I've had several computers and laptops over the years, starting with a basic 4M "dial up" over 20 years ago. The one I've been using for a few years is a second-hand HP i5, with fingerprint recognition and other nonsense, I don't use not even a password as it never leaves the house. It was a replacement for a rubbish Lenovo that my local computer shop sold and set up for me for £300, transferring everything over from the Lenovo. I back-up photos and mp3s on separate hard drives.Financial stuff is only on the separate hard drives. It needed a new mother board a year ago which they replaced at cost and lately I've got a white line a couple of millimetres wide down the edge of the screen. (only noticeable on my black desktop). The socket where it plugs in is a bit loose. On Saturday it gave up the ghost and wouldn't start. So I was already thinking about getting a new one. My wife (who wants nothing to do with computers), said "don't get a cheap one get a decent one you can afford it!" But I don't need an all singing and dancing one. Just to be able to send e-mails, access the internet, download stuff and play or burn CDs. For years, I'd used Excel to run my financial stuff, but once when changing computers Microsoft wanted me to pay for it again! I think it was around £80. I use "Open Office," a free programme which does everything Excel did for me. I looked on Curry's website. They've a lot of machines, 444. I settled on an HP at £499. I was going to go to Curry's today, but this morning I noticed the mains lead had come out of the laptop's adapter. It's hidden behind my chair and I was on my hands and knees looking for a sim card from one of the trailcams I'd dropped and I notice it. So I plugged it in and it was up and running again! I may still get another computer and copy everything over piecemeal. But at the moment I can't be bothered.
Hmm. I hung out until last Monday, then bought the laptop I mentioned from Currys. I took it to my local friendly computer repair shop to have everything swopped over from the old one (cheaper than what Curry's would charge). Also bought a CD/DVD burner (most laptops don't have them now) and a multi-function adapter as the new computer only has two USB sockets (the old one has four, I'm keeping it as a spare). Then found my remote control mouse I must have had for well over a decade was playing up. So bought a new HP one on-line, only ten quid. Today, my Canon printer I bought in May packed up. I'd bought it from Argos, so took it back (I hadn't got the receipt, but as I'd bought it on-line I found the order number). I was offered a replacement or a refund. Settled for a refund, which was £149.99. Could have bought the same one again for £89.99. But decided on a different one. Ordered an Epson ET-2840, from QVC reduced by £79 and I can get £30 back from Epson. It's been an expensive month. My wife talked me into buying a Ninja air fryer. "It's a better one than the one I've got" (and don't use). At three hundred quid, it better be. I think me buying a new laptop prompted the request, (I've been there before) but I could hardly say no, could I? I also had my car insurance and car service to pay for and I've just remembered I ordered her £40 worth of card stuff from Hunkydory on-line, the money for that I'll never see.
I've got to grips with my new printer. My only complaint is the size of the screen that tells you what you're doing. To read it, I have to sit down, not what I usually do if I'm printing stuff. It was a bit of a pain to set up. It's easy for people with smart phones (I won't have one, they control some people's lives). So I had to go on-line to find the drivers. These days you don't get a disk as most new laptops like the one I bought two weeks ago, don't have them. Also, I couldn't register it with Epson as their site couldn't recognise the serial number. I'm not that bothered. I bought it from my wife's shopping channel. It uses ink bottles so they say it has three years capacity and comes with a five year guarantee. It's wi-fi so one less cable to attach. I've kept my old laptop and the cable from the old printer that will attach to the new one, (they don't supply one as it's wi-fi but has a socket for one). So if I'm in that room upstairs, I can print stuff, if necessary, that is on the old laptop. My wife had a list of stuff she wanted printed off. It prints quickly, so that didn't take long.
The new Epson printer, I bought a week ago, offered £30 cash-back. But their site wouldn't recognise the serial number. I got sick of hanging on the end of a phone. So I wrote to Epson last week explaining that, I got a call back this morning and a very helpful woman registered my five-year guarantee for me. She also gave me a direct line phone number in case I had any more problems. So now I could claim my £30 cash-back. I had to do it on-line, she couldn't do it. After filling in my details bank account number etc., it asked for a photo of the receipt. Not a problem, but I had to reduce it to 8MB. It also wanted a photo of the serial number, "which is on the back of the machine." "No it's not numpty, it's on the bottom!" I had to position the machine half over the counter top in my "office" then lie on my back to photograph it! Then reduce it to 8MB before I could send it. I didn't risk turning the machine on its side, as I could have had ink everywhere. This is the best I could do, but the site accepted it. Anyway, it's done now and I'll get my £30.
