[Technology] Laptop / chrome book advice please…

The Clamp · Jul 13, 2022

I’ve had an HP stream for about eight years now. It’s storage / memory has finally packed up, making it impossible to do anything on it including updates. I’m having to disc clean it every time I switch it on now. So it’s for the bin.

My requirements are simple.

I use a laptop for three purposes and that’s it.

Streaming films/TV,

NSC

and the occasional word document.

I don’t store photos or videos, I don’t use social media, I don’t game, I’ve no energy for onanism. So that’s it, just those three things.

It has to be cheap. I mean dead cheap. £100-£150 ideally.

Don’t mimd where it’s from.

Don’t mind second hand.

Should I go chrome book? I’ve heard good things for simpletons like me.

What say you NSC?

Thanks in advance.

durrington gull · Jul 13, 2022

The Clamp said:
I’ve had an HP stream for about eight years now. It’s storage / memory has finally packed up, making it impossible to do anything on it including updates. I’m having to disc clean it every time I switch it on now. So it’s for the bin.

My requirements are simple.

I use a laptop for three purposes and that’s it.

Streaming films/TV,

NSC

and the occasional word document.

I don’t store photos or videos, I don’t use social media, I don’t game, I’ve no energy for onanism. So that’s it, just those three things.

It has to be cheap. I mean dead cheap. £100-£150 ideally.

Don’t mimd where it’s from.

Don’t mind second hand.

Should I go chrome book? I’ve heard good things for simpletons like me.

What say you NSC?

Thanks in advance.

Yeah Chromebooks are perfect for that and cheaper than most laptops - probably get a good 2nd hand one for £150 and new around £200-250

The Clamp · Jul 13, 2022

durrington gull said:
Yeah Chromebooks are perfect for that and cheaper than most laptops - probably get a good 2nd hand one for £150 and new around £200-250

A couple of people have said similar. Thanks DG.

1066familyman · Jul 13, 2022

For that amount of light use, Linux is the perfect answer. Cost will equal zero.

All you'll have to compromise on is using Open Office instead of Word for documents, but that's a very very easy learning curve.

Linux is made for just the scenario you describe.
Bringing old laptops back to life again rather than adding them to the increasing electronic scrapheap. You save money and do your but for the environment at the same time.

The Clamp · Jul 13, 2022

1066familyman said:
For that amount of light use, Linux is the perfect answer. Cost will equal zero.

All you'll have to compromise on is using Open Office instead of Word for documents, but that's a very very easy learning curve.

Linux is made for just the scenario you describe.
Bringing old laptops back to life again rather than adding them to the increasing electronic scrapheap. You save money and do your but for the environment at the same time.

I’m a bit lost here. What’s Linux and how would I get it? Bearing in mind my laptop is completely unusable, it won’t even install updates.

BNthree · Jul 13, 2022

The Clamp said:
I’m a bit lost here. What’s Linux and how would I get it?

It's an alternative to Windows or the Apple OSX operating system. For an easy life I'd suggest getting a Chromebook. No Word but you can use the Google alternative that can handle Word documents.

1066familyman · Jul 13, 2022

P.S. If the lack of Word feels like a deal breaker. You can export documents from there as Word docs or Pdf if you need to send such like as email attachments for example.

boik · Jul 13, 2022

1066familyman said:
For that amount of light use, Linux is the perfect answer. Cost will equal zero.

All you'll have to compromise on is using Open Office instead of Word for documents, but that's a very very easy learning curve.

Linux is made for just the scenario you describe.
Bringing old laptops back to life again rather than adding them to the increasing electronic scrapheap. You save money and do your but for the environment at the same time.

I agree. Plenty of info on the web. Just download the .iso DVD image from the web, burn to DVD, boot up and see what you think. Most will run from DVD without touching your laptop. If you like it you can install it to your hard d rive for increased performance. I would recommend Linux Mint, for ease of use and access to information.

I think there's a good few of us on here who could provide help if you need it. My 89 year old dad had been using Linux for 7-8 years with no issues.

The Clamp · Jul 13, 2022

Thanks everyone. I’ll have a look at Linux. The concept is baffling me a bit but I’ll Google it.

1066familyman · Jul 13, 2022

The Clamp said:
I’m a bit lost here. What’s Linux and how would I get it?

It's an extremely lightweight operating system. There are many versions, but don't get bogged down in distros. Just stick with Linux Mint.

You need to download it onto a USB stick as a bootable drive then install from there.

I'll tell you what, it can get a bit complex if you've not done it before. If you want to PM me, I'm happy to send you a USB stick that you can then install from. Do not buy a USB stick with Linux on!... No need.

If you fancy giving that a try it's then relatively simple to boot the laptop into Bios and just follow the on screen instructions for Linux installation.

I could walk you through it pretty easily, and I'm certainly no computer expert.

So long as you're happy you've got all your data off of your laptop and it's genuinely ready for the bin, then you've absolutely nothing to lose from trying a clean install of Linux. Once up running, I strongly suspect you'll find Linux a joy to use for just basics like you describe.

The Clamp · Jul 13, 2022

1066familyman said:
It's an extremely lightweight operating system. There are many versions, but don't get bogged down in distros. Just stick with Linux Mint.

You need to download it onto a USB stick as a bootable drive then install from there.

I'll tell you what, it can get a bit complex if you've not done it before. If you want to PM me, I'm happy to send you a USB stick that you can then install from. Do not buy a USB stick with Linux on!... No need.

If you fancy giving that a try it's then relatively simple to boot the laptop into Bios and just follow the on screen instructions for Linux installation.

I could walk you through it pretty easily, and I'm certainly no computer expert.

So long as you're happy you've got all your data off of your laptop and it's genuinely ready for the bin, then you've absolutely nothing to lose from trying a clean install of Linux. Once up running, I strongly suspect you'll find Linux a joy to use for just basics like you describe.

Thank you very much. Really appreciate the help. I have a workmate who is going to give me a USB with Linux on so I’ll definitely go this route before spending any money.
I will PM if I have questions though. Thanks again

Eric the meek · Jul 13, 2022

You could talk to David at https://www.rebootandrepair.co.uk/ on Carden Avenue, Patcham.

I've been a customer of his for years, but he only recently took over the business. He really knows his stuff, and always has a variety of refurbished laptops on sale.

Just bear in mind he can be a bit spiky. If you can look through his lack of customer skills, you'll be ok.

1066familyman · Jul 13, 2022

Boik is spot on with his post, and put it better than me :thumbsup:

Have a look at some YouTube tutorials. If you feel confident then better if you create the bootable USB yourself as you'll feel more involved then with the process.

If you really feel stuck though, I'm very happy to pop you a stick in the post that you can keep. All I'd need to know is whether your machine is 32 or 64 bit. Then you can go ahead and boot from that.

The Clamp · Jul 13, 2022

1066familyman said:
Boik is spot on with his post, and put it better than me

Have a look at some YouTube tutorials. If you feel confident then better if you create the bootable USB yourself as you'll feel more involved then with the process.

If you really feel stuck though, I'm very happy to pop you a stick in the post that you can keep. All I'd need to know is whether your machine is 32 or 64 bit. Then you can go ahead and boot from that.

Thanks 1066, really appreciate the advice. I’ll let you know how I get on…

1066familyman · Jul 13, 2022

The Clamp said:
Thank you very much. Really appreciate the help. I have a workmate who is going to give me a USB with Linux on so I’ll definitely go this route before spending any money.
I will PM if I have questions though. Thanks again

No worries.

Even better if you've got someone there with a USB for you. Perfect :thumbsup:

I hope you enjoy it. I think you will.
Very satisfying knowing you've kept a perfectly usable device out of the scrapheap for a bit longer and saved yourself a few quid in the process.

The Clamp · Jul 13, 2022

1066familyman said:
No worries.

Even better if you've got someone there with a USB for you. Perfect

I hope you enjoy it. I think you will.
Very satisfying knowing you've kept a perfectly usable device out of the scrapheap for a bit longer and saved yourself a few quid in the process.

Exactly! I had no idea!

1066familyman · Jul 13, 2022

The Clamp said:
Exactly! I had no idea!

I'll be brief, without getting my soap box properly out.

The cynic in me feels that's one of the main reasons why Windows constantly does updates and new versions of their Operating Systems. Forces people to go out and buy new machines they may not really need once their perfectly good machine has been rendered obsolete.

Your case is a classic example. Extremely light use, yet with so many updates over the years the machine no longer runs. Never mind Germany, wouldn't happen in Linux either!

Linux and the re-use mentality just isn't compatible with the Consumer Capitalist mentality I suppose. The info is out there, but the likes of Currys isn't about to display it front of house anytime soon unfortunately.

Rant over.

Easy 10 · Jul 13, 2022

I switched to a Chromebook about 3 years ago, and have never looked back. My usage is similar to yours, just primarily web-browsing, streaming etc, no gaming. Its a solid state build (so no moving parts to wear out), it has its own anti-virus which updates in the background via Google. It boots up immediately, and there has been zero deterioration in its performance over the 3 years I've had it.

I'll never go back to a Windows machine.

durrington gull · Jul 13, 2022

Easy 10 said:
I switched to a Chromebook about 3 years ago, and have never looked back. My usage is similar to yours, just primarily web-browsing, streaming etc, no gaming. Its a solid state build (so no moving parts to wear out), it has its own anti-virus which updates in the background via Google. It boots up immediately, and there has been zero deterioration in its performance over the 3 years I've had it.

I'll never go back to a Windows machine.

Yeah we have a couple of chromebooks in the house - really quick and easy

The Clamp · Jul 13, 2022

I think I have decided to buy a Chrome book, as the screen quality etc on my 9 year old laptop is pretty poor but I’ll also hook the old one up to Linux so I have a back-up machine.

Thanks for all advice guys, really appreciate it as I’m very much not into tech, I just like to switch on and go.

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