The best computer I ever had.

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The c64. Oh the memories, Q-link, BBSes, dot matrix printers. Yes the equipment was slow, yest it was very basic, but it worked. Every.Single.Time. For over 15 years, 10 of which seen heavy use.. Still works.

Couldn't get a virus, instant on, cutting edge at the time. all with 64k of memory. Sure it was very limited by todays standards, but what it could do it did well.

Man I am fed up with the junk computers, and their junk operating systems. Buggy software and all.

The Commodore 64 was my word processor, gaming computer, BBS machine, you name it.

I like the current machines, I respect what they can do. But the more progress we make it seems we lose sight of bullet proof operation, which the C64 Had.

Rant over. Maybe its the fact I have two newer dells....or is it the lead free solder? I dont know, but I just want stuff to work.

Are Macs any better? I just want something that works.

P.S. I hate windows 10. How can something run so slow. Maybe its my computer or my internet causing the bottleneck, but its ridiculous.
 
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I had Atari 800XL with cassette tape as mass data storage in my early teenage years. I swear, waiting for games/programs to load and/or error-out gave me early grey hair.

I later upgraded to Commodore Amiga 500. Since it used 3.5" disks, it was much faster, but it was pretty buggy. The games did work well for the most part. The Workbench OS was junk.

I'll take my current W7 Lenovo notebook over those two any day. But they do have some sentimental value.
 
Originally Posted By: simple_gifts
Linux works.

Buy a business class machine from a reseller and load it; end of problem.


I do exactly this. My machine could be yours. Wipe Windows.
 
Oh yeah, I remember the C64 days. Even got a bunch of disks kicking around, I wonder if they still work. Anyway, no problems with Windows 10 here. I have an SSD drive so it boots up pretty quickly.
 
I do remember the extremely long load times on the c64. I would often have a magazine or book to read while it was loading LOL.

And I don't consider myself one of these people that longs for the good old days. Cuz truthfully the good old days weren't that great at least not for me. This is an amazing time we live in I couldn't imagine not having the technology we have.

But it seems that a lot of companies whether it's Appliance companies Automotive makers ect.. have no business trying to push the envelope when they can't even meet the status quo.

I mean does a manufacturer really need to be making an eight or nine speed automatic transmission when they can't even make a reliable four 5 or 6 Speed?

Maybe it's just my mood 2018 has already started off with a lot of equipment failures and problems around their household and this cold winter is starting to get on me I'm becoming a crabby sort.

I just want stuff to work. In the Commodore 64 did work albeit very slowly and with a lot of limitations but what it was able to do it did well every single time
 
Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
I had Atari 800XL with cassette tape as mass data storage in my early teenage years. I swear, waiting for games/programs to load and/or error-out gave me early grey hair.

I later upgraded to Commodore Amiga 500. Since it used 3.5" disks, it was much faster, but it was pretty buggy. The games did work well for the most part. The Workbench OS was junk.

I'll take my current W7 Lenovo notebook over those two any day. But they do have some sentimental value.


I remember when I upgraded from a 1200 baud modem on the c64 to a 2400 baud modem on our first PC. Man I was burning up those bbs's at that point.

Then after some saving and scrimping I upgraded the 2400 baud modem to a 14 4K modem. Never thought I would need anything more.

I really miss the BBS era.
 
Originally Posted By: Papa Bear
Originally Posted By: Wolf359
Oh yeah, I remember the C64 days. Even got a bunch of disks kicking around,


5 1/4s ??


Yeah, notched too, double sided. No C64 or 1541 drive though. I didn't think the drive was that slow loading. Now if you had the tape drive, that was slow.
 
Analogy here: people buy a GM product in the early 80's and it is klunky. They hear there is a new model coming out that is better, and it is but after a while GM stops making parts for it and forces you to buy a new car, which sadly is slower and more difficult to drive than the previous model, and you wish you still could have your old model, but there are no parts. Then they release a new car and it is great you buy it because those are the cars that everyone drives at work. Maintenance is minimal, then you find they moved all the controls around and gave it a new name; You learn all those controls and GM decides they will take your car from you at night and replace with a different car which isn't as good. You spend all your time researching the internet and come to the conclusion you can thwart their taking your car by hiding in the garage @ night.

Why in anyone's name would you buy another GM?

It is now close to 40 years into the PC era (or post PC) I'm thankful that MS got my parents onto the internet easily; but as things are now, it is the last thing I would recommend for anyone to rely on. EVERY person I have set up with linux from windows has never gone back (probably 4)

Our desktop manager who manages 13,000 PCs said "Just by a Mac" when our admin aide asked for a home computer recommendation.

I honed my skills on a //e with Applied Engineering add in cards and ProDos; I miss the old days too....

BTW: Prodos supported 31 character file names; apparently something MS still struggles with
 
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Originally Posted By: 5AcresAndAFool
I remember when I upgraded from a 1200 baud modem on the c64 to a 2400 baud modem on our first PC. Man I was burning up those bbs's at that point.

By comparison, the read/write speed of Atari's cassette player was 600 baud, and no error correction of any kind, so if there was an imperfection on the tape, you were screwed.
smile.gif
 
Originally Posted By: 5AcresAndAFool


But it seems that a lot of companies whether it's Appliance companies Automotive makers ect.. have no business trying to push the envelope when they can't even meet the status quo.

I mean does a manufacturer really need to be making an eight or nine speed automatic transmission when they can't even make a reliable four 5 or 6 Speed?


You pay for it if you want it. It isn't lack of capability, it is price-point.

Appliances? Buy Miele or perhaps some 2nd hand commercial-grade stuff if price point dictates. That's become my conclusion, because everything else is a cost-cut gamble.

Transmissions? Same deal. The ZF 8spd unit has been excellent in basically everything it is fitted to, but most of the vehicles have been quite expensive. You don't see that same sort of reliability with their 9spd unit. Honda couldn't build an auto that would stay together behind a V6 when most others were having no issues. It isn't the number of gears that's the issue, it's the engineering budget and price point.
 
Originally Posted By: 5AcresAndAFool


Are Macs any better? I just want something that works.

P.S. I hate windows 10. How can something run so slow. Maybe its my computer or my internet causing the bottleneck, but its ridiculous.


Im typing this from a late 2010 MacBook Air with a C2D processor.

Yes, they are usable longer, and seem to be better built.

Lots of the issue I think is in cheapening of components to hit a price point with some Windows laptops, and, the fact that patch after patch seems to affect Windows.

I have an HP laptop at work, and was very pleased with it (running W7) but it has gotten progressively slower. Its maybe 3 years old...

Yet I can do everything and more, with better security, on this computer which is 7.5 years old... Original battery too. I may take it in for a battery replacement for full disclosure. Its reported at 82% health...
 
And so here I sit with XP Pro on this machine (HP xw4400 Workstation) and Win 7 on another similar machine. Both work well, have very nice sound sub-systems (I edit audio a fair amount). I can run my legacy software which would cost more to upgrade than a slew of 'puters ... Autocad and Arcview are not cheap to upgrade and the older versions work fine, for me
smile.gif


No more updates for XP Pro - yeah
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I have had very good service from slightly out of date workstations. Anything rated for Autocad seems to be pretty bullet proof
smile.gif


I use SpyBot and Malware Bytes for my dual AV programs (they get along). Stay the heck away from Norton or the like. Run SSD drives, and they are quick enough. Not instant on, but not enough time to get a cup of coffee either
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Run uBlock Origin and Privacy Badger on my browsers to keep the overhead to a minimum
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Don't go near Chrome unless I really need to ...

Never use IE
frown.gif


Have your browser empty the cache on close. No auto-load for overheady email services, etc.

Get a well rated workstation built to commercial specs (used) and back down from Win 10 ...

Oh, and to put this in perspective, I started on an Atari 400 that we hot rod'd some. Went all the way to Atari 2600 before making the jump to a PC.

Ran DEC PDP8's and PDP11's at work at the time, and integrated the offices first IBM PC. Went as far as doing network integration designs and FSR's before retirement. So been down this road some. You can get lost in latest O/S from Redmond...

And rent to use software - not happening around here
frown.gif
 
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Originally Posted By: JHZR2
Originally Posted By: 5AcresAndAFool


Are Macs any better? I just want something that works.

P.S. I hate windows 10. How can something run so slow. Maybe its my computer or my internet causing the bottleneck, but its ridiculous.


Im typing this from a late 2010 MacBook Air with a C2D processor.

Yes, they are usable longer, and seem to be better built.

Lots of the issue I think is in cheapening of components to hit a price point with some Windows laptops, and, the fact that patch after patch seems to affect Windows.

I have an HP laptop at work, and was very pleased with it (running W7) but it has gotten progressively slower. Its maybe 3 years old...

Yet I can do everything and more, with better security, on this computer which is 7.5 years old... Original battery too. I may take it in for a battery replacement for full disclosure. Its reported at 82% health...


Yup, I'm typing this from a mid-2010 Mac Pro... Upgraded it with an SSD, 16GB of RAM, may toss a new graphics card in it shortly. Running High Sierra and it works flawlessly.
 
Linux is good, but there is a learning curve for those moving from Windows. I run a dual boot Win 10/Linux Mint 18.2 x64 Acer that is several years old.But, I have upgraded the RAM and Disk Drive and it runs pretty fast. Faster on Linux Mint.
 
My best computer is now a Raspberry Pi hooked up to my living room TV. I have a "high-performance" desktop PC that runs Windows 7 and Ubuntu MATE, and it's great for what it is. I also have a laptop that runs Windows 7, and it works pretty well. I used to have a laptop that ran Windows 10, but I gave it away because I hated it so much. The Raspberry has 90% of the function of the desktop PC, but with 90% less bloat and for 90% less cost. It only uses about 7 watts of power, versus up to 700 watts for the PC. I like efficiency.
 
On an older machine, Linux is pretty hard to beat. I have set up several of them now, and have done quite a few Win 10 installations. A good friend taught me the tricks to get Win 10 to run well. It can be a royal PITA to set up and get it working properly if you suffer from the slightest bit of OCD. I have an old machine my wife uses to keep in touch with my son on deployment running Linux Cinnamon 18.3. It is the most problem free computer we have, including one of the newest offerings from Dell running Win 10 Pro.
 
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