Replacement laptop purchase?

The problem is that Microsoft has changed their terms and conditions / pricing on the Office products.
Office 365 is 1 year at $100/ year, who knows after that, at one year you stop against a wall until you pay up.
Office Home and Student does not include Outlook, is unique to one PC serial # is $120
Office Home and Business does include Outlook, is unique to one PC serial # at $190
The problem of a unique PC is (especially a laptop) if it breaks and is not repairable, or you lose it, you are buying another copy of Office.
The problem with win 8 is older versions of Office are not supported; they may work but are not supported.
In addition to Outlook I use password protected and encrypted files so I would prefer to keep what I have and just update the hardware.
I think what I am going to do is to install what I have on new hardware, install my current copies of Office and see what goes. I need to spend more time looking toward alternatives to Office.
I have no interest in changing everything I have and going MAC.
The best operating system by far was IBM’s OS2 but that is long ago history
 
quote:
Originally posted by jmeirhofer

What 74 views and not one person condeming him for posting a non boating subject in ask the captain? Where are the folks who were all over salty the last few weeks? Or is it only some non boating topics that are not allowed?

Click to expand...


First off I for one just assumed he would be running some sort of nav program on his new laptop there by making the question boating related. Plus for most people at least, a computer question is pretty nonpolitical.

Second, you stated that people should just not point out or comment on a OT posting in ATC if they didn't like it and that way it would die out sooner. So I didn't. But apparently that doesn't make you happy either, so here you go, yes this probably does belong in NBR.

As to the question of what laptop to buy, I have always had very good luck with Dells running Windows OS (but not Vista). Part of the reason I feel is because I try to keep very up to date on my virus and malware protection. And run scans on a regular basis. YMMV

But my friends with Macs, both conservative and liberal, seem love them so I may change in the future.
 
quote:
Originally posted by Capt. Bill1

quote:
Originally posted by jmeirhofer

What 74 views and not one person condeming him for posting a non boating subject in ask the captain? Where are the folks who were all over salty the last few weeks? Or is it only some non boating topics that are not allowed?

Click to expand...


First off I for one just assumed he would be running some sort of nav program on his new laptop there by making the question boating related. Plus for most people at least, a computer question is pretty nonpolitical.

Second, you stated that people should just not point out or comment on a OT posting in ATC if they didn't like it and that way it would die out sooner. So I didn't. But apparently that doesn't make you happy either, so here you go, yes this probably does belong in NBR.

As to the question of what laptop to buy, I have always had very good luck with Dells running Windows OS (but not Vista). Part of the reason I feel is because I try to keep very up to date on my virus and malware protection. And run scans on a regular basis. YMMV

But my friends with Macs, both conservative and liberal, seem love them so I may change in the future.

Click to expand...


Okay Bill, dont get your drawers in a bunch. I had meant it as tongue in cheek. But your response is pretty much what i figured you would say, but after the ruckus over salty's post I thought for sure you would be all over this. So to be clear, NBR stuff in ask the captain is okay as long as it is non-political (or at least not posted by an NBR regular). Got it.
 
quote:
Originally posted by jmeirhofer
Got it.

Click to expand...


No you don't. But since that is purposeful on your part I won't bother to try to enlighten you.

And to stay OT, this was posted via my ASUS netbook running Windows 7 starter which has been very trouble free. And surprisingly I really have not missed the fact that a netbook doesn't have a CD/DVD drive in it and that the screen is smaller. Again, YMMV.
 
Really Bill, I do get it. Maybe you don't or maybe you can "enlighten" me on what is that you think I don't get. But trust me when I say I fully understand folks like you.

My first post in this subject was made with my MacBook Air. Solid state hard drive and no CD. Second post was with my Motorola Xoom on the Android platform and this post is on my old HP Pavilion zd8000 which I use as a desktop. I also use an IPAD and have an IPhone 4S. To be quite honest, for what I do they are all trouble free. But then again the topic was about the software more than anything specifically. I have office 2003 installed on this machine. Purchased and installed it in 2009. I have never upgraded it and have the auto update turned off. I believe I have the 2010 version on my MacBook. The Xoom and the IPad have document and spreadsheet document editors but they are not very user friendly. I do not believe there are any compatibility issues with this version vs. other versions. As far as mail goes, I have been using Yahoo for about 10 years now. The first couple of years I used the free version. I almost dumped it until a friend told me to give the paid version a try. I did and it was a great improvement. Don't ever see myself going back.
 
I am sitting here typing this on my new ASUS S200E. My old eyes do not like the small type, but since it is a touch screen I can enlarge.

This is the first day to use it and I am trying to load DVD's. It came with a DVD externad drive. The keyboard it a little small for my fingers.

It runs Windows 8 so that is a bit of a learning experience.

George
 
quote:
Originally posted by Rustydog

The problem is that Microsoft has changed their terms and conditions / pricing on the Office products.
Office 365 is 1 year at $100/ year, who knows after that, at one year you stop against a wall until you pay up.
Office Home and Student does not include Outlook, is unique to one PC serial # is $120
Office Home and Business does include Outlook, is unique to one PC serial # at $190
The problem of a unique PC is (especially a laptop) if it breaks and is not repairable, or you lose it, you are buying another copy of Office.
The problem with win 8 is older versions of Office are not supported; they may work but are not supported.
In addition to Outlook I use password protected and encrypted files so I would prefer to keep what I have and just update the hardware.
I think what I am going to do is to install what I have on new hardware, install my current copies of Office and see what goes. I need to spend more time looking toward alternatives to Office.
I have no interest in changing everything I have and going MAC.
The best operating system by far was IBM’s OS2 but that is long ago history

Click to expand...


since we're all exposing our hardware...i'm on a mac too. there are excel and word for mac programs. there's no need to change everything.

gmail has calendar that will sync with just about any other device. plus it's free. shared documents are also a nice feature when working in groups. no need to backup, access from any internet connection with security that's (so far) better than off the shelf.

i haven't used outlook since leaving the corporate dungeon and i don't miss it for a second.
 
Check with your company (if you still work) about software licenses. I bought Acrobat X for $15, Office Enterprise 2010 for $50, and Windows 7 Pro for $50. You might be surprised how cheaply you can get a license key if your company overbought the keys to get the bigger discount.
 
quote:
Originally posted by Philyteach

Check with your company (if you still work) about software licenses. I bought Acrobat X for $15, Office Enterprise 2010 for $50, and Windows 7 Pro for $50. You might be surprised how cheaply you can get a license key if your company overbought the keys to get the bigger discount.

Click to expand...

Been retired IBM 15 years. My stuff is out of pocket that's why the contention.

Thanks anyways for info

Looking at ebay options
 
FWIW, I have bought my last three computers off eBay and been very happy with all of them.
 
My thoughts:

Many Windows 8 offer a downgrade to windows 7 as an option. There really isn't a driver compatibility issue. I personally use android, iOs, blackberry (remember them), Outlook and could-based email.

First, I'd leave Win8 on the machine. It's actually a really stable platform with a terrible UI unless you're on a touchscreen. There is a program called Thunderbird, put out by the same people who made Firefox. It's a fantastic free and open-source handler for mail.

Google Apps has terrific integration of Mail, Calendar & Contacts. For personal use, it's 100% free. For business use they just started charging $50/user/year. It allows you to share calendars, link email accounts etc. I don't care how redundant your home network is, having all that information cloud based is fantastic. Google's servers will have a greater uptime than your own. You can use everything cloud based. They also support the open-source programs (and outlook if you wanted to buy.)

Finally, to make Win8 usable (like we all know and love) I purchased a program called Stardock. It cost a whopping $4.99 and put the start menu back on my Win8 computer. Now it has the good platform of Win8 with the usability and comfort of Win7.

Get away from office. The fact that you can no longer re-use a license is ridiculous. If your laptop gets stolen or breaks MSFT is on record saying there are no exceptions to allow for a license to be transferred.
 
Replace outlook with Mozzilla Thunderbird. It can do anything Outlook does. Looks almost the same. Free

and as others have said use Mozilla Firefox for web browsing.

My Thunderbird integrates with Google which in turn links to Android phone and tablets. Emails, contacts and calendar
 
Windows 8 has a seviceable email program on the start screen. It's like an Ipad style mail program. I've been using it for a few months without issue. I also use outlook.com both on different computers and the desktop of the windows 8 machine. I have my ISP pop, hotmail (live) on both. There really isn't a need for a old fashoined email program anymore, keep everything on the web, it makes synchronizing very easy.
 
RustyDog, I know Microsoft says Outlook 2003 is not compatible with Win8, but I loaded it and it runs fine. If you go with Windows 8, all of Office 2003 works. Best of luck in your decision.
 
We have a McBook Pro and an i-Mac and have definitely not found them to be particularly reliable or stable, mechanically or software wise, especially the laptops. They look cool though and the form factor of the iMac is ideal for a boat. When Windows users ask me if it is worth spending the money to switch, I always answer "no". Another problem is, once you make the switch and have Mac software, it has been harder to go from Apple back to PC than vice-versa. That's the beauty of all the-cloud based services now, you are not locked into one system or the other. It will be much easier for me to switch back and save a lot of money when the Macs crap out, which in my case has usually taken 3-4 years, or Apple stops supporting old CPUs or OS versions, which also seems to happen about every 4 years or so.

Apple lost share in the traditional PC and laptop market in its latest quarter, by the way. Apparently the iPads are taking more customers from Apple computers, proportionately, than PCs.
 
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