Valerie,
One solution which may be possible, and a lot cheaper than buying a
new computer, is something I just did with my "older" machine (we're
becoming obsolete by the month....) that was getting slower and slower
due to my increased work with graphics. I had thought that 2 MB would
last me forever....HA! I bought a new hard drive (40 MB, with 7200 mhz
speed) at Staples for $129 (also at Best Buy for a little cheaper I
think). I also bought 128 of RAM for $14 (and an extra rebate of $7)!!
The prices ARE coming down.... I had a friend who works on computers
install it for me. I barter with him for other services, but there are
several good, reputable people out there. One fellow I've worked with
before, and have bought hardware from is Bruce Gram at Professional
Computer Group on Harlow Street in Bangor, tel: 947-5227. He could give
you an estimate of what it would cost. My computer now flies.....what do
you think of this for Valerie's problem, Jon?
"Valerie J. Carter" wrote:
> Hi, Jon --
>
> My six year old PC (Dell Dimension Pentium 100) here at home,
> which I use for most of my political work, has been a wonderful
> machine, but it is (nearly) obsolete and now it is driving me nuts.
> With only 16 megs of RAM, it is INFURIATINGLY SLOW and often freezes
> up entirely. Simple operations that take less than a second on my
> newer computer at work can take five minutes or longer. Obviously
> something needs to change. I don't have a spare $1500 or even $1000
> right now to get a new one, although I know prices are going down,
> and at some point I'll have to upgrade, but we're trying to see
> whether we can stall off doing this for another 6 months or so until
> we pay off some bills, etc. I have a very computer-savvy 23 yr. old
> nephew in Minnesota who has offered to put together a state of the
> art computer for me from scratch for around $1,000 in parts, plus
> shipping, etc., but I've asked him to hold off doing this for a
> while. Would you recommend this route to get a new computer, and if
> not, why not?
>
> In the meantime, would it be possible, and desirable, in your
> humble opinion, to find some local competent tech support person or
> company who could install some additional memory for me (as well as a
> Zip drive so I can back things up!) that you could recommend? I am
> loathe to let anyone touch this computer since I have invaluable
> documents on it which have no backup. I have an antiquated version of
> Word on it also, and the Word conversion program that you emailed to
> be last year, but that means that it takes forever to open up Word
> files too.
> HELP!!
>
> Thanks for your help and suggestions! -- Valerie Carter
>
> **Folkschool-list archives are at:
> <http://www.mint.net/folkschool/helpnet/archives.htm>
> Sponsored by Pine Tree Folk School
>
**Folkschool-list archives are at:
<http://www.mint.net/folkschool/helpnet/archives.htm>
Sponsored by Pine Tree Folk School
==^================================================================
This email was sent to: [email protected]
EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84vzQ.a9gqS3
Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail!
http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register
==^================================================================
begin:vcard
n:Munksgaard;Roxanne J.
tel;fax:(207) 947-1114
tel;home:(207) 947-6424
tel;work:(207) 478-1896 - cell / (207) 947-0998 - office
x-mozilla-html:FALSE
org:Dirigo Alliance;Vice President, Greater Bangor Area Central Labor Council
adr:;;82 Court Street;Bangor;ME;04401;
version:2.1
email;internet:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
title:Community Outreach Director/Organizer
x-mozilla-cpt:;-4288
fn:Roxanne J. Munksgaard
end:vcard
