I need a new computer

[Reverend Jim]

Alas, my current laptop must go in to the shop for some overdue repairs. My power supply and/or connector are failing, my keyboard is chattering and three of my USB ports are intermittent. Also, my feet have fallen off (the little rubber ones) and my display is dimming. I put up with most of the problems but the power system thing was the final straw. Good thing it is under warranty (bought in 2008, extended twice). Next September it is time for a replacement system.

Anyway, what this means is that I have to use an ancient IBM Thinkpad (circa 2003) for 8-10 days until I get my baby back. No Visual Studio, no SQL Server, no Access, etc. Just a browser and a media player. Any answer requiring code may likely be preceded by "if I had to guess...". I hope to be back up to speed quickly.

[<M/>]

Don't worry... not so long from now, your "baby" will return... but might not be your original "baby" :)... it maybe apple :) (unless your anti apple)

[mike_2000_17]

Alas, my current laptop must go in to the shop for some overdue repairs. My power supply and/or connector are failing, my keyboard is chattering and three of my USB ports are intermittent. Also, my feet have fallen off (the little rubber ones) and my display is dimming. I put up with most of the problems but the power system thing was the final straw. Good thing it is under warranty (bought in 2008, extended twice). Next September it is time for a replacement system.

Wow, PETL must not like you (PETL: People for the Ethical Treatment of Laptops) ;) You must not be too kind with your laptops.

I have a 5 year old Toshiba laptop, I had to replace the keyboard once due to spilled coffee, and the firewire connection got busted on the same incident. For the rest, everything is still tip-top with it, even after having dragged it around for two years all over Europe. But, at that age (the computer, I mean), when I realized I could buy a new laptop that would be about 20 times better (hard-drive, CPU and memory) for a few hundred bucks, I figured it made no sense to wait and keep enduring its shortcomings, performance-wise. Now I just have it as backup, still works pretty good, after wiping off Windows in favor of Linux (Fedora).

Anyway, what this means is that I have to use an ancient IBM Thinkpad (circa 2003) for 8-10 days until I get my baby back. No Visual Studio, no SQL Server, no Access, etc. Just a browser and a media player. Any answer requiring code may likely be preceded by "if I had to guess...". I hope to be back up to speed quickly.

No worries, we'll survive. At least until the 21st of december ;)

[Mike Askew]

Jim you could always try something like http://ideone.com/ to help with the guessing, no clue if it is any good though!

[Reverend Jim]

@Mikey. I never knew that existed. Thanks for the reference. Considering all that I've put it through, my Dell has been pretty reliable. My only complaint has been how the power supply connects to the computer. It seems that with any movement whatsoever the cord wiggles its way loose. A connector with a slightly higher coefficient of friction would have prevented that, or one with a slight "click" lock.

[Mike Askew]

@Jim, neither did I till I read your post and did some googling ;)

[deceptikon]

Jim you could always try something like http://ideone.com/ to help with the guessing, no clue if it is any good though!

It's not up to any serious development, but for quickie test programs it's quite useful. I often use it for PHP because with my dev environment the alternative is awkward at best. :)

[Mike Askew]

It's not up to any serious development, but for quickie test programs it's quite useful. I often use it for PHP because with my dev environment the alternative is awkward at best. :)

I have no experience with it to know this :) However at least we can knock some things up in it and see they compile!

[BigPaw]

Jim you could always try something like http://ideone.com/

Great find Mikey! :D

[gerbil]

My advice is to get a desktop. Keyboards are better [there is a choice!], screens bigger [choice again!!] without tearing your arm joints apart. There is always somewhere to leave your mouse. Mouse? Best of all, you can go outside and not feel guilty about leaving your sys behind. It's called freedom.
PITCH - People for Inhumane Treatment of Computer Hardware. Anything else is silly.
Oh. I just remembered pet rocks.

[Reverend Jim]

I got my computer back on Tuesday. It's so nice having everything back and working. I agree, desktop keyboards are usually nicer (and certainly easier to replace when they go bad) however, for me, a desktop computer would not be practical. I like to move from room to room, and a desktop does not travel well to the cottage.

I'd like to give a thumbs up to Dell for their product support.