Computer question

[klmno]

My laptop is going out on me and I'd prefer not to spend a lot on another one. All I care about is having some games, internet access, and some type of word processing program. Oh- NO webcam---No Way!. Do Tablets have all that? What would you ladies recommend? I do like a big screen- say 15" but it might not be worth it if it's going to cost me $500.

 

[AnnieO]

You can get a reasonable laptop for less than $500. My tablet does have all that, but the screen is only 7".

Honestly, I'd go for a laptop over a tablet, for normal use. The touch screen keyboard can be a bit of a pain...

 

[klmno]

Where do I find one that doesn't have a webcam?

 

[DammitJanet]

Almost all tablets and laptops have webcams but you can disable it. Honestly, I would get a tablet and just get a keyboard to go with it. They have some fantastic tablets out now. or...look for the Google Chrome laptop. Check that out on the web. Interesting.

 

[witzend]

If you can hold out, I'd wait until the black Friday sales. Even if you can't get in on the listed sales, places like Office Max and Office Depot have computers in the back from the "back to school" sales that they haven't sold yet and they'll give you a deal on them.

They all come with web cams on them, but you don't have to use them. You could disable it, too, if that is something that you are concerned about.

My Gateway is way too hot and it melts the adapter, which is REALLY expensive. Although, now that I know, you can go get adapters at Goodwill for next to nothing, but - lesson learned. I like my Lenovo an awful lot. It has a 17" screen and lots of memory. I'm sure I got it for less than $500.

 

[AnnieO]

Tablets all have cameras, too...

 

[DammitJanet]

Yeah but you can get rear facing or front facing or both. Normally rear facing is just for taking pictures like cell phones. I want both for skyping. The chrome book is very interesting because instead of having much in the way of a hard drive, everything is stored on the Cloud.

 

[AnnieO]

My laptop is 3 years old now, but it is a Dell with some pretty nice features (like Bluetooth) - and I can use the webcam for Skype but haven't figured it out otherwise. So... Truly, the webcam isn't something you have to use... And I am positive husband got it for under $300. Black Friday sales are great, too - Amazon will have some great deals, also check NewEgg and Tiger Direct.

 

[Signorina]

Fwiw- I have a piece if tape over my webcam

My laptop was under $500. I bought it under the clearance/specials section onBest buy, filtered by price (under $500) and by reviews (high to low) and then by memory.

I am thrilled with it.

 

[LittleDudesMom]

We bought difficult child one at the end of the summer at Best Buy on clearance (Toshiba) and it's fabulous! $399, 17" screen, full keyboard (with calculator number pad) and all the bells and whistles - fast processor and RAM. You just have to do some internet research and some hunting in the stores for deals.

Of course, I love my mac and wouldn't trade it for the world! But, it was pricey and I treated myself with some of my tax refund about 4 years ago....

Sharon

 

[witzend]

There is NO WAY I'd ever store anything on the cloud. If you decide that you want to "reclaim" what's on the cloud - ie: keep the information on your new computer instead of the cloud - you will find that you don't own that anymore. You could access it and share access to it, but it STAYS on the cloud forever.

 

[DammitJanet]

Yes Witz but that is the way of the future. In coming years we wont even be able to buy things with anything other than usb ports. No dvd drives or things like that. I am looking at buying a tablet sometime after xmas and I about freaked out thinking I wouldnt have a dvd drive but really, I dont have one on my phone and everything is store on the cloud and you hardly buy anything anymore as an actual product you can touch, you download it. With the cloud it just stores on the cloud when you arent using it.

Im seriously looking into either the new Surface or Galaxy tablet.

 

[AnnieO]

I don't store anything on the cloud I would be nervous about my boss seeing... And the only thing I use is Dropbox, where you retain rights. My music on the Amazon cloud - well, it's not ME singing. So that doesn't bother me. But not being able to back stuff up - NO WAY.

 

[InsaneCdn]

I don't store ANYTHING on the cloud.

Once it is out there, it is "out there" forever. You have absolutely no guarantee that what you delete or remove is really gone. You have no control over how many other domains it has been copied to. It doesn't matter what the laws of your country are... other countries don't have those laws, and the internet is international.

 

[DammitJanet]

Well I guess you wont be using Kindle or Nook or any of the other tablets. Or storing anything you dont want lost if your computer dies. I do have an external hard drive that I have saved things to but if my house burns down or we have a hurricane I cant promise I can get that out of here. I have saved things to photobucket, and two different cloud services. I can access what I need on my phone or when I get my new tablet from anywhere on the cloud because it will have internet access. My phone can serve as a hotspot so my tablet can connect wherever I am.

 

[Lothlorien]

Amazon cloud is good for things that you buy from them....because you can access it from any device. I've been using Dropbox for many years tho. I paid for a subscription for a while, because I used it as an outside storage for all the doctor's stuff. My computer crashed with weeks worth of work that was lost and I had to redo. So I started using dropbox as a backup and the other great thing about it is that I could access it from my laptop or from another office when I worked at an office and the doctor needed something. Since I'm not working there anymore, I don't need the high gig storage, so I have the free one. It's safe and I can share stuff like pictures and other stuff with my sister in Florida. You can also share stuff with groups and keep stuff password protected for just your use.

Anyway....why don't you want the web cam? Skype is great for talking with family far away. That's really the only thing I use that for.

The Amazon Kindle Fire (not the newest one) does not have a webcam. Missy has it and no webcam.

 

[InsaneCdn]

External backups, swapped weekly at the bank safety deposit box.

You can swap lock-boxes with a friend, too - I store yours, you store mine. But it has to be somebody you really trust - you don't want to be storing your friend's illicit drugs...

 

[klmno]

I'm wondering about an iPod - or that mini one that just came out...

As far as a webcam- as long as E is living here, that is just bad news.

 

[AnnieO]

Pretty much anything you get will have a camera of some sort.

But... you can create separate accounts, have yourself as admin and disable it completely...

 

[klmno]

But... you can create separate accounts, have yourself as admin and disable it completely...

Read threads from 2007-2008....and that's when he was 12yo. LOL!

A camera is bad enough but I can't really avoid that...a webcam "just ain't happen'n".