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granfire

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I'm Scottish on both sides. The problem is that the Clan MacThomas is a Highland clan, and the Clan Cochran is a lowland clan. So there's genetic self-conflict.
no more so than being 50% Mennonite - from both sides of the family. My grandmas were best friends.
 

Buka

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My fathers sister married my mothers brother. No, I am not making that up.
I know identical twin sisters who married identical twin brothers, nine of their ten children look almost exactly alike. Family photos are a trip and a half.

The tenth one looks just like the mailman. Seriously, no joke.
 

Xue Sheng

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One for @Dirty Dog

decades-of-corvette-mustang-3-series-and-accord-evolution-served-as-delicious-gifs_3.gif
 

Buka

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I need some advice from you guys/gals.

I need to buy a cheap laptop for writing. (cheap being a key word) Not going to use it for e-mails, it's not even going to be connected to the internet, I'm just going to use it like a typewriter.
(And NO APPLE products whatsoever, please)

Any recommendations or advice would be greatly appreciated. :)
 

granfire

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I need some advice from you guys/gals.

I need to buy a cheap laptop for writing. (cheap being a key word) Not going to use it for e-mails, it's not even going to be connected to the internet, I'm just going to use it like a typewriter.
(And NO APPLE products whatsoever, please)

Any recommendations or advice would be greatly appreciated. :)
We had good luck with Lenovo machines.
However, Xue von Sheng is the IT specialist.
the other guys close 2nd and 3rd.

You should however make sure that you get the good programs (Like Libre Office) before you pull the plug on the net.
Word processors - that make the writing life bearable - are expensive otherwise.
 
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Dirty Dog

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I need some advice from you guys/gals.

I need to buy a cheap laptop for writing. (cheap being a key word) Not going to use it for e-mails, it's not even going to be connected to the internet, I'm just going to use it like a typewriter.
(And NO APPLE products whatsoever, please)

Any recommendations or advice would be greatly appreciated. :)
I'm assuming you're talking about something for novels and/or screenplays. Which means you either need a printer, or an internet connection.
Dirt cheap, no frills, bare bones word processing only, THIS will work just fine. Chromebooks are Linux-based. Once you get it, you need to connect to the internet long enough to download THIS package. You really only need Libre Office, but it all comes as a bundle. And like all true Linux products, it's free.
If you're not going to email the files, then THIS will make you a paper copy.
Less than $200, delivered to your door.
 

Xue Sheng

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I need some advice from you guys/gals.

I need to buy a cheap laptop for writing. (cheap being a key word) Not going to use it for e-mails, it's not even going to be connected to the internet, I'm just going to use it like a typewriter.
(And NO APPLE products whatsoever, please)

Any recommendations or advice would be greatly appreciated. :)

Define cheap.

Chromebook is cheap, I'd go with Dell, but there are others. Need to consider screen size. You can also get a Dell laptop for as low as $229 with a Celeron chip. But as Dirty Dog pointed out, you need software for typing. and if you want to share documents with other folks you may need to get a version of Microsoft Word, but there is nothing wrong with the software Dirty Dog suggested.

But the cheapest way togo is a Chromebook, my issues with the chromebook is virtually everything is online or in the cloud. But you could also get a rather large thumb drive to save files on. But you would also then want a Chromebook with a USB port or an adapter for the ports they have that get you to USB.

Laptop you could get a larger hard drive, but then the price goes up.

I deal almost exclusively with Dell and Apple, but I have also purchased a few HPs. So PC wise I would stick with Dell and HP, if you go for PC over Chromebook.

It comes down to what you are using it for, and typing and saving documents is not taking up to much space so you don't need a huge hard drive. I would get more than 4 GB RAM, 8 minimum IMO. Hard drive, a 128GB SSD might be enough
 

Buka

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I really appreciate the help, guys, thank you. Here's some of my thoughts.

I only use Linux.

I need a 14 inch screen, or close to it.

I don't need to print anything.

I'll be giving my buddy the machine to download whatever has to be downloaded. He'll be installing Linux for me.

Once everything is downloaded, I will not be hooking that particular machine to the net again.

I may have to go get something else when the time comes, but I need to finish the book first. Although the first draft is done, it's still a long way off to completion.
 

Flying Crane

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I really appreciate the help, guys, thank you. Here's some of my thoughts.

I only use Linux.

I need a 14 inch screen, or close to it.

I don't need to print anything.

I'll be giving my buddy the machine to download whatever has to be downloaded. He'll be installing Linux for me.

Once everything is downloaded, I will not be hooking that particular machine to the net again.

I may have to go get something else when the time comes, but I need to finish the book first. Although the first draft is done, it's still a long way off to completion.
What kind of book?

And I know it’s none of my business, but if I may ask: why are you so concerned about the internet connection?
 

Buka

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What kind of book?

And I know it’s none of my business, but if I may ask: why are you so concerned about the internet connection?
The book is a crime fiction story, takes place in Massachusetts and Idaho. That's the genre, but not what it's about. It's about the relationships of the characters over a decades long period of time.

Brother, you can ask anything you want.

Whenever I write I want the machine to be a stand alone thing, not hooked up to the net. Just a quirk of mine. Came from writing a screenplay on an Apple computer. Got hacked right in the middle of it. It was a rather long nightmare. No more Apple for me, no more writing on a machine hooked up to the net.

I'm a simple guy. I have an old machine that's hooked up to the internet. It's what I use for MT, and to read about sports and movies. Period, nothing else.
 

Flying Crane

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The book is a crime fiction story, takes place in Massachusetts and Idaho. That's the genre, but not what it's about. It's about the relationships of the characters over a decades long period of time.

Brother, you can ask anything you want.

Whenever I write I want the machine to be a stand alone thing, not hooked up to the net. Just a quirk of mine. Came from writing a screenplay on an Apple computer. Got hacked right in the middle of it. It was a rather long nightmare. No more Apple for me, no more writing on a machine hooked up to the net.

I'm a simple guy. I have an old machine that's hooked up to the internet. It's what I use for MT, and to read about sports and movies. Period, nothing else.
I can appreciate that.

I’m just trying to figure out how I can steal your work, though.
 
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Dirty Dog

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Define cheap.
Splitting the tab at McDonalds.
Chromebook is cheap, I'd go with Dell, but there are others. Need to consider screen size. You can also get a Dell laptop for as low as $229 with a Celeron chip. But as Dirty Dog pointed out, you need software for typing. and if you want to share documents with other folks you may need to get a version of Microsoft Word, but there is nothing wrong with the software Dirty Dog suggested.
Libre Office and Microsoft Word are compatible.
But the cheapest way togo is a Chromebook, my issues with the chromebook is virtually everything is online or in the cloud. But you could also get a rather large thumb drive to save files on. But you would also then want a Chromebook with a USB port or an adapter for the ports they have that get you to USB.
The one I linked does have a 64Gb drive, which should be enough for a fairly prolific writer. That should hold about a thousand 500 page books. It does have 2 USB-3 ports. a 2Tb flash drive the size of your thumbnail is $30. I don't think I have ever seen a Chromebook (or any modern laptop) that didn't have at least one USB port, but you have no doubt dealt with more than I have. Is that maybe something done specifically by government purchases to prevent people from plugging in sketchy flash drives?
Laptop you could get a larger hard drive, but then the price goes up.
And up some more...
I deal almost exclusively with Dell and Apple, but I have also purchased a few HPs. So PC wise I would stick with Dell and HP, if you go for PC over Chromebook.
Also good options. I gave one of the Grandkids an HP desktop that I'd used for 8 years. Continuously. I never turn computers off. I bought a new gaming computer, so I wiped the HP, put Windows 10 on it, and he's been using it ever since.
It comes down to what you are using it for, and typing and saving documents is not taking up to much space so you don't need a huge hard drive. I would get more than 4 GB RAM, 8 minimum IMO. Hard drive, a 128GB SSD might be enough
Those seem like overkill to me, for pure word processing. Libre Office will run with 256Mb of RAM, though 512Mb is recommended. Why do you recommend more?
 

Xue Sheng

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Those seem like overkill to me, for pure word processing. Libre Office will run with 256Mb of RAM, though 512Mb is recommended. Why do you recommend more?

SOP here; Look at windows 11 specs, especially for RAM, and double it. As for hard drive size is dependant on how much he will be saving on his hard drive. He already said he will not be on the internet with it, so he will not be using cloud storage. Also not on the internet, downloading becomes rather difficult. But if he is running Linux, he can do what he wants, makes no nevermind to me. Only talking from my experience at the enterprise level, Windows, Linux, Apple OS. take it for what it is worth

As for not never turning off a PC, if it's Linux, ok, if it is Windows not so good. Windows degrades over time and needs the occasional reboot.
 

Buka

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My buddy back east just texted me. He bought me a new computer, he's sending it.

I didn't ask what kind, or about any details. I'll let you guys know when it gets here.
 

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