Thank you all for the very generous assistance you have offered in response to my request. I am taking all of your various advice seriously and with consideration. Everyone has given me helpful advice. I realise that it is hard to give precise advice without a fuller picture of budget, what sort of things it will be used for, etc. I would be doing some simple things mainly, mainly for academic courses online, some media music and video files, and in some simple video editing for vlogging on a YouTube channel. That's it. So speed, and budget is tethered to those goals. But having no experience with anything but Windows mainly and some Mac, I think I will be on quite a learning curve. I am hoping that a decent setup can be had for around 1000 dollars. If even significantly less that that, hooray! I hope this helps refine things. Robert (Aylmer, PQ) Sent with ProtonMail Secure Email. ‐‐‐‐‐‐‐ Original Message ‐‐‐‐‐‐‐ On Saturday, October 19, 2019 9:03 PM, Charles MacDonald <cmacd [ at ] zeusprune [ dot ] ca> wrote: > On 2019-10-19 12:40 p.m., scetis wrote: > > > Hello! > > I am totally uninitiated with GNU-Linux, but after seeing a video with > > Stephen Fry, I thought, "If I can make the switch, I'm in!" After > > reading different reviews on various 2019 distributions, I purchased the > > "Elementary" operating system. (https://elementary.io/). I would like to > > have any advice about installing it. Up until now, I have only been a PC > > and Macbook Pro user. > > QUESTIONS > > > > 1. Apple or IBM Device?: I would like to know if I should or can > > buy a factory Macbook Pro device or a regular factory built PC laptop. > > (Can either of these be purchased without OS preinstalled? > > > > Seldom.I have bought a notebook from Eurocom in nepean without an OS, > But their new machines are very high end. > > > 2. Factory or Custom Build?: Should I have a technician do a build > > if neither of those will do (as they all seem to come loaded with > > windows or OS Lion or whatever and why pay for it if one is just going > > to replace it.) > > > > some firms selling plain computers will ship a new box without a hard > drive or OS. That is the way I got a couple of my desktop machines I > had to install a bank drive and proceed from there. Not sure how Canada > computers does in building machines, they can sell you all the parts. > > > 3. Who Should Install the OS distribution?: Whether I get a custom > > build or a pre-built factory device, should I have the shop technician > > install my software (give him the software on a usb to load for me), or > > should I try to do it myself at home on an unloaded device? > > > > Most shops that do installed prefer to use the System they are familiar > with, General a Ubuntu variation. > > > 5. Where Should I Buy/Get Service?: Finally, which shop is the best > > in Ottawa for the recommended device that you think I should get? > > > > one thought is to see what the Trailing edge in Bells corners has in the > way of used machines. > > it is hard to give advice if we don't know what short of machine you > need/want, what speed, Budget. what your overall experience level is. > How steep a learning curve you are willing to negotiate. > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Charles MacDonald Stittsville Ontario > cmacd [ at ] zeusprune [ dot ] ca Just Beyond the Fringe > No Microsoft Products were used in sending this e-mail. To unsubscribe send a blank message to linux+unsubscribe [ at ] linux-ottawa [ dot ] org To get help send a blank message to linux+help [ at ] linux-ottawa [ dot ] org To visit the archives: https://lists.linux-ottawa.org