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My brother is really starting to annoy me.

InsanelyApple

InsanelyApple

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Oct 26, 2010
449
0
Okay, so my brother has a 4-5 year old Dell laptop, and he says he wants a good laptop that will last him that long, but he said no Macs. (He is very anti-Apple for some reason.) It has to be a 15", 4GB RAM, at least 320GB HDD (no SSD for whatever reason), an Intel i# processor, and last just as long as his Dell. He isn't very tech savvy so he has me try to find something.

So I find this great Acer computer for 683 dollars, but then he starts complaining that it is to expensive and he only wants to pay 400 dollars (which confuses me considering he has about $900 in his bank, cheapskate.)

So being the nice brother I am (we are both high school/college age). I start talking to our Mom to see how much she is willing to help and she said $200, but only at his birthday about 3-4 months away, but his Dell is always crashing, so I am trying to find computers for 400 for him, but no luck with his specs.

I keep telling him that he has to be willing to spend at least 550 dollars for a computer with the specs he wants, but then he starts griping saying you're not looking hard enough. Blah, blah, blah.

I'm really considering saying screw you and find your own computer, but he would find some crappy HP or something then complain to me and Mom saying that I should've helped and this craptastic computer was my fault.

Gah, I'm just glad I got that off my chest, and thanks for listening to me rant. If any of you want to help my search, thanks, but whatever. I'm just getting really annoyed by him.
 
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Ask him to sit next to you and show him that what he asks is not accomplishable. It shouldn't require more than browsing through a few online stores. If he still don't believe you, then tell him to do his own research. 400$ won't get him a new 15" laptop with Intel iX.

This is the cheapest I found.
 
It's a no win situation trying to find the new laptop that he wants for what he wants to spend.

Just give him his best non-Apple options. If he doesn't like these, he can do his own research. It's the only way he will realize what's available.

Besides, if he gets your recommendations and it turns out bad, you will be hearing about it for the rest of your life :).

It just sounds like he is lazy.
 
you say you are both HS College age ... your bro sounds like a bit of a cry baby

Tell him to find his own computer ... then tell him you have helped enough and are tired of his whining
 
I love when people ask for help, then complain about said help. Hand hin your research, then tell him he's on his own.
 
Does it definitely have to be a laptop? If he doesn't want to spend much money and really needs a computer then a desktop might be the way to go. Even then, the cheapest I could see on the Dell website with an i3 processor was over $400.
 
My brother is really starting to annoy me.
Click to expand...

That's what brothers are for. If he's anything like my brothers (or me when I interact with them, and we're well past HS age) he's noticed this is irking you so is keeping it up for laughs.

Don't bother - tell him to do his own research.
 
Honestly speaking all of the computers you mentioned are junk. Is he absolutely set on buying new? I would much rather buy a used Thinkpad than any of those.

Also, what's with the iX CPU? Who cares? Does he game or do heavy graphics/audio work or something? For everyday tasks a Core 2 Duo is still more than adequate even with Windows 7.
 
He odviously thinks it's. Joke of a thing he does want the laptop but doesnt take it seriously, so nextime u tell him it isn't possible and he gives u a hard time just tell him to find his own laptop. Then he will take u seriously, and or just tell ur mom he is unreasonable that it is not possible.
 
If he is willing to do refurb, you can get all that for his price range. I picked up a Dell Studio laptop with a core i3 and a 320GB laptop for under $500 a few months ago. Check the Dell outlet, and some bargain sites for coupon codes, and you can hit it easily. I just found an Inspiron 14R with an i3 and a 250GB HD (close, but quite 320) 4GB for RAM for $549, and a 20% off coupon at Techbargains. Yeah, it's a bit over $400, but if he can't stretch that much, then he really is out of luck. I have bought two refurb Dells, and found they aren't quite as good a Apple refurbs, but still pretty good.

Dell Outlet Store

Techbargains Dell outlet coupon
 
eawmp1 said:
I love when people ask for help, then complain about said help. Hand hin your research, then tell him he's on his own.
Click to expand...

+1 I have friends do this. They want me to recommend them some computer, I pick them one and then they run off and get something else because some other friend told them my recommendation was junk and then whine because the computer they picked out sucks. (What do I know though, I only worked 10+ years in the IT field fixing Windows desktops and servers and did hobbyist development for Windows machines since 1999.)

Anyway I got to the point where unless its a Mac and they want suggestions on iMac, Mac mini, laptop etc I wont offer suggestions or help. Too many people want something for nothing, or want to drop $500 on a laptop and expect it to last 6 years. They also tend to go with the brands I fix the most at work and then wonder why their machine needs to go in for repairs 5 months after getting it.

Anyway OP do yourself a favor now and stop making suggestions, and make your brother (and others) do their own research. You will be so much happier in the long run!
 
Next time he tells you to look harder, tell him he is on his own. He'll come running back to you, but he'll be more understanding ... or he might just leave you alone.
 
My brother wanted once also, looking at cheep rubbish acer / toshiba netbooks.

I ended up buying him a macbook despite him bitching and carrying on i new the first thing he would do when he got what ever laptop. Porn then spyware = me fixing it.

He payed me back of course for the laptop
 
Just get him something used.

You can't get a good laptop which will last a long time for 4-5 years. You are looking at a really crappy laptop or netbook for that price new.
 
G-Mo said:
Why not fix the Dell (backup and reinstall to start) to get him through to his birthday?!
Click to expand...

Well I already looked at the maximum specs it can have already. It has

2GB RAM (Max)
190GB HDD (Supposedly the max)
Windows Vista (Doesn't want to pay 150 for an upgrade)

Plus he says he doesn't want to restore since he doesn't want to lose everything. (Since he is to cheap for an external drive or a flash drive.) :rolleyes:
 
InsanelyApple said:
Well I already looked at the maximum specs it can have already. It has

2GB RAM (Max)
190GB HDD (Supposedly the max)
Windows Vista (Doesn't want to pay 150 for an upgrade)

Plus he says he doesn't want to restore since he doesn't want to lose everything. (Since he is to cheap for an external drive or a flash drive.) :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Man, I love incompetent people.

Partition hard drive. Move files you need to partition. Boot from recovery disc. Reinstall Windows Whatever onto the partition Windows is currently on. Boot into that partition. Move files back to the Windows partition. No backup solution needed and you don't loose anything.
 
InsanelyApple said:
Well I already looked at the maximum specs it can have already. It has

2GB RAM (Max)
190GB HDD (Supposedly the max)
Windows Vista (Doesn't want to pay 150 for an upgrade)

Plus he says he doesn't want to restore since he doesn't want to lose everything. (Since he is to cheap for an external drive or a flash drive.) :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Why would you need to spend money to fix it ? Does it really "crash" all the time or is that something you made up ? Why not just look at the obvious first, like the source of the "crashing". Computers don't just "crash". Is it a driver issue ? A hardware issue ? Some kind of misbehaving software that's installed ?

Aside from hardware issues, crashes can be fixed without reinstalling the OS. Either update or downgrade the misbehaving driver to a version that's known to work, remove the misbehaving software or see if some patches exists for it (if it isn't malware).

Once you've gone through all of this and if it's still crashing (what error does it give when crashes), why not lend him one of your own Flash drives while you reinstall his OS from his restore drive or do like the other poster suggested and resize the existing partition to make room to backup the data (just make sure the OS restore from Dell doesn't just wipe the partition table).

Sounds like you aren't too computer savvy yourself. Maybe you should recommend your brother talk to someone who really knows how to fix this stuff.

Your "He has 900$ in his bank account" comment was also quite out of line. What do you know what he has planned for that money ? Maybe he's just not interested in putting it all on a computer. Not everyone wants to spend every last dime of what they have on plastic and electronics.
 
eawmp1 said:
I love when people ask for help, then complain about said help. Hand hin your research, then tell him he's on his own.
Click to expand...

WalcomTV said:
Ask for advice and then turn down said advice.
People that do this make me laugh.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I don't provide shopping services for people anymore unless they are serious about accepting the recommendations they ask me to make.

I remember when my parents bought a new house and dad was talking about getting a monitored alarm system installed. So I did the research, called up a bunch of alarm companies, ranked them based on their reputation, price packages and inclusions, how local they were, etc. I gave dad the name of a local company that could provide a pretty comprehensive hardware package and the lowest monthly monitoring rate I could find.

Then a door-to-door alarm salesman came by, and he bought their package on the spot. Worthless hardware that turned out to be problem-ridden (and so easily defeated that I showed him how I could disable the whole system with nothing but one screwdriver and 15 seconds of time), and the monthly fee was twice the one I had found.

I no longer offer shopping advice. He gets to find his own deals now.
 
InsanelyApple said:
I'm really considering saying screw you and find your own computer
Click to expand...

You know how they say "sometimes your first reaction is the right one"?

Tell him to go get ****ed. Then, when he buys a computer he ends up not liking, tell him it's his own fault, because you tried to help him and he just wouldn't listen.
 
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