

[masuk]

The best way to secure an old Hard Drive is to use a 10mm drill. Right between the eyes!

There are some clever folk out there who will happily go through a discarded HDD and find all sorts of things you'd rather they didn't see.

[Khutan]

....Much better to remove that hard drive before you get rid of the old PC and buy a cheap external drive case to put it in.

Totally agree.

You may also be well rewarded comparing Fortune City in Rachada to Pantip

[NancyL]

There have been a couple of times when I was glad Hubby kept the 10 year old huge laptop with XP on the top shelf in the closet. Within the past year there have been a couple websites and one disk I wanted to see that wouldn't work with anything newer than XP.

But, I agree it's time to move on. Definitely back up everything on a "book drive" (at least that's what Hubby calls it) He takes my little netbook out-of-service for a few hours once and month and copies everything. He's had to "rebuild" our computers three or four times over the years and after a day or two of his head-bashing and my complaining about having to go to the internet shop, he's always been able to restore order to my little world.

I don't know a thing about computers, except what I want them to do. Hubby's the IT dept. He does attend the Computer club meetings on Tuesday afternoons from time-to-time. They could be helpful, especially if (like me) you couldn't make sense of Scorecard's post (#6).

Edited February 1, 2013 by NancyL

[WinnieTheKhwai]

Don't get XP. Soon it will be killed off completely, and running it securely is a challenge at the best of times.

If you do a lot of writing then I also wouldn't get an Android device, especially not if it costs $500-$700.. prices are dropping fast and software applications get more mature, but for writing (or any productivity) you're looking at Windows, still.

It also needs to be budget, so Apple is out.

Whichever version of Windows you get, make sure it's genuine and not a pirated copy. You can pirate apps and games all day long, but for Windows itself you want it supported, and secure.

So in your position I would probably get a Windows 8 notebook. With a touch screen if at all possible within the budget. Sony make some nice ones. The new Windows 8 design is promising but still a work in progress (being kind here) but the old XP / 7 style desktop is still there, and works very well. And 'touch' is very nice when you're doing things like browse through pictures, flip through news-apps, magazines, or read books.

Edited February 1, 2013 by WinnieTheKhwai

[Saan]

Thank you all for the very good advice. I will be putting it to use next week. I already have a legally acquired Windows 7 disc bought when I upgraded from Vista so I guess I'll be sticking with that. I presume you can re-use a licensed disc.

[WinnieTheKhwai]

Depends on the license actually. Some are licensed specifically for a single machine. (OEM License) they won't activate on different hardware. But if it's the full version then you can install it anywhere (and I would indeed go with Windows 7 in that case if you already own it.)

[bobl]

If you do a lot of writing then I also wouldn't get an Android device, especially not if it costs $500-$700.. prices are dropping fast and software applications get more mature, but for writing (or any productivity) you're looking at Windows, still.

I think you might be a little out of touch with the advancements in Android... In fact some industry pundits predict Android will be more widely used than Windows by 2016 (as an OS - not because of the large number of phones & tablets).

This is interesting http://campuslife.asus.com/index/7032/can-an-android-4-0-tablet-replace-your-computer/

I'm not sure what you mean when you say for writing you're looking at Windows, which out of the box has only "notepad" and "write", but I suspect you're referring more to the range of applications you can run on Windows rather than Windows itself.

Even I'm not entirely convinced - which is why if (when) I go for something like the transformer I'll still have my desktop machine to fall back on, but (especially for casual use) I wouldn't rule out Android so quickly...

[orang37]

Hi,

After you've focused on a few models that appeal to you, and fit your budget, you may find reading the reviews of those models on sites like: http://www.notebookcheck.net/ very helpful prior to making your final purchase decision.

Depending on how many years old the hard-drive you have is, how frequently it has been used, I would consider very carefully whether to "junk it," or continue to use it, as an external drive, and rely it on for back-up. If it were a nine-year old hard-drive, my own choice would be to definitely "junk it."

If your primary modes of use of are writing, and reading content (like e-books), then I would focus my attention very carefully on the tactile/ergonomic factors of the keyboard (many of the cheap note/net/lap-books/tops have keyboards that are absolute crap), and the quality of the screen (how much glare, etc.).

It's kind of too bad that we are on the cusp, right now, where, within the next six-months, much higher quality screens using IPS (in-plane switching) are going to be widely available on portable computing devices, at relatively small price increases.

To fully use Windows 8, as my respected friend Winnie the Khwai suggested, you really do want a touch-screen.

While Winnie describes Windows 8 as: "The new Windows 8 design is promising but still a work in progress;" my views, as a professional Windows programmer (no longer doing that, by the way, except as a hobby), for too many years, are a little more negative: I see it as a disaster like Vista, only worse: a terrible schizophrenic mixture of an experimental tile-based, and touch-driven, UI ("Modern," formallly named "Metro"), and traditional Windows Desktop.

A key reason I would not use Win 8 now: is, simply, because it is brand new, and is going to go through many updates, and revisions, before its kinks and flaws get sorted out (probably in about a year, or about the time Win 8 has proved to be another Vista ... i.e., a total failure ... and Win 9 has come to the rescue, as Win 7 came galloping in to rescue Microsoft from the Vista debacle).

Of course that reflects my biases, but it also reflects careful study of the rare sites on the web that provide fairly accurate information on what the experiences of "early adopters" of Win 8 are, and my participation in highly technical forums for professional programmers.

For you, who knows: Windows 8 may be "manna from Heaven"

good luck, from an old fossil, ~o:37;

[ignis]

What is with Chrome OS ? many reports of it being far better than Win 8 for laptops or PC's at the moment + it is a FREE OS, myself have no idea just often seen and read about Chrome OS..

Must replace my XP OS Laptop and Win 7 PC sometime, is Chrome OS worth a look ?......... use Win Office 2007 and use Open Office

[Saan]

With all that expertise out there may I ask for one more bit of advice? What is the best anti virus system available that a computer idiot like me can handle?

[ignis]

With all that expertise out there may I ask for one more bit of advice? What is the best anti virus system available that a computer idiot like me can handle?

Everyone has there own idea what is best anti virus, I have tried a few, and like and use 'Avast' anti virus for past 4 years, my Partner uses 'ESET NOD 32' anti virus

Edit: Just a note or maybe warning look and read what you download often find some of these programs also download something extra, even if you un-tick the boxes, if not sure put the name into Google and search often comes up with a Malware or adware program

Edited February 2, 2013 by ignis

[Johnny5057]

Norton anti virus is the one i use on all my computers and it updates automatically,if you want a free antivirus i suggests avasti

[sante]

I'd also recommend Avast's free program. For many years I didn't any anti-virus software on my computers and was just careful about surfing the internet and downloading stuff. But a few months ago I picked up a virus here in CM from a flash drive I had brought to a local print shop. Avast took care of the problem.

[orang37]

With all that expertise out there may I ask for one more bit of advice? What is the best anti virus system available that a computer idiot like me can handle?

Sawasdee Khrup, Khun Saan,

I can only respond by describing my own experience (Windows only): I used Kaspersky for several years, and then discovered the Austrian company, EmsiSoft (their programmers are located world-wide, some in Israel), whose security software I regard as "near military grade."

They are a relatively new company, at present with about 6 million users. Their daily update of mal-ware, virus, and trojan, etc. signatures often averages a few thousand entries. Their website is: http://www.emsisoft.com/en/ Of course, I have no connection to the company, and I purchased its software on-line.

Using EmsiSoft, I have been able, in the past, to eliminate the worst type of computer virus infection, known as a "root-kit," from a friend's notebook, while every other AV software I tried failed.

I suggest you visit sites like CNet.com, PCWorld.com, etc., for recent reviews of anti-virus software. Avast, Kaspersky, whatever, may well meet your needs.

It is my personal opinion that Symantec/Norton is the worst possible choice you could make, and it is often derided as "bloatware," by Windows professional programmers ... but, please, I have no interest in starting a "religious war" here over AV software , and I will not discuss what I know, and think, about Norton further.

Hope that's not too much geek-speak for you

good luck, ~o:37;

[elektrified]

With all that expertise out there may I ask for one more bit of advice? What is the best anti virus system available that a computer idiot like me can handle?

Sawasdee Khrup, Khun Saan,

I can only respond by describing my own experience (Windows only): I used Kaspersky for several years, and then discovered the Austrian company, EmsiSoft (their programmers are located world-wide, some in Israel), whose security software I regard as "near military grade."

They are a relatively new company, at present with about 6 million users. Their daily update of mal-ware, virus, and trojan, etc. signatures often averages a few thousand entries. Their website is: http://www.emsisoft.com/en/ Of course, I have no connection to the company, and I purchased its software on-line.

Using EmsiSoft, I have been able, in the past, to eliminate the worst type of computer virus infection, known as a "root-kit," from a friend's notebook, while every other AV software I tried failed.

I suggest you visit sites like CNet.com, PCWorld.com, etc., for recent reviews of anti-virus software. Avast, Kaspersky, whatever, may well meet your needs.

It is my personal opinion that Symantec/Norton is the worst possible choice you could make, and it is often derided as "bloatware," by Windows professional programmers ... but, please, I have no interest in starting a "religious war" here over AV software , and I will not discuss what I know, and think, about Norton further.

Hope that's not too much geek-speak for you

good luck, ~o:37;

I agree with respect to Symantec/Norton. 15 years ago it was great. Now it uses so much memory it is ridiculous. I use Kapersky (about 700 THB) on one machine and AVG on another (free).

[WinnieTheKhwai]

With all that expertise out there may I ask for one more bit of advice? What is the best anti virus system available that a computer idiot like me can handle?

First of all there's no need to pay money for anti virus / anti malware these days.

If you run Windows 7 or 8 then you actually don't need to look any further than Microsoft Security Essentials, which is a free download.

http://windows.micro...ials-download

Along with Windows 7 already respectable security, it makes viruses and malware pretty much a non-issue these days, when you keep everything updated. (Specifically Flash if you use it, and Java; Java you're actually unlikely to need, so best to get rid of it). Unless of course the user himself chooses to download or install silly or unnecessary stuff, eg. some applications that suggest to install all kinds of tool bars (the Ask toolbar and other silly stuff. Anyway that doesn't quite qualify as malware, but it's still unnecessary bloat intended to make money, so just say no to all that crap.

Edited February 2, 2013 by WinnieTheKhwai

[Swiss1960]

With all that expertise out there may I ask for one more bit of advice? What is the best anti virus system available that a computer idiot like me can handle?

First of all there's no need to pay money for anti virus / anti malware these days.

If you run Windows 7 or 8 then you actually don't need to look any further than Microsoft Security Essentials, which is a free download.

http://windows.micro...ials-download

Along with Windows 7 already respectable security, it makes viruses and malware pretty much a non-issue these days, when you keep everything updated. (Specifically Flash if you use it, and Java; Java you're actually unlikely to need, so best to get rid of it). Unless of course the user himself chooses to download or install silly or unnecessary stuff, eg. some applications that suggest to install all kinds of tool bars (the Ask toolbar and other silly stuff. Anyway that doesn't quite qualify as malware, but it's still unnecessary bloat intended to make money, so just say no to all that crap.

Microsoft security essentials has one of the worst protection and detection rates within the free AV products... Just to say...