Some new laptop advice please
By
Frost,
Posted on: 2009-05-15 06:02 in ALL ACCESS Gameplay Technical Issues Bugs
As someone else who's stuck in the hell of "Family Tech Support Monkey", suggesting a platform you cannot fix is not the way to reduce family aggro. If anything, it'll increase it.
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As someone else who's stuck in the hell of "Family Tech Support Monkey", suggesting a platform you cannot fix is not the way to reduce family aggro. If anything, it'll increase it.
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What about my aggro? 
You are right though.
Well I'd also hope that with all I hear about Mac's there wouldn't be any issues to call me about, but that's likely wishful thinking on my part. Just really looking for something that won't necessitate me feeling guilty because I can't walk my mother through the solution over the phone.
"Tech Support Monkey" is a great term.
I've thrown the towel in on the inlaw's computer too, because the brother inlaw has installed a bunch of software to "help" protect them from viruses and trojans, but now the computer is running slow...
Got my folks a Dell Hybrid. Looks nice, small footprint, and I added a 3 year spyware/antivirus subscription, and set it up for automatic download/install updates. Only minor issues so far.
www.paragonwiki.com is a great source of information for this game.
New or returning to the game? Want advice from experienced players who want to help YOU?
The Mentor Project: Part of the New Player Council.
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Well I'd also hope that with all I hear about Mac's there wouldn't be any issues to call me about, but that's likely wishful thinking on my part. Just really looking for something that won't necessitate me feeling guilty because I can't walk my mother through the solution over the phone.
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As a Mac user myself, Macs have issues just like windows based machines do.
The one thing I would say though is that OS X isn't targeted nearly as often as windows is when it comes to internet adware/malware/spyware. You know that kind of thing that pops up messages when you're on websites that say "your computer has a virus and you need to download this program right now!!!" which ends up totally killing the computer. That's pretty much a non-issue in the mac world at the moment. Which, I'd hazard a guess is the number one reason behind parental tech support requests. So that's one thing.
But there's still stuff that can go wrong and require a more knowledgeable person to come in and help fix it. It's just like any other computer in that regard. It's a complex machine and the more complex something is...the more likely it is to break.
But this may be moot as her specialized programs for work might not run under OS X. And I don't want to be the one who has to explain dual booting or Boot Camp to somebody who's not terribly computer savy.
EDIT: You just need to get one of these: http://www.thinkgeek.com/tshirts-app...trations/388b/
why not suggest a Dell mini or one of the many netbooks? It doesn't seem like she needs a ton of power when computing so these might meet her needs at a relatively inexpensive price tag. Maybe get her to buy an extended warranty/tech support package since the computer will be cheaper.
Just got myself a Gateway FX for about $900.
4 gigs, 1 gig of video ram, and a solid CPU. Doesn't get that hot, either. Heavy as hell, but can do anything you want (except run Crysis at max settings).
Easily my most favorite laptop ever.
Xalaqia
Like the look of those Dell minis, would have talked my wife into one of those rather than me building her last one if they had been around. Unfortunately my mother like to sit in her easy chair watching the food network while using the laptop, so the mini won't work. Definatley cool though.
Frost
But those I'm a PC and I'm a Mac commercials imply that macs never have any issues! She's hip enough not to buy into the popups telling her she's infected. Of course thats a result of our "if it sounds too good to be true" talk about offers on the internet.
Thanks though, just the sort of info I was looking for concerning macs.
NotCold
I thought about a netbook intially, but I suspect the size of the screen is an issue. As she's in her mid 60's I think the bigger the better as far as screen size goes. I'm still going to suggest she look at them though, just in case.
RadDidIt
Gateway huh, hadn't thought about that, was just looking at best buy, and while I loathe them (for purely personal reasons) looked like they had some decent deals. I'll pass along the Gateway idea to her.
Awesome help guys, keep it comning if you have anymore advice.
Oh, one thing in support of Macs is that if she's interested in doing digital photo manipulation or video editing type stuff, the software that comes pre-loaded beats the crap out of anything windows itself comes with or anything that the computer manufacturers typically bundle in.
But it's starting to sound like you're backing away from the Mac thing (probably a good idea), so I'll back out and let the other folks assist. I haven't done PC laptop shopping in years.
I knew the call was coming eventually.
So my mother calls me last night, looking for advice on a new laptop as her 6-7 year old Dell is having trouble starting, and the hinges from the screen are starting to crack. Problem is, I don't know much about laptops, and she lives 600 miles away, so Im looking for some advice on what to suggest for her.
Shes in her mid 60s and primarily uses the laptop for internet surfing, word processing, and I believe she has some dedicated programs related to her work, (nothing intensive, think theyre just papers in a funky format).
Any advice on what to suggest to her as far necessary hardware and/or manufacturers? I did tell her that if she found some she was interested in to get the model number and we could discuss hardware. I also suggested she look at a Mac which she was initially against, but did agree to stop into a store and check them out.
The Mac suggestion is just me being selfish I think. Just so I can say, sorry Mom, dont know anything about Macs when she calls with a problem and tries to describe it over the phone