Happy tales of a new laptop & Windows 7

Well my old laptop finally gave up the ghost. It had been coming for long time but I was still sad to see it expire.
I had bough it in Robinsons over 6 years ago for something just over 32K baht.
First the battery had expired, but I used it mainly plugged into the mains anyway which maybe hastened its demise.
Then the keyboard locked up completely. I had a suspicion that a liquid may have been involved in that, but no proof. A keyboard plugged into a USB port simply resolved that.
The operating System was XP & in their usual style, Windows has disappointed me by advising me that it was a pirated copy some years previously. Pay 32K for a PC without a OEM version of Windows fitted was totally outside my grasp of what happened in the world at the time. the system often used to lock up on me due, I am sure, to a combination of a deteriorating operating System & the minuscule 256 memory it had.
Anyway about 2 weeks ago it finally gave up the ghost when the screen gave up on me as well. Yes, I know I could have gone out & bought & plugged in a new flat screen monitor but I was now at the stage when I thought the equipment was maybe trying to tell me something.
I wanted another laptop so took to trolling around everywhere that sold one looking for a deal. I was a little disappointed. Sure there were plenty available, but not much actual variety (everyone sells basically the same). I dismissed Apple & Sony’s VAIO regretfully because of the price. The acer stuff available (that was what I had previously) was OK but nothing awe inspiring & most seemed to have 1 meg of RAM, which was a bit less than I wanted.
Then I stumbled on place in the Complex that sold computer bits & pieces but also a few second hand laptops.
They had a cracking Acer in there that actually had 3 meg of memory - the original 1 plus a 2 meg add on. It was also has a 15.5 inch screen, so is at the larger end of portable..
So it was a reasonable price which I managed to get a reasonable discount on so off I happily went.
The Operating System was XP & I guessed a clone so I decided to upgrade as I now had the equipment to do so.
My first thought was Linux, the Unix based free system. I have tried to use it before but I have struggled to get it to work with a wireless network, which would make it pretty useless for me. Anyway I downloaded a copy but failed completely to get it to work. I then downloaded a second version of it from a different source but that was also pretty unsuccessful.
At the same time as doing this I also had the opportunity to have a 'free to me' copy of Windows 7 Ultimate version - "don't ask, don't tell" as President Clinton would say..
Well I am not the world's biggest fan of Windows but it was a chance too good to miss so I loaded it up.
I must say that it is pleasantly similar to XP as far as using it goes which is useful for getting it to work straight out of the box. The visual changes that I can see are all improvements & it is certainly far quicker loading & doing things than XP. All in all nothing negative about the experience at all so far.
I would certainly recommend 7 over XP, but it can only be done by a total install so data & non Windows programs that you want need to be saved before you start.
Vista is a poor program & 7 beats it all ends up. The advantage here is thought that you can upgrade from Vista to 7, rather than doing a new install, so all your other stuff is safe as well.

Bob, I'll take a geeky guess that you're referring to 1-3 gb of memory versus 1-3 megabytes.
As for the 'Clinton' copy of Windows: The problem with these copies is that you'll be unable to download/install updates to the Windows OS. I bought a new computer in the complex in April 2010, and opted for a genuine version of Windows 7 Pro because I ran into problems with my bootleg copy of XP on my older computer. Since April, Microsoft has updated Windows 7 more than a dozen (probably more like 2 dozen) times. All the updates are auto-downloaded/installed. I've yet to have any problems with the computer or software.
I also opted to download openoffice which is a free-clone of Windows office.
So for the first time since I started using computers in 1980, my computer is strictly legal. Everything is running smooth as silk......I'll keep my fingers crossed that it continues that way.
Hope you have equally good luck with yours.

Yes, sorry parrot, you are correct 3GB.
I have installed all the 7 updates, no problems & I also have disks if ever I need to re-install for any reason - including a Win 7 recovery disk if the software will not boot. However I agree anyone needs to be very sure of what they obtaining & from where as it is very easy to fall foul of Microsoft and just a simple copy of the install disk will lead to problems down the road.
I am still looking for an alternative to MS. Although I am satisfied with 7 it is a large set of programs & it is resource hungry.
Google are behind with their OS for laptops which now will not be released until next year.
However their 'small device' OS Android seems to have taken that world by storm.
I have a legal copy of Office 2000 but I gave up using it a few years back &, like you, migrated to Open Office, which is a quite outstanding set of programs (for free). Hardly inferior to MS Office either as it is produced by Sun who also produce Java.
I understand that Google are about to produce their own version of it as well, but do not know if that will be free or not. Their word processing package (Docs) is already available & free. In fact Google are currently having a serious dig at Microsoft on the software front. This is a Google site that encourages users to download various products that are in competition with MS own software, for free. Cunningly they concentrating on Microsoft's weak points by offering FREE & USER SELECTED rather than pay for what we give you..
http://pack.google.com/intl/en-gb/pack_installer.html
Google will be a hard act for Microsoft to compete against as they have built up their fortune by allowing users to have everything for free & make money out of big business through advertising & other tricks. MS still rely on people paying for their products as the sole source of ringing the tills..

BobHelm wrote:I would certainly recommend 7 over XP.

So would OT. Been using 7 for a couple of months or so, it came with a Dell Inspiron laptop which i would also recommend.

OT.........

why can you only get 14" and 14.5" screens on laptops here in Udorn. I had an 17" but it lost the breaht some time ago and I wanted to purchase a new, but NOT 14" this is much too small, do I have to go to BKK to get one.

That has long been settled Jack-- (about 6 days after the win 7 was released) not that I think anyone should accept any goods that aren't 100% genuine, kosher & come direct from Bill & the "Gang" at Microsoft,

**I only post this so people can avoid Mistakenly obtaining free, what they really should be paying $100s for.

Code: Select all

http://thepiratebay.org/torrent/5389366/Windows_7_Genuine_Activation

can any1 tell me me if every copy of windows thats loaded in thailand is a copy ? i bought a new acer laptop few years ago in u.k took it home everything was already loaded on it ,it was XP then , but i buy new acer laptops for daughter and mrs and had to wait an hour or so to be loaded and they,ve both had problems with crashing about every few days
( both bought from big C ) so i get my last new acer 5738 with windows7 from u.k already on when i bought it , last december and never had a problem from day 1 .....

Martyn if you buy a computer from a shop in the UK then a OEM (so a heavily discounted copy bought from Microsoft because of the huge volume they buy in & 'associated' by Microsoft to the manufacturer) copy of Windows is undoubtedly included in the price & on the equipment. Unless you buy on line from someone like Dell then that is nearly always the case.
It is not the case in Thailand. The supermarket type sellers of computers will 'assist' buyers of computers by putting a Windows operating system on the equipment. Sometimes for free, sometimes for a couple of 100 baht. These are illegal copies & not registered with Microsoft. As soon as you start accepting updates to the software then, eventually, you will be caught out & Microsoft will start to either refuse to update it &/or inundate you with messages about the software being illegal.
As parrot pointed out if you get the equipment from one of the smaller manufacturers/computer shops around town then you can ask for a legal copy of Windows to be installed. If that is the case then you should also walk away with disk copies of the software as well & a rather long & unique serial number 'key' that proves to Microsoft that you have purchased a personal copy of their software. Some restrictions do apply to how you can use that copy legally, but that depends on the version I think. If, for example, your original machine blew itself up then you are quite within your rights to load the software onto any new replacement without any extra costs.

BobHelm wrote:..... If that is the case then you should also walk away with disk copies of the software as well & a rather long & unique serial number 'key' that proves to Microsoft that you have purchased a personal copy of their software. Some restrictions do apply to how you can use that copy legally, but that depends on the version I think. If, for example, your original machine blew itself up then you are quite within your rights to load the software onto any new replacement without any extra costs.

I’m not sure of the situation today as it is a few years since I was in the industry, but from my own past knowledge I do know that some software licences were absolutely specific to the machine they were loaded on and were not transferable under any circumstances (even if the machine blew up) - even with genuine licences, some licences are more equal than others

Yes Jimbo, to confuse matters more there are a number of ways that it is possible to legally obtain a copy of Windows 7 & the rules change with each.
The screen below is what is commonly held to be the legal truth on what is permitted, however it is not a summary provided by Microsoft as they seem unwilling to actually write it in such plain language.
In martynsnowman case it would appear that he cannot legally transfer the OS that came with his UK purchased computer. However if he purchased a retail copy in Thailand then he could legally transfer it to another computer if he was replacing the existing machine.