| Pages in topic: < [1 2] | Purchasing a 2nd computer for emergencies? Thread poster: Jorge Rodríguez Rodríguez
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Mr. Satan (X)
English to Indonesian
Jean Dimitriadis wrote:
By wasteful, I was mostly referring to purchasing a second (new?) computer for the sole or primary purpose of "just in case".
Keeping your old computer around or salvaging a secondhand one would definitely not belong to the same category, especially if that computer is getting some real use.
Maybe you're right. Maybe it is wasteful to buy a brand new computer just to have a spare. Maybe one's better off recycling older hardware for this purpose, if only for the sake to save our environment. Maybe I was shoehorning my agenda into an unsuspecting discussion board. 
[Edited at 2022-09-19 14:47 GMT]
| | | | | Since the age of word processors | Sep 19, 2022 |
I've always had a 2nd machine for emergencies since the age of word processors.
| | | | Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 10:57
Member (2008)
Italian to English
IrinaN wrote: I refuse to use Cloud and cut it off to the maximum extent possible. I don't know what it does on the background, if anything. Matter of principle, naive as it may be . ]
At best, it's a trick to force us into paying yet another regular monthly subscription. At worst, it's a scam that stores all of our data on servers located we have no idea where, to which anyone (we have no idea who) have access any time they want.
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of course, I have a backup computer at home, only for working
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Metin Demirel 
Türkiye
Local time: 12:57
Member (2018)
Italian to Turkish
+ ...
IrinaN wrote: I refuse to use Cloud and cut it off to the maximum extent possible. I don't know what it does on the background, if anything. Matter of principle, naive as it may be .
This year several external disks I had for years failed to work, so I could lose the back-up data if I didn't have them on my computer (I lost some unimportant data though). Then I decided to use the cloud services for back-up. As for what they are doing on the background, it is pretty much the same with the usual telemetry if you're using Windows or Mac OS. And I am not talking about the optional telemetry service that can be disabled on your computer, but the other undisclosed telemetry functions that data-hungry tech corporates such as Microsoft, Apple, Google, Adobe, etc.. are using. They are also causing the use of enormous resources on the user's end.
| | | | | New translator | Sep 20, 2022 |
Samuel Murray wrote: Jorge Rodríguez Rodríguez wrote:
However, I was wondering if many translators have a second computer, just in case the first one stops working and has to be repaired. Computers (and particularly laptops) become old very quickly. So, if you were to buy a brand new one today and your other computer breaks two years from now, you're suddenly using a 2-year old laptop, and two years is a long time in laptop land. Wouldn't it be better to keep the money for the laptop handy, and then when you really need to have it, buy it at that very moment. (This doesn't help for e.g. if you really, really need a new computer over the weekend or you live far away from computer stores.) You can agonize over whether this or that fancy feature in a new laptop is better, but ultimately what determines the value of a laptop is the price. Expensive ones are better than cheap ones. So don't be too worried that you might not buy the very best laptop at the very moment that you buy it. Also, you can sell the laptop when the crisis is over (if you sell it quickly, it'll still get a reasonable price). The difference between the purchase price of the laptop and the second-hand sale price of the laptop is just a cost of doing business. Ask yourself: if you were to buy a EUR 500 laptop and sell it for EUR 300 a month later, would the EUR 200 make up for the fact that you weren't left stranded without a computer? Do you have a second computer just in case? I do have a holiday computer, but it's not nearly as fast as the main one. It main aim is to allow me to accept small jobs from clients during my holidays, so that I don't lose them as clients.
I see your point, Samuel, although I do not think that laptops evolve as quickly as smartphones.
Some colleagues use old computers as backup computers in case of need. My situation is that I moved to another city 5 years ago, and I have been using the same computer till then. I do not have any old computer because I started my career a year and a half ago, only a small notebook that works great but it is useless for translating.
Your post made gave me food for thought. Maybe it is better to keep on working with my current computer and saving backups frequently. Then, as soon as it gets broken, I will go straight to purchase a new fast one and, when I have time, I will let the broken one to be given a look at and, if it can be repaired, then I will have a backup computer. Fortunately, I live in a city, not in the countryside, so I can get a new computer and have it ready for work in a morning.
Note: I am always meaning about working with a laptop and purchasing a new laptop. We can use a generic word like computer in Spanish for both, PC-Desktop and laptops.
Thank you.
[Edited at 2022-09-20 16:40 GMT]
| | | | IrinaN
United States
Local time: 04:57
English to Russian
+ ...
Metin Demirel wrote:
This year several external disks I had for years failed to work.
HDs and thumb drives are cheap to replace in time before they fail. I don't keep the same ones for "years", some are duplicates by now.
I don't like it when someone touches my things without my permission, that's all. Even without stealing it Same as eavesdropping - I'll be just as mad when someone will eavesdrop on me drinking coffee, as if I were in a shower.
I know it sounds naive, especially after working with the professional SW developers. One day we have been sitting on break with my colleagues. One mentioned that he wants to buy another laptop, and me - another pair of fall boots. Both our laptops were on. In a few hours we got a flood of ads about new laptops and fashionable boots, respectively. He didn't have Ad Block, and when I turned mine off for the sake of experiment after he mentioned his ads, then I saw my boots They listen! We were on a secure network!
I asked super professional people, and they confirmed. Yet it doesn't mean that I'll be keeping my doors and windows wide open 24/7 for everyone's eyes.
Edited for typos.
[Edited at 2022-09-20 17:31 GMT]
| | | | Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 10:57
Member (2008)
Italian to English
IrinaN wrote: Metin Demirel wrote:
This year several external disks I had for years failed to work. HDs and thumb drives are cheap to replace in time before they fail. I don't keep the same ones for "years", some are duplicates by now. I don't like it when someone touches my things without my permission, that's all. Even without stealing it Same as eavesdropping - I'll be just as mad when someone will eavesdrop on me drinking coffee, as if I were in a shower. I know it sounds naive, especially after working with the professional SW developers. One day we have been sitting on break with my colleagues. One mentioned that he wants to buy another laptop, and me - another pair of fall boots. Both our laptops were on. In a few hours we got a flood of ads about new laptops and fashionable boots, respectively. He didn't have Ad Block, and when I turned mine off for the sake of experiment after he mentioned his ads, then I saw my boots They listen! We were on a secure network! I asked super professional people, and they confirmed. Yet it doesn't mean that I'll be keeping my doors and windows wide open 24/7 for everyone's eyes. Edited for typos. [Edited at 2022-09-20 17:31 GMT]
Wow.
Long before the Internet, I remember a friend of mine saying "when they want you, they know where to come and get you."
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Metin Demirel
Türkiye
Local time: 12:57
Member (2018)
Italian to Turkish
+ ...
IrinaN wrote: Metin Demirel wrote:
This year several external disks I had for years failed to work. HDs and thumb drives are cheap to replace in time before they fail. I don't keep the same ones for "years", some are duplicates by now.
By "years", I only meant a few years. All my disks were only 4 years old, except one that had lived way beyond 10 years.
As for the eavesdropping, whether or not you have an ad-blocker, they still do it on Windows and Mac, but they don't let it show. They collect personal data for a larger scheme, not for individual marketing.
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