Upgrading my Computer Capability Chapter 2 (or so)
Chapter 2 (or so) Power On
Things from my computer upgrade started coming in this week. The MSOffice Student SW package came in Tuesday via DHL. Then on Wednesday the Computer came in. Then, finally, today Friday 2/25/08, the monitor came in. Got them plugged in and ‘on’ and ‘wow’. Just think about ‘do you know how it feels when you get rid of the old bald tires on your motorcycle and put on brand new tires”? But let me digress.
Among other things I have been working away on my ol’ HP, and studying how I would rearrange my little office. But not doing much ‘rearranging’. As things came in 1 by 1, on the DHL truck, I was excited with anticipation. When the computer came in I did not see any ‘computer manual’. You know, how to use it, how does it work, etc.?. This bothered me somewhat, specially when the big plastic fold out, ‘how to hook it up in 5 different languages’ said, look in your computer manual to see how it works (MOL).
Finally the monitor came in today, and still no manual. So - - - my 1st call to Tech support… ‘where is my manual, that is referred to in the set up card?’ After many pauses, out there in India, it was something like ‘well we don’t supply those any more, you can get them online, or they are stored on your hardrive’. But I am old fashioned and I like to flip through the manual before I do anything. Sorry. I end with, ‘well put that in your book’. And yes he would be glad to… and let the management know that I was not happy because I did not have a paper manual. So now Dell will have to think of cutting down another tree to for a manual.
I decided to set it up on the dining room table where I had plenty of room. I would not have to cram it into a corner when looking for places to plug things in. My wife happened to be gone, so I knew I had at least a few hours. It went together pretty easy, just the monitor, keyboard, and mouse.
I turned on the power and bingo!. Just like there was a little robot in there getting things going. The pages coming to the desktop looked like a power point presentation, as the bar on the bottom progressed from left to right. After I accepted several ‘very legal’ agreements (you read all of those before accepting them don’t you?), things were looking really FANCY.
I wandered around quite a bit, getting used to the Vista differences in the desktop. And there are many. But seemed OK. So far I was picking it up pretty easy. It came to mind though, that someone not familiar with computers and Windows would have a lot of trouble without an instruction manual. Google was very strong on the desktop, wanting to put all kinds of sidebars and desktops on. I am still not sure which is where but, have decided it can be straightened out later. Lo and behold, the Computer manual was on the HD. Not just the help screen/menu, but the manual. At first glance it looks pretty good. Assuming, if you are having trouble, you can get to it. I found the Vista games, wow!!!!. I don’t know what games XP had, but compared to W98 10 years ago, wow!. Even chess. Wait till my nephew’s son Kendal comes over and fires this chess game up. He will be impressed.
As I suspected the Photo stuff seemed very powerful. So I loaded my 2007 Alaska Oregon pictures (178) stored on my 1998 HP Windows, onto my flash drive and plugged it in. . . to the FRONT of the Dell computer. . nice. And like magic, even though it was a folder down it picked them up and was easy to get into a slide show. On the 19 inch monitor, I thought I was watching TV from back just a few years ago.
Next I loaded the MSOffice Student SW (357 Meg or so whew!). Wow, will the Rails and Trails guys be impressed with this. Excel, Word, Power Point . . . and some other stuff I am not familiar with. The most trouble I had was opening up the MSOffice Student plastic box. The single CD was inside a box with 2 pieces of paper to buy more stuff. The box was a puzzle, to me, in itself. Before I got a hammer, I finally gave up, . I gave it to my wife. After fiddling around for some time she finally figured it out. Wow, such a fancy box for 1 lousy CD.
Overall, so far, it is a BIG WOW!. What a change from working along with my ol’ 1998 HP with Windows 98 and popping into this Dell Inspiron 530 with Vista. Like I said earlier… it is like that feeling you get from the feel of a new set of treads on your motorcycle after slowly wearing out the old set with many enjoyable miles of riding.
Now we are ready for the next step. Moving into my little office and hooking up to, printer, Internet. I am worried about the scanner, which has a parallel cable. As far as I can tell, there is no parallel connector on the Dell.
I am also trying to think of some sort of a special thank you to my kids for giving me this great gift. I have a few thoughts in mind.
Things from my computer upgrade started coming in this week. The MSOffice Student SW package came in Tuesday via DHL. Then on Wednesday the Computer came in. Then, finally, today Friday 2/25/08, the monitor came in. Got them plugged in and ‘on’ and ‘wow’. Just think about ‘do you know how it feels when you get rid of the old bald tires on your motorcycle and put on brand new tires”? But let me digress.
Among other things I have been working away on my ol’ HP, and studying how I would rearrange my little office. But not doing much ‘rearranging’. As things came in 1 by 1, on the DHL truck, I was excited with anticipation. When the computer came in I did not see any ‘computer manual’. You know, how to use it, how does it work, etc.?. This bothered me somewhat, specially when the big plastic fold out, ‘how to hook it up in 5 different languages’ said, look in your computer manual to see how it works (MOL).
Finally the monitor came in today, and still no manual. So - - - my 1st call to Tech support… ‘where is my manual, that is referred to in the set up card?’ After many pauses, out there in India, it was something like ‘well we don’t supply those any more, you can get them online, or they are stored on your hardrive’. But I am old fashioned and I like to flip through the manual before I do anything. Sorry. I end with, ‘well put that in your book’. And yes he would be glad to… and let the management know that I was not happy because I did not have a paper manual. So now Dell will have to think of cutting down another tree to for a manual.
I decided to set it up on the dining room table where I had plenty of room. I would not have to cram it into a corner when looking for places to plug things in. My wife happened to be gone, so I knew I had at least a few hours. It went together pretty easy, just the monitor, keyboard, and mouse.
I turned on the power and bingo!. Just like there was a little robot in there getting things going. The pages coming to the desktop looked like a power point presentation, as the bar on the bottom progressed from left to right. After I accepted several ‘very legal’ agreements (you read all of those before accepting them don’t you?), things were looking really FANCY.
I wandered around quite a bit, getting used to the Vista differences in the desktop. And there are many. But seemed OK. So far I was picking it up pretty easy. It came to mind though, that someone not familiar with computers and Windows would have a lot of trouble without an instruction manual. Google was very strong on the desktop, wanting to put all kinds of sidebars and desktops on. I am still not sure which is where but, have decided it can be straightened out later. Lo and behold, the Computer manual was on the HD. Not just the help screen/menu, but the manual. At first glance it looks pretty good. Assuming, if you are having trouble, you can get to it. I found the Vista games, wow!!!!. I don’t know what games XP had, but compared to W98 10 years ago, wow!. Even chess. Wait till my nephew’s son Kendal comes over and fires this chess game up. He will be impressed.
As I suspected the Photo stuff seemed very powerful. So I loaded my 2007 Alaska Oregon pictures (178) stored on my 1998 HP Windows, onto my flash drive and plugged it in. . . to the FRONT of the Dell computer. . nice. And like magic, even though it was a folder down it picked them up and was easy to get into a slide show. On the 19 inch monitor, I thought I was watching TV from back just a few years ago.
Next I loaded the MSOffice Student SW (357 Meg or so whew!). Wow, will the Rails and Trails guys be impressed with this. Excel, Word, Power Point . . . and some other stuff I am not familiar with. The most trouble I had was opening up the MSOffice Student plastic box. The single CD was inside a box with 2 pieces of paper to buy more stuff. The box was a puzzle, to me, in itself. Before I got a hammer, I finally gave up, . I gave it to my wife. After fiddling around for some time she finally figured it out. Wow, such a fancy box for 1 lousy CD.
Overall, so far, it is a BIG WOW!. What a change from working along with my ol’ 1998 HP with Windows 98 and popping into this Dell Inspiron 530 with Vista. Like I said earlier… it is like that feeling you get from the feel of a new set of treads on your motorcycle after slowly wearing out the old set with many enjoyable miles of riding.
Now we are ready for the next step. Moving into my little office and hooking up to, printer, Internet. I am worried about the scanner, which has a parallel cable. As far as I can tell, there is no parallel connector on the Dell.
I am also trying to think of some sort of a special thank you to my kids for giving me this great gift. I have a few thoughts in mind.
posted by IN Tom at 6:02 PM
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