Thanks for such a detailed response.  The computer stuff you mention is, sadly, beyond me, but it’s good to know that I should just persevere with it and that it’s a good way to go.  I’ll check out Blickchain too.  Thanks.

Hello, I am trying to buy my first Bitcoin.  I started with this site and with going to the Bitcoin Core link and trying to download it as my wallet.  I had read in the reviews that it could take a long time to download, but this is ridiculous!  I bought a new laptop for this purpose.  I am not at all tech savvy, but the laptop says it has intel core i5 7th gen, 6GB DDR4 memory, 1000GB HDD.  This doesn't mean anything to me, but it might do to someone who could help me with my question.  So I started the download about 4 or 5 days ago.  My computer has been permanently online since then and doing nothing else at all except trying to download Bitcoin Core.  At the moment, it shows two boxes.  One of them says "synchronising with network 2 years and 44 weeks behind"  the other says various things including "number of blocks left 156941, progress 22.12%, progress increase per hour 0.27%, estimated time left to sync 8 days".  Earlier today, the estimated time left to sync was 21 year and 11 weeks, so I guess there has been some progress.  But really?  Should this programme take so long, 5 days already plus another 8 days just to download it??  I am itching to get started with buying BTC but this delay is driving me nuts.  I don't even dare try and join and exchange on the same laptop in case I disrupt or delay the Bitcoin core download, so I will have to wait ages for verification etc with an exchange even the the wallet has finished downloading.  Does it take everyone this long to get started?  I know there are some quicker wallets but they seem to be less secure and I thought, from what I read, that Bitcoin Core was the best.  But this delay is really putting me off.  Can anyone tell me if I am doing something wrong or if everyone has to go through this initial frustrating delay?
PP