Cycling UK Forum

Read about the staff in a stores who clap to congratulate customers, how embarrassing for all, rather like being in the army
My smartfon cost €49,95, a offers one for €1600, what is the difference?

Mine always stays at home, is that normal?

merseymouth wrote:Hello all, I popped into Apple to see if I could get a new lap-top suited to my needs.
Not a hope! Too much stuff that has no relevance to my life or needs. Full of unnecessary Aps & links.
I want a basic machine that enables internet access, a good word processor, a sizable storage capacity for my photo downloads, above all an interface that doesn't require an IT Degree to use it.
Not much to ask, one that a fair number of us addled oldies might go for.
That doesn't fit in with the Apple business model, they insist that I must need an iPhone link, instant connection with an iPad which I don't have and much more of the same pointless dross!
They obviously don't think that my needs suit their remit. My money stayed with me. MM

I bought a 2nd hand HP Elitebook 2560P notebook from Ebay a few months ago. cost me £95. A more than adequate machine from C2012/3 Has a dvd drive in and you can get inserts from ebay to use another hard disk instead. Mine came with Windows 10 pro. I replaced the hardisc with a ssd and very nimble it is. My version came with a SIM card slot so can use mobile broadband thru 3G and also has a GPS unit. Maybe think 2nd hand?
Mine was a bargain as it also came with a carry case and the battery has lots of life left in it

https://uk.pcmag.com/laptops/20392/hp-elitebook-2560p

I would think steer well away from modern thin notbooks as I really wonder about their longevity?

Cyril Haearn wrote:Read about the staff in a stores who clap to congratulate customers, how embarrassing for all, rather like being in the army
My smartfon cost €49,95, a offers one for €1600, what is the difference?

Mine always stays at home, is that normal?

well mine cost me £20 incl postage from EBay. I bought 2 keep one as a spare.Have been very relaible so far. AND this the thing - I can flip off the back and replace the battery. WIth a modern smartfon you have to get out a hair dryer to melt the glu ( )

Never need to buy another with a bit of luck

Smartphones are just like computers.
Some folk need more features and power some don't.

Most of what I use a smartphone for requires a fairly top end device no more than a couple of years old, fortunately like cars you can always get a good deal on last years model.

I bought a modest quantity of Apple shares in 2001 and in recent years taken some profits. They have proved to be an excellent buy although recent performance has been rather painful. I have never bought a new Apple product and currently own one old second hand iPod docked in Sony music centre. For someone like me with fairly simple requirements and not swayed by the snob value of owning Apple products I dont see any point in spending vast extra sums to get the functions you can get on Android Chrome and Chromecast for much less.
In many fields their products are well overpriced but in the fields of graphics and music production Apple lead the field and I am sure there are others. I wouldnt be writing Apple off just yet.

Al

merseymouth wrote: ..... they insist that I must need an iPhone link, instant connection with an iPad ..............

No they don't.
We've had AppleMacs for years.

Mine is linked to my iPhone with the same AppleID, but Mrs Mick F doesn't bother linking anything - she doesn't even know her Apple ID on her computer or her iPhone.

We have an iPad that isn't linked to anything other than it having its own Apple ID so we can download apps to it.

I love my iPad mini. But the memory is stupidly small (caveat emptor but it was a gift). Unlike other tablets you cannot simply stick a memory stick in the usb socket. John Lewis and Apple themselves simply tried to sell me a new tablet.

Will Apple devices link up with non Apple devices or you "locked" into Apple's "system"?

We'll probably go back to a pc after our Mac finally dies - but it can't be killed now I've stuck a load of RAM up its chuff (literally - that's where it goes)

It's fine, but it's not the Messiah.

kwackers wrote:Smartphones are just like computers.
Some folk need more features and power some don't.

Most of what I use a smartphone for requires a fairly top end device no more than a couple of years old, fortunately like cars you can always get a good deal on last years model.

pls elaborate

mercalia wrote:

kwackers wrote:Smartphones are just like computers.
Some folk need more features and power some don't.

Most of what I use a smartphone for requires a fairly top end device no more than a couple of years old, fortunately like cars you can always get a good deal on last years model.

pls elaborate

Which bit?

Needing more power?
I write various apps both commercially and for my own use. Most of the stuff for my own use makes use of the graphics processor to run AI which older phones simply can't do.
Some of the commercial stuff I write works in VR/AR which requires graphically intensive stuff running at high frame rates so ditto (and presumably the folk that want to run said software will require similar hardware).

Good deals?
You can pick up last years high end Samsung for almost half the cost of this years.
Apple gear not so much but then tbh I don't use iPhones for my own stuff since it's a pita to get it running and for writing commercial stuff for Apple is the only reason I still have any Apple gear at all but then I don't find folk actually want it that often any more.

My pay as you go 79p phone that I have had for the past year does me just fine.
My £10 top up I put on it 12 months ago still has a few pence left.
I guess it is a matter of horses for courses, I personally do not need instant access to data and although am on Facebook and LinkedIn, use them occasionally and have yet to post anything on them.
What is instagram? I tried twitter once, never again!
I do have an iPhone supplied by my employer but use it for work only.

How did we manage 20 years ago with basic phones?
Looking at how people are now glued to their phones, parents at their children's swimming classes, families eating out, people sitting together in pubs. They appear to be oblivious to anybody and anything around them and might as well be alone in a room with their smartphone, their interactions with those in their company seem to be somewhere between non existant and limited.

Apple products rely on image as their main selling point and are overpriced for what they are. They're aimed at folk with more money than sense. Maybe their erstwhile customers have developed some sense.

wrangler_rover wrote:My pay as you go 79p phone that I have had for the past year does me just fine.
My £10 top up I put on it 12 months ago still has a few pence left.
I guess it is a matter of horses for courses, I personally do not need instant access to data and although am on Facebook and LinkedIn, use them occasionally and have yet to post anything on them.
What is instagram? I tried twitter once, never again!
I do have an iPhone supplied by my employer but use it for work only.

How did we manage 20 years ago with basic phones?
Looking at how people are now glued to their phones, parents at their children's swimming classes, families eating out, people sitting together in pubs. They appear to be oblivious to anybody and anything around them and might as well be alone in a room with their smartphone, their interactions with those in their company seem to be somewhere between non existant and limited.

The worst is when you see couples both glued to their 'phones