New Computer

[Clive]

We have decided to go for the Dell but wait until January when there might be a better offer or an upgrade available.  Someone has written to me saying that with Windows 10 you are forced to use Bing instead of Google.  Surely that cannot be true?   

[Simon]

It certainly isn't if you don't use Internet Explorer.

[Glenn]

Windows 10 doesn't use Internet Explorer, you have Edge. http://www.howtogeek.com/221709/how-to-change-your-default-search-engine-in-microsoft-edge/

[Simon]

Exactly.   

But what I meant was you can use Firefox, etc.   In actual fact W10 does still have IE installed, at least it is on my laptop, and you get the option to choose your default browser during the set up process, from what I recall. 

[Clive]

I've bookmarked the website because I certainly don't want to use Bing.  Thanks Glenn.   

[Den]

I loved his "White Christmas" though Clive. 

[stevenrw]

My present Dell is a Studio 1745, Core Duo, T6600@2.20 GHz with 4 Gb RAM, Win 7, 64 bit OS with a 350 GB HDD.
Will the Inspiron 17 5000 series be much faster booting up and retrieving stuff from the HDD?  It's so annoying I can't get what I want.  I thought Dell is supposed to make computers to customers requirements. 

Just a thought Clive...
If your existing Laptop is working fine, but just a tad slow, have you thought of just replacing the existing hard drive with an SSD? You can buy a pretty darn good Samsung 500gb 850EVO SSD for less than £120. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Samsung-2-5-Inch-Solid-State-Drive/dp/B00P73B1E4/ref=sr_1_1?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1447423898&sr=1-1&keywords=samsung+850+evo+500gb

This will make your existing machine feel like new.

Physically its not difficult to fit and all you do is clone your old drive using the data migration software that comes with the drive.
The cloning software does exactly what it says on the tin. It copies every single bit of data including partitions etc from the existing HDD onto the new SSD. So when you boot it up it looks exactly like the machine did before, even the desktop shortcuts look the same.

Seems to me that its worth investing £120 to see if you actually need to spend £££ on a new laptop.

You have 64bit OS so you could also double the RAM, again fairly cheaply. That will help a lot.

If it didn't do the trick for you, you still have a pretty darn good SSD that you can put in your new machine later on (repeating the cloning process) once the warranty has expired.

Adding an SSD is the best, most cost effective upgrade you can make to a PC. Laptops normally have mechanical hard drives which spin at 5400rpm, whereas desktop hard drives normally rotate at 7200rpm, so you don't need to be Einstein to figure a desktop will be faster given all other factors being the same, but adding an SSD to a desktop still makes a huge improvement which will be even greater going from a 5400 HDD.

[Glenn]

http://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/hp-envy-13-d008na-windows-10-i5-6200u-skylake-8gb-ram-256gb-m-2-ssd-fhd-1920x1080-2322743

[Clive]

I don't want to open up the Dell to put new bits in it as I would rather have a new machine and start from scratch.  This is what I've always done and I'm stuck in my ways.     Sorry Glenn,  I couldn't possibly buy an HP - I've heard too many bad things about them.   

[Glenn]

I've got 5 HP's here, no problems with any of them, 2 laptops, 1 PC and 2 microservers.

[Lance]

I had an HP laptop which never had any issues and at work before my current Dell I had two HPs which never had faults either.

[Clive]

I take Computeractive magazine and readers seem to complain about HP far more than other brands of computer.   I've had two HP printers and neither lasted very long.  Conversely, my Canon printers have served me well.  I'm going to stick with Dell. 

[Simon]

I have a Dell laptop and have never had any trouble with it, except for a damaged screen, which I had to have replaced, and that was my own fault for picking it up with the screen open.   

[Den]

I have a HP Desktop (this is my third one over the years) and I swear by them and have never had any problems. 

[Clive]

  

[Steve]

It's all the same component manufacturers  just a different case/shell.

[Technical Ben]

I have a Dell laptop and have never had any trouble with it, except for a damaged screen, which I had to have replaced, and that was my own fault for picking it up with the screen open.   

That's a good attitude. I've heard one person saying it was HPs fault that his laptop did not survive him leaning over onto it.

I agree things should survive reasonable use, but where do we draw the line? I'm sure some people think throwing a TV out the window is reasonable.

[nowster]

I only ever buy second hand (refurbished) laptops.

[Clive]

It's all the same component manufacturers  just a different case/shell.

There is a lot of truth in that.  The last job I had before retirement was to inspect goods on behalf of foreign governments and one company I had to visit assembled video recorders and DVD players.  Apart from Philips and Sony who manufactured their own models, all the other well known makes were assembled at this particular company called Orion.  The cases were all different but the insides were identical - and all made in Thailand.   

[Glenn]

The HP Probook 4530s that I have is near identical to the Macbook of it's time, so much so that OSX ran it with only a little hack to the keyboard driver.

[Bill]

I'm sure some people think throwing a TV out the window is reasonable.

When you look at the standard of most of the programmes they may have a point

[zappaDPJ]

 

[Technical Ben]

Samsung and LG tend to make a lot of TV panels. No idea who does the gubbins and insides of players.

The TVs have a few major manufactures, just as HDDs and CPUs do for PCs. But you do get a lot of difference in quality between either the manufacturer or the grade of product. Some you could not see the screen sitting on the sun, others that look like your sitting on the sun!

[Clive]

Anyone had experience of PC Specialist http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/laptop-computers/ who make laptops to your own specification? 

[zappaDPJ]

I've never used them but they generally get good reviews on Trustpilot: https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/www.pcspecialist.co.uk 9.3/10 indicates a high degree of customer satisfaction.