But
recently my old Acer has not been performing to peak capacity in spite of an upgrade to our internet. It’s not a lot of fun trying to do Zoom,
Skype, or other calls when the person at the other end says you sound like a robot
or there is a delay between your sound and image. Considering I spent most of
2020 and 2021 doing Zoom calls, I figured it was time for an upgrade.
My youngest son,
being a great tech guy, found me a Dell computer to order online. All I had to
do was buy it and wait for it to arrive. Far less stressful for a non-tech person than going into a store and figuring out all the acrynyms and numbers. I'm a word person and easily distracted by the shiny stuff rather than the important stuff. I was so excited to set it up and
reached for the instructions, just as a guideline mind you.
This is what
I found:
Thankfully, my old laptop still functions AND I have a smartphone or I’d be on my own!
There were two things I checked for before I even plugged it in:
- There are USB ports! I’ve heard from some people they bought new computers without. This makes my life 100% easier already!
- The keyboard is the same, just smaller. Whew! I once had a keyboard that confused the daylights out of me because it was in French!
Okay, so I
plugged in the new computer and… It talks! Next step was to find the volume
control because it also talks LOUD! That is in a different place on the
keyboard.
After dozens
of nosy questions, and all the “I agree you can collect my data that you will
likely collect anyway”, my new computer took a few minutes to enjoy a coffee and
get set up. Okay, I had the coffee. The laptop told me to leave it alone while
it thought for a few minutes.
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I have to
admit. Very fast set up. And now I need to return to the laptop to add all
those passwords, move over documents, etc. Funny thing about that. With so many
programs on the cloud, I’ll need to load less onto the actual laptop – even though
it has a great deal more memory than I’ll ever have!
Deep breath.
This is the part I struggle with the most.
Leaving my
old computer who has become like an old friend.
Yes, the new
one is streamlined, connected to everything I could need, and much faster. The
old one has been at my side on trips to BC, to the lake, wherever I may roam.
Poor thing should have it’s own frequent flyer miles! She might still make a few trips out to the lake this summer.
But the new
one…she calls my name. Speaking of. In a book I’m currently working on, the protagonist
has named her computer Mabel. Maybe…just maybe…I’ll settle on a name for my new
sidekick.
Any suggestions?
Thanks for joining me!
Diane Bator
https://dianebator.ca/
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Have fun with your new friend. I also have a new one and thank heavens it does not talk to me but could if I turned on the voice. My techs are wprking on accessing my Cloud
ReplyDeleteLol! Turning off the voice is my next project! Best of luck!
DeleteMy laptop is a few years old, and I still remember the change. I still don't trust the cloud. Although it backs up my work automatically, I like to back up my WIPs on a stick. I know the stick will not disintegrate without a trace. I also recently installed Windows 11 (a free beta test version) and I can't use some of my old programs. Bother!
ReplyDeleteGlad I'm not the only one! I don't trust the cloud either.
DeleteI want to cry every time I get a new computer. If my new one starts talking to me, I'll shoot it.
ReplyDeleteI get the crying part! We're easing into this slowly. No shooting so far...
DeleteI can commiserate. My 5-year old computer is slowing down. I hate the file transferring and cleaning out duplicates. The worst is buying new versions of the programs that don't gave good free versions and the old ones are not compatible with the new system. Keep on writing,
ReplyDelete