Really need advice on getting a new desktop computer. Long, pleading, post. [View all]

Last edited Wed Apr 4, 2018, 01:53 AM - Edit history (1)

This is what I currently have, and approximate ages of things. Because of the disparity in said ages, I have not linked any of them together in any way with one exception. I do upgrade the phone and pad as required.

iPhone -- got it last year
iPad Mini -- about 6 years old
Mac desktop computer -- can't even remember, but it is Mac OS 10.5.8, and has reached a senile and obsolete old age. The printer has been repurposed. Mouse and keyboard long since died and were replaced by something my husband had in a box. The stuff in the store won't even talk to the brains, so I had to return the new keyboard and mouse I got.
iPod -- pretty old, used solely for storing my extensive music collection, it is the one thing that gets hooked up to my Mac, in order to transfer music on CDs from one place to another.

Because of the ease of usage and portability of the pad, I thought I wanted a laptop, but that turned out to be physically uncomfortable, and I returned it under warranty.

I used to use my desktop computer extensively -- as in, in various iterations of Macs, I kept up a volunteer life, went back to grad school and wrote all my MA-PhD papers on one of them, upgraded and wrote my entire PhD dissertation on the next one without having to hire an editor the way most of my classmates did (I'm proud of that, btw). I kept my extensive email correspondence tidy. I printed out whatever I felt like, and looked up whatever I wanted to. I fully participated in the anti-war anti-Dubya movement locally. I popped all my CDs into the side slot, copied them, and transferred them to my iPod. I have files on all kinds of interesting things.

I survived a nasty bout of carpal tunnel syndrome at the end of my 3 years of grad school, brought on by intensive pen and pencil note-taking, not computer usage -- in previous centuries they used to call this Scrivener's Palsy. It can be re-aggravated by using equipment that is not ergonomic for me. I was out of commission for 3 months one time during Dubya's administration, and learned to be very careful.

As a result, using a mouse cupped in my hand is more comfortable than running my finger over one of those little screen-equivalents. I am also physically more comfortable with a slanted keyboard on my desk than trying to use a flat keyboard attached to a laptop screen. The iPad Mini works for me because I can plop it on a cushion on my lap and adjust it to any angle I want, and it is lightweight. When I tried to use an actual laptop computer that way, it turned out to be very heavy and unwieldy with its hinged body -- so now I know that whatever I get in the way of an actual computer will have to sit on an actual desk most of the time.

I realize that my whole setup is obsolete and that I will have to learn to use things differently. For instance, what the heck have they done with the slot for inserting CDs? It looks like I will have to purchase a variety of accessories to accomodate old ways as well as to adjust to new ways.

If I get a laptop to use on my desk most of the time, can I get a supplemental keyboard and mouse? Can I get a supplemental gadget to handle CD transfers? What else will I need? The last time I went to the store (last year), it looked like there indeed were such accessories, but the store was loud and noisy, the counter top was the wrong height, my husband and I talked at cross-purposes with the nice salesgirl, and altogether I felt kind of stupid, uninformed, and misunderstood. And old.

Before I return to either Best Buy or the Apple Store, I want to have a list of what it will take to get what I need. I don't want bottom of the line -- I am going to be using this equipment for years to come. I don't want game-features for my grandson unless it's like the sun roof on my car, an unavoidable feature -- but I wouldn't mind watching TV and other video programs, such as my DVD collection. (The small iPad Mini screen is acceptable for reading because the whole thing is so portable for travel. I have a library of e-books on it that may or may not go into the new computer.) I want a word-processing program that is not light-years different from what I used to use, so I can learn it easily -- or, even better, one that comes with a tutor so I can get up to speed.

I would appreciate any advice at all. If you managed to read this whole lament, thank you for your patience.