A simple PC system?
- Thread starter Chubbo
- Start date
Chubbo—you and your wife need to go visit your nearest Apple store and try out an iPad. I can not adequately describe to you the improvement in quality of life and finances from purging PC hardware from my business and personal use. Our staff's too.
You will thank me in time for making the change, I guarantee you.
You will thank me in time for making the change, I guarantee you.
Just saw John's post above. While I don't disagree with him, if you want to stay with a PC:
Seems to me, Chubbo, that computers are sort of like driving a car in that one can navigate between places using different routes and traveling at different speeds. E.g., if you had a mind to, you could drive from NYC to Miami in reverse.
I think what most of us non computer geek guys and gals do is learn ways to get from A to B that are satisfactory to us, and don't learn all the ins and outs. I know that with my iPad I know enough to use it as I wish, but there are a lot of commands — on an iPad this mostly means gestures, swipes and taps — that I have not bothered to learn because I don't need them.
Here's an idea: Make a list of tasks you want to accomplish, execute, on your PC. Things that you want to do consistently. Maybe keep track of your PC usage with pen and paper for a week, then review, combine, and list them here for advice.
Ask our PC users what is the simplest way to execute each task on your list. Then learn those.
Seems to me, Chubbo, that computers are sort of like driving a car in that one can navigate between places using different routes and traveling at different speeds. E.g., if you had a mind to, you could drive from NYC to Miami in reverse.
I think what most of us non computer geek guys and gals do is learn ways to get from A to B that are satisfactory to us, and don't learn all the ins and outs. I know that with my iPad I know enough to use it as I wish, but there are a lot of commands — on an iPad this mostly means gestures, swipes and taps — that I have not bothered to learn because I don't need them.
Here's an idea: Make a list of tasks you want to accomplish, execute, on your PC. Things that you want to do consistently. Maybe keep track of your PC usage with pen and paper for a week, then review, combine, and list them here for advice.
Ask our PC users what is the simplest way to execute each task on your list. Then learn those.
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This is going back a few years, but I remember that the local community centre offered computer classes for seniors (and señoritas).
Puller
Member
Not really.
Update
To present the roots of our problems; Hezzy and I attended public schools circa the 1930s. We were taught mathematics, how to use an adding-machine, and taught to spell using a dictionary, etc. all those things were constant. We can't cope with changing our methods every whipstitch. We've attended the schools that you mention, and determined how we want to operate our computers, but constantly changing procedure, back and forth, won't allow us.
I've used computers since they were made available, but I'm not a geek.
Hezzy got her first computer, about six months ago, and is just trying to learn how to use it. Imagine her confusion, and how she rejects her computer.
Chubbo
To present the roots of our problems; Hezzy and I attended public schools circa the 1930s. We were taught mathematics, how to use an adding-machine, and taught to spell using a dictionary, etc. all those things were constant. We can't cope with changing our methods every whipstitch. We've attended the schools that you mention, and determined how we want to operate our computers, but constantly changing procedure, back and forth, won't allow us.
I've used computers since they were made available, but I'm not a geek.
Hezzy got her first computer, about six months ago, and is just trying to learn how to use it. Imagine her confusion, and how she rejects her computer.
Chubbo
Alas, all that's passé now.
Here's a comment on "new math" by one of your contemporaries, made when I was learning much the same as you:
[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mc7eb1i9o4[/ame]
JDBoardman
US Veteran
While we are on the topic of us seniors and computers, can someone tell me how to get rid of "Edge".
It threatens to hijack my computer.
It threatens to hijack my computer.
I don't think you can get rid of it, as it's part of Windows (like Safari on the Mac) but I'd just use something else like Firefox or Brave. I believe Edge is used to "print to PDF" but Adobe Reader will do the same.
hemiram
Member
My parents are over 90 and we tried to set them up with iPhones and iPads but as you say, the learning curve was too much. Or, the desire to climb over the learning curve was too little.
As for learning how to fix computer problems, cars are far more complicated but we aren't expected to take classes in car repair just to be able to own one.
Rant mode on....
I know several people even just in their late 60's that have given up on anything more complicated than a flip phone. I don't really understand their fears, it's not like any of them would be financially harmed if they somehow trashed a PC. And trashing a PC is not that easy to do, with a little common sense.
The only issues I've had since Win 7 that weren't due to flawed hardware (A laptop that had USB issues that I finally gave up on, and another laptop that developed video issues about a year in) don't/didn't exist. My present two machines and my Win 7 desktop(Which I built as I did most of my desktops) have been without any issues at all. My old Win7 machine was outdated and was getting to the point that it was probably going to fail soon (Folks, a PC is old at 10, some people think they should last as long as a old CRT TV, not likely, my last one was 37 years old and still worked), so I tried to buy a video card for a decent price and was unable to, so I ended up buying a prebuilt PC instead, as builders got first dibs on video cards. The whole thing cost little more than the card alone would have at the worst of the "shortage" due to the stupid mining nonsense.
If you get a decent antivirus, a malware scanner, and don't click on pfhishing emails (Call the supposed sender if you have any doubts, don't click on that link!) you will have very few problems, unless you get a dud motherboard or your HD/SSD fails. We get calls and quite a few emails asking if some "Your email account will be suspended" nonsense, signed usually by "The _____________ (Put an ISP here) team" was sent by us. We tell people over and over and over again. WE WILL NOT SEND YOU A LINK TO CLICK ON WITHOUT TELLING YOU FIRST, AND IF IT SAYS TEAM, IT'S ALMOST ALWAYS BOGUS NO MATTER WHO SENT IT. One guy, I thought he was old, but he's only 53, asks again and again if the emails with a link are legit. I paste the same exact response I sent him 10 years ago. TEN YEARS! No, it's bogus. A month a week, a day later, he asks again. "NO, IT'S BOGUS", I want to call him up and yell at him. You wouldn't believe what he does for a living.
If you are shopping, don't fall for the lowest price. There have been a lot of scam sites that sucker people in with a fantastic price. Do a search on the seller, and if the results are bad, believe them, go elsewhere. But always check the price. Some items are MUCH cheaper with another name on it, or in the case of ham radio stuff, the commercial versions of the battery chargers are like 25% of the usual cost for the "ham" version, which is identical, except for model number. You search on the battery pack number, NOT the radio, and Yaesu's in particular have commercial battery chargers for much less on Ebay than a radio store does.
Scammers have always been around, but it's easier to find them today than it ever was. Your credit card and using PP or similar can save you a ton of money if you get scammed. I got scammed for over a thousand dollars on Ebay about 5 years ago, when someone sold me what looked like a very nice old restored and recapped amplifier I had wanted for about 35 years. What came was a wrecked one that was a totally different amp than pictured. I had my money back, less shipping, in two weeks from Paypal. If PP didn't refund me, there was Visa, but I didn't need it.
If possible, ALWAYS use a credit card, or debit with a Visa/Mastercard logo on it, it got me a refund on a cell phone when the provider refused to give me one. The phone couldn't even make a phone call from my apartment, and even though I had attempted to return it from day one, they said it had taken too long to return. I got the bank involved and I sent them copies of emails I sent the night I got the phone asking for an RMA. I had my money back in about 5 days, and they never asked for the phone back, so it's sitting in a drawer.
A lot of the problems I saw with people learning PC/Mac stuff is their grandkid or whoever didn't take any time to have them do the stuff themselves, they showed them and moved on. It's not going to work that way, never has. You have to do something multiple times for it to be memorized, at least for most people. If they have them, take the computer class! That $30-50 will be money well spent. So don't go out to eat a couple of times if that's a lot of money for you. Don't get discouraged if you don't have it down in a week. If you're a worrier, get the extended warranty, if not, a year should be good unless you drop a laptop. Another thing, if you break a PC, cheap parts are on Ebay, sometimes amazingly cheap. I got a genuine Dell set of speakers that clipped to the bottom of my monitor for $7, brand new, in the Dell box. The Dell website wanted $40+ for them! My cat had somehow pulled the wall wort out of the wall, and it died on impact. I wasn't nearly as upset at spending $7 as I would have been at $40+. The CD/DVD burners in Dell laptops are super cheap too. I broke the one on my old laptop and the new one was like $5.
A lot of people don't want to change anything when they get older, but their life is always changing, and it keeps on changing. The only way not to change is to check out.
hemiram
Member
Just don't use it. It's not like it's armed with a weapon. I use it for a couple of things at work, but mostly I use Chrome and FireFox. I haven't had a real problem in years. They aren't perfect, for sure, and there is a program I need to use that my present work PC totally refuses to allow me to do it. I have to do it on another person's PC. No one can explain why. Not even the head of technology understands what is going on with it. It's not a big deal, I just log into another PC, and it works. I only need it once a month or so anyway. It's gotten to be a joke.
Maybe get one of these:
Lots of answers, none replying to the OP.
No, there is no simple computer system. They are all a pain in the rear. Every single one has its quirks to be dealt with. I'm on about my fifth laptop, this one with Win 11 and touch screen. Edge is no worse than Google. The touch screen shall remain virgin. Touch pad also. My computer guy says expect about three years at best for any laptop before it starts to go bad. My experience says he's about right.
No, there is no simple computer system. They are all a pain in the rear. Every single one has its quirks to be dealt with. I'm on about my fifth laptop, this one with Win 11 and touch screen. Edge is no worse than Google. The touch screen shall remain virgin. Touch pad also. My computer guy says expect about three years at best for any laptop before it starts to go bad. My experience says he's about right.
There ain't one!
More suggestions, friendship, concern, and help, has been offered, and I value it all. "THANKS".
My son, who was employed for several years, by a state agency, programming, and teaching the use of computers, gave me in home help with the problem, and he doesn't have a good answer to the pending problem.
I've given this matter considerable thought, and this is my candid opinion; most problems in computers, and their operating systems, were purposely put there by their makers. This sells billions of dollars' worth of remedies to correct purposely built-in problems, by the factories. Most of us, curmudgeons, are ill-equipped to correct this matter.
Since the basics are built into computers along with the intentional faults' the best solution to the matter seems to be; Do the best with what you've got, and lay the matter to rest.
'It's mind over matter. If you don't mind, it don't matter'.
Chubbo
More suggestions, friendship, concern, and help, has been offered, and I value it all. "THANKS".
My son, who was employed for several years, by a state agency, programming, and teaching the use of computers, gave me in home help with the problem, and he doesn't have a good answer to the pending problem.
I've given this matter considerable thought, and this is my candid opinion; most problems in computers, and their operating systems, were purposely put there by their makers. This sells billions of dollars' worth of remedies to correct purposely built-in problems, by the factories. Most of us, curmudgeons, are ill-equipped to correct this matter.
Since the basics are built into computers along with the intentional faults' the best solution to the matter seems to be; Do the best with what you've got, and lay the matter to rest.
'It's mind over matter. If you don't mind, it don't matter'.
Chubbo
hemiram
Member
I agree about the quirks, but totally disagree about laptop life. At home, I have half a dozen, all but one that I've ever owned. The oldest one is a Win95 machine. It works perfectly at like 27 years old plus. The battery lasts only about 5 minutes, but plugged in it works fine. It was bought on an auction, and was an identical laptop to ones used at work that cost over $5000! I got mine, a lease return for $350. The second one was a Dell, made by Clevo, and I sold it to a friend who had dropped his laptop and it hit a table leg and literally sheared off the screen. He put his hard drive in my PC and off it went, it's 17 years old.
My third one was used and used and it was an early Win7 machine and it works fine, it's just obsolete. The last two have had problems that can't seem to be fixed, so I gave up on them. One has flickering video, and the other one has messed up USB ports that are super annoying and it runs super hot too. All in all, I have had much better luck with Clevo built machines (see Sager and Xotic) than ones made by other companies. My present one has an amazing OLED screen and videos and movies are a real pleasure to watch.
crankyoldlady
Member
I use a twelve year old laptop with a mouse and keyboard. After Windows XP I had Linux Ubuntu installed on it.
Talk about simple! Took me about an hour to learn the system. No security issues and easy updates.
A simple PC remedy.
My aggravating PC, that I've labeled ***, has come as close today, to receiving my permanent cure for aggravating PCs, that it ever will, I.E., take it behind the house, provide a good backstop, and center-punch it, with a bullet, from a high velocity revolver cartridge. The only thing delaying the procedure was the choice of a suitable cartridge. My cure is infallible, and immensely gratifying.
My PC remains in imminent danger. If my cure is applied, I will report its results.
Chubbo
My aggravating PC, that I've labeled ***, has come as close today, to receiving my permanent cure for aggravating PCs, that it ever will, I.E., take it behind the house, provide a good backstop, and center-punch it, with a bullet, from a high velocity revolver cartridge. The only thing delaying the procedure was the choice of a suitable cartridge. My cure is infallible, and immensely gratifying.
My PC remains in imminent danger. If my cure is applied, I will report its results.
Chubbo
venomballistics
Member
I was heavy into Debian distros for a while.
A lot of operating system for the money.
Linux tends to be a bit stagnant.
While "stagnant" is regarded as an obscenity in most technology fields, it's the very definition of uniformity. That seems the be a perk here
Let's see, I have owned PCs for decades and would never be without one. I am setting in an ergonomically designed chair, looking at a 25" screen, storing terabytes of information, have a full sized keyboard, proper height desk and monitor, second hard drive for full cloning of the hard drive in my PC just in case, and great sound system. Cannot get this in anything hand-held.
We have smart phones, android tablets, laptops, and a Chromebook, all are totally compatible. Will never buy another IPad. Completely worthless for document generation, storing online research, folder and file cabinet storage of substantial information, spreadsheet and presentation generation, and greatly lacking storage. I hate the planned obsolesce when Apple decides they want to bring out new generations of tablets, the result is that apps will no longer work on older equipment forcing the owner to buy new. Went through two iPad generations of this while only needing to update my same PC, and will never waste any more money on anything Apple.
I can simply plug in my phone, laptop, or android tablets and instantly view the devise, drag and drop documents, copy images to my PC for storage without any stupid Apple iTunes interface, plus I do not need to use the "cloud" for anything.
PCs are still the most powerful, versatile, and stable operating platforms out there today and if you have a permanent address and a desk, there is always a place for a PC. If I go somewhere and need information that is stored on my PC, I simply plug in my cell phone or tablet, drag and drop whatever I need and hit the road, knowing that everything is stored and backed up on my base machine forever.
We have smart phones, android tablets, laptops, and a Chromebook, all are totally compatible. Will never buy another IPad. Completely worthless for document generation, storing online research, folder and file cabinet storage of substantial information, spreadsheet and presentation generation, and greatly lacking storage. I hate the planned obsolesce when Apple decides they want to bring out new generations of tablets, the result is that apps will no longer work on older equipment forcing the owner to buy new. Went through two iPad generations of this while only needing to update my same PC, and will never waste any more money on anything Apple.
I can simply plug in my phone, laptop, or android tablets and instantly view the devise, drag and drop documents, copy images to my PC for storage without any stupid Apple iTunes interface, plus I do not need to use the "cloud" for anything.
PCs are still the most powerful, versatile, and stable operating platforms out there today and if you have a permanent address and a desk, there is always a place for a PC. If I go somewhere and need information that is stored on my PC, I simply plug in my cell phone or tablet, drag and drop whatever I need and hit the road, knowing that everything is stored and backed up on my base machine forever.
