Do we need a Tech Newbie forum?

Squire_Fulwood

If all SuperTechies shut themselves into a private forum and don't chat to the Riff Raff it will not improve anything. The SuperTechies could bore each other with their brilliance and the Riff Raff would have to go somewhere else for help. Developing this theme I suppose that the cleverest of the SuperTechies could have a forum all to him/herself where he/she admire him/herself all day while the rest of us got on with getting/giving help and advice where necessary.

I read something that Martin wrote the other day where he says something like, please don't start thinking you own the forum and get intolerant of newbies.

Squire_Fulwood

I think this is what I read of Martin's rules the other day.

Please be nice to all MoneySavers. That’s the forum motto. Remember the prime aim is to help provide info and resources. If you don’t like someone, their situation, their question or feel they’re intruding on ‘your board’ then please bite the bullet and think of the bigger issue... a Guardian article recently “doffed its cap” to this forum as being the one place where consumers can collect together and fight back, our job is to help keep it that way.

Savvybunny2009

I am one who posted about needing a new laptop, and I still do as I'm no expert on tech specs or reliable brands and thought those who knew more than the average mum (me) would be kind enough to help. I'm sorry that my post has upset some of you, I didn't know where to ask, I checked the sub £350 thread and it is outdated, and I searched for similar threads and many suggestions were for refurbs which is not something I am considering. I am sorry, I don't have anyone techie to ask.

closed

The OP has nothing to do with ego or riff raff, if the owners of the site were bothered about helping moneysavers find the answers quickly, they'd put more effort into stickie's, FAQ's, and layout instead of leaving sub forums to rot, and concentrating on the stuff at the top and to the right. Without the forum and forum members contributions, MSE would be probably still be an obscure site.

Savvybunny, I don't think the thread was aimed as a criticism of you, directly or indirectly. My advice would be to go around a few shops, find 2 or 3 that you like the look of (try the screen/mousepad/keyboard, mouse buttons), and then hit the cost comparison and voucher code websites to find the best deal, and don't be to overly concerned with brand/spec (an i3/i5 will be fine) - but ask in your original thread what people think of your choice before going ahead.

Put laptop reliability into http://www.google.co.uk/imghp?hl=en&tab=ii

esuhl

redcard wrote: »

Do we need a Tech Newbie forum?

Surely this is a "tech newbie" forum! After all, what kind of techie guru would ask specific in-depth technical questions on a money-saving website?!

Wouldn't it be better to just ban anyone not using the search feature for common questions?

RussJK

Savvybunny2009 wrote: »

I am sorry, I don't have anyone techie to ask.

You've nothing to be sorry about!

It's an appropriate question to ask here since it's Techie forum on a Money saving website - and what is best value for money can change day by day.

The £sub-350 laptop thread should have a note on the first page, explaining that people browsing it should begin on the final few pages of it, which has the most relevant deals being posted. It would also be useful if it had a basic guide for people looking for a new computer, and ways to compare them without needing to be technically minded (e.g. anyone can get a rough idea of the power of a laptop based on it's Passmark score http://cpubenchmark.net/cpu_list.php).

googler

If you want to read about, and provide answers to, more complex problems than are posted here, there's plenty of specialist forums out there. You could always join one of those.

elsien

Well, as someone who is technologically backward, I can (and do) follow the stickies/other posts where relevant, but I do get to the point where a bit of advice and handholding doesn't go amiss as I get scared of buggaring things up in an expensive way if I get a bit too ahead of myself. I'm sure I've asked questions which are blindingly obvious to a lot of you folks, but the help and advice given has always been appreciated and suitably modified for the techie newbies such as myself.
I agree with some of the points been made about a bit of reorganisation, but if you experts all vanish off to a separate forum, that's going to leave the people like me who've done our best to find the answer and don't want to head off to a computer repair place if we can do it ouselves with a bit of help a wee bit stranded.
You find it in the other parts of the forum as well though - a question that you know has been asked many times being asked yet again because folks either don't know how to search or can't be bothered. I don't really see how you can stop that from happening.

Andrew1472

This thread has been a great success.
It was up to 388 views when I logged in. One of those now thinks she is no longer welcome. I wonder how many more are thinking that?
I sincerely hope it is not true, but if that was intended message, then job done.:(

closed

"see FAQ"

would save a lot of time.

Should be in the site feedback and suggestions section really, where are all the mods?