Cheap computer

[Rgarner]

Ok, I guess that's the way to go. If I can ever afford it, I'll go there. Thanks for all the help...you guys rock. Now what can I do about that darn Moto G Stylus? Recently I plugged it into a computer (Dell, probably kind of old, dunno, it was borrowed) and downloaded minimal adb and fastboot. When I got to the command line interface, I typed fastboot devices but there was nothing. I did a little tweaking (or maybe not, hard to tell) and tried again, still zilch. This was after I guess I remedied that apparently famous problem about the USB device last added not recognized. At least that was relatively simple. I just went to windows settings, power and sleep, and disabled that usb setting. I'm not sure if it really fixed anything, but I didn't see the nonrecognition thing again. Would downloading USB drivers help? Of course this is assuming I would get another shot at hooking up the Stylus to that, or another, computer. Obviously if I can fix this nuisance I would rather do that than spend maybe another $200.

 

[Rgarner]

I found out that Walmart of all places has Seagate drives. I'm pretty sure that's a reputable brand. There were 2, and the larger was 6 tb for about $105. What do you think?

 

[MoodyBlues]

I found out that Walmart of all places has Seagate drives. I'm pretty sure that's a reputable brand. There were 2, and the larger was 6 tb for about $105. What do you think?

Really? SIX terabytes for $105? That's amazing. (At least to me, considering I haven't done much computer part-related shopping lately.)

Seagate...it's certainly a well-known brand, but I've had bad experiences with it in the past. I've used Western Digital drives exclusively for many years now; they just crank away and away and away.... But if this Seagate has a good warranty, and it suits your needs, go for it!

As always, make sure regular backups are part of your routine, because no matter which brand or how good a drive is, it CAN fail at any time, with or without notice.

 

[Rgarner]

That's for sure. With my luck I'd probably have to have a million backups, if not more. Is Western Digital available in stores? How much do they charge for a terabyte or two? Meanwhile, in a totally unrelated problem, Duckduckgo has inexplicably switched from displaying a bunch of squares for sites to some strange horizontal thing that shows barely two at a time. How do I get it back the right way?

 

[MoodyBlues]

Is Western Digital available in stores? How much do they charge for a terabyte or two?

Yes, it's a very well-known brand. But I do all my buying online, so I can't tell you which stores carry them. Any computer or electronics store worth its salt should carry WD drives, though! I'm not up on current prices, but a quick Amazon search shows WD drives, 1TB and up, starting at around $35!

 

[Rgarner]

Wow, that's great! I sure hope I can get one locally. Now I just have to figure out how to fix the Duckduckgo display problem.

 

[MoodyBlues]

Wow, that's great! I sure hope I can get one locally. Now I just have to figure out how to fix the Duckduckgo display problem.

You mean the browser, right? Have they recently changed something....the way Chrome constantly does on Android? In Chrome's case, some months ago my list of open tabs suddenly changed to a bunch of squares, which I hated, then suddenly changed to something else (I don't recall), and now has changed back (more or less) to its original long list. If it's a programmed change, there's probably nothing you can do--unless they're kind enough to provide a setting/preference that lets you adjust it. Have you checked its settings?

 

[Rgarner]

I have, but I didn't find anything about that. It's good to know that I can change the color combo of the duck logo and the type of burn symbol pretty much whenever. Let me see if I can show you what I mean by the arrangement (now) with a screenshot.

 

[Rgarner]

An acquaintance got a brand new HP with Athlon processor from Best Buy for $300 about a month ago and is willing to sell it for $250. I believe it's the UN8134. It looks good but I wasn't able to use it much because there was a password problem. Is it worth another look?

 

[Windroid]

Also, how bad is it to have chrome as an operating system?

Depends. Does this this computer's Chrome OS come with the Android subsystem? Then it's not just Chrome OS, it's also Android. That said, Android is a tablet system and not a desktop/laptop system! Unless this computer is a tablet, or at least something with a touchscreen, your friend may find that Android isn't well suited for his computer.

No Android subsystem? Then as I understand it, it's the Chrome browser in a box. Fine if all you want to just want to browse the Internet (and you like the Chrome browser). There are people who do that, there are people who do everything on websites and have no use for apps you'd install onto your computer. But if you want actual apps, and not just websites: Chrome OS without Android is NOT the way to go!

Can it be swapped out for something better, such as Linux?

Probably, if it's a 64 or 32 bit system and not ARM. See Whitson Gordon's article "How to Install Linux on Your Chromebook".

Edit: I missed the date of this tread.

 

[nickdalzell]

The last two laptops I purchased only cost me $100 together. Good, reliable Dell Latitude E-series laptops from 2009-13. You won't find any modern laptop with the list of features they got. The last was an E6430 that I'm going to use to take the place of the Windows 11 one at work for reading PDFs and playing music.

 

[Davdi]

Or you coulo go second hand, I've got a Core i5/8GB dell coming for £68 GBP from a UK company that refurbs ex corporate laptops. It's currently gon Win10 on it, but that will be gone in favour of Mint within 30 minutes of receipt. There were quite a few AMD laptops too, but this was better value (And it has an SSD)

 

[nickdalzell]

That's precisely where I got mine. A vendor mall to be exact. There was a whole booth piled with stacked laptops of various vintages, from the 1990s (Compaq Armada, Compaq Presario both running Windows 98) to the modern era (Lenovo ThinkPads with whatever the heck "Chrome Flex OS" is. What makes it different from Chrome OS is a mystery)

I got two of my 2010-era Dells there. Thankfully both had Windows 7 instead of ugly 10/11 or worse, Google's abomination with forced updates.

I don't consider an SSD a bonus. I feel they'll be long dead less than 10 years later by hitting their write limit, especially factoring in how modern OSs index the drive all the time. You'll never see a 20 year old SSD going in the future. They're designed to be tossed in the landfill or e-waste center when they inevitably die. They WILL die. It's not an IF like with a properly maintained HDD.

FYI for any SSD users today. If you use Windows 10, Windows 11 do yourself a favor and DISABLE the "SuperFetch/SysMain" service to prolong your SSD's life, as that service will shorten the lifespan considerably. I'm already hearing stories of failed SSDs which went read-only or EOL'd completely from the demands placed by those services.

 

[ozonetrooper]

Intel should be infamous for many things

I built the past two and current machine using AMD and am a happy camper with it.

 

[AugieTN]

NewEgg has good pricing on Refurbished/Open Box/Used computers from time to time. The laptop I'm currently using has a 15.6" screen, Intel i5 CPU and 8GB RAM, SSD hard drive. It was $400

I upgraded the RAM to 16GB and loaded Linux Mint on it. It runs great!