Yay for awesome paying work! Nay for computer issues!

[bluetemplar187]

So I'm super excited!  About three months ago I started work on a two year advocacy initiative for people with disabilities (of which I am one), mental health issues, and substance use disorders as an independent contractor via a consulting group.  When the work pays it pays me very well indeed which is a nice change because I'm used to working for free.  My next payday is in a couple of weeks.  Happy times!

 

In far more upsetting and frustrating news, my favorite laptop ever continues to go bad piece by piece.  On the one hand, it's all stuff related to the external hardware (webcam, mouse, certain keyboard keys) so I don't think it's about to explode or anything but on the other I'm vexed because for the LIFE of me I cannot find a new machine that fits my needs. I don't want to say cost is NO object, but it's pretty close given the work money and the fact that I plan to make whatever laptop I buy a long-term purchase (for reference I  bought the one I'm using now in like, June 2010 or so) so going deep in the pocket is perfectly reasonable since it's also a business purchase.  But I need a laptop with a bit more "heft" to it.  I like bigger screens, deeper keyboards with lots of tactile feedback, and just a bit of weight.  But that's going out of style.  Probably my best bet to be honest is one of those custom gaming rigs, but I wouldn't use it for gaming so that seems a bit silly.  And I do have another laptop that I bought probably 4-5 years ago sight unseen on a bigtime sale that I've basically never used that I could use as a stopgap, but I don't have the mental or emotional energy to make the switch rght now, not to mention there are things I don't like about it much (hence why I've basically never used it).  It's just hard.  I wish I knew what to do. 

[jellysundae]

Laptops are getting flimsier and flimsier aren't they, so I can totally see the problem you're having. You could almost do with having a new set up built into in the shell of an old and clunky machine. I can see why you're not keen on the gaming laptops because while you're clearly happy to pay out to an extent to get what will work for you, those are VERY expensive, aren't they. Though, as those will be upgraded all the time I'd have though, a refurbished one might be a decent alternative? Those tend to be a whole lot cheaper.

[bluetemplar187]

9 hours ago, jellysundae said:

Laptops are getting flimsier and flimsier aren't they, so I can totally see the problem you're having. You could almost do with having a new set up built into in the shell of an old and clunky machine. I can see why you're not keen on the gaming laptops because while you're clearly happy to pay out to an extent to get what will work for you, those are VERY expensive, aren't they. Though, as those will be upgraded all the time I'd have though, a refurbished one might be a decent alternative? Those tend to be a whole lot cheaper.

Yeah absolutely. The other thing I thought of is one of my best friends in the world is a computer engineer and if he lived closer I'd probably just pay him to build a rig for me but I dunno if that would work out, how much money he'd need, and if he's ever built a laptop. I just know he's built multiple desktop rigs. Probably a similar skill set though, hey?

[jellysundae]

18 minutes ago, bluetemplar187 said:

Yeah absolutely. The other thing I thought of is one of my best friends in the world is a computer engineer and if he lived closer I'd probably just pay him to build a rig for me but I dunno if that would work out, how much money he'd need, and if he's ever built a laptop. I just know he's built multiple desktop rigs. Probably a similar skill set though, hey?

You'd have thought so wouldn't you, definitely no harm in picking his brain about the situation anyway, who knows what ideas he might come up with.

[Duskitty]

I'm no expert, but I do have some knowledge in this sort of field. With that said, some misc questions/advice:

- What model and make is your current laptop, and what are its specs? Usually you can find this info by one of the two methods, depending on operating system:

• If you're running Windows, open the Start menu and search 'dxdiag' in there, then open it.
• If you're on a Mac, open the Apple menu and click 'About This Mac'.

- By 'mouse', do you mean the small trackpad built into the laptop, or an external mouse? If it's a trackpad, those can be replaced/repaired. If it's an external mouse, same thing.

- I'm not entirely sure on webcam repairs, but you can buy an external one if your laptop has a built-in one that's failing.

- You can absolutely buy replacement laptop keys, but again, it depends on your laptop's model and make. In some cases, it might be better to just buy an external keyboard and use that instead.

- Does this new computer have to be a laptop? You can have a desktop custom-built for basically any purpose, given you know how to assemble it/know somebody who can help assemble it for you. Custom builds don't have to be purely for gaming, and they usually cost less + offer more versatility than a pre-built desktop.

- You want a keyboard with some weight, yeah? In newer laptops, that's unfortunately basically unheard of, unless you want to shell out exorbitant amounts of money on a gaming laptop with a mechanical keyboard, and at that point you're better off just buying a desktop for the same power but far less cost. Or, again, using an external keyboard.

- It's generally much harder to have a laptop custom-built as the 'case' of a laptop is far more cramped than your average desktop's case, and therefore requires very specific components that can fit together properly inside the laptop.

Again, take all of this with a grain of salt. You should probably ask your IT friend if he knows more about this.

[bluetemplar187]

33 minutes ago, Duskitty said:

I'm no expert, but I do have some knowledge in this sort of field. With that said, some misc questions/advice:

- What model and make is your current laptop, and what are its specs? Usually you can find this info by one of the two methods, depending on operating system:

• If you're running Windows, open the Start menu and search 'dxdiag' in there, then open it.
• If you're on a Mac, open the Apple menu and click 'About This Mac'.

- By 'mouse', do you mean the small trackpad built into the laptop, or an external mouse? If it's a trackpad, those can be replaced/repaired. If it's an external mouse, same thing.

- I'm not entirely sure on webcam repairs, but you can buy an external one if your laptop has a built-in one that's failing.

- You can absolutely buy replacement laptop keys, but again, it depends on your laptop's model and make. In some cases, it might be better to just buy an external keyboard and use that instead.

- Does this new computer have to be a laptop? You can have a desktop custom-built for basically any purpose, given you know how to assemble it/know somebody who can help assemble it for you. Custom builds don't have to be purely for gaming, and they usually cost less + offer more versatility than a pre-built desktop.

- You want a keyboard with some weight, yeah? In newer laptops, that's unfortunately basically unheard of, unless you want to shell out exorbitant amounts of money on a gaming laptop with a mechanical keyboard, and at that point you're better off just buying a desktop for the same power but far less cost. Or, again, using an external keyboard.

- It's generally much harder to have a laptop custom-built as the 'case' of a laptop is far more cramped than your average desktop's case, and therefore requires very specific components that can fit together properly inside the laptop.

Again, take all of this with a grain of salt. You should probably ask your IT friend if he knows more about this.

Thanks for all the info!

 

First off it's a Dell Vostro 3400 running Windows 7. As far as the mouse issues, both the buttons attached to the track pad are impacted enough that they won't click. The right still FEELS like it should work, but it doesn't. I reckon that's probably because the contact points just don't quite hit right. Same with the arrow keys as well as page down. They indent normally enough, they just don't register the inputs. They do feel just a bit "squishy" though. So it's literally the same deal as the track pad buttons. I can still tap click though, hence why I can still use the machine. 

 

I need it to be a laptop, and I need to be able to use the in-built keyboard and mouse, not a USB external for a wide variety of reasons. As far as the webcam honestly I don't mind that not working quite so much. 

 

Again, thanks for all the thoughts and input.

 

To clarify, I need the in-built mouse and keyboard because I'm a man in a wheelchair and literally the entire point of using the laptop is so that I can use it on a single table in front of me, then at night mount it on a rolling bedside table via strip of velcro so that I can use the machine from bed.  If I can't use the machine from bed it's pointless unfortunately, so desktops are a no go (not to mention my room isn't set up to house a desktop).

[Duskitty]

4 minutes ago, bluetemplar187 said:

First off it's a Dell Vostro 3400 running Windows 7. As far as the mouse issues, both the buttons attached to the track pad are impacted enough that they won't click. The right still FEELS like it should work, but it doesn't. I reckon that's probably because the contact points just don't quite hit right. Same with the arrow keys as well as page down. They indent normally enough, they just don't register the inputs. They do feel just a bit "squishy" though. So it's literally the same deal as the track pad buttons. I can still tap click though, hence why I can still use the machine.

I need it to be a laptop, and I need to be able to use the in-built keyboard and mouse, not a USB external for a wide variety of reasons. As far as the webcam honestly I don't mind that not working quite so much. 

Ah, cool! Thanks for the prompt reply.

Your trackpad buttons might have gotten gunk under them, or as you said, the contact points may have worn down. Those should both be able to be fixed, but if a replacement part is necessary, that might be hard to come by, considering your laptop is fairly old.

As for keyboard keys, I looked up your laptop on a reputable site I used to buy replacement keys on; looks like you can indeed buy replacements for those keys (and do the replacing yourself, if you want).
https://www.laptopkey.com/KeyboardKeys.php/Dell/Vostro/3400

I can understand needing a laptop with no externals - I used to be in a similar situation because I moved around so much. Unfortunately, that means you probably won't be able to have a 'deeper' keyboard if you buy a new laptop, as like I said, most modern laptops either have the thin, soft keyboards or you're paying thousands of dollars for one with a mechanical keyboard. It might be worth asking some IT professionals about installing a different keyboard on a modern laptop, but I get the feeling the chances of that are slim.

[bluetemplar187]

6 minutes ago, Duskitty said:

Ah, cool! Thanks for the prompt reply.

Your trackpad buttons might have gotten gunk under them, or as you said, the contact points may have worn down. Those should both be able to be fixed, but if a replacement part is necessary, that might be hard to come by, considering your laptop is fairly old.

As for keyboard keys, I looked up your laptop on a reputable site I used to buy replacement keys on; looks like you can indeed buy replacements for those keys (and do the replacing yourself, if you want).
https://www.laptopkey.com/KeyboardKeys.php/Dell/Vostro/3400

I can understand needing a laptop with no externals - I used to be in a similar situation because I moved around so much. Unfortunately, that means you probably won't be able to have a 'deeper' keyboard if you buy a new laptop, as like I said, most modern laptops either have the thin, soft keyboards or you're paying thousands of dollars for one with a mechanical keyboard. It might be worth asking some IT professionals about installing a different keyboard on a modern laptop, but I get the feeling the chances of that are slim.

I might just need to swallow my medicine and get used to a shallower keyboard, though I will admit the keyboards on the ThinkPad series don't seem TOO bad.

 

My friend Mike might honestly know something about putting a mechanical keyboard on a different base tbh.  I just don't understand why NO new laptops (other than gaming rigs) have keyboards like that.  It's absolutely baffling to me.  I HATE "modern" keyboards so much.

[jellysundae]

7 hours ago, bluetemplar187 said:

I just don't understand why NO new laptops (other than gaming rigs) have keyboards like that.  It's absolutely baffling to me.  I HATE "modern" keyboards so much.

Do you think it might be all about getting it to break and need replacing sooner?

Your friend might enjoy the challenge of coming up with a solution for you. 

 i don't suppose it will be long before Windows 7 is no longer supported either, my old laptop that I replaced earlier this year ran on Vista and Microsoft and just about everything else dropped support for that last year, I went for months with no anti-virus protection, and Windows 7 came out just a year after Vista, didn't it, so you're in a bit of a ticking time-bomb situation there..

[emily_speck_15]

12 hours ago, bluetemplar187 said:

I might just need to swallow my medicine and get used to a shallower keyboard, though I will admit the keyboards on the ThinkPad series don't seem TOO bad.

 

My friend Mike might honestly know something about putting a mechanical keyboard on a different base tbh.  I just don't understand why NO new laptops (other than gaming rigs) have keyboards like that.  It's absolutely baffling to me.  I HATE "modern" keyboards so much.

Honestly gaming laptops are just some really high end laptops.  I know as someone in a field where having a good laptop is a must, I got a gaming laptop as it had the best specs and it worked great for all my various softwares  

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/askjack/2018/jun/14/are-there-any-laptops-with-decent-keyboards

Check out this article about a couple options.  

[bluetemplar187]

On 11/27/2018 at 9:23 AM, jellysundae said:

Do you think it might be all about getting it to break and need replacing sooner?

Your friend might enjoy the challenge of coming up with a solution for you. 

 i don't suppose it will be long before Windows 7 is no longer supported either, my old laptop that I replaced earlier this year ran on Vista and Microsoft and just about everything else dropped support for that last year, I went for months with no anti-virus protection, and Windows 7 came out just a year after Vista, didn't it, so you're in a bit of a ticking time-bomb situation there..

Indeed, though honestly I'm not AS intimidated about the switch to W10 as I was 6-12 months ago.  Seems they've ironed out all the kinks there and there's a lot you can do to get W10 to run like 7, so the OS switch is honestly the least of my worries.

On 11/27/2018 at 2:04 PM, emily_speck_15 said:

Honestly gaming laptops are just some really high end laptops.  I know as someone in a field where having a good laptop is a must, I got a gaming laptop as it had the best specs and it worked great for all my various softwares  

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/askjack/2018/jun/14/are-there-any-laptops-with-decent-keyboards

Check out this article about a couple options.  

This is a great shout!  Thanks!  The funny thing is for me I basically only use my laptop for typing, netsurfing, and occasionally streaming, though I mostly stream through other devices now.  Of course if I bought a new laptop that wasn't prone to overheats like my old faithful is now...>_>''

 

That article mentions that business laptops are the best bet for keyboards which is both reassuring and makes perfect sense, as that's the route I went down to find this bad boy.  The other benefit to business machines is the lack of bloatware.

[jellysundae]

3 hours ago, bluetemplar187 said:

bloatware

Such a great term. But couldn't you use that for the OS too, really? Considering how my old desktop ran on XP, with just 256MB of memory, and now the OS itself needs at least 1GB doesn't it, so it can look all shiny and stuff.

[Duskitty]

18 minutes ago, jellysundae said:

Such a great term. But couldn't you use that for the OS too, really? Considering how my old desktop ran on XP, with just 256MB of memory, and now the OS itself needs at least 1GB doesn't it, so it can look all shiny and stuff.

As technology gets newer and better at doing stuff, the requirements it has to satisfy get higher.

Put it this way: Windows 10 can do many more things that XP could never have done. Modern technology is so much more advanced than what we had a decade ago.
Recently, I picked up a book from the 90's on computer knowledge, and it had a section about the requirements an average person's PC should have - it mentioned that 64 MB of RAM was sufficient for everything you'd need to do. Fast forward about 15 years, and that requirement has increased over a hundred-fold.

That said, I'm not a fan of how newer operating systems saddle you with unnecessary features that you either can't remove, or have to be fairly tech-savvy to remove.

[jellysundae]

4 minutes ago, Duskitty said:

As technology gets newer and better at doing stuff, the requirements it has to satisfy get higher.

Yeah, I know I'm being a bit of a Luddite here, and I can't deny that XP did look pretty awful.

[jia28]

Hi, 

I was going to say you need to invest in a laptop if your work really depends on it But you have one that you bought 4 years ago! no need to spend any money just switch to that. You will get used to it with time. 

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