What's new
By:
Filters
Christian Forums

This is a sample guest message. Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

Cheap Laptops

Mickey's back, with more common-sense solutions to complicated laptop problems.

A fellow wrote into the forums that he had bought an expensive laptop with an expensive video card and an expensive touchscreen monitor. He could easily swipe with one, two, three, or four fingers. Then he bought a large cheap external touchscreen monitor, and it not only doesn't show the pictures as clearly as his laptop monitor, but he can only swipe with one finger. We explained that no matter how good your video card is, it cannot make a cheap monitor do something it isn't built to do.

Another fellow bought a budget netbook and upgraded the built-in monitor to a better one. But it doesn't give him a good picture. The answer: his drivers aren't designed for the new monitor, his laptop isn't powerful enough to run the new monitor well, and for less than he paid for the new monitor he could have bought a full-size laptop.

One happy person upgraded his Windows 7 laptop to Windows 8, and lost his drivers in the process. He downloaded and installed the newest drivers, but it still didn't work well. The solution? Download and install the old Windows 7 drivers (which is what his laptop is designed for). It doesn't work all the time, but it did for this fellow.

Anybody else have a Mickey Mouse solution to a common problem? Feel free to post it here.
 
I was surprised to learn this a couple of days ago. If you can Start your computer but can't get Windows to open, you are probably having a hard drive probem. There is about 1/3 of a chance that it is a software problem, however. So you try to get into Safe Mode and can't. Now what?

On some versions of Windows, including Windows 8, you can put ANY legal copy of Windows into your DVD drive and restart your computer. Depending on your operating system, the DVD will allow you to go into Safe Mode, and various repair modes, before it asks for your Windows Key. No, it is not illegal, because you are only using it to access your own legal copy of Windows.
 
Well, there are some ripoff sales folk out there....

Mind you, it's also true that one gets what one pays for....

(No disrespect to your shopping.)
 
Good point, Farouk. We have a four page series helping a fellow who bought a cheap laptop and can't get good Wi-Fi. Today, he posted a solution that worked: he bought a good-quality external Wi-Fi card. Folks, the competition is fierce, so profit margins are slim. If you find a laptop with incredible power and a low price, it is built with cheap parts.

And today's painful lesson. If your laptop has the installation operating system installed on your hard drive, you cannot transfer your operating system to another computer. Let me translate that into English: You can't buy a cheap laptop, remove the operating system, and put it on another computer.
 
Edward, I have used Opera on older computers and liked it. It is a simple browser, without the bells and whistles, and runs more quickly than most.

I can't recommend any specific desktop to you, but start off with a clear decisión about what you want to use it for. If you see one you like, research it on the web before you buy it. Check the store's return policy, because warranties are about worthless. If it doesn't work right from the beginning, go get a refund.
 
I use Chrome for everything, keeps itself updated and is fast and has the options for good extensions like AdBlock! No more advertising. :thumbsup
 
Mickey's back, with another low IQ intelligent tip. Do you want an optical drive (DVD drive) on your laptop? Make sure it has one, because many of them don't.
 
I think my laptop is a piece of crap... its always like powering off, and getting a blue screen with like white writing on it. Its sucks but I have no money to buy another one... lol
 
JumpingBean said:
I think my laptop is a piece of crap... its always like powering off, and getting a blue screen with like white writing on it. Its sucks but I have no money to buy another one... lol
Click to expand...

Sounds like Microsoft symptoms. Load Linux. That's what I did with this "piece of crap" that was ready for the garbage that's been running smoothly for 2 years now like a new computer. I just ditched the Microsoft. And Linux is free, so I did not spend a cent.

Of course, with Linux you'll miss out on some things: viruses, screens like you have, tune-ups, safe mode, defragging, spyware, disk errors etc etc. But then again, us boring old men like to turn on our computers for once and it actually works without a sensational side show. :lol
 
JumpingBean said:
I think my laptop is a piece of crap... its always like powering off, and getting a blue screen with like white writing on it. Its sucks but I have no money to buy another one... lol
Click to expand...

Courage, Jumping Bean! The most common reason that your laptop is powering off is overheating. Hold your finger over the exit vent to make sure the fan is actually blowing out air. If not, a careful shot of compressed air into the exit vent might fix it. And merely elevating the top corners a little will lower your temperature about 10F. Then, download the free Core Temp program. It will tell you the internal temperature of your rig.

Please post back and give me the complete model number of your rig, and tell me what the blue screen is telling you.
 
I've got a $3000 MacBook Pro, a $1500 Samsung laptop and a $260 Google Chromebook.
Guess which one I am using 90% of the time.
If you said Chromebook you're right. It's the most convenient, lightest and fastest booting. And has the longest battery life. I love it.
 
Laser, you have learned well. A new cheap laptop is better than an expensive older one. And it costs less to buy a new cheap laptop every couple of years than it does to buy and maintain an expensive laptop, plus you get more power.
 
Vince said:
Laser, you have learned well. A new cheap laptop is better than an expensive older one. And it costs less to buy a new cheap laptop every couple of years than it does to buy and maintain an expensive laptop, plus you get more power.
Click to expand...

Hardware wise, the macbook is more powerful though.

Sent from my SGH-T959 using Tapatalk 4
 
Right you are, Skillet. But in a couple of years, he can buy a new cheap laptop that will be more powerful than the old expensive one.

For those who came in late, the power of computers doubles about every eighteen months. Your new, expensive laptop will be middle of the road in eighteen months and will be bottom of the line in three years. I recommend buying a new cheap laptop every two years or so--it's cheaper than buying an expensive rig, you can throw it away of the hard drive fails, and you'll actually have a more powerful computer with a better operating system this way.
 
Mickey's back, with another brilliant tip so simple that everyone can understand it.

Have you noticed that your desktop computer does not have an Fn key, but your laptop does? The function key lets you use all those funny little symbols you've been ignoring. Look at the little pictures on your F keys. The one with a radio antenna shuts off your wireless. The one with the Z puts your laptop to sleep. The one with a hand turns your mouse on or off. And the one with a loudspeaker turns your sound on or off. You have to press the Fn key, plus the proper F key, to do what the picture refers to.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top