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That's the Way It Crumbles, Cookie-Wise

Nancy Hart said:
This is a fine howdy-do. I finally enrolled in Part D, after another 3 hours of double-checking. Did they say, "Thank you for choosing XYZ?" No! They said they will review my application and if it's approved, "Here's what to expect next." (You're welcome! See you next year.)

Now, in order to get 3 months Rx(s) at a time, I'll have to learn how to order using something like ExpressScript. {sigh}

Top it off....

I got an email from TurboTax saying their software will no longer support Windows 10. Period! I was going to order a laptop, mostly as a backup, but I don't want to do taxes on a laptop. So I'm shopping for a new pc. Mine does not even have slots to upgrade RAM for Win11, among other things. It takes me too long to make all these decisions.
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The only technology I like is my garage door opener. ;)
 
My Dell desktop pc has lasted 10.5 years so far, in spite of running 24/7 except during an uncountable number of power outages and flickers, and very little maintenance on my part. I replaced the coin battery on the motherboard once and cleaned dust from the inside maybe twice. It turned out to be a good choice ... until Windows 11. I keep expecting it to die any day, so I finally bought a Seagate external SSD (Solid State Drive) for backups. An HDD (Hard Disk Drive) would not last very long because I'm not very "orderly."

:rolleyes:
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The default setting is real time backup as you work. There is supposed to be a way to schedule an automatic backup only periodically, but I've yet to figure out how. :confused:

Then I spent 3 days shopping for a Win 11 compatible desktop. Watching countless videos about what are the most important features for someone who is not a gamer. I remember reading somewhere that it's possible to get the meaning of sentences when you don't understand most of the big words. That's what it's been like. 😏 Finally settled on a configuration using only integrated graphics, but with options that max out any component that might be necessary in the future, including installing a dedicated graphics card later.

It may be overkill, but I'm hoping this one will last another 10.5 years. It is still cheaper in today's money than the little stereo I bought in 1972, and I never regretted that purchase. Took me weeks to decide on that, but I had to shuffle through catalogs and fliers. The configuration I chose is sitting in a cart right now, waiting for someone to hit Checkout.
 
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I have been thinking about a new PC as well @Nancy Hart but even Windows 10 has a lot of stuff I will never use, and it angers me that Microsoft is pushing everyone to replace their computers. A lot of people I know have switched to Linux to get away from Microsoft but I don't think I am smart enough to do that. I will stick with my Windows 10 machine until it no longer works and will make my decision than as to what new computer to get.
 
Unless you have to store a lot of stuff right on your computer, a Chromebook is a good option. It stores things in the cloud, so it does not have a lot of onboard memory, but people can use one of those little stick things for more storage that they want to have at hand and not stored in the cloud.
They come in a lot of styles and sizes and prices, and are pretty easy to learn how to use.

I am totally invested in everything Apple, so it is not a good option for me, but I have a Chromebook, and I do like how simple it is to use. I use my iPad for everything, but sometimes some of the online surveys required the use of an actual computer or laptop, so I bought a cheap Chromebook just for that purpose.
It will do all the basic things that we mostly do on a computer, and does not have a lot of virus issues since google keeps that all up to date with their own anti-virus.
 
@Yvonne Smith:
Thanks Yvonne. I tried using thumb drives when they first came out. They had limited storage then and weren't cheap. It took several of them to do a backup. They make them with large capacity now. I kept losing them and they would get bent trying to push them in the slots so often. One video claims the Windows 10 backup doesn't accept them because they are not very stable long term.

Photobucket-gate has made me gun-shy about cloud storage options. I once had a setup that saved phone photos to the cloud automatically whenever you took one. It doesn't take long to reach a limit where they want a hefty annual fee. Too much maintenance involved to keep it to a reasonable size.

A system image created with Windows software yesterday was about 300 gigabytes. Similar to a full backup using the new SSD software.
 
I have never actually used a thumb drive, @Nancy Hart , so I have no personal experience to relate. Bobby has a lot of music that his brother sent him from their father’s record collection, and i think that this is where he stores the music since it is a really large file, and it seems to work fine for him.
The only thing i store on my iPad pretty much is my photos, and they are in the Apple iCloud, but also on Google Photos, and maybe even on Amazon Photos; so I can find pictures when I want to find them.

With my Chromebook, the pictures are on Google Photos, so accessible from there, and I have never paid any kind of storage fee for either google or Amazon photos.
You can get older or reconditioned chromebooks for around $100 , so it would not cost a lot to try one out and use it for things where you do not have to store something on your own device, and then use your older computer just for storing things on for now.
There are lot of good tutorial videos about Chromebooks that will show you what their flexibility is , and help you decide if one would work for you. Even the more expensive ones are under $500, so cheap for a computer or laptop.
 
I stay away from cloud storage. I have been using a third party software: Macrium Reflect Backup for a few years. I also use a Seagate hard drive to store backup images. It is more than a bit complicated. At one time we had 3 laptops, but presently have just one, that will be one year soon. Setting it up has been the biggest effort of all of them...but you are either in, or out! As of today, I am still in.:unsure:
 
There are two reasons my new desktop is still in the cart:

This pc is supposedly on sale, but it's one of those fake sales, where they jack up the price, then lower it back down. They say the sale may be terminated without notice at any time. More important than the price, are they trying to get rid of some outdated components? It's not healthy to think about these things. I should just roll the dice and never check again. I'm ordering direct from the company, not a 3rd party.

I'm still confused about "streaming." It appears what most young people call streaming is when you broadcast yourself gaming, to others over the internet. What I mean is just, say, watching live TV on your monitor (can you do that?), or live stream your bird feeder to YouTube. So I'm getting mixed messages about the graphics card. Some say integrated graphics is fine, others say even a bigger graphics card is needed. I still think it's better to wait and see. I chose an upgraded cooler and higher power supply watts, just in case.
 
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Joe Riley said:
I stay away from cloud storage. I have been using a third party software: Macrium Reflect Backup for a few years. I also use a Seagate hard drive to store backup images. It is more than a bit complicated. At one time we had 3 laptops, but presently have just one, that will be one year soon. Setting it up has been the biggest effort of all of them...but you are either in, or out! As of today, I am still in.:unsure:
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Me too. If it important it is on paper. I just picked up a new chromebook at walmart in case I run out of storage or battery on the ones we have now. I have two dead ones on the counter to decommission. Still have a desktop.
 
Yvonne Smith said:
I have never actually used a thumb drive, @Nancy Hart , so I have no personal experience to relate. Bobby has a lot of music that his brother sent him from their father’s record collection, and i think that this is where he stores the music since it is a really large file, and it seems to work fine for him.
The only thing i store on my iPad pretty much is my photos, and they are in the Apple iCloud, but also on Google Photos, and maybe even on Amazon Photos; so I can find pictures when I want to find them.

With my Chromebook, the pictures are on Google Photos, so accessible from there, and I have never paid any kind of storage fee for either google or Amazon photos.
You can get older or reconditioned chromebooks for around $100 , so it would not cost a lot to try one out and use it for things where you do not have to store something on your own device, and then use your older computer just for storing things on for now.
There are lot of good tutorial videos about Chromebooks that will show you what their flexibility is , and help you decide if one would work for you. Even the more expensive ones are under $500, so cheap for a computer or laptop.
Click to expand...
One of our daughters uses Chromebooks strictly and she loves them. She is all Google and everything is synced, so she can pull up whatever she wants from wherever on any platform. I think it is similar to what Apple does but much, much cheaper. If she is logged onto the pad and I call her, the call goes to her little computer instead of her phone.
 
Don Alaska said:
One of our daughters uses Chromebooks strictly and she loves them. She is all Google and everything is synced, so she can pull up whatever she wants from wherever on any platform. I think it is similar to what Apple does but much, much cheaper. If she is logged onto the pad and I call her, the call goes to her little computer instead of her phone.
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This is my thought, too, @Don Alaska , and if all my family didn’t use everything Apple, I would probably have gone with the Chromebook collection also. It works with the Fitbit activity trackers/watches, and you can get computer, laptop, tablets, phones, and pretty much everything else that Apple has, and most of it is much cheaper, and it is simple to use and very dependable.

My kids upgrade their Apple devices all the time, so Bobby and I get hand-me-down gifts; otherwise Apple would in no way fit into our budget. But since we all have the phones, watches, and iPads, it makes family communication work perfectly. My kids all have MacBooks, too; but the iPads do everything that both Bobby and I do online.
I do not know why some surveys want a person to use an actual computer or laptop instead of an iPad, but if they do, then I have the Chromebook to use for that survey.
Mine is really large and heavy because I wanted one that was easier to see; but I have been thinking that a smaller one would have been easier to carry around when I need it, which (fortunately) is very seldom anymore.
 
Filling in this blank space to close this topic, for a while at least ...

It paid off a little to wait on the desktop. They dropped another $100 off the price, and it allowed time to think more about the graphics card. I found a low-end module made for this pc, so I'm going to reverse course. Instead of waiting until later to install a card, I'll wait until later to take it out. I doubt it makes much difference, except the heat factor. Anyway, it's coming next Friday (estimated).
 
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