Computer suggestions

[lostinOregon]

The taxman has been good to me so it is time to upgrade my computer. I know nothing about computers, except how to turn them off and on. I know some of you out there are computer wiz's so give me some help. It will be used just for fun, want a CD burner, lots of memory for pictures. Give me some brands, some do's and don'ts, how much memory, what programs that will help with pictures, that kind of help.

Thanks

Rich

 

[RELH]

Rich;

I am no computer guru either, but if HP has not improved their support customer service, stay away from them. The last two computers my wife has ordered has been though Dell.
They have many packages in different price ranges. You can talk to their support people and tell them what you want to do with the computer and they will suggest different options and package downloads to fit your needs with a computer.
Be sure you request that your keyboard has a release for the Caps lock, Bess is the only one allowed to type in caps only.

RELH

 

[lostinOregon]

Thanks, I try to stay away from Bessy and all caps

Rich

 

[Zigga]

Get a Mac. I don't own one but they've got to be better.

 

[OutdoorWriter]

LAST EDITED ON Feb-09-09 AT 12:47PM (MST)[p]>>I am no computer guru either, but if HP has not improved their support customer service, stay away from them.<<

Short story.

I have both an HP desktop and an HP laptop, plus a HP scanner and two HP printers -- B&W laser and inkjet.

Anyway, about two months ago, I was having a small problem with a "memory management" error message on the desktop, which is at least 3 yrs. old and well out of warranty. In investigating the problem, I went into the bios and saw where it showed only 1GB of Ram installed. It was supposed to come with 2GB from the factory. So I opened up the case, and sure enought, only one 1GB module present.

Sooo...I sent an email to HP support and for two months, went round and round with them. They kept telling me it supposed to have 2GB, and I kept telling them I KNEW that, but kept asking the same question -- how do I get the other 1GB that I didn't get. Finally, I sent a message listing the HP products I own and told them I would never purchase another HP product.

Taaaddaa. Now the case got elevated to a case manager here in the US -- not to some emailer in India or wherever who can't even write English.

A gal called me and immediately shipped the module at no charge, and I installed it. BUT...when I booted, I still got the memory error message. So...I attempted to restore the system using the HP F10 command. No go. Now the machine wouldn't even boot.

Called HP back and spoke to the same gal. She immediately sent me the HP installation disks. Still no go. Another call produced a brandy new HD at no cost. Still nothing.

At this point, they shipped me a packing box and FedEx labels to send the computer back to HP for repair at no cost to me.

Four days later, the computer was delivered with the new hard drive still installed and configured as it came from the factory. The problem was the original memory module.

At each step outlined above the case manager actually called me to see if the fix worked. The last call was before I had set up everything, though. So she closed the case with the caveat that it would depend on me calling her to say everything was working as designed.

After a week of reinstalling all my hardware and software, it's running great. I called Fri. and told her so.

Moral: Despite the email exchanges, HP support gets my kudos for going the extra mile in this instance, especially since the computer was 2 years out of warranty.

Of course, everyone's mileage may vary depending on driving habits. ;-)

TONY MANDILE

How To Hunt Coues Deer