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
- 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
- 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
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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.