• got me a shiny new laptop

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    #460966

    I just thought I’d relay a few things about the new laptop my company bought me and all the wonderful things I’ve managed to screw up after just having it a few hours.

    No, I haven’t dropped it yet, but here’s a few…

    1. I am in desperate need of a mouse. I have already disabled the pad with my fingernail (necessitating much Garbette derisive laughing). Plus, with my mild dyslexia, I seem to have a problem with the left click button and the right click button because, sure, that’s how it is on a mouse but somehow my brain looks at it upside down, and you can guess the results.

    2. Hey I got the wireless to work! Now what’s this bluetooth stuff?

    3. It already has Microsoft updates? Scary!

    4. Kitty loves it. Loves it too much. I guess I won’t be able to work at the kitchen table like I thought. Who knew a brand new keyboard would prove to be so attractive. Luckily, I managed to find some scary sounds that go off so he stays away. For now.

    5. Do I really need a docking station? More like a cooling pad. Right now I’m using a quilted placemat.

    Oh things were so much easier when all I had to do is kick the p.c. to get it to work again.

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    • #1167493

      5. Do I really need a docking station? More like a cooling pad. Right now I’m using a quilted placemat.

      Is a quilted place mat really a good idea? The laptop probably has an air intake underneath for cooling, and putting it on a hard surface rather than a soft one is less likely to obstruct that.

      Ian

    • #1167515

      Me too.

      1. Mouse away, but remember that some (not all) touchpads are deceptively clever if you invest a bit of learning (I imagine you can reverse left and right, just as you can with a mouse). You might consider a tablet (e.g. Wacom Bamboo Fun), which may give you more flexibility than either the mouse or touchpad, and which may be a significant control asset if you have any sort of trouble with input devices. It might even pay back the added cost in bundled software, and if you learn a few tricks with it others will be laughing on the other sides of their faces.

      2. Tip for 64-bit: double-check all of your regular software, including freeware (e.g. GoodSync), as much of it is available in 64-bit versions, since that’s what all the new computers are. What? You didn’t get one?

      3. You may also have driver updates on top of those Microsoft updates, as things are changing rapidly.

      4. An eiderdown is far superior to a quilted mat. The cat will love it and you will be able to put your computer on a cookie sheet, or any flat surface.

      5. I suggest you review your workstation configuration and habits. I write this one day after realizing that the horrible backache I have was almost certainly a result of having too high a table, too low a chair, and reaching vastly too far for the mouse with an arm that has had a dislocated shoulder. Today I am doing well with a vastly more comfortable setup (but without having taken the exercise breaks that I admit I must take.)

      • #1167694

        Me too.

        1. Mouse away, but remember that some (not all) touchpads are deceptively clever if you invest a bit of learning (I imagine you can reverse left and right, just as you can with a mouse). You might consider a tablet (e.g. Wacom Bamboo Fun), which may give you more flexibility than either the mouse or touchpad, and which may be a significant control asset if you have any sort of trouble with input devices. It might even pay back the added cost in bundled software, and if you learn a few tricks with it others will be laughing on the other sides of their faces.

        Okay – here’s the deal – I tried my best with the touchpad, but keep I keep hilighting vast amounts of useless information, which delights Garbette, but frustrates the heck out of me. Plus accidentally opening things because I’m not putting enough pressure on the pad (hey, I have delicate fingers, so there).

        2. Tip for 64-bit: double-check all of your regular software, including freeware (e.g. GoodSync), as much of it is available in 64-bit versions, since that’s what all the new computers are. What? You didn’t get one?

        I don’t have any software to load but the stupid professional Office, which isn’t playing nice. I’ll have to wait until tomorrow to cal the tech people, darn it. The manufacturer loaded the wrong version

        3. You may also have driver updates on top of those Microsoft updates, as things are changing rapidly.

        Ja, I know. I was just surprised at the number of updates and wondered how long this puppy had been lying around in a warehouse somewhere

        4. An eiderdown is far superior to a quilted mat. The cat will love it and you will be able to put your computer on a cookie sheet, or any flat surface.

        I know I have to do something better than the placemat – I’m getting a docking center or something like that so I’ll have to see if it lifts the laptop up enough so I don’t need an additional fan going on.

        5. I suggest you review your workstation configuration and habits. I write this one day after realizing that the horrible backache I have was almost certainly a result of having too high a table, too low a chair, and reaching vastly too far for the mouse with an arm that has had a dislocated shoulder. Today I am doing well with a vastly more comfortable setup (but without having taken the exercise breaks that I admit I must take.)

        No worries here – but it’s nice to point this out anyway. Sorry to hear about your shoulder. I am looking into converting my “guest” room into an office and I’m keeping this in mind. Better a little extra work or a lifetime of problems.

        • #1167742

          I had exactly the same trouble at first with my touchpad (mine is an HP with a stainless steel pad) and whatever else, I think a very light touch is exactly what you want. Touch, don’t push. I haven’t researched it myself (I’m sure it’s covered somewhere), but I strongly suspect it is an electrostatic setup, and may depend to some extent on how wet or dry your finger is, and proximity alone may matter, not physical pressure. You had better give me a chance to look it up lest it become an urban legend, but give it a try. Knowing the keyboard shortcuts is another shortcut, so to speak, to input efficiency.

          Professional Office is fine as is. There is no 64-bit version.

          The eiderdown was facetious. The computer must have been designed for any flat surface, and if you have one that will conduct heat away from the site, that is an added help. If it really is too hot then hustle it in for a checkup.

          Edited to all:

          I find that a light tap is also useful for certain functions on the touchpad. If you use it properly I think you can ignore the left and right buttons entirely. (I may be wrong.)

          • #1168617

            I had exactly the same trouble at first with my touchpad (mine is an HP with a stainless steel pad) and whatever else, I think a very light touch is exactly what you want. Touch, don’t push. I haven’t researched it myself (I’m sure it’s covered somewhere), but I strongly suspect it is an electrostatic setup, and may depend to some extent on how wet or dry your finger is, and proximity alone may matter, not physical pressure. You had better give me a chance to look it up lest it become an urban legend, but give it a try. Knowing the keyboard shortcuts is another shortcut, so to speak, to input efficiency.

            Professional Office is fine as is. There is no 64-bit version.

            The eiderdown was facetious. The computer must have been designed for any flat surface, and if you have one that will conduct heat away from the site, that is an added help. If it really is too hot then hustle it in for a checkup.

            Edited to all:

            I find that a light tap is also useful for certain functions on the touchpad. If you use it properly I think you can ignore the left and right buttons entirely. (I may be wrong.)

            I disabled the touchpad but Garbette loves it. I now have the laptop set up on two stone coasters and everything’s fine. Once I move into my new “office”, I’ll have to bring them along. I just got a docking station – now I can have two monitors going so I can really go nuts.

            Kitty doesn’t like eiderdown – only eidermouse. Oops, eldermouse.

    • #1168037

      Kitty would really love the laptop if you attached a mouse to it!!

    • #1168102

      My touchpad isn’t nearly as smart as I had suspected it might be, if the manufacturer’s help file is anything to go by. It does, however, offer this interesting advice:

      Dirt and grease on the TouchPad can cause the pointer to jump around on the screen. To avoid this, clean the TouchPad with a damp cloth, and wash your hands frequently when using the computer.

      Well, it’s a stainless steel touchpad, and I can’t imagine my having a need to clean it with water when HP has supplied me with a very efficient chamois to clean the entire machine (so no one can dust it for my fingerprints and then use the result to get in via the fingerprint reader). Mind you, my fingerprints, toeprints, toothprints, footprints and, from the chair, b**print may already be on file in some dark corner. Man, does this surface collect fingerprints.

      The origin of my ‘proximity’ hypothesis, which I have abandoned, is the tablet I suggested might be of use to you as an input device, since that is how the stylus for that works. It doesn’t have to touch the tablet: close is good enough. After seeing a news clip of the President of the United States signing a treaty (viewed from directly from overhead, which is now a stock view for the photo-op) with great flair, I realized how useful tablets might be for individual work habits. (A mouse, which I find a bit on the heavy side, comes with the tablet in case you are still open to the suggestion, and I do not have a vested interest in whether or not you purchase one. A demo would certainly help if you can find someone, online or off, who can do a decent job of it.)

      I have a final suggestion when it comes to a mouse. Your computer is a laptop. For travel purposes I think a proper laptop mouse is much better than struggling with a standard mouse. My preference is for the sort that takes a battery and transmits to a receiver that you plug into a USB slot. To return to the tablet option, there is a different line of tablets called Graphire, and they are suitable for travel as well, with a small lightweight mouse along with a lightweight USB tablet.

    • #1168140

      …My preference is for the sort that takes a battery and transmits to a receiver that you plug into a USB slot…

      My wife tells me that she’d rather have a wired mouse so that she can fish it back when if she drops it on the floor

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