Off Topic Computer Warning

[Shayne]

I bought a new laptop on saturday a newer version of my old Toshiba that served me well until i bust the screen . I fired it up and was completely baffled by everything . It turned out that it had the new improved Windows 8 operating system .

ITS AWFUL !


It does not resemble any computer you have ever used , its like ordering a car and receiving a flight simulator instead . After 6 hours i could still not work out how to close a page or even how to turn the computer off without holding the off button down for 20 seconds . My daughter in law was able to work out some of it without too much trouble and explained it works very similar to an iphone . So its designed for a touchscreen with an area of about 7 inches . Laptops don't have touchscreens so instead of tickling it with your finger you have to press approx 17 buttons to do something as complicated as scroll down the page your reading .

I took it back on sunday and got a refund telling them it won't burn recovery discs . Beware windows are force selling , retailers will not accept returns because the operating system is rubbish .

 

[Doodle]

It is possible to get to the Win7-u-like desktop, and there are patches to make it run permanently like that but yes, it's going to be a hell of a learning curve for a lot of people.

 

[TonyP]

I'm a Windowz fan, but I have been putting off purchasing a new laptop because of Win8. I have played with it in Currys and it's ok, and I see you have a option of making it look like Win7.

Thing is, I just don't want to piss about with it...

I "may" just go and look at a fruity device....

 

[Paddler Ed]

I've had a play with it as I'm also in the market for a new laptop; for me the biggest difference is the lack of start button. I suspect the keyboard shortcuts such as ALT+F4 and ALT+TAB will still work, but I've not played long enough with it.

Talking to people it seems to be a bit marmite; you either love it or hate it. To me I'm not that keen on it as I don't do touch screens (I struggle with my GF's iPad and use a Blackberry as it has buttons!) and a lot of it seems to be geared around that style of functionality.

I also don't like the way that you can buy MS Office on an annual subscription basis for 5 machines or a proper copy that can be installed on one machine, with no annual fee.

I think I could get the hang of it, but it's going to be a big jump from Windows XP!

The suggestion I've had from a friend who works in IT is to have a look at Dell's outlet and pick up a Win7 laptop that way.

On another car forum that I use they were saying that support for XP is going to stop from April 2014, so we will have to make the jump sooner or later!

 

[Shayne]

You can "downgrade" win8 to windows 7 but you have to PAY for a genuine copy with an unused validation code , so a new laptop plus £100 for an operating system plus a week messing about getting it delivered and installing it . I will honestly be astonished if some consumer group doesn't take Microsoft to court for miss-selling if they don't take a U-turn abut this junk .

However when my 8 year old samsung slide phone died i searched high and low to find another WITH BUTTONS . I am not japanese i trust levers rather than lights and i will never understand why anyone thinks playing the 7th symphony to make something work as you want it to is an improvement over pressing a single button ?

 

[yogi]

Thats not good news, could do with a new laptop because the buttons are falling out of this one. Given that i can't work an I phone and i thought a 'tablet' was some kind of portable telly when i saw a child using one last summer i see its going to be a problem,

Well Shane i have an old Nokia held together with sellotape because i threw the last new phone i got into a field in frustration after 2 days so i think i'm going to look for an old 2nd hand one on the bay when this one finally dies so i feel your pain!!

 

[Chas]

7th symphony, is that Beethoven's or Apocalyptica's 7th Symphony?

 

[Shayne]

Thats not good news, could do with a new laptop because the buttons are falling out of this one. Given that i can't work an I phone and i thought a 'tablet' was some kind of portable telly when i saw a child using one last summer i see its going to be a problem,

Well Shane i have an old Nokia held together with sellotape because i threw the last new phone i got into a field in frustration after 2 days so i think i'm going to look for an old 2nd hand one on the bay when this one finally dies so i feel your pain!!

Instead i decided to repair my old laptop with new screen and a new keyboard but had this been in stock i would have had it . The way things are looking though i doubt they will restock but worth keeping an eye on it .

http://www.sainsburys.co.uk/sol/sho...gb_155_hd_notebook_black.html?hnav=4294898048

 

[Gary Stockton]

Bought a 14" touch screen VAIO for SWMBO that runs win8 and its pretty good - your old desktop is there if you want it and the newer desktop is pretty slick. It takes getting used to butbthen all is good.

Pretty much like going from part time 4wd with manual locking hubs to a 100 series


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

 

[Olazz]

I will honestly be astonished if some consumer group doesn't take Microsoft to court for miss-selling if they don't take a U-turn abut this junk .

Shayne are you telling us that you went to buy a brand new laptop and didn't bother to ask questions or find out about its OS? Then got home and decided you didn't like the 21st century development?.... that's a school-boy error, not a Microsoft mis-selling scandal as you suggest.

 

[Shayne]

Its a long story but the jist of it is when they sent the wrong replacement screen the THIRD time i just got in my truck went to argos and said gimme one of them which happened to be a slightly newer version of my old laptop and looked identical . This is not my usual way of doing things but the stepdaughter became a mum on Friday after weeks of complications , my resulting absence has damn near trashed my business , and now we have a screaming rugrat to make sure none of us catch up on all the sleep we've lost waiting around in hospital corridors .The wrong screen again very nearly triggered a one man revolution

Shes good now though and the babies well so once i get used to taking "Grandma" to bed i'm sure i can turn my business around

Anyway the miss-selling has nothing to do with my rashness , i bought a laptop ..... not an iphone or a flumtpy pad or whatever else you call all the other fashionable gadgetry . If you upgrade your Ford Mondeo for a newer model Mondeo you expect a better version of your old car , you do not expect to be given a speedboat with a Ford Mondeo sticker on it and that's what windows 8 is , a completely different product bearing no resemblance to the one it replaces .

 

[Chris Green90]

I stuck 8 on my laptop for about a week and hated it totally. However I can see how it would work much better with a touch screen or tablet of some kind. I found one of the biggest problems is that the gestures that would be shortcuts on a touch screen make things sooooo much more hard work with a mouse.

If you really don't like 8 (like me) but are looking for a new laptop, my advice would be to get one on line, built to spec with no OS, Then Download the the OS you had on your old one and use the authentication code from the sticker on you old one. You will get a much higher spec PC for the same money as you would in PCworld. Obviously this is no use what so ever if you don't know what you are looking for in the first place, but you could always go into PC world, find one you like with a spec that works, write it down then use those specs to build your own online for about 100 quid less. (Not actually physically build your own but spec it and have the company build if for you.

 

[PETE BELL]

CONGRATS Shane -first grandchild i suspect

 

[Paddler Ed]

Have you got any recommendations for a company Chris?

I've been looking at Lenovo Laptops for about £400 at Currys; they're running 1TB HD and 6GB Ram with an Intel Processor (proper one, not a Celeron) and I'm thinking I'm going to struggle to do any better than that at the moment.

 

[Shayne]

CONGRATS Shane -first grandchild i suspect

Thanks Pete ..... i think i met the mrs after she was told she can have no more so its a bit bitter/sweet for me , somehow i'm grandad without ever being dad , but hey lifes like that , good women are hard to find and the one i got is more than i deserve

 

[fridayman]

Have you got any recommendations for a company Chris?

I've been looking at Lenovo Laptops for about £400 at Currys; they're running 1TB HD and 6GB Ram with an Intel Processor (proper one, not a Celeron) and I'm thinking I'm going to struggle to do any better than that at the moment.

I'm very happy with my Lenovo T-series.

 

[Bat21]

Is it a 90 series laptop?

 

[OG.]

Windows 8 is great if you have a touch screen. On a traditional laptop the 'Panes' are more pain than they are worth.

If you download 'Classic shell' it returns the start button to its rightful place - just select the desktop pane and bingo - looks like good old Windows 7 once its installed.

I have it on my laptop at home and in this mode with classic shell its fine. Incidentally classic shell is free and ad free unlike some start buttons.