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Ask the computer wizards thread (Read 672 times)

runfoolery



    *** I finally swore off dell after one too many issues and one too many Adventures with Indian Customer Service Scripts.  But the ONE thing they did right on that laptop, which honestly lasted about 5 years and that's pretty cool too, is that the hard drive was amazingly easy to get out.  Four screws, one slide, ker plunk.

     

    I have had exactly one Dell laptop. They timed its death perfectly, about 5 days after my warranty expired. After that I moved onto IBM Thinkpad (now Lenovo) - I passed my T40 to a friend, after something like 8 years of total use it's still going strong. Crazy.

    xor


      That sounds like my music player.  While all my friends are plowing through ipods, especially shuffles and nanos, every x months, I've had exactly two music players in the past 10 years: an iriver player and a sandisk.  And the only reason I replaced the iriver was because a cover fell off.

       

      Arie2.0


      Meat is Murder

        An ipod's life expectancy is 2 years at max. It cannot live longer.

        Putin told me how to vote.

        n a m


        1stBrn ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Unicrn

          An ipod's life expectancy is 2 years at max. It cannot live longer.

           Not true.

          You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.

          Arie2.0


          Meat is Murder

            I pulled the HD out. It's a Seagate 7200.12 750GB drive.

            Putin told me how to vote.

            s k i p p y


              I pulled the HD out. It's a Seagate 7200.12 750GB drive.

              kcam


                I have had exactly one Dell laptop. They timed its death perfectly, about 5 days after my warranty expired. After that I moved onto IBM Thinkpad (now Lenovo) - I passed my T40 to a friend, after something like 8 years of total use it's still going strong. Crazy.

                 

                I am typing this on a Dell Laptop that I bought for my daughter when she graduated from HS.  She used it through her undergrad, bought an Apple Macbook for grad school and passed this back to me.  It's 8 years old now.  The only thing wrong with it is one of the screen hinges is a little bit broken but it still works fine.   So Dell did Ok by me on this one.

                Arie2.0


                Meat is Murder

                  OK a new question but now about smart phones. If I buy, say, a T-mobile phone it's locked for T-mobile and I can't switch. Is it possible to buy an unlocked phone? Or unlock a phone I buy? What's the risks if any?

                  Putin told me how to vote.

                    If T-Mobile is similar to AT&T, you can ask them to unlock the phone for international use, which would then allow you to pop in SIM cards from other phone companies.  I could be wrong though...

                    Wing


                    Joggaholic

                      OK a new question but now about smart phones. If I buy, say, a T-mobile phone it's locked for T-mobile and I can't switch. Is it possible to buy an unlocked phone? Or unlock a phone I buy? What's the risks if any?

                       

                      Yes and yes. It's a pretty common practice.

                       

                      If you get an phone from a carrier you will usually have a 2 yr contract because they subsidize the cost of your phone. Unlocking it doesn't make a lot of sense unless you plan to give the phone to someone else using a different carrier. At the end of the 2 yr term your phone is sort of an antique. You can buy an unlocked phone and it will be more expensive, but you can bring it to your carrier of choice (gsm ones like ATT and TMobile) who may not have that phone in their normal lineup.

                       

                      All my phones are unlocked (most of them left-overs and freebies), on the few occasions when I broke my phone I can easily swap out the sim card and pop them into an old phone so I don't have to panic over not having a phone.

                      n a m


                      1stBrn ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Unicrn

                        OK a new question but now about smart phones. If I buy, say, a T-mobile phone it's locked for T-mobile and I can't switch. Is it possible to buy an unlocked phone? Or unlock a phone I buy? What's the risks if any?

                         The provider may charge you to unlock it too.  Something to think about.

                        You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.


                        Loves the outdoors

                          An ipod's life expectancy is 2 years at max. It cannot live longer.

                           

                          We're still using our ipod 1st generation. It's so retro it's cool!

                          One day I decided I wanted to become a runner, so I did.

                            Oh thank you whoever started this thread. I have an iPhone question. In my calendar there is an event on January 24th that somehow magically appeared calling itself my birthday (it's not). It has a timer that is scheduled to go off at 1:40 in the morning. The event is somehow greyed out and it absolutely will not let me delete or edit it. I can't turn off the alarm or anything. What is this and how to I get rid of it before it wakes me up in January?

                             

                            Also in my calendars. every time I create an event I change all the setting to no alarm. I have a bunch of English classes that I keep up with on my phone but don't necessarily want an alarm for them. Within 5 minutes of creating the event, it has changed its setting to having an alarm 10 minutes beforehand. It doesn't matter how many times I go back and change it, it always switches it by itself. Is my phone possessed? 

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