# Got a couple of "Puter" questions...



## Wingdo (Oct 5, 2002)

I'm driving an E-Machine W3080 w/512 of RAM.

However, this puppy has slowed to a snail's pace and I don't know what to do!

Also: I'm looking into the purchase of a used laptop and am tired of getting hosed on every piece of electronics I own! Can you give me some basics to look for in a laptop; as in HD size, W-RW-DVD, RAM, and is installing new or different DVD players basically the same as the installation in a desktop... are the DVD W/RW interchangeable?

Thanks
Wingdo


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## Gary in ohio (May 11, 2002)

Why dont we find out why its slow. WHAT is actually slow, boot, moving on the screen , screen re-draws, internet download slow? Also what programs do you general use, games/business?The 3080 is a modern AMD chip, your memory is acceptable. Lets find out why its slow. Use your task manager and let us know how many process and what process are running.


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## Nevada (Sep 9, 2004)

Wingdo said:


> Also: I'm looking into the purchase of a used laptop and am tired of getting hosed on every piece of electronics I own! Can you give me some basics to look for in a laptop; as in HD size, W-RW-DVD, RAM, and is installing new or different DVD players basically the same as the installation in a desktop... are the DVD W/RW interchangeable?


I've had good luck with finding used laptops on eBay lately. You can find 1 to 1.2 gig processor laptops of various brands for under $200, with 256 to 512 megs memory and 10 to 30 gig hard drives. The batteries are usually pretty well shot, but I always run on the power adapter anyway, even when I travel.

A machine like that can run WinXP very nicely, but will never be a good machine for Vista. I need a decent WinXP laptop for travel so it was worth it to me. You'll have to determine what your own situation is.


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## OntarioMan (Feb 11, 2007)

What you need in a laptop depends very much on what you'd like it to accomplish.

Used Laptops - somewhat like going to Vegas, ya just never know. Ya may get a lemon, ya may save some real bucks on a quality machine.

What I'd look for in a used laptop:
- Pentium 4 or Pentium M
- 30gb or larger drive
- 512mb memory
- a battery that works and holds a charge
- showing little physical wear
- Windows XP (home or pro) certificate
- a "recovery" CD (or Windows CD)
- a "brand name" with decent website support (updates, drivers, etc.)

Although installing a DVDRW or CDRW is relatively straight forward on many laptops (many just pop out) - they are hugely expensive if you purchase them seperately - especially for brand name systems. For the most part, they are not interchangeable between manufacturers - and some are unique to that particular machine. A much cheaper alternative is using an "external" USB DVDRW drive.

I purchased a refurbed IBM Thinkpad T23 from IBM about 3 or 3.5 years ago. It came with only a 90 day warranty, new battery, cleaned and tested, Windows XP Pro. I saved about 50% or so from what a similar new machine would cost. I've been fortunate in that it has proven to be an excellent machine - my wife uses it every day. Would I do it again? On a high quality machine with real savings and at least some warranty - sure. On something out of the newspaper or off Ebay - it would have to be crazy cheap, otherwise I'd pass.



Wingdo said:


> Also: I'm looking into the purchase of a used laptop and am tired of getting hosed on every piece of electronics I own! Can you give me some basics to look for in a laptop; as in HD size, W-RW-DVD, RAM, and is installing new or different DVD players basically the same as the installation in a desktop... are the DVD W/RW interchangeable?
> 
> Thanks
> Wingdo


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## Nevada (Sep 9, 2004)

OntarioMan said:


> What you need in a laptop depends very much on what you'd like it to accomplish.
> 
> Used Laptops - somewhat like going to Vegas, ya just never know. Ya may get a lemon, ya may save some real bucks on a quality machine.
> 
> ...


While the P4/PM processors are much nicer than the PIII 1.2 gig processors, you lose much of the economic advantage of buying a used laptop when you do that. You'll pay around $200 for a used PIII 1.2 gig laptop, but the P4/PM laptops start above $300. Since you can find new laptops on sale starting at around $400, I would just get a new one for the extra $50 to $75 the new one would cost. 

The bottom line is that if you can't live with a PIII 1.2 gig processor you probably shouldn't be looking for a used laptop. There are deals out there, but you'll need to know how to work on it.

You are correct about CD & DVD burners. If you need to upgrade your laptop CD drive then USB drives are the only way to go. I have a 52X USB burner for my laptop that I got new for about $20. I upgraded my USB ports to 2.0 with a cardbus adapter for $5.99. It burns CD at full speed.

And about Las Vegas, if your luck there isn't any better than you have buying a used laptop, then we need to talk about your gambling!


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## Teresa S. (Mar 2, 2006)

I would get ATLEAST a: PIII,256 megs of ram,and a20 gig hdd. As for an OS, If you didn't want to pay for one, you could go with the WONDERFUL 'Puppy Linux'...or you could settle for a 'pirated' version of Windows xp. (that is, if you want to break the law...)


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## OntarioMan (Feb 11, 2007)

If those are the numbers, then even $200 for a used PIII is no bargain compared to a new machine at $400.

Every moving part in a stock high end PIII is currently end-of-life, and as another poster mentioned, the batteries in used laptops are questionable. Without a battery, you might as well be using a desktop machine which are far easier to repair/upgrade and much cheaper to purchase.

My point is to make sure you don't "nickle and dime" yourself to death. A cheap price does not always equate to a a good value. I've seen some ultra-cheap "big box" store laptops which are nowhere near the quality of something like a Thinkpad. 

With Vista now out, it may be that going to a new system with Vista makes the most sense - we'll all be using Vista sooner or later.

We all have to find our own point of balance.



Nevada said:


> While the P4/PM processors are much nicer than the PIII 1.2 gig processors, you lose much of the economic advantage of buying a used laptop when you do that. You'll pay around $200 for a used PIII 1.2 gig laptop, but the P4/PM laptops start above $300. Since you can find new laptops on sale starting at around $400, I would just get a new one for the extra $50 to $75 the new one would cost.
> ...


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## Nevada (Sep 9, 2004)

I got a PIII 1.2 gig Dell about 6 months ago for myself that more than meets my travel needs. I was delighted to get it for $200.

******
Here's a true story about a laptop I purchased at eBay about two months ago.

I have a friend who wanted a laptop for Christmas. She needed a mobile computer because the only phone service she has is a cell phone, and she doesn't want to have to subscribe to broadband service. She lives near UNLV where there are a number of free wireless hotspots available. All she basically wanted to do was to communicate with her family by email, browse a few web pages, do some word processing, and of course burn an occasional music CD.

I found an older laptop at eBay with a burner for $125, but it apparently had problems. Here is the auction description:

_"Up for sale is an incredible strong well built Sony vaio laptop.cosmetically as you can see in pictures it is in superb clean condition.lcd not one dirt or scratch and working too.i just sold my home and i am buying everything new.dont have no time to mess with this laptop.it turns on and works sometimes but i see nothing on the screen half the time.im sure it is an easy fix but im not going to bother with it.item being sold as an as is non working broken item with no refunds granted."_

Since parts are available at eBay for Sony laptops I decided to take a chance on it. The basic specs were a PIII 900 MHz processor, 256 megs memory, 30 gig hard drive, and an 8X CD-RW. Specifically it was a Sony Vaio PCG-FX340.

[ame]http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&aq=t&ie=UTF-8&rls=GGLG,GGLG:2006-17,GGLG:en&q=sony+pcg%2dfx340[/ame]

When the laptop arrived I couldn't get the machine to start at all. It seemed to have power, since LEDs were lighting-up, but nothing appeared on the monitor. I couldn't even go to the CMOS setup. My heart sank, since the first thing that went through my mind was a bad mainboard. However, after I finished cursing myself, I decided to check the few simple things it might be.

I opened the access port to the memory modules so I could reseat the RAM. There were two modules installed, a 256 meg and a 128 meg. That was a surprise, since the machine was sold as having only 256 megs of memory. I reseated the 256 and removed the 128. The machine started right up! Whew!

When I replaced the 128 meg module, the machine wouldn't start. When I removed the 256 meg module and left just the 128 in place, the machine started with 128 megs. Both modules appeared to be the right type of memory, but were different brands. Evidently those two modules simply aren't compatible with each other. I removed the 128 module and replaced the 256, then went to work configuring the machine with only 256 megs of memory installed.

The hard drive turned out to be a 15 gig, not a 30 gig. I repartitioned and formatted with NTFS, loaded XP Pro, SP2, Sony drivers, applied security updates, upgraded to IE7 & Media Player 11, installed Office 2003, CDBurnerXP, etc. 

The machine was 100% reliable. All hardware worked fine (NIC, modem, CD burner, you name it). The LCD monitor was in great shape, with no depression bruises at all.

That laptop didn't come with a wireless adapter, but I found a cardbus wireless G adapter on sale at Fry's Electronics for $8.99. While I was there I picked-up the USRobotics Skype phone (I got the $14.95 annual SkypeOut account special, since she's always running out of daytime cell phone minutes). The only other thing it really needed was a new battery, since the whole point of getting the laptop was to access free Internet at wireless hotspots, but I found a new battery at eBay for about $35 delivered. By the way, I sold the 128 meg memory module, making enough to pay for the battery (funny how those things work out).

When I gave her the laptop I warned her that a 900 MHz machine was going to be a little sluggish by today's standards, but she said she didn't mind that. Ironically, a few days later she called to tell me that I was wrong -- the laptop WASN'T slow. She has become quite attached to that laptop. Not a single day goes by without her taking that computer to a free wireless access point.

I took a big chance, but for $125 it couldn't have worked out better!


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## ericalbers (May 31, 2006)

PLEASE go to:
http://www.windowsstartup.com/

and download startup inspector.

Its free, no spyware, and shows you EVERYTHING which starts when you start your computer. It allows you to uncheck and disable anything which starts on your computer. This will give YOU control.

Eric


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## Wingdo (Oct 5, 2002)

Sorry... when I posted this problem I forgot where I posted it! I love getting old, "It's better to look a fool than really be one!"

Anyway:

The machine is slow to boot, and the internet pages have become a great deal if you drink a lot of coffee... you hit the mouse button and you have time to get a cup, a danish, go to the bathroom, wax the car, and when you get back the page is finally up! This just started recently, after a couple of Windows XP upgrades, but I haven't a clue as to how to fix it! REMEMBER... I'm older than the original dirt!

One other thing I remember, that changed the speed, was when I bought a second (new) DVD W/RW and installed it, it started slowing down eventually then stopped working, so I bought another and installed it. It worked, but it too was slow, so I disconnected the original DVD W/RW... it didn't change a thing.

That where I am now... and I put this on my fav. list so I can find it this time!

Wing


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## Rocky Fields (Jan 24, 2007)

Wingdo,

I do volunteer work locally helping seniors with their computer problems.

One thing I see alot is that they never defragment their hard drive. 

Also, they often have virus or spyware on their computer. You need to have an antivirus program and keep it updated.

They need to run a registry scrubber program because their registry is packed full of useless registry entries left behind by all their old trials and freeware they deleted.

They need to clean out countless old emails and cookies stored on their computer.

They need to cut down on the number of programs that start up at boot time.

Take care of the above and your boot time may improve.


RF


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