buzzsawmonkey 8/7/2022 9:50:30 AM

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Thanks, Kosh, for the info you wrote yesterday.   

I've disabled the trackpad, and am using the mouse; a friend of mine has gotten a replacement battery, which we're going to try out.  That will---hopefully---give me a little wiggle room as far as selecting a replacement machine.

Kosh's Shadow 8/7/2022 11:08:27 AM

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Reply to buzzsawmonkey in 1:

You're welcome.

Also check to see if your old software will run on the new system. New Macs use new chips, not Intel, and the OS has been updated. RB's Mac experts can help there.

And while a lot of software is subscription, it is often possible to buy a permanent version to download (burn to CD, too), although they tend to make that more expensive in the short term than a subscription. On Windows, Office is locked to a computer unless you get a subscription, so if you replace the computer, you have to buy it again.

buzzsawmonkey 8/7/2022 11:16:03 AM

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Best Buy is apparently selling smaller MacBooks (13" as compared to the 15" I have) for about $200 off at the moment, so they're "merely" about $1200.  

If that's about equivalent---or faster---and can take all my stuff intact, it'd be worth it not to go through this shit again. May be going over to consult with the friend who's got the new battery (and maybe install it).   The cursor is still leaping around like a celebrating Cossack, but at least that "Dictionary" pop-up madness seems to have subsided.

Kosh's Shadow 8/7/2022 11:58:10 AM

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Reply to buzzsawmonkey in 3:

The one Mac I had (stil have but it doesn't work) was $2000 (I think I got a faculty discount of $200 reducing that) was the absolutely least reliable system I have ever owned. The next worse, a Compaq, at least Compaq gave me more memory and a better battery due to all the problems (some were their own service issues, like sending the wrong part repeatedly to the repair place).

Just for all the trips to Apple stores, I think Apple owes me a new one, but they would not fix it for free when the system board failed 3 months after Apple(doesn't)Care ran out. After 2 or 3 DVD drive failures, display needed to be replaced a month after I got it; system board failed later, and all these required at least 2 round trips to Apple stores at 20 minutes minimum each way, plus the time waiting there.

Replaced that with a $600 HP that worked perfectly for 2 years and was still usable for another year. Keys started falling off the keyboard but I didn't need to move it much and could use an external keyboard. If I got a new machine every year at $600, I'd still be doing better than the Mac.

However, with SSDs and Dell computers, I am paying more than $600, less than $1800 but guaranteed to have it 4 years with the service contract.

Occasional Reader 8/7/2022 2:39:40 PM

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Thank goodness the adults are back in charge.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11088635/China-set-wrap-largest-Taiwan-military-drills.html

Kosh's Shadow 8/7/2022 3:33:07 PM

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Reply to Occasional Reader in 5:

I thought Xi was in charge, and gave orders to "the big guy" via Hunter. 

And all this "Russian collusion" crap is ordered by the Chinese so we won't pay attention to the Chink behind the Bamboo Curtain.

(No disrespect to Chinese who are not CCP members, or are just minor members to survive)

lucius septimius 8/7/2022 4:12:52 PM

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Reply to Kosh's Shadow in 6:

I have a hard time trusting any Chinese.  I saw dozens of students pass through, all breathtakingly beautiful young women whose main job I gather was to act as spokeswhores for the CCP.  And, if possibly, hook up with the up and coming just in case.

They always had money. Funny that.

Kosh's Shadow 8/7/2022 4:25:07 PM

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Reply to lucius septimius in 7:

I'm thinking of Chinese like the cleaners owners where I live, with signs advertising events of Chinese culture before Communism.

The college students have to have very high social scores and thus are agents for the CCP. I'm sure they Swallowwell, too.

Kosh's Shadow 8/7/2022 5:06:11 PM

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