Informal poll - how long does it take you to select a new laptop for a person in your life?
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Person == daughter or wife. They have a general idea what they want, but for "features"? clueless. Does it turn on, and is it pretty? Your budget is less than $1K USD. For me, I can almost pull the trigger, then I read reviews. Great, great, .... sucks, sucks. Panic ensues :) Answers: 1) Hand them a credit card. Send them on their way. 2) Less than 1 hour. They are getting your old laptop, *you* are getting a new one :) 3) Less than 4 hours. 4) Less than 1 day. 5) 2-5 days. 6) Run away
Charlie Gilley <italic>Stuck in a dysfunctional matrix from which I must escape... "Where liberty dwells, there is my country." B. Franklin, 1783 “They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” BF, 1759
#6 I have found that the phrase "No good deed goes unpunished" is so applicable here that I don't play "Mr know anything at all" anymore. I wonder if car dealerships get calls when people can't find their car car keys. I swear, if we do or say or have any proximity to a computer decision then we'll be the first person they run to when they get into internet trouble. Otherwise they act all smart and smug about everything else under the sun. So I quit. Especially with kin.
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Just buy the pink one.
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
My daughter would drop kick me down the hallway.... :). She wants John's muscle car.
Charlie Gilley <italic>Stuck in a dysfunctional matrix from which I must escape... "Where liberty dwells, there is my country." B. Franklin, 1783 “They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” BF, 1759
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Person == daughter or wife. They have a general idea what they want, but for "features"? clueless. Does it turn on, and is it pretty? Your budget is less than $1K USD. For me, I can almost pull the trigger, then I read reviews. Great, great, .... sucks, sucks. Panic ensues :) Answers: 1) Hand them a credit card. Send them on their way. 2) Less than 1 hour. They are getting your old laptop, *you* are getting a new one :) 3) Less than 4 hours. 4) Less than 1 day. 5) 2-5 days. 6) Run away
Charlie Gilley <italic>Stuck in a dysfunctional matrix from which I must escape... "Where liberty dwells, there is my country." B. Franklin, 1783 “They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” BF, 1759
The deed is done, I'm sure she will be happy. I am very disappointed in the level of abuse I did not receive. You guys in the shadows are wittier than you know.... :-\
Charlie Gilley <italic>Stuck in a dysfunctional matrix from which I must escape... "Where liberty dwells, there is my country." B. Franklin, 1783 “They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” BF, 1759
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My daughter would drop kick me down the hallway.... :). She wants John's muscle car.
Charlie Gilley <italic>Stuck in a dysfunctional matrix from which I must escape... "Where liberty dwells, there is my country." B. Franklin, 1783 “They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” BF, 1759
You have raised a daughter of taste and eloquence. :)
".45 ACP - because shooting twice is just silly" - JSOP, 2010
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You can never have too much ammo - unless you're swimming, or on fire. - JSOP, 2010
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When you pry the gun from my cold dead hands, be careful - the barrel will be very hot. - JSOP, 2013 -
Person == daughter or wife. They have a general idea what they want, but for "features"? clueless. Does it turn on, and is it pretty? Your budget is less than $1K USD. For me, I can almost pull the trigger, then I read reviews. Great, great, .... sucks, sucks. Panic ensues :) Answers: 1) Hand them a credit card. Send them on their way. 2) Less than 1 hour. They are getting your old laptop, *you* are getting a new one :) 3) Less than 4 hours. 4) Less than 1 day. 5) 2-5 days. 6) Run away
Charlie Gilley <italic>Stuck in a dysfunctional matrix from which I must escape... "Where liberty dwells, there is my country." B. Franklin, 1783 “They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” BF, 1759
Less than one hour, without me selecting, but them. ANY modern laptop will outperform the machines from five years ago, so any cheap modern laptop will do. Go to the store, ask for the cheapest one with an SSD drive, and Windows preinstalled. No, I will not put any illegal versions on there.
Bastard Programmer from Hell :suss: If you can't read my code, try converting it here[^] "If you just follow the bacon Eddy, wherever it leads you, then you won't have to think about politics." -- Some Bell.
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You have raised a daughter of taste and eloquence. :)
".45 ACP - because shooting twice is just silly" - JSOP, 2010
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You can never have too much ammo - unless you're swimming, or on fire. - JSOP, 2010
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When you pry the gun from my cold dead hands, be careful - the barrel will be very hot. - JSOP, 2013cleaning laptop screen of coffee... :)
Charlie Gilley <italic>Stuck in a dysfunctional matrix from which I must escape... "Where liberty dwells, there is my country." B. Franklin, 1783 “They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” BF, 1759
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The deed is done, I'm sure she will be happy. I am very disappointed in the level of abuse I did not receive. You guys in the shadows are wittier than you know.... :-\
Charlie Gilley <italic>Stuck in a dysfunctional matrix from which I must escape... "Where liberty dwells, there is my country." B. Franklin, 1783 “They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” BF, 1759
So what did you get?
".45 ACP - because shooting twice is just silly" - JSOP, 2010
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You can never have too much ammo - unless you're swimming, or on fire. - JSOP, 2010
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When you pry the gun from my cold dead hands, be careful - the barrel will be very hot. - JSOP, 2013 -
So what did you get?
".45 ACP - because shooting twice is just silly" - JSOP, 2010
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You can never have too much ammo - unless you're swimming, or on fire. - JSOP, 2010
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When you pry the gun from my cold dead hands, be careful - the barrel will be very hot. - JSOP, 2013Eany meanie - the silver one. Gave her a choice of two, she picked the HP Envy. 8th gen core i5, etc. In less than a day, she already figured out how to move her Office license and all her files, no support from me. I'm impressed (shocked actually :))
Charlie Gilley <italic>Stuck in a dysfunctional matrix from which I must escape... "Where liberty dwells, there is my country." B. Franklin, 1783 “They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” BF, 1759
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Person == daughter or wife. They have a general idea what they want, but for "features"? clueless. Does it turn on, and is it pretty? Your budget is less than $1K USD. For me, I can almost pull the trigger, then I read reviews. Great, great, .... sucks, sucks. Panic ensues :) Answers: 1) Hand them a credit card. Send them on their way. 2) Less than 1 hour. They are getting your old laptop, *you* are getting a new one :) 3) Less than 4 hours. 4) Less than 1 day. 5) 2-5 days. 6) Run away
Charlie Gilley <italic>Stuck in a dysfunctional matrix from which I must escape... "Where liberty dwells, there is my country." B. Franklin, 1783 “They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” BF, 1759
- by now, task still open. Several hours asking her needs (daughter, at university), several hours comparing and finding a recommendation. Half a day going with her to a store, showing her the models I thought could be okay. No decision. This one has too small arrow keys, that one has the wrong look, ... Some more hours for more recommendations and discussions. Ongoing.
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Person == daughter or wife. They have a general idea what they want, but for "features"? clueless. Does it turn on, and is it pretty? Your budget is less than $1K USD. For me, I can almost pull the trigger, then I read reviews. Great, great, .... sucks, sucks. Panic ensues :) Answers: 1) Hand them a credit card. Send them on their way. 2) Less than 1 hour. They are getting your old laptop, *you* are getting a new one :) 3) Less than 4 hours. 4) Less than 1 day. 5) 2-5 days. 6) Run away
Charlie Gilley <italic>Stuck in a dysfunctional matrix from which I must escape... "Where liberty dwells, there is my country." B. Franklin, 1783 “They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” BF, 1759
2-5 days. Simply because I want to get the best deal... my wife isn't versed in proper maintenance of computers but she sure as hell does a ton of things - from video editing to photoshop passing through almost anuthing barring developement.
GCS d--(d+) s-/++ a C++++ U+++ P- L+@ E-- W++ N+ o+ K- w+++ O? M-- V? PS+ PE- Y+ PGP t+ 5? X R+++ tv-- b+(+++) DI+++ D++ G e++ h--- r+++ y+++* Weapons extension: ma- k++ F+2 X
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Person == daughter or wife. They have a general idea what they want, but for "features"? clueless. Does it turn on, and is it pretty? Your budget is less than $1K USD. For me, I can almost pull the trigger, then I read reviews. Great, great, .... sucks, sucks. Panic ensues :) Answers: 1) Hand them a credit card. Send them on their way. 2) Less than 1 hour. They are getting your old laptop, *you* are getting a new one :) 3) Less than 4 hours. 4) Less than 1 day. 5) 2-5 days. 6) Run away
Charlie Gilley <italic>Stuck in a dysfunctional matrix from which I must escape... "Where liberty dwells, there is my country." B. Franklin, 1783 “They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” BF, 1759
< 5 minutes in WalMart. Mrs. Wife is hard on laptops. The new one she got for Christmas is her fifth since I last bought one for me. There's no point in spending a lot of money or effort, since it's going to last only a year and a half or so.
Software Zen:
delete this; -
Person == daughter or wife. They have a general idea what they want, but for "features"? clueless. Does it turn on, and is it pretty? Your budget is less than $1K USD. For me, I can almost pull the trigger, then I read reviews. Great, great, .... sucks, sucks. Panic ensues :) Answers: 1) Hand them a credit card. Send them on their way. 2) Less than 1 hour. They are getting your old laptop, *you* are getting a new one :) 3) Less than 4 hours. 4) Less than 1 day. 5) 2-5 days. 6) Run away
Charlie Gilley <italic>Stuck in a dysfunctional matrix from which I must escape... "Where liberty dwells, there is my country." B. Franklin, 1783 “They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” BF, 1759
No time at all. My wife is a devout luddite. My daughter is fiercely independent and never asks for anything but money. Even then she goes to her Mother.:cool:
Stamp out acronyms. Make communications clear.
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Person == daughter or wife. They have a general idea what they want, but for "features"? clueless. Does it turn on, and is it pretty? Your budget is less than $1K USD. For me, I can almost pull the trigger, then I read reviews. Great, great, .... sucks, sucks. Panic ensues :) Answers: 1) Hand them a credit card. Send them on their way. 2) Less than 1 hour. They are getting your old laptop, *you* are getting a new one :) 3) Less than 4 hours. 4) Less than 1 day. 5) 2-5 days. 6) Run away
Charlie Gilley <italic>Stuck in a dysfunctional matrix from which I must escape... "Where liberty dwells, there is my country." B. Franklin, 1783 “They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” BF, 1759
Tell them to go to Costco and pick out an available laptop they like. Great return policy. Decent computer "concierge" support. If something terrible goes wrong with it, it can even be returned past the 90 days.
"Qulatiy is Job #1"
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Person == daughter or wife. They have a general idea what they want, but for "features"? clueless. Does it turn on, and is it pretty? Your budget is less than $1K USD. For me, I can almost pull the trigger, then I read reviews. Great, great, .... sucks, sucks. Panic ensues :) Answers: 1) Hand them a credit card. Send them on their way. 2) Less than 1 hour. They are getting your old laptop, *you* are getting a new one :) 3) Less than 4 hours. 4) Less than 1 day. 5) 2-5 days. 6) Run away
Charlie Gilley <italic>Stuck in a dysfunctional matrix from which I must escape... "Where liberty dwells, there is my country." B. Franklin, 1783 “They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” BF, 1759
they ALL get a chromebook cuz i WON'T maintain it. And they're like $350 for one with HD. unless they're ACTUALLY capable of keeping windows alive.
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Person == daughter or wife. They have a general idea what they want, but for "features"? clueless. Does it turn on, and is it pretty? Your budget is less than $1K USD. For me, I can almost pull the trigger, then I read reviews. Great, great, .... sucks, sucks. Panic ensues :) Answers: 1) Hand them a credit card. Send them on their way. 2) Less than 1 hour. They are getting your old laptop, *you* are getting a new one :) 3) Less than 4 hours. 4) Less than 1 day. 5) 2-5 days. 6) Run away
Charlie Gilley <italic>Stuck in a dysfunctional matrix from which I must escape... "Where liberty dwells, there is my country." B. Franklin, 1783 “They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” BF, 1759
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Person == daughter or wife. They have a general idea what they want, but for "features"? clueless. Does it turn on, and is it pretty? Your budget is less than $1K USD. For me, I can almost pull the trigger, then I read reviews. Great, great, .... sucks, sucks. Panic ensues :) Answers: 1) Hand them a credit card. Send them on their way. 2) Less than 1 hour. They are getting your old laptop, *you* are getting a new one :) 3) Less than 4 hours. 4) Less than 1 day. 5) 2-5 days. 6) Run away
Charlie Gilley <italic>Stuck in a dysfunctional matrix from which I must escape... "Where liberty dwells, there is my country." B. Franklin, 1783 “They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” BF, 1759
- Run away, Any tech I recommend (or buy as a gift) from a Roomba to Kindle to Laptop. I always get the call when it fails.
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Person == daughter or wife. They have a general idea what they want, but for "features"? clueless. Does it turn on, and is it pretty? Your budget is less than $1K USD. For me, I can almost pull the trigger, then I read reviews. Great, great, .... sucks, sucks. Panic ensues :) Answers: 1) Hand them a credit card. Send them on their way. 2) Less than 1 hour. They are getting your old laptop, *you* are getting a new one :) 3) Less than 4 hours. 4) Less than 1 day. 5) 2-5 days. 6) Run away
Charlie Gilley <italic>Stuck in a dysfunctional matrix from which I must escape... "Where liberty dwells, there is my country." B. Franklin, 1783 “They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” BF, 1759
Few years ago I almost wanted to run away. Needed one for my wife, she had few simple requirements: Windows 7 (she tried Windows 10 and hated it, and it made my life harder as well), 1920x1080 screen, and few would-be really good options: non-glare display and back-lit keyboard. After some time managed to find one of last Dell Precision laptops ever made that matched all 4. Upgraded HDD to SSD, the rest was good enough as we got it. No problems with that laptop.
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- If they want Dad's tech support services, they use what Dad tells them to use. If not, they can choose, buy, and support it for themselves. Money makes the world go round ... but documentation moves the money.
I extend this to other relatives, friends, etc. I happily help those who follow my suggestions, but no help for those who don't listen. I guess I am a small-scale dictator.