New computer

[KK4JUG]

Well, it's official. Microsoft is abandoning Windows 7. Some things are being dragged out but it's pretty much circling the drain. I think I have found a replacement.

Walmart has only recently introduced their Motile (not "Mobile") "Performance Laptop." It has a 14" screen, 2nd Gen AMD Ryzen 3.5 GHz processor, 4 GB Ram (expandable), Bluetooth, WiFi, 128 GB solid state hard drive and a variety of connections (HDMI, USB 2.0 & 3.1 and C, Ethernet and HDMI and a micro SD card slot. I ordered it yesterday, paid $199 and it arrived today. That's with free shipping and next day delivery. The RAM is the plug-in type and can be increased, I haven't seen any specs regarding the SD card slot but I would think it could handle as least another 128 GB. I don't usually buy new product when the first hit the market but I thought I'd give it a try.

Is it a great computer? No. Is it a pretty good computer? Yes, especially for less than 2 bills. Fortunately, it doesn't come with a lot of bloatware but it does come with the usual Windows stuff (Cortana, Edge, etc.). It's light and thin. After a full charge, it said it was good for 8+ hours.

I guess I'll set the decade-old Acer Netbook (with Windows 7) aside and start using this one for my radio programming needs (HP 1 & 2) 436, SDS100, Kenwood, et. al). If it works like I think it will, I'll also get one to run the sound system for my band

 

[air-scan]

Well, it's official. Microsoft is abandoning Windows 7. Some things are being dragged out but it's pretty much circling the drain. I think I have found a replacement.

Walmart has only recently introduced their Motile (not "Mobile") "Performance Laptop." It has a 14" screen, 2nd Gen AMD Ryzen 3.5 GHz processor, 4 GB Ram (expandable), Bluetooth, WiFi, 128 GB solid state hard drive and a variety of connections (HDMI, USB 2.0 & 3.1 and C, Ethernet and HDMI and a micro SD card slot. I ordered it yesterday, paid $199 and it arrived today. That's with free shipping and next day delivery. The RAM is the plug-in type and can be increased, I haven't seen any specs regarding the SD card slot but I would think it could handle as least another 128 GB. I don't usually buy new product when the first hit the market but I thought I'd give it a try.

Is it a great computer? No. Is it a pretty good computer? Yes, especially for less than 2 bills. Fortunately, it doesn't come with a lot of bloatware but it does come with the usual Windows stuff (Cortana, Edge, etc.). It's light and thin. After a full charge, it said it was good for 8+ hours.

I guess I'll set the decade-old Acer Netbook (with Windows 7) aside and start using this one for my radio programming needs (HP 1 & 2) 436, SDS100, Kenwood, et. al). If it works like I think it will, I'll also get one to run the sound system for my band

Have you tried SDR apps and hardware with it? How is it performing now since its been 5 months since you posted about it?

 

[jaspence]

If your computer isn't too old and has 4 gigs of memory, it may be a good candidate for a free upgrade to Widows 10. Just before the lock ins, I did over 70 Win 7 upgrades to Widows 10 for a small private school. One option was to leave all programs and files intact, which worked on all but two. I had a laptop that belonged to me over 10 years old with 3 gigs of memory that ran great after the upgrade and change to a SSD. Most of those at the school were at least 8 years old, and they all ran better under Windows 10 than they did 7. Even if you buy a new computer, it makes a great backup, and $50 buys a decent size SSD.

 

[KK4JUG]

Have you tried SDR apps and hardware with it? How is it performing now since its been 5 months since you posted about it?

I have not tried any SDR programs. I have hooked up a Memorex CD RW and a wireless mouse but nothing else. I upgraded the RAM and added a second SSD.

First, I don't use the computer a lot. I bought it to replace the old Acer netbook with Windows 7 on it. I used that Acer primarily for radio programming and little else. It has Sentinel, Chirp and several RT Systems programs on. I used it for my personal Kenwood & Yaesu mobiles and portables.

In addition, I am the Communications Officer for the city's mobile command bus that has 800 mHz, UHF, VHF, air, marine and ham radios. (That's a photo of the bus on my avatar on the left.) I also use it to program the Kenwood UHF & VHF radios on the bus. We also have a Raytheon ACU-1000 and I used it to operate that. All of these programs will operate on almost any Windows computer with no difficulty. Because it's a relatively slow machine, I didn't use it for much else. The battery lasts 7+ hours which was another benefit. (We're re-wiring some of the ACU-1000 radio connections so I haven't used it there yet but I see no reason why it wouldn't work just fine.)

The bottom line is, when I bought Walmart's Motile computer, I had no plans to use it for anything but a replacement for the Acer netbook.

On a side note, jaspence, I was able to still get in on the free Windows 10 and installed it a month or so ago. It took almost 6 hours! I would try to upgrade the RAM but Acer says 4 is the limit and they don't know of anyone who makes an SSD to fit it.