Computers.

jeni take your old lap-top with you when you decide to choose a new one and only agree to a purchase if the rep in the shop does the transfer for you,I did this when I bought new stuff for DD earlier in the year and if they want your business they will comply. Good luck.

The information will be there on the hard disc. It is almost certainly your battery that has died.
So any teccy can probably take the info off the disc and give it to you on a heavy duty memory stick.
The folk in the Apple shops are really very helpful. I like the way they have re-invented what a shop should be like.
Breathe.

JessM that is so right the Apple staff are the best I have ever come across for being ultra friendly.

Thanks everyone. I hope my scooter battery has enough life in it as I will have to carry :- iPad ( needs updating to ios5) old toshiba plus handbag and overdraft agreement! Ds ( the computer whiz) Has recommended the macair at£1300 plus the driver for optical read? I also want the camera downloader for iPad. Diets won't be a problem when I return, wont be able to afford food! Or worse still vodka!
Realised today my cleaner has hidden my electronic (therefor accurate) scales. I've been using the old (inaccurate) ones. That's why I'm not losing weight

I bought new laptop from Curry's, not nearly as expensive. They transferred the data from my old hard drive but charged £30 for doing it. I can't believe the difference in the speed with the new laptop.

there is software available that transfers data from one hard drive to another and it costs a lot less than £30. If you have computer-savvy family members, you can probably get it done free. My told me to buy a 'caddy' to put the hard drive from my old PC in and now I use it as a back-up as well as retaining old files on it.

Sounds like a pain in the wallet area, jeni - commiserations. Bought middle DD an Apple at JL once and she was glad of the extended warranty as the hard drive (?) died in the middle of the second year and so she got a whole lovely new one courtesy of JL - not advertising. Added bonus was that we had chosen the model here , leaving her to get it in London, where she saw the next model up as it were, which had been returned literally unused (just the outer box opened) and consequently reduced - to the price of the one we had initially offered.
Not a lot of consolation for you though.

gracesmum it is! But I'll cope. It's more the fact of having to go to the mall rather than do it online that is really annoying! Heyho, I suppose it wil get me out of the house for an hour! (if I get up before the shops close).

Well that's all folks. If I'm going to get up in the morning I suppose I'd better go to bed.

Goodnight.

Should read 'My DS1 told me...' He also set it up for me. The time before that when I changed from one PC to another, the dealer downloaded my files to the new one free of charge and I buried the old one in the garden, just in case...Oh yes, I did.

Annobel that is hysterical. what on earth did you think might be on the hard drive???

I wonder what they'll make of that in a decade or so when it gets dug up???

Ah, Jess, I could tell you but then I'd have to kill you...

Decided not to go to mall today. Realised that if I wait a few days it will go onto next credit card bill which means I don't pay for it until April! Should be allrigt by then.
Also wonder if mac air is really the best or would I do better to go for macro as I have the iPad to carry aroun and I think the pro comes with an integral optical thingimmyjig.
Does any one out there understand this jargon? As a rather dimm elderly befuddled, bemused and gaga gran, I DO NOT!

HELP!!!

Will ask DH later. He's a complete Apple geek.

bag puss very pretty please with marshmallows

Stop blooming putting yourself down! No generation has had to deal with as much change as ours and we keep on adapting.
Do you want an inbuilt camera that you can use to skype people (so they can see you)?
Do you want to download and watch films or play high quality graphic computer games? These are the kind of things that have driven design of laptops and desktops in the last few years.
And do you want to work on it? e.g. lots of typing or accounts.
If so are you happy working on a small laptop screen or would you be happier with a big screen?
If you want a laptop, how important is screen size and how important is the weight.
If you can come up with a little wish list that is the first step.
I can certainly ask DH any specific questions (and then cut his answer down to the gist...)

As it happens, he was available for comment sooner.

He said, since you have an iPad already for 'portability', he would recommend getting a Macbookpro because it has all that other stuff you mentioned built in. The macair would need plug-ins for the optical thingummyjig, etc.

He has a macbookpro so he does know what it does.

Hope that helps.

He said a lot of other stuff as well about hard drvies and stuff but I can go back for that if you need it.

make that drives not dervishes.

Baggy grovelling thanks to your dh. That was exactly what I needed to hear. Please give him a great big hug as thanks from mr!

My pleasure .

bagitha just been looking at mac pro on web, seems good! Can I beg you to just ask dh does it start up instantly as doesl the air , or take ages like my tosh(did)?

He says not quite as instant as an iPad but "pretty quick" because you don't need to "shut down" the computer, just shut the lid and it goes to sleep. He says the new ones will "have Lion" (the operating system, I believe!) so it will be "as you left it" even if you do go strange and shut it down rather than shut the lid. Got that? Good.

bagitha do you really needle want your dh? If not can I have him please. He sounds useful! Thanks, macpro it is!