Cheap Laptops

[Nick]

People don't realize that most mid-range laptops are bought for students. Whether high school or college, they want to play high-end games on their machine. And so you're paying for the ability to play high-end games on a machine that shouldn't be doing that, because the high temperatures will wear it out sooner. The costly graphics card won't do much to improve your web-surfing, but the manufacturer cheapened up other hardware to make up for the cost.

I disagree. Most college/university students either by MacBooks, tablets or netbooks because they want something that'll allow them to research, take notes and surf the web and devices that are portable and have reasonable battery power. Sure some do PC gaming, but I'm pretty sure that there are a lot of gamers that use other consoles.

I myself take a $400 Acer Aspire One to university, and it runs reasonably quickly for most tasks, it's super light and I can get about 6 hours of battery life out of it. Easy! However I'm getting generally sick of Windows, so I'm saving up for a Macbook Pro. They're the "thing" now for young people, and I like what I see, as soon as I can afford it.

 

[Vince]

Nick! I haven't heard from you in a couple of years! Are you still a moderator?

 

[Vince]

I had told people about folks who had bought a $5,000 XP laptop that is now less powerful than a cheap laptop. And then one owner wrote in on a forum. His $5,000, single-core, 32 bit XP machine only had two gigs of RAM, with a máximum of four. The screen was broken and the hard drive dead. He had sold it to someone and years later, after breaking it, they gave it back. But this monster of a bygone day could easily connect to a TV set. He installed a new hard drive with a copy of XP from another computer, connected it to a TV, and was enjoying internet videos.

Suddenly, a message from Microsoft appeared, telling him that his copy of XP was illegal, and they shut it down. He had no way to get the original key, and we couldn't help him. The best we could advise was for him to buy a legal copy of XP somewhere.

 

[Nick]

Nick! I haven't heard from you in a couple of years! Are you still a moderator?

It's been that long since we've talked? Wow! Yes, I'm still a moderator, hence the "Global Mod" title and the green username, lol I just recently stepped down from being admin, actually. If you hadn't heard from me, then that's probably a good thing, lol.

 

[Skillet]

I think they will discontinue XP soon, if they haven't already. It's already not in stores anymore as far as I know, just on websites like eBay etc. but they will stop with releasing updates for it soon enough I think.

Windows 7 is the way to go. ;)

 

[Vince]

Man, we've been blessed with two Australians on board! Nick, it's great to hear from you and to know that you're doing well. Skillet, you are correct, but XP will usually run an obsolete 32-bit, single-core laptop better than a more modern OS will.

And now, having bought an expensive, $2,000, high-end laptop, here is the biography of your machine. I am projecting today's prices, without adjusting for inflation, into the future. A high-level laptop costs about $2,000. The top of the line models are about $3,000. Beyond that, the only improvements are custom designing.

18 months: The power of computers has doubled, and you are about as powerful as a mid-level machine that costs about 40% as much as you did.

2 years: It might be possible to install the new Windows Operating System. You have enough excess RAM to handle it, but you will have a problem with the drivers. They are very specific, and they might not work with a new OS.

3 years: The power of computers has quadrupled. You are in the range of bottom-level laptops that cost 1/10 what you paid. But your superior video card and abundance of RAM are keeping you in the ring.

4 years: You probably cannot install the newest version of Windows. But there are still enough older programs around for you to do anything except play the latest high-tech games. And for only $200, you can be replaced by a much-better laptop.

4 1/2 years: Computers are eight times more powerful than they were. But for slower internet usage and running legacy software, you're still a good rig. The newest RAM chips cannot be installed in your motherboard, but you have enough of the obsolete chips to get by.

5 years and beyond: With good care, you should last at least two more years. I have seen three operating laptops that are ten years old and are useful for charity work. Hopefully, they will donate you to an orphanage or some other charity.

 

[Vince]

Okay, time for some Mickey Mouse Diagnostics. Mickey doesn't have the brains to fix your laptop, but he can at least figure out what's wrong.

The next time you turn on your laptop, look at the blinking lights. Learn what they do when your laptop is working. Later, if your laptop won't start up, look at the blinking lights. If they flash normally, your Power On Button, power cord, and internal power supply are working.

 

[Skillet]

True, XP runs very well on single core computers.

 

[Vince]

Mickey's back, with another diagnostic tool so simple that anyone can understand it. When you start up, the first thing you see on your monitor is the "splash screen." It often contains the company logo or a Windows advertisement. But it's actually a diagnostic tool.

Once your power supply has turned on the flashing lights, it turns on your CPU. The CPU then turns on your BIOS chip. This is actually a ROM (Read Only Memory) chip and IT IS INDEPENDENT OF YOUR WINDOWS OPERATING SYSTEM. The BIOS chip tells your computer how to operate. While your computer can turn it on or off, your rig cannot control the BIOS chip. Anyway, the CPU turns on your BIOS chip, and the BIOS chip turns on your monitor. It then sends the splash screen to the monitor. If the splash screen appears, then your CPU, BIOS chip, monitor cable, and monitor are working.

 

[Vince]

Mickey has some bad news this time. If your splash screen appears, then your Power On Button, power cord, internal power supply, CPU, BIOS chip, monitor cable, and monitor are working. But they usually do.

The most common cause of failure in a laptop is the hard drive, and if the splash screen comes on normally, and then disappears, your hard drive has probably failed. Depending on your model, the BIOS chip might be able to give you some suggestions about getting into Safe Mode. If you can, immediately run your anti-virus program. But the most likely cause is that your hard drive is failing but isn't dead yet. My advice? Back up everything you can.

 

[Vince]

Learning that eleven people are frantically following this thread, Mickey returns with two very valuable free download suggestions.

Folks, we get a lot of questions on the laptop forum I write on, and many of them involve temperature problems. The free CoreTemp program has worked on every computer I have installed it on. You can read your temperatures in Celcius or Fahrenheit, get a list of all your hardware, shrink it to half-size, and a few other functions. I leave it running all the time on my laptop, but you can turn it off or shrink it to the taskbar. I have been able to install other temperature monitors at times, and they always give the same readings as CoreTemp.

The free Win Patrol tells you everything that starts up in your computer, including malware, adware, and bloatware. Don't Delete anything, just Disable it until you're sure it's not needed. Don't interfere with anything from Microsoft or your computer's manufacturer. Stubborn bloatware uses different names to avoid Win Patrol, but it has a tab for all currently-running programs, and you can stop those prgrams there.

Both programs run well on desktops as well.

 

[Vince]

Most laptop problems can have multiple causes. When I research the cures, I keep finding one method that pops up for a variety of problems. By my unscientific count, about 10% of the time, the "Universal Laptop Cure" will work. It's free, so here it is:

Turn off your laptop, unplug it, and remove the battery. Hold the Power On Button down for one minute. Put the battery back in, plug it in, and start it up.

Why does this work? It refreshes the BIOS, corrects problems in the battery's software program, and reboots the Start-up program.

 

[Vince]

Time to discuss operating systems. Laptop drivers are so specific that if you upgrade your OS, they will likely not work well with your new OS. The manufacturer's warranty doesn't cover it, and Microsoft isn't to blame. Don't do it! This is why I advise you to buy a cheap laptop. For $120 more than the cost of the upgrade, you can buy a new cheap laptop that has the new system installed.

Windows 8.1 is a fake-out. Microsoft claims that it is an update for tax purposes, but it's actually a complete new OS. Yes, I'll install it on my desktop. But if you install it on your laptop, you might lose your drivers. Granted, 8.1 is so close to 8 that you might be able to re-install the drivers from the manufacturer's website. But if it doesn't work, it's your problem, not theirs.

There actually is a version of Linux written specifically for laptops, and it works well. But some companies buy left-over Windows laptops without an OS, and then install a free version of Linux. This lowers their cost, but you get a laptop that doesn't run well. Before you buy ANY computer, go home and research it on the web.

 

[Vince]

Having trouble reading your monitor? Try taking off your glasses. No joke, even people who are heavily-nearsighted can easily read a monitor at close range.

 

[Vince]

I'm a little off-subject here, but have you ever seen a Polaroid Tablet for sale? These médium-sized touchscreen devices use the Android operating system and are sold at low prices. Reviews are good: they are low-priced, so they are weak and slow. But if you only want to surf the net and run a few simple games, they work fine. They have good monitors, and they are not filled with cheap parts. The free Android Store will have plenty of aps for you. Remember that THEY CANNOT USE DSL. You must have wireless. And one more thing: they are not manufactured by Polaroid. Another company pays to lease the name.

 

[Skillet]

IMO the Nexus 7 is still the best tablet to go with, not just because it's quite cheap, but mainly for the performance.

 

[Vince]

Folks, I'm a bit frustrated today. On a tech forum, we are dealing with people who bought a laptop, didn't like Windows 8, and installed Windows 7. Some of them have deleted the re-install partition, and all of them have erased the drivers that are designed specifically for their rig plus Windows 8. One guy just bought an $850 laptop, deleted 8, reformatted (thus destroying his re-install partition) and when it didn't work, put in a new hard drive that doesn't work.

DO NOT CHANGE THE OPERATING SYSTEM ON A LAPTOP!

 

[Skillet]

I changed the operating system on my old laptop countless times without a problem, just have the drivers ready before you even start putting a new OS on it.

 

[Vince]

An Air Force veteran told me that in their workshop, you were issued a laptop that you put on your work table and rarely moved it. The Air Force expected them to last seven years. Although they were not elevated (which would lower the temperature about 10 F) they were rarely moved and were not used for high-end games. Most of them lasted at least seven years.

 

[Vince]

For years, I have had a shortcut to "Create a Restore Point" on my desktop. I used it whenever I installed ANYTHING. But such a shortcut is imposible with my beloved Windows 8. However, I found this http://www.toms-world.org/blog/restore_point_creator and have a working System Restore Point shortcut on my desktop now.