On Wed, 29 Mar 2017 15:38:59 -0400, "Mr. Luddite"
wrote:

The computers were "industrial" rated, but I am not sure what that meant
other than they were supposed to be physically "rugged".

The IBM "industrial" PCs had filters on the fans and usually more fans
(assuming higher ambient temps). The cases were a little more
industrial looking. Other than that they were pretty much the same
inside.

wrote:
On Wed, 29 Mar 2017 16:25:49 -0000 (UTC), Bill
wrote:

wrote:
On Wed, 29 Mar 2017 05:17:47 -0400, Poco Deplorevole
wrote:

This summer will see us doing a bit of travelling, and I'm finally
giving serious thought to getting
a laptop. Any one having good or bad luck with theirs?

I have had pretty good luck with Lenovo (formerly IBM) and my 2 1996
vintage 365s still run but they are not fast enough to do much.



We use tablets. Both wife and I have iPad mini. Works well for traveling.
Gets and sends email. Which is 80% of the travel use. Other 20% is
looking up local places or maps. Tablets are great for that. We download
books from our local library as well as Amazon so when on airplanes can
read or play games. For wifi we either use hotels, phone hotspot, or
Starbucks or McDonald's. I also have Xfinity for home, and they have
public wifi wherever Comcast is a provider. The tablet is a lot more
convenient than a laptop for travel, where you do not need it for business
use.

I like a laptop when I travel because we hijack the TV for our music
and streaming movies if their connection is fast enough to do it.
Otherwise I usually have 150-200 G of movies on the laptop we can
watch.
It is also better for editing pictures and videos. Sometimes I do that
on the TV if we are connected.
Some hotels use special TVs that you can't hack into but when we are
renting a house they are regular TVs and you just plug in.


I rarely edit my pictures, and do not watch much TV.

On Wed, 29 Mar 2017 06:41:45 -0400, wrote:

On Wed, 29 Mar 2017 05:17:47 -0400, Poco Deplorevole
wrote:

This summer will see us doing a bit of travelling, and I'm finally giving serious thought to getting
a laptop. Any one having good or bad luck with theirs?

===

I've always been partial to HPs. I believe their engineering and
reliability are a notch or two above the others. I'd also get a
wireless mouse for it since most touchpads leave a lot to be desired.
Unfortunately you will probably be stuck with Windows 10 if you buy a
new machine. People seem to like it once they get used to the new
interface but I'm set in my ways in that regard.

Coincidentally, I've kinda had my eye on this one:

https://www.costco.com/HP-ENVY-17t-L...100317268.html

Thanks for the comeback.

On Wed, 29 Mar 2017 06:49:10 -0400 (EDT), justan wrote:

Poco Deplorevole Wrote in message:
This summer will see us doing a bit of travelling, and I'm finally giving serious thought to getting
a laptop. Any one having good or bad luck with theirs?


I use a Samsung tablet along with aToshiba laptop. Both are
reliable. For wireless, you will need to tether to your phone or
get a wireless hotspot. Use the campground Wi Fi when available.
If you go with just a tablet you will also need a wireless
printer. HTH

Thanks. I'm down on Samsung now after the fiasco we went through with the washer. I just looked, but
apparently Costco doesn't carry Toshiba for some reason. I'm a bit partial to Costco. Lifetime tech
support and two-year warranty.

On Wed, 29 Mar 2017 08:04:36 -0400, "Mr. Luddite" wrote:

On 3/29/2017 6:41 AM, wrote:
On Wed, 29 Mar 2017 05:17:47 -0400, Poco Deplorevole
wrote:

This summer will see us doing a bit of travelling, and I'm finally giving serious thought to getting
a laptop. Any one having good or bad luck with theirs?

===

I've always been partial to HPs. I believe their engineering and
reliability are a notch or two above the others. I'd also get a
wireless mouse for it since most touchpads leave a lot to be desired.
Unfortunately you will probably be stuck with Windows 10 if you buy a
new machine. People seem to like it once they get used to the new
interface but I'm set in my ways in that regard.


I agree with Wayne. My last two laptops have been HP Pavilions. The
first, purchased in 2007, finally died after about 8 years of heavy,
daily use in the guitar shop. The second and the one I am currently
using, is an HP purchased in 2010, still running Win 7. I downloaded
the free upgrade to Win 10 but have not installed it.

That said however, I wonder how much of a particular brand contains
unique and/or proprietary hardware. Seems like most of the major brands
use the same CPU (usually Intel) and hard drives made by others.
I suspect the same is true with mother boards and power supplies.

I'd consider a Dell if I could find one designed for commercial use.
Seems to be many of them around that are still chugging away.



My problem with Dell is all the software crap that comes loaded on the computer. Of course, Best Buy
and others will remove, for a fee, all that crap, but still...

On Wed, 29 Mar 2017 16:25:49 -0000 (UTC), Bill wrote:

wrote:
On Wed, 29 Mar 2017 05:17:47 -0400, Poco Deplorevole
wrote:

This summer will see us doing a bit of travelling, and I'm finally
giving serious thought to getting
a laptop. Any one having good or bad luck with theirs?

I have had pretty good luck with Lenovo (formerly IBM) and my 2 1996
vintage 365s still run but they are not fast enough to do much.



We use tablets. Both wife and I have iPad mini. Works well for traveling.
Gets and sends email. Which is 80% of the travel use. Other 20% is
looking up local places or maps. Tablets are great for that. We download
books from our local library as well as Amazon so when on airplanes can
read or play games. For wifi we either use hotels, phone hotspot, or
Starbucks or McDonald's. I also have Xfinity for home, and they have
public wifi wherever Comcast is a provider. The tablet is a lot more
convenient than a laptop for travel, where you do not need it for business
use.

My wife's got a tablet she uses in the truck for finding campgrounds, cheap fuel, etc, plus all the
stuff she does. I want something on which I can store files, pay bills, etc.

On Wed, 29 Mar 2017 17:00:19 -0400, wrote:

On Wed, 29 Mar 2017 16:25:49 -0000 (UTC), Bill
wrote:

wrote:
On Wed, 29 Mar 2017 05:17:47 -0400, Poco Deplorevole
wrote:

This summer will see us doing a bit of travelling, and I'm finally
giving serious thought to getting
a laptop. Any one having good or bad luck with theirs?

I have had pretty good luck with Lenovo (formerly IBM) and my 2 1996
vintage 365s still run but they are not fast enough to do much.



We use tablets. Both wife and I have iPad mini. Works well for traveling.
Gets and sends email. Which is 80% of the travel use. Other 20% is
looking up local places or maps. Tablets are great for that. We download
books from our local library as well as Amazon so when on airplanes can
read or play games. For wifi we either use hotels, phone hotspot, or
Starbucks or McDonald's. I also have Xfinity for home, and they have
public wifi wherever Comcast is a provider. The tablet is a lot more
convenient than a laptop for travel, where you do not need it for business
use.

I like a laptop when I travel because we hijack the TV for our music
and streaming movies if their connection is fast enough to do it.
Otherwise I usually have 150-200 G of movies on the laptop we can
watch.
It is also better for editing pictures and videos. Sometimes I do that
on the TV if we are connected.
Some hotels use special TVs that you can't hack into but when we are
renting a house they are regular TVs and you just plug in.

A friend down the road, Air Force Major, gave me the movies he'd gotten on his last trip to
Afghanistan. I had to buy a 1 TB harddrive to hold them. The military in the mideast has a hell of a
bootleg operation going...all legal of course.

On Wed, 29 Mar 2017 21:41:35 -0000 (UTC), Bill wrote:

wrote:
On Wed, 29 Mar 2017 16:25:49 -0000 (UTC), Bill
wrote:

wrote:
On Wed, 29 Mar 2017 05:17:47 -0400, Poco Deplorevole
wrote:

This summer will see us doing a bit of travelling, and I'm finally
giving serious thought to getting
a laptop. Any one having good or bad luck with theirs?

I have had pretty good luck with Lenovo (formerly IBM) and my 2 1996
vintage 365s still run but they are not fast enough to do much.



We use tablets. Both wife and I have iPad mini. Works well for traveling.
Gets and sends email. Which is 80% of the travel use. Other 20% is
looking up local places or maps. Tablets are great for that. We download
books from our local library as well as Amazon so when on airplanes can
read or play games. For wifi we either use hotels, phone hotspot, or
Starbucks or McDonald's. I also have Xfinity for home, and they have
public wifi wherever Comcast is a provider. The tablet is a lot more
convenient than a laptop for travel, where you do not need it for business
use.

I like a laptop when I travel because we hijack the TV for our music
and streaming movies if their connection is fast enough to do it.
Otherwise I usually have 150-200 G of movies on the laptop we can
watch.
It is also better for editing pictures and videos. Sometimes I do that
on the TV if we are connected.
Some hotels use special TVs that you can't hack into but when we are
renting a house they are regular TVs and you just plug in.


I rarely edit my pictures, and do not watch much TV.

Gotta have something for the grandkids, especially when it's raining!

On Wed, 29 Mar 2017 18:12:58 -0400, Poco Deplorevole
wrote:

On Wed, 29 Mar 2017 06:41:45 -0400, wrote:

On Wed, 29 Mar 2017 05:17:47 -0400, Poco Deplorevole
wrote:

This summer will see us doing a bit of travelling, and I'm finally giving serious thought to getting
a laptop. Any one having good or bad luck with theirs?

===

I've always been partial to HPs. I believe their engineering and
reliability are a notch or two above the others. I'd also get a
wireless mouse for it since most touchpads leave a lot to be desired.
Unfortunately you will probably be stuck with Windows 10 if you buy a
new machine. People seem to like it once they get used to the new
interface but I'm set in my ways in that regard.

Coincidentally, I've kinda had my eye on this one:

https://www.costco.com/HP-ENVY-17t-L...100317268.html

Thanks for the comeback.

That is a nice machine if you are gaming or doing video editing. It
may be a little bit of overkill for the normal user.

On Wed, 29 Mar 2017 18:20:17 -0400, Poco Deplorevole
wrote:

On Wed, 29 Mar 2017 08:04:36 -0400, "Mr. Luddite" wrote:

On 3/29/2017 6:41 AM, wrote:
On Wed, 29 Mar 2017 05:17:47 -0400, Poco Deplorevole
wrote:

This summer will see us doing a bit of travelling, and I'm finally giving serious thought to getting
a laptop. Any one having good or bad luck with theirs?

===

I've always been partial to HPs. I believe their engineering and
reliability are a notch or two above the others. I'd also get a
wireless mouse for it since most touchpads leave a lot to be desired.
Unfortunately you will probably be stuck with Windows 10 if you buy a
new machine. People seem to like it once they get used to the new
interface but I'm set in my ways in that regard.


I agree with Wayne. My last two laptops have been HP Pavilions. The
first, purchased in 2007, finally died after about 8 years of heavy,
daily use in the guitar shop. The second and the one I am currently
using, is an HP purchased in 2010, still running Win 7. I downloaded
the free upgrade to Win 10 but have not installed it.

That said however, I wonder how much of a particular brand contains
unique and/or proprietary hardware. Seems like most of the major brands
use the same CPU (usually Intel) and hard drives made by others.
I suspect the same is true with mother boards and power supplies.

I'd consider a Dell if I could find one designed for commercial use.
Seems to be many of them around that are still chugging away.



My problem with Dell is all the software crap that comes loaded on the computer. Of course, Best Buy
and others will remove, for a fee, all that crap, but still...

I haven't played with a Dell for a while but they usually come with
all of the install disks so you can wipe it and reload what you really
want. Just "removing" software does not really get rid of it all. A
lot of times they will replace the stock DLLs with theirs on
installation and you are still stuck with it when you remove the
program. There is also stuff in the registry that will not go away.
Dell is also very good with driver support and a lot of time I will
get drivers for other manufacturer's systems if I figure out Dell uses
that chip set on one of their machines.