Calling all computer geeks

[HK phooey]

I have to decide between a Samsung Google Chromebook and a HP Pavillion Netbook by this evening. It's for my daughter who is starting high school in September and these are the 2 choices offered by the school. I've had a quick google but am none the wiser!

[david63]

No particular experience of either but I would go for the HP.

The problem with tablets (and iPads) is that whilst they may be "cool" they are not really suitable. Earlier this year we had a similar situation with our grandchildren. The eldest was told that it would be beneficial if she had a laptop or iPad so being a trendy, with-it 13 year old it had to be an iPad. There are several problems with using the iPad (and tablets will have some or all of the same problems) are:

1. Typing any amount of data is slow - unless you get an "add-on" keyboard.
2. Printing from them can, at best, be difficult and at worst impossible.
3. There is not a ready pool of suitable software for doing homework with.

As I say if it was me then I would go with the HP

[oldbluefox]

In terms of connectivity and keyboard I would agree with David, especially if it is to be used for schoolwork. I'm not a great fan of the touchscreen keyboard, far too slow compared to a proper keyboard although the tablets are more portable.
My vote goes to the HP Pavilion.

[HK phooey]

They both have a keyboard. The Samsung one is £5 a month cheaper but doesn't run Windows. I think we'll go for the HP, though the Cloud storage sounds good on the other one Thanks for your help.

[david63]

If it is a Windows 8 machine then it will have cloud storage "built in"

[HK phooey]

David, the blurb says "although not a dedicated cloud device, the HP offers a large hard disk drive."

[oldbluefox]

Sorry HK. I thought the Samsung had a touchscreen keypad.

[HK phooey]

Sorry HK. I thought the Samsung had a touchscreen keypad.

Sorry? You can pay half the rental for the next 2 years and count yourself lucky.

[david63]

Just being nosey - how much is the rental?

[HK phooey]

£12 amonth for the Samsung and £17 for the HP, then it's ours after 21 months. The price includes case, insurance/servicing and educational software.

[david63]

Depending on the spec it does not sound too bad a deal.

One thing to check (if you have not already done so) - once the 21 months is up are you still licensed to use the software?

[HK phooey]

'Subject to the necessary licence clearances' whatever that means!

[david63]

That sounds like a bit of a "get out" clause - I would ask for clarification as you may end up in 21 months with a bill for software in order to keep using the machine, or worse still - have to buy another one.

[Meg 50]

have you checked online for places that sell them - just in case there's a cheaper option?

[Andrea S]

HK,

David mentioned the disadvantages of typing and printing.

I have the I Pad and bought the keyboard plus I use a WI FI printer.

There is quite a choice of printer and I went for the HP which so far has been ok,

As long as it is easy I can manage to use it. !!!!

[Andrea S]

HK, After seeing Megs note have you checked with your mobile phone company. They usually have some decent deals.

[Kendhni]

I would also go for the HP ... There are some well documented issues with the ChromeBook

[HK phooey]

We went for the HP, the absolute decider was that the other one needed wifi to access anything and my daughter can't pick up wifi in her bedroom. I didn't want to buy one elsewhere, even if it saved a few quid as I couldn't be doing with faffing around with the licences. Speaking of which, Paul had ONE question to ask before he signed up, the one David said to ask, after standing in the queue for 20 minutes he forgot!

[Silver_Shiney]

A little while ago, my Virgin security software started reporting that it had intercepted an attempt to lift my credit card details whenever I was on the web. It didn't matter if I was using Firefox (preferrred) or IE10.

Then Firefox started displaying some web pages in a strange way. This site, for example, had the navigation button at the bottom right of the screen turn into a drop-down list. The BBC news website would be all over the place. Those are the two sites I use most.

I've done security scans, checked my cookies for anything untoward and deleted loads that I didn't recognise. No change.

My SIL, who lives upstairs and uses my router via wifi, says that he can tell when I switch on because the bandwidth suddenly decreases and he thinks the PC had been hijacked by a robot.

In the end, I thought I would reformat the HDD and reinstall from scratch. One day on, and visiting only here, the BBC and eBay, I'm still getting the security warning.

Could this be a "false positive" from my security software? It's becoming rather annoying. So far, the websites are displaying properly.

[Meg 50]

have you changed your passwords?

have you removed all your temp files?

have you run a spybot as well as a security scan?


I remove all my cookies bar about a dozen every week

[Silver_Shiney]

Hi Meg

Must admit, I haven't change passwords but, on those websites that need them, the problem started before I commenced using those sites.

When I backed up all my data before reformatting, I was careful not to copy back the cookies.

The security software is supposed to include a spybot detector.

[Meg 50]

probably grandma, suck eggs.....

But might it be worth downloading another security thingy and an ad/spyware thingy as a second opinion?

you can always remove them directly after

[Silver_Shiney]

could well be, Meg, but at the moment I've giving up the will to live. Strangely, though, since I posted the question, the warning hasn't appeared!!

I've also partitioned the HDD and installed Ubuntu as a dual-boot system, and may start using that for web access. I've got too much invested in Windows software to change completely and, besides, work may be installed software for me to be able to access the office data from home, so I need Microsoft's "finest"

[royalprincess]

Sorry I don't get all this computer and tablets for school. What's wrong with pen and paper for school. It worked fine for most of us back when computers didn't exist. All our homework was done at the library where there was an accurate wealth of research but maybe I'm old fashioned or just old.

[Quizzical Bob]

Sorry I don't get all this computer and tablets for school. What's wrong with pen and paper for school. It worked fine for most of us back when computers didn't exist. All our homework was done at the library where there was an accurate wealth of research but maybe I'm old fashioned or just old.

I totally agree. We are raising a generation who cannot think for themselves. Ban all calculators and computer-related equipment.