Topic: Time I got my own lap top!

[lushy86]

My 15 year old daughter is in Berlin on a school trip this week, she is a lovely girl really although I often refer to her as my little thunder cloud.   ;D

OH and daughter both have lap tops and I spend most evenings trying to get a go on one of them to no avail - she's constanty plugged into MSM, Myspace, Bebo etc and OH is on ebay ( dreaming of owning a VW camper) or the Lifeboat website.  The last weeks of Summer term are always busy for me plus lots of union stuff as we are facing redundancies  :(  So I have not been able to come on here for ages.  I'm on hols now though - Woohoo

I could use the big old computer but it is powered by clockwork - It seems ridiculous to need 3 lapt tops in a house but I am beginning to think it is the only answer!  :-\

Lushy x

[caroline7758]

My OH and I got fed up with our daughter always usingour laptops, so we bought her one for her 16th birthday- got a re-conditioned one for a really good price.

[Rhubarb Thrasher]

what's the lifeboat website?

[lushy86]

RNLI OH is on the Shoreham harbour Lifeboat

[Rhubarb Thrasher]

I did wonder. My Dad worked for them Retired now

[lushy86]

The crew are all volunteers - its a case of boys playing with big floaty toys  ;D

[Rhubarb Thrasher]

certainly been to Shoreham. Maybe you were causing Trouble  ;D (PS long time ago)

[lushy86]

Probably was if it was a long time ago - but I'm a good girl now!  ;D ;D

[ARV]

Ditch the desktop (think of the space you'll save!!) and get a small, inexpensive laptop.
Or if the desk top still works but is just a little slow, have a good clear out of old files, temp folders etc.
Uninstall any programs you don't use.
Have as few processes (background programs) running as possible (change the start up menu options)
and run the defrag etc.   

Should have your OH look at http://queensferry.ilb.org.uk/
Its not all big boys toys (especially at 3am when its sleeting!!!!)

[asbean]

I've recently bought a new laptop and have spent the last three days uninstalling all the bloatware that it was shipped with.

The last laptop I bought had Windows 95 on it (this was in 1996!) and nothing else.  Since then I've built my own desktop PCs, so the only software on them has been what I've installed myself.  So this is a new experience for me.  I couldn't believe how much crap gets pre-installed.   ::) ::) ::) ::)  >:( >:( >:( >:(

[nilly71]

Don't get cought up in all the nonsence that they will tell you in a computer shop.

A second hand one for about £100-£150 will do you fine, you should be able to get one thats about 3yrs old for that price. You don't need anything that is very powerful, most laptops in shops are so powerful that no normal user would ever use the processor and ram to it's full potential. That's why a 3yr old one would be more than enough.

I bought my 12yr old a 750mhz laptop for £25 for homework and even though it's a bit slow it still does the job, if he looks after it then we might get him something better for Christmas.

The basics i would look for are:
1000mhz (at least) this should be good enough for internet and text documents at the same time.
512mb ram
DVD or DVD recorder (ideal for backing up important stuff)

Hope this helps and you are able to get on here more :)

Neil

[lushy86]

Hey ARV which one is you then? OH wants to show you his now you've shown him yours  ;D

http://www.shorehamlifeboat.co.uk/

He's Ben by the way - apparently it was a bit lumpy out there on ex tonight  ;D

[ARV]

I only joined at the begining of the year, so there aren't many photos with me in.
But here is one taken after we won the annual raft race


I'm 5th from the right.
Regarding Laptops, Neil (Nilly71) is correct, most new laptops sold now have so much processing power etc, it's really not needed for word processing and emailing.  Older laptops tend to have smaller hard drives, but that can be resolved with an external hard drive to store photos and other documents on.

[Slug_killer]

The amount of memory is more dependant on the operating system than the required power.
For 95/98/2000 256mb is more than adequate
For XP an absolute  min of 256mb,   512mb is more like it, or even 1gb for a bit of spare capacity.
For Vista min 1gb better to have 2gb

You'll probably fins 256mb is more expensive and harder to get than 1gb, likewise with 512mb but not so extreme. 2gb are not much more expensive than 1gb, but 4gb will be twice as expensive as 2gb.

Its all to do with the quantity of supply and demand.

[lushy86]

Thanks all for the computer advice - much appreciated

ARV - OH v impressed with your boathouse being under the bridge - but watch it the RNLI takes over your life if you're not careful - I moan but I'm proud of him and all of you -  ;)