So, it's been a long day and perhaps I overreacted to the annoyance that is Microsoft Edge. I can drive a stake through its heart later. I downloaded Chrome, logged in, and it's like the E pain never happened. I still want to get Edge and its memory-hogging relatives off this tiny, precious little machine, but that will be a job for this weekend, because I have four glorious days off to mess with it.
Otherwise I like this teeny device just fine. It's not a true laptop, and the negative reviews on Amazon made me roll my eyes. You paid $199 for a laptop and you're bitching about the speaker quality? Seriously? It's a featherweight little gadget like a child's toy that has some laptop like qualities, and it is more flexible than a Chromebook, which can't do the aforementioned ubiquitous Windows. I could in theory do actual work on this, but that's not likely. But with Chrome as my default browser everything works fine, and I do have Office 365 if I want to write something in Word and save it in Evernote or Dropbox. Nearly all the negative reviews are about the storage capacity, which is buyer failure - didn't you read the specs? Also, if you do want to buy one, don't get it from an Amazon or Best Buy or whatever. That version will be loaded with crapware you'll have to waste time cleaning out. If you get it from Microsoft.com, the only crapware you'll have to wrestle is the aforementioned Microsoft Edge. Still $199, light as a feather and cute as a button. It's not a real, grownup laptop, but it's an awesome little thing for casual use. So far, I feel I got what I paid for.
Oh boy, thanks for the warnings. I keep getting more and more insistent notices from MS to installl Windows 10 on my 4 yr old HP. I only have that machine to run a tablet weaving program and as a backup for when my work computer is bogged down in the 50 updates that run everyday. Add to the fact that they force me to work off a network drive over slow VPN/DSL. It's amazing I get any work done at all. My DH got me new 27" iMac for my home use, so I'm not complaining (much). Here's to internet connectivity!
ReplyDeleteKimmen
Happy Thanksgiving, Catherine! Enjoy the days off. May you prevail in your wrestling match with the evil software!
ReplyDeleteAlways amazed at the people who expect a NASA level system for a couple hundred bucks. I got one in blue for my son (who has grown up with Macs) back in August. He is using it for school, and does just fine, albeit cursing the alleged humans at Microsoft who designed the whole Office Suite.
ReplyDeleteWe imagine turning on the lights in MS Headquarters requires marching around the room backward, touching various bits of furniture in a precise order, while never taking your eyes off the red stapler.
I've been wrestling with technology, too. I'd forgotten how much time it takes to get a laptop set up the way you want it. I, too, decided to pass on Edge. I'm a Firefox user and was happy to get it loaded with all my bookmarks. Just a few more programs, and I should be good for a while.
ReplyDeleteHappy Thanksgiving!
I think I will learn to like Edge in time. in the meantime I like Chrome just fine. On the laptop I can run two browsers though, a luxury you don't have on a little tablet. No one machine can do everything anymore.
ReplyDeleteI went to a sewing retreat a few weekends ago, and the woman sitting at the table next to mine had an EXTREMELY high-end embroidery machine. She was trying to get it to embroider a picture of a deer standing next to a waterfall on the back of a denim shirt. She worked on that from about 9AM to about 6PM-7PM on Thursday and all morning on Friday and was getting nowhere. Finally, the owner of the store where the event was being held loaned her a floor model machine so she could finish her project. They kind of figured out the problem, and the computer reading the software with the design in it wasn't "talking" correctly to the computer-whatever in the machine that was doing the actual embroidery. Had it been me, that high-priced piece of $#$%^ would have been sitting in the alley after the first couple of hours! Brenda in Iowa
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