My tale of woe began when I reading a review about a ''window washer''. It sounded like this would help me get rid of the spam. I went to the site and down loaded it.
The first day it worked fine. The second day it burned out the engine of my computer. I took it to the London Drug Store in Victoria and their technician was on holiday. One of their staff offered to look at it for a fee of $100.00 Canadian Dollars. It took him two days to tell me I needed a new computer.
This technician tried to hook it up to his computer because you can download a new engine. That did not work. I watched him try and I know he is trustworthy and has always helped me. So I know he did not lie to me about the ''window washer''.
~O I WENT TO FIND A NEW COMPUTER O~
I went to look over what was new in the computer lines.
I was surprised that they no longer came in ''packages'' and you had to buy each part separately.
I was very upset that the new computers don't come with Microsoft 98 plus but with the Microsoft XP system.
I did not need a new screen, printer or speakers so I was just looking for a Computer System.
I bought the new Compaq Presario for $1700.00 CAD. (I forgot that Hewlett Packard now owned them.) The Salesman carried our box out to the car and we brought it home.
It took my Husband about a half and hour to set it up. When we turned on the Screen everything came up in French.
I phoned the Sales Man and he told me he had heard of this happening but had never seen it. He asked us to bring it back and he would change everything over to English.
My Husband unplugged everything and we took it to the Store. We were told to come back the next afternoon to pick it up.
The next afternoon we went back and picked it up, brought it home and my Husband set it up, (we weren't talking to each other at this point).
It worked for the first night but in the morning when I turned it on everything was in French again. London Drugs Store has a policy that you can return any Computer withing two weeks at not charge.
My Husband unplugged everything and we packed everything back into the box, (you must remember to keep your box and the filling or you can't return anything). By the time we returned the Computer he could not stand straight and we were not talking.
DELL
A Friend of ours has a Dell Computer. He has owned it for five years and is very happy with it. So we decided to look at a Dell.
In Canada no Store sells Dell Computers and you can either order them on line or by phone in Canada 1-800-626-8286 or at:
In Canada: https://dell.ca
In the UK: https://dell.uk
In the USA: https://dell.community
I phoned them and ordered a ''Dimension 4100'' for $730.00 plus tax, (or£578 including VAT), but there was no shipping charges. I was given 90 days to pay so I sent them a money order because I won't give my credit card number out over the phone or net.
~O WHAT YOU MIGHT WANT TO KNOW AND I DON'T UNDERSTAND O~
I had to buy the monitor and it is lager than my Compaq one was, (19 inches). The Tower is white with a burner in it. The keyboard and mouse are white as well. Quoting from the handbook:
Pentium III/800mhz with 256 meg of RAM, a chip built into it so I get on the internet fast, aPCI64V card for sound, a DVD drive, CD-RW drive, a 120GB1 hard drive and 1GB DDR SDRAM Memory at 266MHZ.
~O IT TWO WORKING DAYS TO ARRIVE O~
It was easy to remove from the box because our Friend came over and took it out and set it up.
The first thing I saw was a black disc that said, ''Before you do anything else back up the programs that have been installed.'' I like that and it did give me a lot of confidence.
The video & graphics let me edit my photos and videos, (if I ever learn to take videos) and if I could play PC Games this would allow me to do it.
I have all of the discs in front of me, (they were pre-installed), in case I need to re-install them again. They include:
Microsoft Windows XP, a Restore Disc, Microsoft Money, Norton's 2000 Anti-virus, Ghost, a nero 5, (a burning rom), Soyo, (a Motherboard CD Manual & Driver), a Corel Picture feature, two versions of Britannia, Word Perfect, an Acrobatic Reader and more accessaries but I’m to lazy to go into the other room to get the discs. There is a plan for setting up the computer and a Manuel.
~O THE COMPANY O~
Michael Dell is the CEO of this Company and it is nice to know that if you go to Dells Cooperate sight there is a direct link to him. The Company is owned by the Stock holders who bought the shares that were offered.
~O THEY SAY O~
This Computer is guaranteed for 2 years. I can return it free of charge within 2 weeks.
There is a 24 hour help line. I haven't had this computer long enough to know if the people on the other end of the line are helpful, (our Friend assures us they always are).
~O THE MORAL OF MY TALE O~
Please don't down load anything from the internet unless you know what you are doing. What works find on one Computer may not be great for yours.
It cost me about $2000.00 to learn this lesson. I know I am addicted to my Computer and I can't read a lot of books, magazines or newspaper...Thank goodness the Commonwealth Games were on TV or I would have jumped from my balcony.
My Husband has a bad back but is now talking to me. Our Grandson got our old monitor and happily I am back with you!
- Please forgive me if I fill out any of the spaces below because I am a computer dummy.
©LL2002
