7/8/18 8:38 PM

I had at times let a whole week go without turning on my laptop even once. Some time even more than a week...

I browse the web on my phone. Post using my phone. Or I use my iPad.

Rarely I have a NEED to use my laptop. The time I turn the laptop on, it took forever! Half the time, I got impatient enough and did it on the phone! Sometimes finish what I need to do before the laptop fully awakens and be functional.

How many of you still use a PC to browse the ‘net? Or do whatever else?

7/8/18 10:21 PM

The ‘first Tuesday of the month’ was last week. Update day. Dang thing went in and changed settings, reliable programs lost their state, etc.

That might explain the forever-boot.

As for “how often,” probably the inverse of you. I like a keyboard. I know how a PC works in ways the phone company and maker shield me from knowing. Plus I have seen so many phones gummed up with terrible apps my philosophy is “I need a phone” surfing, the cloud,etc aren’t handy when I’m stuck. Not like I get stuck often, but sure not like I never get stuck. Clear? Here, I’ve got a flashlight. #humor

7/9/18 12:10 AM

My PC is a Surface Pro tablet, and I prefer the bigger screen when I have a choice at home, so my phone gets a lot less use. I'm also really bad at typing on a phone.

I also have an old laptop that sometimes goes months between being used. I keep it around for the DVD drive and some old programs.

7/9/18 4:50 AM

I use my laptop every day and it's my primary computer. I also use a desktop at home, though less frequently these days. At work, I'm on a desktop all day. I hate being without a real keyboard.

My phone gets used for calls, the odd text, occasional email reading and navigation. It also connects to my new Garmin 820 - which is weird - and has weather and grocery shopping apps that I use frequently. Unless someone figures out how to fit a full-size keyboard in a pocket-sized phone, it will always be relegated to a secondary role to a real computer.

Last edited by Brian Nystrom on 7/9/18 9:36 AM; edited 1 time in total

7/9/18 5:45 AM

My desktop PC has two large monitors attached for editing and manipulating images. Small screens and a touch interface are pretty useless for that sort of task. The PC is also my primary machine for Internet browsing and email. As a reasonably good touch typist I can bang out text on a keyboard several times faster than I can get get it out using my thumbs on a virtual keypad. I also use the PC frequently to download TV programs that I can't get through normal broadcast channels (the PC is also setup as a media server).

The laptop substitutes for the PC when I'm away from home on holiday.

The main uses for my phone are:

As a music player in the car.
I use it for payments almost every day - hardly ever need to get out the plastic card these days.
I check weather on it when I'm out and about.
Bird apps on the phone have replaced the paper field guides I used to use for birdwatching.
The mapping app on the phone (Locus) gets used a fair bit for impromptu creation of routes to cycle. I create the route using Locus/Brouter, export it as GPX, Bluetooth copy the GPX to my Garmin, and go from there.
As a camera that I nearly always have with me. Smartphone cameras are getting good enough these days that although I have three good cameras (Olympus Pen-F, Ricoh GR, Sony RX100 IV), none of them get used much any more.

7/9/18 6:47 AM

“I'm also really bad at typing on a phone. ”
“As a reasonably good touch typist I can bang out text on a keyboard several times faster than I can get get it out using my thumbs”

I’m a touch typist too. That’s 90% of my motivation of turning on the PC. But I realize half my “typings” are 2 lines long! It may take me 3 times as long to do it using my thumbs. But it still takes less time than it takes to wake up my PC!

My one new annoyance is the mobile version of some web sites assuming I’m on a tiny phone screen. So they “simplifies” each screen to just a few buttons and makes me go through gazzilian pages. When I’m on a big screen iPad Pro, it looks ridiculous!

7/9/18 7:08 AM

this fits me to a tee. although i my usage of txting is pretty regular -- but i want a qwerty keyboard on my phone, so there you go!

99% chance i'll be getting a <a href=https://www.cnet.com/pictures/blackberry-key2/>blackberry KEY2</a> smartfone when it drops on verizon.

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I use my laptop every day and it's my primary computer. I also use a desktop at hoe, though less frequently these days. At work, I'm on a desktop all day. I hate being without a real keyboard.

My phone gets used for calls, the odd text, occasional email reading and navigation. It also connects to my new Garmin 820 - which is weird - and has weather and grocery shopping apps that I use frequently. Unless someone figures out how to fit a full-size keyboard in a pocket-sized phone, it will always be relegated to a secondary role to a real computer.

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7/9/18 8:08 AM

quote:

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Unless someone figures out how to fit a full-size keyboard in a pocket-sized phone, it will always be relegated to a secondary role to a real computer.

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7/9/18 8:36 AM

Sites are overstretching their development teams, between website, optimized site and apps for multiple platforms. Take my credit union, please. 🎵💥 #rimshot

7/9/18 9:33 AM

I have to say the current and past HP laptops nearly never get restarted. Like maybe twice a year if I am guessing.

As far as Droid/PC, with my sight and reading glasses maturity, not to mention fat fingers... I prefer the Qwerty. When you see my posts with the 'last edited by' at the bottom, likely those started in the Driod. And got 'edited' later on the Laptop.

If I don't have readers handy with the contacts in, the Driod screen is challenging even with a 5" display for me. Aging body, aging eyes, yada.

The reading/sight issue is is two fold as well. Contacts in with readers VS no glasses where I have to have the qwerty closer to see than is comfortable to type on the wrists. My last glasses are progressives, I hate them so I am using just previous correctives, non reading provision.

I move them down my nose so I can read txt without getting a headache. Which is also two fold, clearer, but smaller. I suppose I should be grateful I can see at all.

The other sight thing I have noticed is ambient light makes a much bigger difference than it used to. And night driving glare is much more pronounced than it used to be.

7/9/18 9:54 AM

First choice is Mac desktop, distant second is an iPad, way distant third is iPhone. Laptop is never used.

The phones most useful purpose for me now is to display my continuos glucose moniter info and link it to my Apple watch, which is a dream come true when riding, to be able to watch my glucose.

7/9/18 10:09 AM

Rarely I have a NEED to use my laptop. The time I turn the laptop on, it took forever!

1. Not turning on your laptop will cause you to be backed up with software updates

2. Solid State Drives (SSD) boot up in an instant whether present in a mobile phone, tablet or laptop/desktop computer.

7/9/18 10:51 AM

Maybe my laptop's lack of delays is from it always being on. And my setting maintenance scheduled in the wee hours. Not to mention my prolific massaging of the registry and nazi like event killing, especially telemetry.

It is set up for crazy low energy use on battery, sans processor throttling. Not much processor activity when asleep. So at night it gets unplugged at full charge then put into sleepy mode only a few things can take it out of. Yada...

7/9/18 12:13 PM

Actually, I should say it's only my PC running Windows 10 that's slow to wake up.

I have another one that's still running Windows 7 are actually quite reasonable. So that one gets used a lot more, despite being older.

(it's the one in my apartment in the city. I'm only there 3 evenings during the week. But it probably gets used a lot more than the PC at my house in Westchester, where I spend all weekends in)

I do have a few NEEDS for the PC:

1) running Turbo Tax once a year.
2) download gps routes to my Garmin
3) act as a 2nd monitor when I work from home (I have a work laptop issued by my employer, but I can also login from my personal PC as a 2nd session, running different app)
4) as a keyboard "host"

Clearly, 3 and 4 are not NEEDS but nice-to-haves. While #3 is worth waiting for up to a couple hours for it to wake up and catch up on updates, #4 isn't worth the wait(unless I have something long to type, which is not often). A lot of the time, I just don't bother writing the post, or make it short. Life is too short to wait for Windows update!

7/10/18 5:49 PM

Back when the only advice you got from the company help desk was to restart your computer, I adopted a daily PC restart philosophy. And perhaps once a month I need to restart to get rid of some gremlin that really slows things down.

I live on my laptop with external monitor - mail, PDFs, word processor, and File Explorer open on one screen, browser, spreadsheet, and presentations open on the other screen. There is NO way I could function with just a phone.

7/11/18 6:50 AM

I use a desktop with 2 screens at the office. I use a laptop for hearings (where I take large pdf files) and presentations. Nearly all personal use is an iPad and phone.

7/11/18 8:10 AM

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Nearly all personal use is an iPad and phone.

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