If I should ever get a laptop
 

Hi All. Just want to clear up some points before I even think about getting a notebook or a laptop.

I now have the modem/router thing with all these ethernet ports. We have the computer and Alan's Caption call phone connected to this modem/router.

I have the Kindle Fire which gets Wi Fi. So obviously I have a wi fi network set up which appears on my kindle fire.

Now, let's say I get a hold of a laptop. Any kind, notebook, cheap laptop, any kind of laptop. It will probably come with Windows 7 and built in wi fi right?

And I bring it home, take it out of the box, and open the laptop.

Do I have to do ANYTHING to get a wi fi signal? Do I have to install any software, ANYTHING??

Or do I just plug in the laptop, (does it have to be charged or can I plug it into a wall outlet and use it like I do my PC)?

And when I open the cover and press the power button, I gather I have to set it up initially, register it, etc. etc. It will have lots of stuff preloaded, I know this. It will have to come with pre-loaded wi fi software right?

Will it immediately start scanning when click on the IE browser (or whatever browser it comes with?) I use Google Chrome. So if a new laptop I get only has IE, I gather I have to go online, go to Google Chrome, download it and VOILA, I will have my browser that I like right?

Now getting online. Here's what I want to make sure.

When I open the laptop and hit the IE icon, it will start doing it's thing and start scanning right? Will it THEN FIND MY WI FI NETWORK, and indicate that I am connected??

I go to a friend's house and she has a laptop but she has no router in the house, she gets a signal off of neighbors open networks. Lousy signals but sometimes she gets one. That's how SHE goes on the internet.

But because I DO have a wireless router in my home, it (at least I think so), work exactly like my Kindle Fire?

Thanks.

Once I know ahead what will happen, I can start to save for a laptop or notebook. I don't need anything fancy. Just something so I can do ebay in a quiet place.

What would be the least expensive laptop you all think would get me on the internet and that I could watch movies on youtube and hulu, and do my ebay?

Don't need gaming software or bells and whistles. Just a good dependable cheap laptop (or notebook) don't know the difference.

Thanks much
P.S. I am LOVING this Kindle Fire
Mel

If you have a wireless router in your house then you have a wireless network that is yours. It will have its own unique name and may or may not be password protected (Open or secure).

When you turn on the laptop for the first time you will be asked to create a name for the laptop and maybe a couple other basic questions.

When windows boots for the 1st time you will be prompted by the built in Wifi to choose from the list. Choose yours, enter the password if needed and thats pretty much it.

A laptop will default to connecting to wifi before the hard wired port.

$400 will buy you a good HP laptop at the big box stores all day long.

FYI - I just bought 6 of these for my classroom...they are a real good machine and the price is right. $349

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/HP+-+Pav...&skuId=5043836

Thanks so much. I do indeed have a wi fi network which is password protected. I am going to check out the link you provided.

Melody

Okay. Here come my questions. This has 3 usb ports. This means i can add a mouse. Right ? And what does bluetooth enabled mesn? And this has a built in webcam so i dont nrrd to instsll any webcam software right? I can play videos right?

Now here is a really good question. Lets say i am doing ebay on the net but dont want to exit the browser. Can i then pick up my tablet check my emsil st the same time thst alan is on the pc? Essentially im asking if three people can be on internet at the same time getting good speed?

See i have to learn before i buy. Thanks much.

Mouse - yes. (also printer, phone charger, usb hub, any usb device)
Bluetooth is kinda like wifi, it connects devices like a smartphone to share pics and data.
External webcam needed - no.
Video - yes
Multiple people on wifi at same time - absolutely

To say i love you is putting it mildly. But one more question. What do you mesn that i can use one of the usb ports as a phone charger? How would i charge my cell phone? It has no usb port. It has this cable that plugs in the sidne of my phone (which is a Nokia phone) and the other end plugs into a wall outlet

Maybe only smart phones can do this?

Thanks melody

Mel, some small electronics will charge off the computer USB.

My Sansa MP3 player does this. It depends on what the small device IS. My digital camera will NOT. If the smart phone has a USB plug, then it might also.
Smart phones will sync with computers. That is also for downloading stuff into the computer...data or photos.

My old Nokia phone does not charge thru the computer USB.
Only with a car jack or electrical plug.

Ah i get it. Thanks so much for teaching me all this stuff. Just know that i pay it forward. Take care. Melody

Hi there. I'm back again with one more final question about this particular laptop (that you gave me the link to),

does it have a headphone jack?

That is of ultimate importance!!! lol

thanks so much

I did look at the specs but didn't see where it mentioned it has a headphone jack.

Melody

Well, the ones I bought have one...the one in the pic in the link above has the audio port, so I am going to go with a 99.99% chance that it does....

:D

Ah, you see I was looking for the word HEADPHONE, which is on every other computer that I have bought. I know what audio means, but I thought that MIGHT mean one of those yellow or red or whatever video/audio cables that go from the dvd player to the tv.

See, I am not COMPLETELY clueless!!! rofl.

Thanks much
So it's safe to say it has a headphone jack. Thank god.

I'm going to wait a bit and go and and personally look at laptops before I get one.

They have them at $249, $299, etc. but I don't want a piece of junk. So I'm going to be extra careful and keep looking. There will ALWAYS be a sale going on somewhere.

And I saw on Tiger Direct that they sell Dell Inspiron refurbished laptops. I read all the reviews. One guy said "A refurbished Dell is as good as a new Dell!!

What do you think?

Thanks much
Melody

Hi. I believe in providence. Signs from above WHATEVER!!!!

I was shopping and found myself in front of a computer store. I have been there before. Nice guy. I always ask questions. He is patient and answers them. So today i walk in and announce! !!!Do you sell laptops??!!!

He proceeds to show me all the various laptops and they were 15 inches and i knew i always wanted a bigger screen to watch my youtube movies. And Hulu etc. It has flash. He is loading it up with word processing software. Dvd software. Etc. 17 inch screen. I tested it out. Went on the internet. Dont need bells and whistles. Needed a plain old laptop. Oh what make and model??? A Dell Inspiron. Same one i asked you about. Costs $280.00 no tax. I will pick it up in a few days. Glory be i have a laptop. I put down a deposit. Next week its mine. It's BIG just what i wanted. Lol

Cool...I have had a couple Dell laptops with the 17"....they are a tad heavier than the competition but overall a good machine...

Congrats!

I think I will bring it home this week. Since he put me as the administrator, I'm all ready and set (at least I think I am). Never owned a laptop before but then again, I never had a tablet and look at me now. I am ALL things tablets.

Do I have to know anything special about laptops? He told me that when I get home and bring up my browser it will automatically search for the nearest wi fi connection and that will be my wireless network. He told me to just type in my password and that should be it.

I once read where people need to buy cooling fans for laptops. I asked the guy and he said 'no you don't need to buy that". I asked him "How long do I charge this? and he said "It will be all charged up and if you want to use it plugged in then do that, no problem". I thought one doesn't do that but then I asked my friends who all have laptops and they ALL keep them plugged in while using it and they unplug them when they go to sleep. I really don't know anything about laptops. Have much to learn.

But I'm ready willing and able. I call this my starter laptop. For $280 and a 17inch screen, it will do nicely until I get rich and buy one of those Alienware laptops. I read about them. Good Lord!! lol

Thanks much, Mel

1) When you turn your laptop on for the first time it will search for the nearest wifi signal with the best signal, keep in mind this may NOT be yours. If you click on the little icon it will show you the wireless networks that are within range or YOUR laptop at that moment. Choose yours, enter the password, and then you are good to go.

2) Battery, its a battery, not an electronic mind-blowing thing that you need a manual and a degree to understand. Its a battery. Your laptop should survive on its own for about 3 hours under normal use. When the battery gets low, plug it in, if you need to go to the kitchen with it to cook a recipe on the food network, unplug it, if you take it to bed with you to play solitaire, leave it unplugged overnight on the floor, its a battery....charge it while you leave the house for a couple hours or if you are just sitting at the dining room table.

Be comfortable with it, dont treat it like a King :)

One of the things I like to do with a new to me laptop is change all the power settings in the control panel. Laptops are defaulted to go to sleep after XX minutes...that drives me nuts...I set mine that there are NO screensavers, NO diming of screens and NO sleeping while plugged in. In battery mode I like to have it sleep after 20 minutes of inactivity.

Play with the settings, you cant break it.....

Unless you turn into a total gamer for 8 hours a day you wont need a cooling fan either, but if you think they are cool (no pun intended) go for it...

I like a wireless mouse too, as the touchpad can be a pain for certain tasks for long periods...

I just sold an Alienware laptop on eBay...got $600 for it without an operating system...and the damn thing weighed 15lbs....sheesh....

But I do recommend having a password (a good one, not "password") as they are portable and there is a black market for them....be careful....

Other than that...ENJOY!

What would i ever do withot you???

Thanks much..

Will make a video when i get this. Lol

Mem

Curl up into the fetal position and suck your thumb? :p

here's my new baby!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=McAMaGOfSCY

Melody


P.s. Can I buy a different keyboard (like the microsoft broken ones, I like them.) and hook it up via usb and then use THAT keyboard? Is this possible? Thanks much

Yep. But I fail to see the point.

the point is that these are two VERY different keyboards. When you do word processing and you type 145 words a minute and you can do this using a specific keyboard, then you would use THAT keyboard.

I have never liked regular keyboards. I did my best typing on the MIcrosoft broken up keyboard. All that room to move and type, well I worked better. So now that you have answered me, if I ever get out my Microsoft keyboard (which is SOMEWHERE up in some closet), I just might do some real typing.

lol.

Thanks much
Melody
P.S. You have NO idea how fast I can type on that keyboard. I used to win typing contests. lol

Well, I suppose that is a valid point :)

I still have MUCH to learn about this laptop. Like for example when I close the lid, and go back and open it, it does not WAKE UP right away. Sometimes it does, but othertimes it seems to need me to press the power button and it comes alive. And the battery is used up fast. I thought I would get 6 hours but that is not the case. I gather the battery is old and I went on google and read where people have replaced batteries because they don't hold a charge. I really don't care right now because I plug it in to use it and I unplug it at night. So for me, presently it works just fine.

Still learning.

Thanks so much for all your good input.

Melody

I mentioned that above...its the power\monitor settings in the control panel....Windows has a default setting for all that. Those settings suck. Fiddle with them until it suits you.

The setting for for what happens when the 'lid is closed' is in the power settings for sure....

Okay, I found the option "when you close the lid". It is set to sleep (whether the laptop is plugged in or not). I thought about selecting hibernate, went on the internet and tried to figure out the difference but all I could get was that hibernate means it stores all the info in Ram so when I turn on the computer it loads faster.....that's not what I was trying to find out.

So right now when I close the lid, it makes a sound and when I come back and open the lid and hit the enter key (and sometimes I don't have to anything), it wakes up and everything is fine. So I'm not too worried about that.

What HAS changed (and this happened after I made the fonts a larger size so I could view things better) was that when I try and log off the internet, it does not recognize when I hit the X on the upper right. Now I have to go to the upper X and right click and I select CLOSE and then the Google chrome browser is gone and I'm looking at my desktop.

Before I changed the fonts all I had to do to exit was take my mouse and click on the X. Now it doesn't respond. I mean, I can still close the window but how come it doesn't let me hit the X on the right so I can go off the internet. I don't understand. Do you have any idea why this happened?


Thanks much, Melody

That I have no idea about...where is Jo*mar?????

Thanks anyway, if I ever do figure out why, I'll update here.

Take care and thanks much

Melody