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Might Have to Buy a New Computer Sooner Than I Thought

February 22nd, 2011 at 09:01 pm

My laptop has about had it. I was hoping to wait until after April to get a new one, but now I'm not so sure it's going to make it. The last couple of times I've shut it down, it's taken numerous restarts to get it past the opening sign-in page. The desktop simply doesn't appear. All I get is the black screen of death. If it was a screen problem I wouldn't be getting the opening sign on screen. So it's got to be a glitch somewhere internally.

I am in the process of transferring everything important off it and onto my portable hard drive, but it is long and tedious work.

I know what computer I want to get next. It's a Sony Vaio. Of the laptops I've had before this one, it was the only one that never broke down. If it weren't so obsolete I could still be using it, but it's Windows 3.1 and has no CD/DVD drive and has very little memory, most of which was taken up by Office and IE. It also only has a phone modem in it and I don't think it even has a slot for plugging in a network card. Still, it was the best computer of any I've owned.

I did like the first Toshiba I had, but not the second, and I will never buy an HP laptop again (that's what this one is, but they are far better on desktops than laptops). The Sony Vaio that I want is $799.99 and with tax will come to $868. With the service contract, which I only ever buy for computers and failed to do last time in the mistaken thought it wasn't worth the money, will probably bring it to $1000 or a little over. I've kicked myself countless times for not getting it with all the problems I've had these last two years with the HP.

I've tried the keyboard out several times over the past few months and it's really comfortable and easy to type quickly on and the keys aren't annyoingly loud. That may seem like a silly thing to some of you, but I type about four hours a day most days and if it isn't a good fit under my fingers I will be miserable. It tends to be my first priority, finding a keyboard that works best for me and then out of those that do, finding one that fits all my other needs.

I am almost to the halfway mark of saving up that $1000. I really want to get there before this laptop fails me but I am afraid that won't happen. They do have 90 days same as cash and 18 months same as cash available though. I just hate to finance anything that isn't a car or a house. Even with 0% interest, it is the principle of the thing. Though I imagine I'd get over that pretty fast if this laptop dies completely before I'm ready to buy.

I added $23 to the laptop fund today and $0.36 to the coin jar.

$435.94 beginning laptop fund balance
$+23.00 amounted added
---------------
$458.94 ending laptop fund balance

3 Responses to “Might Have to Buy a New Computer Sooner Than I Thought”

  1. frugaltexan75 Says:
    1298411781

    That must be so disheartening to have such a young laptop die on you (or at least, about to die.) I hope it lasts til you've the funds for the Vaio.

  2. jewels3 Says:
    1298434076

    We will not buy HP products either. I used to swear by HP products ten years ago, but certainly not anymore. They use inferior parts, they know they use inferior parts, yet make no effort to change. I'm surprised you got 2 years out of it. Ours only lasted a year.

  3. LuckyRobin Says:
    1298435886

    Yeah, I'm surprised I got two years out of it, too. I had to superglue the frame together when it was a year old and that helped keep it from falling apart! And I've worn almost all of the letters off the keys (which I have memorized anyway, but that's never happened before on any computer I've owned).

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