BackUp for HD Replacement

Char Jackson wrote:
On Fri, 23 Nov 2018 15:22:56 -0700, Ken Blake
wrote:

On Fri, 23 Nov 2018 15:51:38 -0600, Char Jackson
wrote:

On Fri, 23 Nov 2018 16:04:49 -0500, Paul wrote:

Bill in Co wrote:
Then I assume your backups are pretty small (if you're using USB 2), and not
on the order of 50 GB. :-) Yup, Amazon is really handy (at least for us
over here in the states - not sure how it works elsewhere, and if they have
that 2 day shipping with Prime).
Due to a bait and switch with my first attempted
Amazon transaction, I won't be doing business with
them... ever. It took a month to get my money back.
Was Amazon the seller, or was it a third party selling through Amazon? I
know it shouldn't matter, but in my experience, it does. I try to
purchase through Amazon itself, rather than a seller.

I place orders through Amazon about 1-3 times a week and I haven't had a
bad experience yet, including a handful of extremely smooth and easy
returns.

I thought I ordered from Amazon a lot, but it's not as much as
you--maybe once or twice a month.

I had only one bad experience. I had ordered something that was coming
from a third party in China. But despite the expected delivery date
arriving, the package never did. But it was quickly and easily
resolved, and I got my money back.

I'm glad to hear that it worked out. Without further anecdotes, I'm
thinking Paul's bad experience was probably an anomaly.

It's bad for that to happen on the very first transaction.
Because then it's the very last transaction.

As far as I know, the item I was seeking to purchase, was
sold by Amazon, and not by a third party. And magically
I could have the item, "just reorder at full retail price".
Now, a ten minute drive from the house would give me
the ****ing item at full retail. Amazon dragged their
heels and did their level best to make sure I wasn't
a customer a second time.

Paul

"Paul" wrote

| It's bad for that to happen on the very first transaction.
| Because then it's the very last transaction.
|
| As far as I know, the item I was seeking to purchase, was
| sold by Amazon, and not by a third party. And magically
| I could have the item, "just reorder at full retail price".
| Now, a ten minute drive from the house would give me
| the ****ing item at full retail. Amazon dragged their
| heels and did their level best to make sure I wasn't
| a customer a second time.
|

I've never ordered anything from them and probably
never will. Though I have to admit that I occasionally
have my ladyfriend buy me a hard-to-find book on her
order. There just isn't another solution. If I can buy the
book locally I'm happy to pay a fair price so the author
gets paid.

I also don't buy from Walmart. But Amazon is a much
bigger threat. Privacy issues. Monopoly issues. And no
regulation to stop them.

I was a young hippie when natural foods co-ops and
small shops started opening in the 70s. Now we've come
full circle, to a heretofore unimaginable situation:
Natural food stores have almost completely disappeared.
The Boston/Cambridge food co-ops recently closed,
after years of being fake co-ops. (Membership hadn't
included work for years. It was just a fee for discounts
plan that allowed elderly hippies to keep their sense of
virtue.) And Amazon has bought Whole Foods! Amazon
is almost the only show in town now, across the US, for
good quality food.

It's a very insidious conundrum. WF was already getting
sleazy. It was a corporate monster, the idealists long
gone. They had lost their values. Items were labeled
wrong and no one cared. Sales were all that mattered.
Their grapes came from farms caught using polluted
fracking water for irrigation. Their organic produce comes
largely from factory farms rather than small/local farmers.
Much of it comes from Mexico or SA and often the signs
lie about the source. Like Trader Joes, they're increasingly
hiding accountability behind their 365 or Horizon store
brands.
The only thing preventing a 100% scam scenario at
this point is the tenuously surviving organic foods law.

Now, with Amazon, the sleaze is accelerating. Prices
get jacked up and then signs come out to tell us if
we get an Amazon ID and allow our shopping to be
tracked then we can get the items at the regular price.
Twice recently I've bought organic apples at $2/#
only to see them go up to $3/# a few days later.
The same batch of apples from the same grower.
Another day all the organic apples were $3/# but on
sale for Amazon members.
Prices are all over the place. The organic raisins have
gone up about 15% since Amazon took over, with a
sticker on the bin that says, "Everyday Value". Some
prices have gone down. But it's all arbitrary. It's clear
that Amazon isn't just passing on savings, as their
carpet-bombing media blitz claimed when they took
over WF. They're calculating the market, with little
or no consideration of their own cost. If you're willing
to pay $15 for a loaf of bread then you probably will.
If you're not willing then the price might drop to $2.
(My favorite bread actually bounces between $4.50
and $2.50, depending on which week I buy it! I buy
kalamata olives from a Greek specialty store for $5/#,
down the street from WF, which is selling them for
$12/#. I mentioned that to the Greeks. They laughed
and said WF had actually approached them about
being a supplier.)

This happens over and over, but people never learn.
Home Depot/Lowes. CVS/Walgreens. Elements/Envy.
(An unlikely massage duopoly that's sprung up like
weeds.) People support monopoly because it offers
the best deals. Until it doesn't. Then they're stuck.

On 24 Nov 2018, Char Jackson wrote in
alt.windows7.general:

I'm glad to hear that it worked out. Without further anecdotes,
I'm thinking Paul's bad experience was probably an anomaly.

Me, too. I've shopped with Amazon for many years and I've had very few
problems of any kind, and those few were fixed quickly and painlessly.
Paul's experience is not the norm.

I may have some qualms about spending so much money at such a
megalocorp, but I can't deny that they do it better than anybody. I
keep reading that Walmart wants to compete with Amazon in online sales,
but Walmart's web site is one of the clunkiest, slowest, least friendly
shopping sites I've ever seen. Amazon's search is fast, accurate, and
informative - it's the best out there.

On 11/23/18 3:04 PM, Paul wrote:

[snip]

Due to a bait and switch with my first attempted
Amazon transaction, I won't be doing business with
them... ever. It took a month to get my money back.

Â*Â* Paul

I have used Amazon a lot, and got a few defective products. I have never
had trouble with returns or exchanges, although it would be possible
with so much stuff on Amazon sold by other sellers.

--
31 days until the winter celebration (Tue Dec 25, 2018 12:00:00 AM for 1
day).

Mark Lloyd
http://notstupid.us/

"That the saints may enjoy their beatitude and the grace of God more
abundantly they are permitted to see the punishment of the damned in
hell." [Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274), Summa Theologica]

On 11/23/18 4:22 PM, Ken Blake wrote:

[snip]

I had only one bad experience. I had ordered something that was coming
from a third party in China. But despite the expected delivery date
arriving, the package never did. But it was quickly and easily
resolved, and I got my money back.

The worst product I got was a cheap pen-size camera. It took a month to
arrive (from China?). Then it would never remember the date/time setting
and the camera was inside a pen-shaped enclosure with a hole for the
camera lens. The camera inside was NOT attached to the enclosure, making
aligning the lens with the hole an endless job. There was no problem
with returning it.

Recently, I ordered something for Halloween. It arrived in a reasonable
amount of time. They still say the package is late, even after I
notified the third-party seller.

--
31 days until the winter celebration (Tue Dec 25, 2018 12:00:00 AM for 1
day).

Mark Lloyd
http://notstupid.us/

"That the saints may enjoy their beatitude and the grace of God more
abundantly they are permitted to see the punishment of the damned in
hell." [Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274), Summa Theologica]

Nil wrote:
On 24 Nov 2018, Char Jackson wrote in
alt.windows7.general:

I'm glad to hear that it worked out. Without further anecdotes,
I'm thinking Paul's bad experience was probably an anomaly.

Me, too. I've shopped with Amazon for many years and I've had very few
problems of any kind, and those few were fixed quickly and painlessly.
Paul's experience is not the norm.

I may have some qualms about spending so much money at such a
megalocorp, but I can't deny that they do it better than anybody.

Yup, that about summarizes my feelings too. I would love to go back to the
mom and pop store era of the past (seriously), but, 'the times are a
changin..', and I just can't get there - well, unless I want to live in a
cave, and I am very tempted sometimes seeing all that is going on in the
world these days, and "how far" we have "progressed" (cough).

On Sat, 24 Nov 2018 13:20:07 -0700, "Bill in Co"
surly_curmudgeon@earthlink wrote:

Nil wrote:
On 24 Nov 2018, Char Jackson wrote in
alt.windows7.general:

I'm glad to hear that it worked out. Without further anecdotes,
I'm thinking Paul's bad experience was probably an anomaly.

Me, too. I've shopped with Amazon for many years and I've had very few
problems of any kind, and those few were fixed quickly and painlessly.
Paul's experience is not the norm.

I may have some qualms about spending so much money at such a
megalocorp, but I can't deny that they do it better than anybody.

Yup, that about summarizes my feelings too. I would love to go back to the
mom and pop store era of the past (seriously),


There are several things I like much better about Amazon than those
mom-and-pop stores, or almost any other competition for that matter.
In no particular order:

1. It's much easier and faster to sit at my desk and order something
than to get in my car and drive somewhere or walk there.

2. The selection of competing products on Amazon is much better than
in any mom-and-pop store, and maybe even much better than any other
source.

3. Amazon's prices are almost always better than a mom-and-pop store,
and usually better than most of their competitors.

4. It's much easier to pay on Amazon. I order something and it's
automatically charged to my credit card.

5. I never have to stand on line to check out.

6. There is no hassle of wandering through the store trying to find
what you want to buy.

7. Amazon's web site provides ratings, reviews, technical details,
comparisons with competing products, questions and answers, etc.
That's much better than shopping blindly in a store.

8. Amazon's web site provides detailed photographs of the product.
Often in a store, the product is in a box, and you can't see what it
looks like.


I buy almost everything on Amazon these days, rather than going to a
store. The only common exceptions are prescription medications, meat,
vegetables, wine, liquor, and clothing that I want to try on (there
are probably a few other exceptions, but they don't spring to mind).

Occasionally there's a sale on something I want at some local store or
a competing web site, and I'll buy it there rather than Amazon, but
that doesn't happen very often.

Ken Blake wrote:
On Sat, 24 Nov 2018 13:20:07 -0700, "Bill in Co"
surly_curmudgeon@earthlink wrote:

Nil wrote:
On 24 Nov 2018, Char Jackson wrote in
alt.windows7.general:

I'm glad to hear that it worked out. Without further anecdotes,
I'm thinking Paul's bad experience was probably an anomaly.

Me, too. I've shopped with Amazon for many years and I've had very few
problems of any kind, and those few were fixed quickly and painlessly.
Paul's experience is not the norm.

I may have some qualms about spending so much money at such a
megalocorp, but I can't deny that they do it better than anybody.

Yup, that about summarizes my feelings too. I would love to go back to
the mom and pop store era of the past (seriously),


There are several things I like much better about Amazon than those
mom-and-pop stores, or almost any other competition for that matter.
In no particular order:

1. It's much easier and faster to sit at my desk and order something
than to get in my car and drive somewhere or walk there.

2. The selection of competing products on Amazon is much better than
in any mom-and-pop store, and maybe even much better than any other
source.

3. Amazon's prices are almost always better than a mom-and-pop store,
and usually better than most of their competitors.

4. It's much easier to pay on Amazon. I order something and it's
automatically charged to my credit card.

5. I never have to stand on line to check out.

6. There is no hassle of wandering through the store trying to find
what you want to buy.

7. Amazon's web site provides ratings, reviews, technical details,
comparisons with competing products, questions and answers, etc.
That's much better than shopping blindly in a store.

8. Amazon's web site provides detailed photographs of the product.
Often in a store, the product is in a box, and you can't see what it
looks like.


I buy almost everything on Amazon these days, rather than going to a
store. The only common exceptions are prescription medications, meat,
vegetables, wine, liquor, and clothing that I want to try on (there
are probably a few other exceptions, but they don't spring to mind).

Occasionally there's a sale on something I want at some local store or
a competing web site, and I'll buy it there rather than Amazon, but
that doesn't happen very often.

I'll have to concede the point that I, too, love shopping on Amazon, so
there are some things about this present era that are nice.

On Sat, 24 Nov 2018 15:07:32 -0700, "Bill in Co"
surly_curmudgeon@earthlink wrote:

Ken Blake wrote:
On Sat, 24 Nov 2018 13:20:07 -0700, "Bill in Co"
surly_curmudgeon@earthlink wrote:

Nil wrote:
On 24 Nov 2018, Char Jackson wrote in
alt.windows7.general:

I'm glad to hear that it worked out. Without further anecdotes,
I'm thinking Paul's bad experience was probably an anomaly.

Me, too. I've shopped with Amazon for many years and I've had very few
problems of any kind, and those few were fixed quickly and painlessly.
Paul's experience is not the norm.

I may have some qualms about spending so much money at such a
megalocorp, but I can't deny that they do it better than anybody.

Yup, that about summarizes my feelings too. I would love to go back to
the mom and pop store era of the past (seriously),


There are several things I like much better about Amazon than those
mom-and-pop stores, or almost any other competition for that matter.
In no particular order:

1. It's much easier and faster to sit at my desk and order something
than to get in my car and drive somewhere or walk there.

2. The selection of competing products on Amazon is much better than
in any mom-and-pop store, and maybe even much better than any other
source.

3. Amazon's prices are almost always better than a mom-and-pop store,
and usually better than most of their competitors.

4. It's much easier to pay on Amazon. I order something and it's
automatically charged to my credit card.

5. I never have to stand on line to check out.

6. There is no hassle of wandering through the store trying to find
what you want to buy.

7. Amazon's web site provides ratings, reviews, technical details,
comparisons with competing products, questions and answers, etc.
That's much better than shopping blindly in a store.

8. Amazon's web site provides detailed photographs of the product.
Often in a store, the product is in a box, and you can't see what it
looks like.


I buy almost everything on Amazon these days, rather than going to a
store. The only common exceptions are prescription medications, meat,
vegetables, wine, liquor, and clothing that I want to try on (there
are probably a few other exceptions, but they don't spring to mind).

Occasionally there's a sale on something I want at some local store or
a competing web site, and I'll buy it there rather than Amazon, but
that doesn't happen very often.

I'll have to concede the point that I, too, love shopping on Amazon, so
there are some things about this present era that are nice.


vbg I don't love shopping at Amazon. I don't love shopping
anywhere. I hate shopping. Many people, when they go on vacation to
some exotic place, spend a lot of their time there shopping. Not me.
My wife and I normally travel with just carry-on luggage, so there's
no room to take back anything we might buy.

But if I need to shop, I greatly prefer to do it at Amazon, for the
reasons I mentioned above.

Ken Blake wrote:
On Sat, 24 Nov 2018 15:07:32 -0700, "Bill in Co"
surly_curmudgeon@earthlink wrote:

Ken Blake wrote:
On Sat, 24 Nov 2018 13:20:07 -0700, "Bill in Co"
surly_curmudgeon@earthlink wrote:

Nil wrote:
On 24 Nov 2018, Char Jackson wrote in
alt.windows7.general:

I'm glad to hear that it worked out. Without further anecdotes,
I'm thinking Paul's bad experience was probably an anomaly.

Me, too. I've shopped with Amazon for many years and I've had very few
problems of any kind, and those few were fixed quickly and painlessly.
Paul's experience is not the norm.

I may have some qualms about spending so much money at such a
megalocorp, but I can't deny that they do it better than anybody.

Yup, that about summarizes my feelings too. I would love to go back to
the mom and pop store era of the past (seriously),


There are several things I like much better about Amazon than those
mom-and-pop stores, or almost any other competition for that matter.
In no particular order:

1. It's much easier and faster to sit at my desk and order something
than to get in my car and drive somewhere or walk there.

2. The selection of competing products on Amazon is much better than
in any mom-and-pop store, and maybe even much better than any other
source.

3. Amazon's prices are almost always better than a mom-and-pop store,
and usually better than most of their competitors.

4. It's much easier to pay on Amazon. I order something and it's
automatically charged to my credit card.

5. I never have to stand on line to check out.

6. There is no hassle of wandering through the store trying to find
what you want to buy.

7. Amazon's web site provides ratings, reviews, technical details,
comparisons with competing products, questions and answers, etc.
That's much better than shopping blindly in a store.

8. Amazon's web site provides detailed photographs of the product.
Often in a store, the product is in a box, and you can't see what it
looks like.


I buy almost everything on Amazon these days, rather than going to a
store. The only common exceptions are prescription medications, meat,
vegetables, wine, liquor, and clothing that I want to try on (there
are probably a few other exceptions, but they don't spring to mind).

Occasionally there's a sale on something I want at some local store or
a competing web site, and I'll buy it there rather than Amazon, but
that doesn't happen very often.

I'll have to concede the point that I, too, love shopping on Amazon, so
there are some things about this present era that are nice.


vbg I don't love shopping at Amazon. I don't love shopping
anywhere. I hate shopping. Many people, when they go on vacation to
some exotic place, spend a lot of their time there shopping. Not me.
My wife and I normally travel with just carry-on luggage, so there's
no room to take back anything we might buy.

But if I need to shop, I greatly prefer to do it at Amazon, for the
reasons I mentioned above.

OK, I probably should correct myself here. I don't love shopping for the
sake of shopping, but I do love shopping when I'm searching for something I
need or have in mind. (I mean the journey is part of the reward -
sometimes. :-)

On 24 Nov 2018, "Bill in Co" surly_curmudgeon@earthlink wrote in
alt.windows7.general:

OK, I probably should correct myself here. I don't love shopping
for the sake of shopping, but I do love shopping when I'm
searching for something I need or have in mind. (I mean the
journey is part of the reward - sometimes. :-)

I hate hate hate shopping. Going from store to store to store to find
something I need only to find that none of them have it, makes me
angry. Going to a shopping mall gives me a headache. Amazon improves my
quality of life.

On 11/24/18 5:15 PM, Ken Blake wrote:

[snip]

vbg I don't love shopping at Amazon. I don't love shopping
anywhere. I hate shopping.

and "Black Friday" is the WORST time to go shopping.

That day, I start putting out Christmas lights (it's a few days before
the pictures are online).

[snip]

--
30 days until the winter celebration (Tue Dec 25, 2018 12:00:00 AM for 1
day).

Mark Lloyd
http://notstupid.us/

"The Christian religion not only was at first attended with miracles,
but even at this day cannot be believed by any reasonable person without
one." -- David Hume

On 11/24/18 6:07 PM, Nil wrote:

[snip]

I hate hate hate shopping. Going from store to store to store to find
something I need only to find that none of them have it, makes me
angry. Going to a shopping mall gives me a headache. Amazon improves my
quality of life.

I an NOT going to any shopping mall the rest of this year.

--
30 days until the winter celebration (Tue Dec 25, 2018 12:00:00 AM for 1
day).

Mark Lloyd
http://notstupid.us/

"The Christian religion not only was at first attended with miracles,
but even at this day cannot be believed by any reasonable person without
one." -- David Hume

In message , Mark Lloyd
writes:
On 11/24/18 5:15 PM, Ken Blake wrote:

[snip]

vbg I don't love shopping at Amazon. I don't love shopping
anywhere. I hate shopping.

and "Black Friday" is the WORST time to go shopping.

That day, I start putting out Christmas lights (it's a few days before
the pictures are online).

[snip]

At first, I had a vision of you going round in Scrooge costume, snuffer
in hand ...

Yes, I had no problem not spending anything on Friday!
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/1985 MB++G()AL-IS-Ch++(p)Ar@T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

Have you ever heard about a petition, disagreed with it, but been frustrated
that there's no way you can *show* that you disagree? If so, have a look at
https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/232770 - and please pass it on if you
agree, especially to twitter, facebook, gransnet/mumsnet, or any such forum.

This space unintentionally left blank.

On 11/25/18 2:20 PM, J. P. Gilliver (John) wrote:

[snip]

At first, I had a vision of you going round in Scrooge costume, snuffer
in hand ...

Of course what I said was just about shopping...

Yes, I had no problem not spending anything on Friday!

Friday is when I start putting out Christmas lights. Pictures at
http://notstupid.us/winter.php . When I take this year's they'll be in
the same place.

How about "Giving Tuesday"? I don't like feeling like I'm being manipulated.

--
29 days until the winter celebration (Tue Dec 25, 2018 12:00:00 AM for 1
day).

Mark Lloyd
http://notstupid.us/

"It is in the book of man, not the book of god, that we must look for
examples of heroism, love, pity, justice, truth, honor, humanity." [M.M.
Mangasarian, _The Bible Unveiled_]