Saturday, November 22, 2008

PC's, Michigan/Ohio State game and wild birds, what do they have in common?

Nothing, except I need some assistance. We need a new PC, ours is 8 years old. Here is what we do with our PC, would you help suggest a good buy PC?

1. Blog
2. Surf Internet
3. Check email for home and work
4. We use Word and Excel, even at home.
5. We take lots of photo's. I haven't used the movie feature on my camera yet.
6. We are not gamers.
7. We occasionally play CD's.
8. We've never watched a movie on it, can't see why we would with plenty of other TV's in the house and cabin.
9. "I feel the need, the need for speed." Yes, give me something fast!
10. I have an i-pod.

Anyway, it takes our PC about 10 minutes to warm up. It got a virus just after we bought it and has never been the same since. Only about 1/2 of our hard drive is usable. We are going to go 'look' at Best Buy today. Should we wait until just before Christmas or after Christmas to buy?

We can't go during the Michigan/Ohio State game. (rolling eyes!)

With that, I'll leave you with a couple of pics of our feathered friends.

Tasty wild turkey's. This was close to Houghton Lake when I 'went into town' to get some groceries. It was a flock of approx. 30 turkey's. They went behind a house and I didn't feel like getting arrested to get a photo, so I continued on.

Blue Jay, he's big, he's bad, he's a bully.

This is Mr. Hairy, getting a snack on the 'suet tree'.

22 comments:

Shelley said...

I'm envious you are getting those turkeys!
I just got my Consumer Reports Buying Guide for 2009. I'll scan the articles and email to you if you like. Some of the things they suggest Get a computer w/ at least 2GB of RAM. I also have their 2008 ratings list of computers - HP Pavillion s3500t was ranked highest.
I have a Sony VAIO w/ Windows Vista. The complaint I would have about Vista is almost too high of security - it's hard for me to modify my company website and I had to download Mozilla firefox to assist.

RamonaGrigg said...

Great pictures! About your PC. From what uses you've listed, it doesn't sound like you really need turbospeed or gigantic storage. I don't know what your budget looks like, but if it's anything like mine, you're looking for the best for the least.

My computer is just over a year old and still has Windows XP. That makes me happy! I only have an 80 gig hard drive and 1 gig memory (could use more, I think), but I have an LCD screen and I DO watch movies. It's great! It does everything else I want it to do, too, and I process tons of photos on it. I have photos, music and games on it and I still have plenty of room.
The best part? I paid $599 for it at WalMart. The best part of WalMart? You can bring it back within 30 days (I think) if you're not happy with it, no questions asked.
I stopped buying at Best Buy because of their return policy. It was terrible. Maybe they're better now, but that's the first thing I would ask before I bought.
Good luck!

Jen said...

GO BUCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sorry, We are Buckeye State born;
and hubby is an OSU grad.

Denise said...

Shelley - sure, email me the info. I need all the help I can get.

Mona - we paid a few thousand for this...old calculator. Yes, this time I am looking for something a little less expensive.

Jen - Bill won't hold it against you. GO WOLVERINES!!!

Betsy Banks Adams said...

Denise, I can't be of much help when it comes to Windows computers. We are macintosh (Apple Computer) people--and I wouldn't EVER go back to windows. My hubby got me into mac's--after fighting windows and viruses for many years. The mac's are much more user-friendly--and we never get viruses. They are just easier to operate --and can now read all of the windows programs that I used to use such as Word... Windows Vista has had nothing but problems.

WELL--whatever you get, get plenty of memory for your picture files. I have a one Ghz processor and 768 rams of memory--and my computer is not new (2004).. I have 2500 songs on iTunes, and over 5000 pictures on iPhoto.. I also have another picture file--with TONS of pictures in folders. I have a great email program --along with iCalendar, a great address book with makes labels--along with the other browsers, etc. that we all use. I use iWeb --to publish picture files...

Well--I could go on and on ---but if you are interested AT ALL (and I certainly won't be offended if you are not), I will talk to you more about mac's!!!! As you can tell, I do LOVE my mac!!!! Have a great day!
Hugs,
Betsy

Denise said...

Betsy, Mac's scare me. I don't know how to use them. Although my first computer in high school was an Apple IIe...LOL 23 years ago and a smidge of knowledge with BASIC makes me downright afraid of everything. I worry that I would have to learn this stuff all over again - and I'm not very good at it.

RamonaGrigg said...

My son swears by his Mac and can't understand why I won't switch, but I play games on my computer, and many of them STILL are not made for Macs. The price is another factor. I don't think I could buy a brand-new Mac for $599!
Mine is an HP Pavilion, by the way. I've read somewhere that WalMart sells certain models exclusively. I don't know whether that's good or bad, but I've bought three computers from WalMart--the other two were EMachines--and had good luck with all of them. I only upgraded because of obsolescence.

Don said...

my son loves his Mac and would never use a pc again. I guess you need to decide how much you want to spend!

Doesn't it seem like there are a lot of wild turkeys in Michigan these days?

I love Houghton Lake. My g'pa had a cabin up there until the 70's.

Betsy Banks Adams said...

Oh I wish I lived closer. I could show you and teach you all you need to know about mac's... They are truly wonderful (and I have no Apple stock)... ha ha

By the way, what has happened to your football team this year???? My hubby is from Indiana but his favorite team is Michigan. He just rolls his eyes this year--just like I do about my UT Vols. ha
Hugs,
Betsy

Denise said...

Mona, I don't want to spend big bucks this time.

Don, I usually see just 1 Tom with a few hens, but I do see a lot of those little flocks. I had never seen a flock this large. They didn't like me stopping to take their photo, either. They ran really fast.

Betsy, I wish you lived closer, too. I could sure use some help.

Bill and I did go to Best Buy, we couldn't get anyone to wait on us. We then went to Circuit City. A sales person assisted us there, but I still want to look around. We went to WalMart, but they only had laptops. I'm also going to check Amazon and another online place, their name escapes me now. I'll have to ask Bill what the name is.

gunn said...

Fight on to victory, fight on for old 'SC, oh, wait not football blog.

Mac's the way to go. Have had several forever, never once had a virus, not a huge volume of keys strokes and key stroke combinations to learn ,most work is done with the mouse. Only drawback is initial cost when compared to PC's.
Apple stores have free instruction sessions and very friendly staff.

Photo Booth, IPhoto and Preview are superb for photo files.
Other comments are correct, whichever you chose, PC or MAC get lots of storage for photo file storage.
Good luck.

RamonaGrigg said...

I don't own stock in WalMart, honest--though maybe I SHOULD.
But did you know about their Site to Store program? You can order a computer online and have it delivered to your store. Our WalMart doesn't have everything, either, so when we wanted a particular weed whacker I ordered it online and we picked it up at the store. I'm pretty sure there was no additional charge.

Driftwood and Pumpkin said...

I wish I could suggest a computer, but we are in the exact same boat. Only problem is, we can't afford one right now. I had a friend of mine service it lately and it is running better, so I guess I should count my blessings!

Cedar ... said...

Wow,... went out to breakfast and grocery shopping today and see,.. I missed all the excitement of shopping for a new computer. Here are my thoughts,... I have a nearly new (1 yr. old) HP Pavilion Entertainment laptop. I have Vista and agree that it's too tight with security,.. also have to use Firefox too. Other than that i have enjoyed my new computer. Before that I had a Dell desktop, and that was a workhorse. I prefer the laptop now so I can take it in the camper. I don't store all my music and photos on computer, but burn them off onto cds. I'll be waiting to hear your final decsion. Have you tried Sam's Club?

Denise said...

WOW I didn't know I'd be causing such a stir...but I'm loving the conversation.

Mona, I'll check the website.

iPost, our hard drive is partitioned from the virus. We tried to have it fixed 3 times, to no avail. Just to keep a little speed I have to run the defrag contantly.

Cedar, we probably will end up with an HP, but the models are so confusing. Do you have a suggestion? We briefly looked at Sam's Club about a week ago. We'll probably have to go back.

What a difficult decision!

Denise said...

I should add, it's nice to have all of these bloggy pals! I'm really enjoying the conversation. :)

Anonymous said...

My first computer at home was an Apple IIe, but I've had Macs ever since. The only thing they have in common is that the same company made both.

I convinced Betsy (see above) to switch to a Mac after we were married and she's still with me.

My Mac is over six years old and we will probably both get new iMacs in the coming year. I highly recommend them.

RamonaGrigg said...

I think it's pretty funny that we've all gravitated to this website about the Great Outdoors and what are we talking about? Computers!

Denise said...

Ah-ha George, Betsy has gathered her flock for the Mac attack! LOL

Mona - indeed! But I'm having a lot of fun!

RamonaGrigg said...

Denise, me too! And really, how could we "talk" about the Great Outdoors without our computers? I couldn't. . .

Alex and Alicia said...

Hi Denise,

First year alone, huh? We're looking at about 14 for Thanksgiving Dinner, including 4 dogs... should be interesting! I hope you have an enjoyable day regardless :)

I have an amazing Pumpkin Maple Pie recipe that is incredibly simple and very quick to make. If you're interested, I could type it up and send it on over to you!

-Alicia

Denise said...

Mona, what would we do without the technology.

Alicia, I've never had Pumpkin Maple Pie. I'd be glad for you to send it to me.