In need of computer or working laptop.....

Gentlemen please have a heart and help this sexy women out. I havnt been able to post that much this month. Had a neighbor install and update hard drive and software. No good. Computer been hasnt been working for over 2 weeks now. I HAVE been posting here and there. With the holidays and 2 incalls bills have been. Wow. Willing to barter some of my preciouse time for a working not very old system. I would just nned tower. I jhave big moniter, keyboard, ect.. Or a laptop. Thank u

Unfortunately, there are as many people who say they are good with computers but mostly don't know what they are doing as there are flaky providers. Lots and lots of bad information and know it alls who really know nothing. They will often keep charging you time and materials to keep "fixing it" and never succeed so it is a crap shoot unless you have a good ref (sound familiar and even with a good ref YMMV). Hate to deliver bad news, but computer work is a crap shoot.

I'd be very careful with help from other hobbyists unless you have good refs on their computer work and their security. If I were you I would check out computers on Craig's list or somewhere like that and have them show you the computer working before you part with any hard earned money. Exchanging services for computer services is risky IMHO, but at least you aren't out cash you may not have. Again, have them walk you through how it functions and make sure everything is working before completing the transaction if you want to make sure you don't wind up with a letdown. Also, my rule for working with computer hardware and software is almost everything takes 3X as long as expected (wish some things hobby were that way :-). OTOH....

If the hardware on your current computer is OK, you can put Ubuntu Linux on it for free and do all the browsing, e-mail, etc... you want and it is free (except for the time to put it on the computer). The plus is that it is very stable, secure and will last for years without problems, but the downside is that it can be difficult to install and configure software unless you are very computer savvy. I'm using a Dell D620 laptop (~5 years old, worth ~$250) with the latests Ubuntu Linux right now and have been running it this way for over a year with no issues, viruses, malware, etc...

I do have a spare mini-tower with Windoze and would love to help you out, but I'm down here in Austin. Too bad. Wish I was traveling weekly to DFW for work these days, but maybe we could meet in Waco LOL

Good luck and PM me if I can help advise and maybe we can get to know one another sometime when I'm back up your way. I can't help myself for being a bit of a white knight when it comes to computer users in distress (it never turns out well in the end though) LOL

An idea that may help is possibly you could barter some of your time for a brand new tablet, which would be quite functional with a warranty (make sure it's out of the box, with the box of course! ) this would eliminate the question of someone not knowing what they're doing and working on your computer and also eliminates the gamble that as Craigs list. You could score a nexxus 7 or a blackberry PlayBook for as little as 200 bucks fully functional and brand new, I'm sure any hobbyist could afford that no problem. And they are very convenient I'm actually posting from my BlackBerry tablet now in my bed (wish u were here ;-)!! But alas I am in ohio or I'd be happy to pick up one and bring to you immediately for some of that precious time of yours. I have 2 desktop computers but I find because of the freedom of the tablet I use it much more than my 2 desktops, once you get one of these things gs you will fall in love with it and won't leave home without it!
Hope this helps!