On Thursday, April 12, 2018 at 6:15:03 AM UTC-10, Gary wrote:
>
> Dave, for what it's worth, here's my battery story:
>
> January 25, 2017 we had to get a new battery for the van
> It was Duralast battery. Don't recall the model # but it
> cost $111.00 including tax. Came with a 2-year full
> replacement warranty.
>
> A little over 10 months later, that died. Luckily I had
> saved the original receipt. We took it back and got a
> brand new replacement and NO extra charge. And the new
> replacement one is still covered under the original
> warranty until January 25, 2019.
>
> Since the original died so quick, I can't say if they
> are good batteries or not. Maybe it was just a defective
> one or maybe all aren't so good.
>
> The warranty was a good one though and honored with no
> questions asked and completely free of charge.

Selling batteries with a pro-rated warranty is pretty much a scam. It's a good one too because it works. Mostly it's a way to get the customer on the battery merry-go-round. Once you get that battery, you're stuck going around in circles endlessly buying their battery. Ideally, they'd like you to replace their battery towards the end of their warranty period. In your case, something went seriously wrong so you win that giant stuffed toy! Congrats!

The way the scam works is that they'll sell you a 24 month battery as a 36 month battery. What they're counting on is your battery failing before the warranty is over. It's really a thing of beauty.

U.S. Janet B. wrote:

> On Thu, 12 Apr 2018 12:33:05 -0600, graham > wrote:
>
> >On 2018-04-12 11:50 AM, U.S. Janet B. wrote:
> >> On Thu, 12 Apr 2018 12:15:41 -0400, Gary > wrote:
> >>
> >>> wrote:
> >>>>
> >>>> I had to go to Walmart once (to pick up my grandsons med cos his dads
> >>>> insurance said it had to be there) and while waiting I looked round.
> >>>> An HP laptop looked a really good deal, until I noticed it had some
> >>>> unknown make of hard drive in it. So beware, really look at the
> >>>> specs, you get what you pay for!
> >>>
> >>> Thank you for that. Yeah, I'm hoping I can get one from Walmart.
> >>> Even if a model is not in store, their website does not list all
> >>> the specs that I want. Next is to look again tonight on the
> >>> website, note a few potential models, then look up all specs on
> >>> the company's own page. Most that I've considered are HP
> >>> computers. A fairly decent company, imo.
> >>>
> >>> Then very soon, go and look in the local store to hopefully see a
> >>> physical one and see what it looks like in real life. If they
> >>> don't carry one locally, Walmart does offer the order one and
> >>> have it sent to your local store in 2 days for pickup.
> >>
> >> HP does sell online. HP.com
> >>
> >ISTR that sometime last year, all and sundry here were slamming HP. I
> >looked into HP and bought a Dell instead.
>
> dell also sells on line. Dell.com


Around the turn of the millenium Dell IIRC was sort of the "Cadillac" - or maybe "Buick" - of personal computers. They were well - built, and got great reviews. The desktop I bought in 2001 lasted almost nine years...for the time,it was expensive at around US$1300.00; mine had a whole 16g drive, which was considered decent for the time...

--
Best
Greg

On Thu, 12 Apr 2018 14:40:30 -0600, graham > wrote:

>On 2018-04-12 2:14 PM, Steve 'Weenie Wonder' Wertz wrote:
>> On Thursday, 12 April 2018 14:57:15 UTC-5, Bruce wrote:
>>> On Thu, 12 Apr 2018 15:55:02 -0400, Dave Smith
>>> > wrote:
>>>
>>>> I bought a HP laptop in late 2010. It lasted about 3 1/2 years. I
>>>> replaced it with a refurbished high end HP which lasted about 2 1/2
>>>> years. I now have a Toshiba laptop... no complaints.
>>>
>>> I bought a Toshiba laptop 3 years ago. It constantly overheated. After
>>> a year it wouldn't start up anymore. The shop had gone belly up by
>>> then. I never had a bigger piece of junk. Conflicting anecdotes.
>>
>>
>> My Toshiba laptop that I bought at Walmart four years ago soldiers on and on...including constantly lugging it around the city in a backpack...
>>
>>
>I have a 10yr old Toshiba 17" that operates on XP and can't be upgraded.
>So I use it only for microphotography.
>I have an ASUS tablet that was a waste of money. It's pure junk despite
>getting glowing opinions when they introduced it.
>Graham

Samsung tablets are the way to go, I keep a very old one in the
bedroom for streaming pgms to the tv and an up to date one in here
which is very useful in many other ways as well. I love Android, hate
Apple, am starting to really object to MS but saw a great article in
todays Guardian about the Huawei laptop which is similar to Mac but
perhaps better. Probably go there if this one gives up the ghost in
my lifetime

https://tinyurl.com/ybkwuu53

On Thu, 12 Apr 2018 19:02:10 -0300, wrote:

>On Thu, 12 Apr 2018 14:40:30 -0600, graham > wrote:
>
>>On 2018-04-12 2:14 PM, Steve 'Weenie Wonder' Wertz wrote:
>>> On Thursday, 12 April 2018 14:57:15 UTC-5, Bruce wrote:
>>>> On Thu, 12 Apr 2018 15:55:02 -0400, Dave Smith
>>>> > wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> I bought a HP laptop in late 2010. It lasted about 3 1/2 years. I
>>>>> replaced it with a refurbished high end HP which lasted about 2 1/2
>>>>> years. I now have a Toshiba laptop... no complaints.
>>>>
>>>> I bought a Toshiba laptop 3 years ago. It constantly overheated. After
>>>> a year it wouldn't start up anymore. The shop had gone belly up by
>>>> then. I never had a bigger piece of junk. Conflicting anecdotes.
>>>
>>>
>>> My Toshiba laptop that I bought at Walmart four years ago soldiers on and on...including constantly lugging it around the city in a backpack...
>>>
>>>
>>I have a 10yr old Toshiba 17" that operates on XP and can't be upgraded.
>>So I use it only for microphotography.
>>I have an ASUS tablet that was a waste of money. It's pure junk despite
>>getting glowing opinions when they introduced it.
>>Graham
>
>Samsung tablets are the way to go, I keep a very old one in the
>bedroom for streaming pgms to the tv and an up to date one in here
>which is very useful in many other ways as well. I love Android, hate
>Apple, am starting to really object to MS but saw a great article in
>todays Guardian about the Huawei laptop which is similar to Mac but
>perhaps better. Probably go there if this one gives up the ghost in
>my lifetime
>
>https://tinyurl.com/ybkwuu53

Let's hope John Kuthe doesn't read this.

On Fri, 13 Apr 2018 08:04:35 +1000, Bruce >
wrote:

>On Thu, 12 Apr 2018 19:02:10 -0300, wrote:
>
>>On Thu, 12 Apr 2018 14:40:30 -0600, graham > wrote:
>>
>>>On 2018-04-12 2:14 PM, Steve 'Weenie Wonder' Wertz wrote:
>>>> On Thursday, 12 April 2018 14:57:15 UTC-5, Bruce wrote:
>>>>> On Thu, 12 Apr 2018 15:55:02 -0400, Dave Smith
>>>>> > wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> I bought a HP laptop in late 2010. It lasted about 3 1/2 years. I
>>>>>> replaced it with a refurbished high end HP which lasted about 2 1/2
>>>>>> years. I now have a Toshiba laptop... no complaints.
>>>>>
>>>>> I bought a Toshiba laptop 3 years ago. It constantly overheated. After
>>>>> a year it wouldn't start up anymore. The shop had gone belly up by
>>>>> then. I never had a bigger piece of junk. Conflicting anecdotes.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> My Toshiba laptop that I bought at Walmart four years ago soldiers on and on...including constantly lugging it around the city in a backpack...
>>>>
>>>>
>>>I have a 10yr old Toshiba 17" that operates on XP and can't be upgraded.
>>>So I use it only for microphotography.
>>>I have an ASUS tablet that was a waste of money. It's pure junk despite
>>>getting glowing opinions when they introduced it.
>>>Graham
>>
>>Samsung tablets are the way to go, I keep a very old one in the
>>bedroom for streaming pgms to the tv and an up to date one in here
>>which is very useful in many other ways as well. I love Android, hate
>>Apple, am starting to really object to MS but saw a great article in
>>todays Guardian about the Huawei laptop which is similar to Mac but
>>perhaps better. Probably go there if this one gives up the ghost in
>>my lifetime
>>
>>https://tinyurl.com/ybkwuu53
>
>Let's hope John Kuthe doesn't read this.

Lol

wrote:
>
> On Thu, 12 Apr 2018 11:00:04 -0600, graham > wrote:
>
> >On 2018-04-12 10:15 AM, Gary wrote:
> >> jmcquown wrote:
> >>>
> >>>>>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wTjMqda19wk
> >>
> >>> Gary, it's an excerpt from an HBO television series, 'The Newsroom'. He
> >>> does make some excellent points but it's not from an actual news program.
> >>
> >> Thanks for that, Jill.
> >> Now I don't need to bother saving it for new computer.
> >> No doubt some anti-USA talk but I've probably already
> >> heard most of it before.
> >>
> >I doubt it. It's worth watching unless you prefer to imitate the
> >proverbial ostrich.
> >
> I thought the same thing - I didn't feel he was just putting the US
> down, the points he made were very relevant and worth considering and
> thinking about.

I'll check it out (listen to it) soon. You've reinstated my
interest now about what is said.

Bruce wrote:
>
> I bought a Toshiba laptop 3 years ago. It constantly overheated. After
> a year it wouldn't start up anymore. The shop had gone belly up by
> then. I never had a bigger piece of junk. Conflicting anecdotes.

I remember you talking about that before. My current laptop is
also a Toshiba. Don't know how old it is but I got it several
years ago. It's a "Rescue" heheh... My daughter bought it new and
gave it to me once she moved on and wanted better.

Never had any problem with it but I also rarely used it so it was
never turned on for long at all. I used my other computers
mostly.

Anyway, mine really got screwed up last August and I'm wondering
if this was because of an overheating issue like you had. One
day, I had it on for longer than ever and I started downloading a
huge file (using a usb modem for dial-up). It took forever. At
one point, it crashed....the "black screen of death" thing. I
thought Windows7 had eliminated that.

Once I got it back on I had many problems:
- no sound card recognized
- usb ports not recognized (and my usb modem wouldn't work)
- if it went into sleep or screensaver, you couldn't just hit
a key and get the screen back. The computer shut down
completely.
- maybe even a few more things that I don't know about

And with a laptop with a battery, you can't just turn it on
again.
Had to wait until the battery ran down completely and the machine
finally shut off. Then plug in power and restart.

Couldn't just reinstall drivers. The computer doesn't even
recognize the
hardware.

Anyway, after trying all I knew, I realized it just needed a full
install of window7 but daughter never made any backups at all. So
I've been using a cripple now and now even the battery is almost
dead. I can start with a full charge and it lasts about 20
minutes now without plugin. It's worthless

Time to just get a new nifty one. What I've been looking at are
cheap enough. Just basic laptops in the $200-300 range. This
will happen very soon.

Meanwhile, this crippled laptop still works fine on wifi but my
free neighborhood wifi is not secure so I have to limit my use. I
won't check my bank account balance and I need to get on SS
website soon where I'll have to enter my SS#. Neither are good to
do on a public wifi.

On 4/12/2018 3:05 PM, wrote:
> On Thu, 12 Apr 2018 09:20:16 -0400, Gary > wrote:
>
>> wrote:
>>>
>>>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wTjMqda19wk
>>> He makes a valid point but I expect Gary ain't gonna like it!
>>
>> I've saved this to see later. Sadly, my laptop went south last
>> August and although I can use it for internet, one of the things
>> that quit was my sound card. And that video was all talking. oh
>> well
>>
>> I *am* in the market for a new laptop. Will have one within a
>> week or two. Hoping to get a cheap one from Walmart. Just need to
>> check out what's available and make sure they have what I need.
>>
>> Cheap laptop for now just to get the basics. Later I want a good
>> desktop for regular use.
>
> Pound for pound laptops generally cost more than desktops... I think
> you'd do better to just put the laptop money towards the desktop.
> This is where we buy computers, and they have great deals on showroom
> models that were never used.
> http://www.microcenter.com/
> http://www.microcenter.com/category/...2,519/Desktops
>

BULLSHIT-O-METER

5* 6* *7
4* *8
3* *9
2* *10
1* | *squirrel rumors
0* -*- *lotus fibs
* |\ *deacon lies
* \ *bald-faced sockpuppet lies
* \ *ALLAH-ALLAH!
* _\/ *FAKE NEWS!
* * *Sheldon

On Fri, 13 Apr 2018 09:26:24 -0400, Gary > wrote:

>Bruce wrote:

<Horror Laptops of Death>

That sounds about as bad as my Toshiba piece of junk. The overheating
happened during gaming and movie ripping. I guess that was too intense
for the thing. Less cooling going on in such a tight space, I suppose.
Then starting up became a problem. I had to restart it 2, 3, 4 times
before it would work. That kept getting worse. By the time it needed
30 attempts to start up successfully, I made a few backups and dumped
it.

I wonder how dsi1 explains that those superior Asians make such an
inferior product.

On Friday, April 13, 2018 at 3:26:14 AM UTC-10, Gary wrote:
>
> I remember you talking about that before. My current laptop is
> also a Toshiba. Don't know how old it is but I got it several
> years ago. It's a "Rescue" heheh... My daughter bought it new and
> gave it to me once she moved on and wanted better.
>
> Never had any problem with it but I also rarely used it so it was
> never turned on for long at all. I used my other computers
> mostly.
>
> Anyway, mine really got screwed up last August and I'm wondering
> if this was because of an overheating issue like you had. One
> day, I had it on for longer than ever and I started downloading a
> huge file (using a usb modem for dial-up). It took forever. At
> one point, it crashed....the "black screen of death" thing. I
> thought Windows7 had eliminated that.
>
> Once I got it back on I had many problems:
> - no sound card recognized
> - usb ports not recognized (and my usb modem wouldn't work)
> - if it went into sleep or screensaver, you couldn't just hit
> a key and get the screen back. The computer shut down
> completely.
> - maybe even a few more things that I don't know about
>
> And with a laptop with a battery, you can't just turn it on
> again.
> Had to wait until the battery ran down completely and the machine
> finally shut off. Then plug in power and restart.
>
> Couldn't just reinstall drivers. The computer doesn't even
> recognize the
> hardware.
>
> Anyway, after trying all I knew, I realized it just needed a full
> install of window7 but daughter never made any backups at all. So
> I've been using a cripple now and now even the battery is almost
> dead. I can start with a full charge and it lasts about 20
> minutes now without plugin. It's worthless
>
> Time to just get a new nifty one. What I've been looking at are
> cheap enough. Just basic laptops in the $200-300 range. This
> will happen very soon.
>
> Meanwhile, this crippled laptop still works fine on wifi but my
> free neighborhood wifi is not secure so I have to limit my use. I
> won't check my bank account balance and I need to get on SS
> website soon where I'll have to enter my SS#. Neither are good to
> do on a public wifi.

I'm sure glad I don't have the problem of buying a Windows computers. I currently have 3 Chromebooks and am happy as a clam with them. I had to look for a Windows laptop about a year ago. I use that to program hearing aids. My boss paid that that. I settled on a Lenovo laptop with a Celeron processor and a touch screen. It was around $300. It's fairly slow and that's the problem with Windows computers - you need a fast processor to run that bloated system. The Celeron processor is a lower wattage processor which is the trend nowadays with most laptops.

I've had several Toshiba laptops. I've tried to load in Linux distros to squeeze a little more life out of those things but that seems to be a difficult thing to do. I still use a Toshiba laptop to program hearing aids. I'm supposed to use the Lenovo computer but that darn thing is just too big. 20 minutes per charge sounds about right. I have to be very careful about power management on that old thing.

In article >, graham >
wrote:

> On 2018-04-11 4:11 PM, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
> > I've not bought a US brand car for the past 17 years
> > because of the poor quality too.
> >
> But that's not the unions' fault. That's bad management! Unions didn't
> design the Chevy Vega nor the Chrysler line.

Here's my take. Who would you rather have build you a car? The union
worker nearly fully protected by his union representative and with
stellar wages and benefits or some Japanese worker who will bring great
shame to their ancestors by performing poorly?
Foreign cars are produced in the United States, but their factories
sure as hell aren't in Michigan. There's a reason for that.

leo

In article >,
Cindy Hamilton > wrote:

> On Wednesday, April 11, 2018 at 6:40:51 PM UTC-4, graham wrote:
> > On 2018-04-11 4:11 PM, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
> > > I've not bought a US brand car for the past 17 years
> > > because of the poor quality too.
> > >
> > But that's not the unions' fault. That's bad management! Unions didn't
> > design the Chevy Vega nor the Chrysler line.
>
> People are paid to stand around and do nothing.
>
> Guys who load cars leaving the plant do their work as fast as they can,
> even if it damages the cars, so they can skive off in the afternoon.
>
> There is no incentive for process improvements; in fact, there is
> disincentive. If a guy has an idea for more efficiency in his job,
> he'd better keep it to himself.
>
> Cindy Hamilton
> Motown resident since 1957

Sometimes, you confuse me. But that's good!

leo

On Thu, 12 Apr 2018 03:17:45 -0700 (PDT), Cindy Hamilton
> wrote:

>People are paid to stand around and do nothing.
>
>Guys who load cars leaving the plant do their work as fast as they can,
>even if it damages the cars, so they can skive off in the afternoon.
>
>There is no incentive for process improvements; in fact, there is
>disincentive. If a guy has an idea for more efficiency in his job,
>he'd better keep it to himself.
>
>Cindy Hamilton
>Motown resident since 1957

Motown:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Mtoz7K84MI

On Friday, April 13, 2018 at 1:39:09 PM UTC-10, Leonard Blaisdell wrote:
>
> Here's my take. Who would you rather have build you a car? The union
> worker nearly fully protected by his union representative and with
> stellar wages and benefits or some Japanese worker who will bring great
> shame to their ancestors by performing poorly?
> Foreign cars are produced in the United States, but their factories
> sure as hell aren't in Michigan. There's a reason for that.
>
> leo

When I was working on the mainland, I had to install on/off switches on to circuit boards. I told the supervisor that the switches I was installing didn't always go on i.e., the latching mechanism was kind of flakey. These were cheap and flimsy Chinese parts and I had a big bin of parts to install.

The supervisor tried it out and them told me that as long as they turned on most of the time, to just let it go. I remember thinking "oh, so that's how it works over here." That was fine with me, I'm just a funny looking Asian guy. I'm not going to make waves in this new and strange town. That's the way it is in places that puts quality as a non-primary goal. It shows in their product.

On Friday, April 13, 2018 at 6:37:24 PM UTC-4, dsi1 wrote:
> On Friday, April 13, 2018 at 3:26:14 AM UTC-10, Gary wrote:
> >
> > I remember you talking about that before. My current laptop is
> > also a Toshiba. Don't know how old it is but I got it several
> > years ago. It's a "Rescue" heheh... My daughter bought it new and
> > gave it to me once she moved on and wanted better.
> >
> > Never had any problem with it but I also rarely used it so it was
> > never turned on for long at all. I used my other computers
> > mostly.
> >
> > Anyway, mine really got screwed up last August and I'm wondering
> > if this was because of an overheating issue like you had. One
> > day, I had it on for longer than ever and I started downloading a
> > huge file (using a usb modem for dial-up). It took forever. At
> > one point, it crashed....the "black screen of death" thing. I
> > thought Windows7 had eliminated that.
> >
> > Once I got it back on I had many problems:
> > - no sound card recognized
> > - usb ports not recognized (and my usb modem wouldn't work)
> > - if it went into sleep or screensaver, you couldn't just hit
> > a key and get the screen back. The computer shut down
> > completely.
> > - maybe even a few more things that I don't know about
> >
> > And with a laptop with a battery, you can't just turn it on
> > again.
> > Had to wait until the battery ran down completely and the machine
> > finally shut off. Then plug in power and restart.
> >
> > Couldn't just reinstall drivers. The computer doesn't even
> > recognize the
> > hardware.
> >
> > Anyway, after trying all I knew, I realized it just needed a full
> > install of window7 but daughter never made any backups at all. So
> > I've been using a cripple now and now even the battery is almost
> > dead. I can start with a full charge and it lasts about 20
> > minutes now without plugin. It's worthless
> >
> > Time to just get a new nifty one. What I've been looking at are
> > cheap enough. Just basic laptops in the $200-300 range. This
> > will happen very soon.
> >
> > Meanwhile, this crippled laptop still works fine on wifi but my
> > free neighborhood wifi is not secure so I have to limit my use. I
> > won't check my bank account balance and I need to get on SS
> > website soon where I'll have to enter my SS#. Neither are good to
> > do on a public wifi.
>
> I'm sure glad I don't have the problem of buying a Windows computers. I currently have 3 Chromebooks and am happy as a clam with them. I had to look for a Windows laptop about a year ago. I use that to program hearing aids. My boss paid that that. I settled on a Lenovo laptop with a Celeron processor and a touch screen. It was around $300. It's fairly slow and that's the problem with Windows computers - you need a fast processor to run that bloated system. The Celeron processor is a lower wattage processor which is the trend nowadays with most laptops.
>
> I've had several Toshiba laptops. I've tried to load in Linux distros to squeeze a little more life out of those things but that seems to be a difficult thing to do. I still use a Toshiba laptop to program hearing aids. I'm supposed to use the Lenovo computer but that darn thing is just too big. 20 minutes per charge sounds about right. I have to be very careful about power management on that old thing.

Must be you. We've got a guy at work running Linux on more than one laptop..
I'm typing this on a Dell Inspiron that I got for free and loaded Linux on.
A desktop, granted, but I have no use for a laptop.

Cindy Hamilton

On Friday, April 13, 2018 at 7:46:12 PM UTC-4, Leonard Blaisdell wrote:
> In article >,
> Cindy Hamilton > wrote:
>
> > On Wednesday, April 11, 2018 at 6:40:51 PM UTC-4, graham wrote:
> > > On 2018-04-11 4:11 PM, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
> > > > I've not bought a US brand car for the past 17 years
> > > > because of the poor quality too.
> > > >
> > > But that's not the unions' fault. That's bad management! Unions didn't
> > > design the Chevy Vega nor the Chrysler line.
> >
> > People are paid to stand around and do nothing.
> >
> > Guys who load cars leaving the plant do their work as fast as they can,
> > even if it damages the cars, so they can skive off in the afternoon.
> >
> > There is no incentive for process improvements; in fact, there is
> > disincentive. If a guy has an idea for more efficiency in his job,
> > he'd better keep it to himself.
> >
> > Cindy Hamilton
> > Motown resident since 1957
>
> Sometimes, you confuse me. But that's good!
>
> leo

Motown-adjacent for the most part. I grew up in the Detroit 'burbs;
my grandfather worked for Fisher Body and my mother worked for a small
company that sold and repaired machinist's tools.

Cindy Hamilton

On Saturday, April 14, 2018 at 12:24:49 AM UTC-10, Cindy Hamilton wrote:
>
> Must be you. We've got a guy at work running Linux on more than one laptop.
> I'm typing this on a Dell Inspiron that I got for free and loaded Linux on.
> A desktop, granted, but I have no use for a laptop.
>
> Cindy Hamilton

I've installed Linux on computers, it ain't difficult. Toshiba laptops are a difficult install. Try it and see for yourself.

Sqwertz wrote:
>
> You certainly can tunr off a laptop completely without having to let
> the battery run all te way down. I don't know what gives you that
> impressions.

Not talking about normal laptops, dummy. I'm talking about my
screwed up laptop. Since the fail my laptop acquired a "coma
mode" that replaced sleep and hibernate. You need to think beyond
what you've ever encountered.

When I don't touch the keyboard often enough, screen goes a bit
dim. That's a warning that it's about to switch to screensaver.
Once screensaver kicks in, don't touch a bit longer and it will
start either "sleep" or "hibernate" mode. All this only happens
when I might leave the room for a bit and forget to hurry back.

Well now since the crash, last August, it replaced sleep or
hybernate with "Coma Mode"
Once that kicks in, the screen goes blank and also the keyboard
is ignored.
You can press all the keyboard combos that work on a normal
computer but seriously, that keyboard is dead completely. But the
'on' lights are still lit.

Only way to recover is to let the battery run out and it will
shut down on it's own. Luckily, in my case, the battery is almost
shot, so it doesn't take too long. Once machine finally turns
off, plug in the charger and start it up again.

Your comment makes you lose face and you've shamed all of your
ancestors.
You know a lot but you don't know it all.
Don't be arrogant here, learn from my situation and know more.

On Mon, 16 Apr 2018 11:41:29 -0400, Gary > wrote:

>Not talking about normal laptops, dummy. I'm talking about my
>screwed up laptop. Since the fail my laptop acquired a "coma
>mode" that replaced sleep and hibernate. You need to think beyond
>what you've ever encountered.
>
>When I don't touch the keyboard often enough, screen goes a bit
>dim. That's a warning that it's about to switch to screensaver.
>Once screensaver kicks in, don't touch a bit longer and it will
>start either "sleep" or "hibernate" mode. All this only happens
>when I might leave the room for a bit and forget to hurry back.
>
>Well now since the crash, last August, it replaced sleep or
>hybernate with "Coma Mode"
>Once that kicks in, the screen goes blank and also the keyboard
>is ignored.
>You can press all the keyboard combos that work on a normal
>computer but seriously, that keyboard is dead completely. But the
>'on' lights are still lit.
>
>Only way to recover is to let the battery run out and it will
>shut down on it's own. Luckily, in my case, the battery is almost
>shot, so it doesn't take too long. Once machine finally turns
>off, plug in the charger and start it up again.
>
>Your comment makes you lose face and you've shamed all of your
>ancestors.
>You know a lot but you don't know it all.
>Don't be arrogant here, learn from my situation and know more.

Can't you take the battery out? And have you tried the BIOS reset, as
mentioned by SW?

On 2018-04-16 11:41 AM, Gary wrote:

> Well now since the crash, last August, it replaced sleep or
> hybernate with "Coma Mode"
> Once that kicks in, the screen goes blank and also the keyboard
> is ignored.
> You can press all the keyboard combos that work on a normal
> computer but seriously, that keyboard is dead completely. But the
> 'on' lights are still lit.
>
> Only way to recover is to let the battery run out and it will
> shut down on it's own. Luckily, in my case, the battery is almost
> shot, so it doesn't take too long. Once machine finally turns
> off, plug in the charger and start it up again.

My Toshiba has a similar problem if you close the lid while it is
running. It goes into a coma. It appears to be a common fault with
them. Unplug the power cord and remove the battery for a minute. Then
put the battery back in and plug in the power supply and it boots up again.

That laptop is ancient. It doesn't owe you anything.

On Monday, April 16, 2018 at 5:41:11 AM UTC-10, Gary wrote:
>
> Not talking about normal laptops, dummy. I'm talking about my
> screwed up laptop. Since the fail my laptop acquired a "coma
> mode" that replaced sleep and hibernate. You need to think beyond
> what you've ever encountered.
>
> When I don't touch the keyboard often enough, screen goes a bit
> dim. That's a warning that it's about to switch to screensaver.
> Once screensaver kicks in, don't touch a bit longer and it will
> start either "sleep" or "hibernate" mode. All this only happens
> when I might leave the room for a bit and forget to hurry back.
>
> Well now since the crash, last August, it replaced sleep or
> hybernate with "Coma Mode"
> Once that kicks in, the screen goes blank and also the keyboard
> is ignored.
> You can press all the keyboard combos that work on a normal
> computer but seriously, that keyboard is dead completely. But the
> 'on' lights are still lit.
>
> Only way to recover is to let the battery run out and it will
> shut down on it's own. Luckily, in my case, the battery is almost
> shot, so it doesn't take too long. Once machine finally turns
> off, plug in the charger and start it up again.
>
> Your comment makes you lose face and you've shamed all of your
> ancestors.
> You know a lot but you don't know it all.
> Don't be arrogant here, learn from my situation and know more.

I've had a few Toshiba laptops. A couple of 14" Satellites and a couple of Portégés. They were ok. The Satellite's weak point were hinges that broke and you had to be careful when you opened them to keep the body from breaking. We used them a lot until the broke. I don't have anything bad to say about them.

The Portégés were old machines that I bought on eBay because I needed Windows 97 computers. They were awesome products when they came out. They were small machines that were packed with features - true road warriors.. They sure run hot! I still use one occasionally. Like yours, the battery will only last about half an hour.

These days I mostly use an Asus Chromebook Flip. I never thought I would like a 10.1" netbook but there something compelling about the design. I got my wife an Acer and Samsung Chromebooks but she keeps using this small, elegant, machine. It's so efficient that there's no vents or fans because it doesn't need any air circulation to cool it off.

Dave Smith wrote:
>
> On 2018-04-16 11:41 AM, Gary wrote:
>
> > Well now since the crash, last August, it replaced sleep or
> > hybernate with "Coma Mode"
> > Once that kicks in, the screen goes blank and also the keyboard
> > is ignored.
> > You can press all the keyboard combos that work on a normal
> > computer but seriously, that keyboard is dead completely. But the
> > 'on' lights are still lit.
> >
> > Only way to recover is to let the battery run out and it will
> > shut down on it's own. Luckily, in my case, the battery is almost
> > shot, so it doesn't take too long. Once machine finally turns
> > off, plug in the charger and start it up again.
>
> My Toshiba has a similar problem if you close the lid while it is
> running. It goes into a coma. It appears to be a common fault with
> them. Unplug the power cord and remove the battery for a minute. Then
> put the battery back in and plug in the power supply and it boots up again.
>
> That laptop is ancient. It doesn't owe you anything.

Very true, Dave. My laptop was a handmedown from my daughter many
years ago. Now it's screwed up and battery is almost dead. Not
even going to try to fix it then buy a new battery. I'll buy a
new cheap one and it will last for many more years and be more up
to date with with Windows and software once I download all the
latest.

Once I get settled in a few years, I'll get a nifty new desktop.
I prefer those. The laptop is a handy backup though.

On 4/18/2018 11:42 AM, Gary wrote:
> Once I get settled in a few years, I'll get a nifty new desktop.
> I prefer those. The laptop is a handy backup though.

I use my laptop *as* a desktop, I don't carry it around with me. Mainly
it's a space issue. My desk is small but it has a pull-out keyboard
tray I use a separate keyboard because I can't type well on the laptop
keyboard.

Jill

jmcquown wrote:
>
> On 4/18/2018 11:42 AM, Gary wrote:
> > Once I get settled in a few years, I'll get a nifty new desktop.
> > I prefer those. The laptop is a handy backup though.
>
> I use my laptop *as* a desktop, I don't carry it around with me. Mainly
> it's a space issue. My desk is small but it has a pull-out keyboard
> tray I use a separate keyboard because I can't type well on the laptop
> keyboard.

Good thought, Jill. I am considering that myself now. If I had a
full keyboard and a mouse attached to a laptop, that's all I
would ever need.

I was looking at low end laptops but doing more research, I'm
seeing the downsides. I'm probably going with a better one. Need
to look online quite a bit this weekend but still will visit 3
local stores next week. For something like this, that will last
me for years, I want to see it in person if possible and check
out all the specs.

Thank you for the idea though. Rather than a cheap laptop now and
a more expensive desktop down the line, instead maybe buy a
better laptop now, add full keyboard and mouse and I have it all.
Just like a good desktop but also battery backup during hurricane
season. I already have a nice usb keyboard hooked up to my
middle generation computer (Win xp or nt) that I never use
anymore.

On Fri, 20 Apr 2018 13:12:11 -0400, Gary > wrote:

>jmcquown wrote:
>>
>> On 4/18/2018 11:42 AM, Gary wrote:
>> > Once I get settled in a few years, I'll get a nifty new desktop.
>> > I prefer those. The laptop is a handy backup though.
>>
>> I use my laptop *as* a desktop, I don't carry it around with me. Mainly
>> it's a space issue. My desk is small but it has a pull-out keyboard
>> tray I use a separate keyboard because I can't type well on the laptop
>> keyboard.
>
>Good thought, Jill. I am considering that myself now. If I had a
>full keyboard and a mouse attached to a laptop, that's all I
>would ever need.
>
>I was looking at low end laptops but doing more research, I'm
>seeing the downsides. I'm probably going with a better one. Need
>to look online quite a bit this weekend but still will visit 3
>local stores next week. For something like this, that will last
>me for years, I want to see it in person if possible and check
>out all the specs.
>
>Thank you for the idea though. Rather than a cheap laptop now and
>a more expensive desktop down the line, instead maybe buy a
>better laptop now, add full keyboard and mouse and I have it all.
>Just like a good desktop but also battery backup during hurricane
>season. I already have a nice usb keyboard hooked up to my
>middle generation computer (Win xp or nt) that I never use
>anymore.

Look in the Dell business section for the all in one computer, large
screen with everything built into it. I use that with a wireless
mouse and keyboard, saves having to find room for the old style box,
also comes (in the business section) with the upper Windows 10.

http://www.dell.com/en-ca/work/shop/...iplex-5250-aio

You can make it how you want, if you are a gamer or something, and I
didn't like their wireless keyboard so I bought a Logitech one at Best
Buy. According to my guru the quality of the business ones is greater
and all I had to do was tell a white lie about working from home,
which I do sometimes but not often anymore. You can also do payments
if you want.

On 4/20/2018 1:12 PM, Gary wrote:


>
> Thank you for the idea though. Rather than a cheap laptop now and
> a more expensive desktop down the line, instead maybe buy a
> better laptop now, add full keyboard and mouse and I have it all.
> Just like a good desktop but also battery backup during hurricane
> season. I already have a nice usb keyboard hooked up to my
> middle generation computer (Win xp or nt) that I never use
> anymore.
>

Many possibilities depending on your needs. My wife has a laptop with
17" screen and she uses it like a desktop and it sits on a table.

I have a desktop with a 22" monitor, very nice to use as such. I still
need something portable.

So, about 10 years ago I bought an Acer 11" portable. I use a mouse
with it but I've traveled tens of thousands of miles and four countries
with it. Small enough to easily carry, use in airports, the car, motel.
It also sits on my belly when I'd in the recliner watching TV.

The 11" is about ready to die so I recently bough an HP 14". Nice to
have the larger screen and still fits my belly, but I don't want to go
bigger to actually is as a portable. If I want to watch some music
videos on YouTube, I cast it to the TV screen.

Gary wrote:
>
> Thank you for the idea though. Rather than a cheap laptop now and> a more expensive desktop down the line,
> instead maybe buy a better laptop now, add full keyboard and mouse and I have it all.

My wife uses and swears by a "Surface"... she has their top of the
line:
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/stor...042100500 3:s
I have no use for a laptop as I've no need for a computer when I leave
home.

On Fri, 20 Apr 2018 21:01:37 -0400, wrote:

> no use for a laptop as I've no need for a computer when I leave home.

I have a laptop, but it is never moved. When my former desktop died, I
appropriated my daughter's Viao and bought her a new Win10 Quad-core. I had
already maxed out the RAM after a failure and upgraded the HDD after it had
failed.

I also added a 2nd HDMI 24" screen and a 7-port USB hub so could use
external mouse, keyboard, 1Tb backup, and my existing scanner/printer. I
figure that I can use all that stuff if & when the Viao gets too old or
wears out.

Wayne Boatwright wrote:

> On Fri 20 Apr 2018 01:18:18p, Ed Pawlowski told us...
>
> > On 4/20/2018 1:12 PM, Gary wrote:
> >
> >
> >>
> >> Thank you for the idea though. Rather than a cheap laptop now and
> >> a more expensive desktop down the line, instead maybe buy a
> >> better laptop now, add full keyboard and mouse and I have it all.
> >> Just like a good desktop but also battery backup during hurricane
> >> season. I already have a nice usb keyboard hooked up to my
> >> middle generation computer (Win xp or nt) that I never use
> >> anymore.
> >>
> >
> > Many possibilities depending on your needs. My wife has a laptop
> > with 17" screen and she uses it like a desktop and it sits on a
> > table.
> >
> > I have a desktop with a 22" monitor, very nice to use as such. I
> > still need something portable.
> >
> > So, about 10 years ago I bought an Acer 11" portable. I use a
> > mouse with it but I've traveled tens of thousands of miles and
> > four countries with it. Small enough to easily carry, use in
> > airports, the car, motel.
> > It also sits on my belly when I'd in the recliner watching TV.
> >
> > The 11" is about ready to die so I recently bough an HP 14". Nice
> > to have the larger screen and still fits my belly, but I don't
> > want to go bigger to actually is as a portable. If I want to
> > watch some music videos on YouTube, I cast it to the TV screen.
> >
>
> I have a Dell desktop with two 22" monitors, wireless keyboard and
> wireless mouse. I've had dual monitors for the past 10 years, as I
> really needed them for my work. I don't need them now, but it
> would be hard giving one of them up.
>
> When I was working I had a Dell 17" laptop with wireless keyboard and
> mouse. For certain phases of my work I had to be portable. However,
> the laptop actually belonged to my company,so was turned in when I
> retired.
>
> I don't feel a need for anything portable now as long as I have my
> smartphone.

If any do though, the portables got a lot lighter. I have an ASUS
E403N-US. It's a mere 3lbs and does not have a huge heavy charger. 14
inch (Diagonal, 12 across) screen which works for a travel machine.