First post with new laptop

I've spent the better part of the last three hours setting up my new laptop, migrating programs and files and stuff, and basically getting things back to where they were. Still have a lot of file migration to go, but I think I'm going to do that on a need-to basis going forward. My early impressions of Windows Vista are that it's overly complex. I think Wireless-N is very cool and amazingly fast. And it's nice to have a more modern machine.

Er, no ... still laptopless

The shipping of my new laptop did not occur today as expected because the company was unable to process my order because (wait for it), my credit card was refused because my address didn't match exactly because (wait for it) I neglected to put "NW" at the end of my address when placing the order online. Yes, for lack of a NW (or "northwest"), Mastercard repeatedly refused to take the order.

It was finally straightened out and the laptop is now en route. Hopefully here by Tuesday.

Meanwhile, I could go down to Wal-Mart tonight, go through automated checkout, scribble THIS IS NOT MY SIGNATURE on the computer screen, and my purchase would SAIL through. But not NW. Oh, noooo...

Further meanwhile, I just had a very painless install of a brand new wireless N router. No laptop to use it with at the moment, but ...

New laptop coming soon

Far more regular posting should resume soon, as I could have a new laptop as quickly as tomorrow.

Still laptopless

Two days after my laptop kicked the bucket, I still haven't replaced it. I'm looking at a specific brand and model that is sold out at the local big box stores, but is $100 cheaper than ordering it straight from the company. So my options appear to be wait, and hope the store gets more, or spend more money and just buy the darn thing.

This can't be good

When a "chkdsk /f" results in "PERMANENT HARD ERROR" I'm thinking it might be time for a new laptop.

There are better ways of dealing with Vista ...

Public Service Announcement: U.S. Travelers Lose 12,000 Laptops Every Week

Funny story about absent-minded folks at airports who somehow manage to lose hundreds of thousands of laptops every year. But the highlight of this story is actually in the comments section, where one person suggests the obvious: Go to an airport lost and found claiming you lost a laptop and describe any common brand. Chances are, they'll have it in their inventory of lost computers.

My laptop is fixed!

It turns out the AC connector pin was fine. It was the power cord that had gone on the fritz.

A new power cord has made everything OK.

YAY!

Minus one laptop

The update on my pooched laptop is that it's in for a solder job to try and tighten the AC connection pin.

If that works, great. Laptop is as good as new.

If it doesn't work, it cost me minimal money (a whole lot less than replacing the entire motherboard), and I don't have to buy a new laptop quite yet. (In the meantime, I'm stealing time on the desktop computer to pay the bills and check my e-mail.)

Ideally, I'd rather not get a new laptop until next year at the earliest. While the ones out today are infinitely more powerful than my current machine and come with neat gizmos like built-in webcams, I'd rather wait until Blu Ray drives become the norm on laptops so that my machine will be at least high-definition compatible with the winning high-def movie format.

The perils of technology - UPDATE

I'm going to spend the morning on the phone trying to find a repair shop that could solder my power connection back in place. That is the cheaper option to the motherboard replacement solution, but it's not necessarily one that will work. Still, if it can buy me some time - even a few months, that would be better right now.

The perils of technology

I hate these kinds of dilemmas.

My laptop has a cracked power supply. As a result, the AC cord doesn't always connect properly, and so my laptop, despite being plugged in, is draining battery power.

Trying to get the cord to connect to both power the laptop and charge the battery results in the kinds of cord and body contortions that make it difficult to actually operate the machine (as it is difficult to type on a keyboard that is at a 90 degree angle to the ground and being held 3 feet off the ground, as that is the only way the battery will charge. Not to mention, my arm gets pretty sore).

I called a couple of repair places yesterday and the options are paying to get the cracked power unit reconnected - which doesn't always work - or going with the sure-fire motherboard replacement.

The problem is this: replacing the motherboard would cost three-quarters of what it would cost to buy a new laptop that's about 50 times more powerful than my current one. And replacing the motherboard would be about 50% of the cost of a new laptop that is about 80 billion times more powerful than my current one.

So I'd be sinking the money into a unit that's literally not worth the money it would cost to fix it (despite the fact that, despite the major power issues, it works fine. Which, I know, the equivalant of saying beyond the heart attack, he's quite healthy).

Or I could spend twice that money to buy a new, state-of-the-art machine.

Guess I'm going laptop shopping this weekend.

Oh ... and the keyboard on our desktop computer died today. I'm really going shopping this weekend.