The last post for the laptop.
It is expiring. No longer can I type apostrophes and there are other even more worrying symptoms. A computer techie friend tut-tuts and shakes his head as I describe them. Time to give it a decent burial, he says. He advised against using it at all any more but I wanted to write this post.
The laptop has proved an able and willing servant in its five years of life, fitting discreetly into the compact and bijou London flat (anyone remember that Fry and Laurie ad?) and introducing me to blogging and the fascinating and sublimely addictive world of cyberspace. It played havoc though with my trapezius and rhomboids, and I will be replacing it with a "proper" computer. Adjustable screen. Separate keyboard. Two different computer-oriented friends have recommended Dell which surprises me as I seem to remember reading less than wonderful reviews a few years ago.
If anyone has any recommendations, believe me, they will be gratefully received. Just leave a note in the comments.
****
An involuntary hiatus, then, since blogging at work isnt a possibility. Probably till mid-October, given my diary and the schedule of my techie adviser. No bad thing. Life sometimes knows better than I do what I need and it will be salutary perhaps to live for a spell without rating the events of the day, consciously or unconsciously, on their blog potential.
*****
At last a golden September morning:
- Warm sun but the hint of a chill in the air. Hanging out the washing early. The bus into town to get my contribution for the party tonight, listening to two elderly ladies on the seat in front discuss mutual friends. A browse around PC World then a cappucino on the verandah of the arts centre.
- A busker with his guitar, nobly taking up the most insalubrious pitch in town, a dirty, littered underpass smelling of urine, which nonetheless probably has the best accoustics, and belting out a cracking version of After the Gold Rush that would have made Mr Young proud. His voice soared through the filth and tiles and concrete and part of me floated upwards with it. I tossed him a coin, slightly embarrassed, as I tend to be on such occasions.
Well I dreamed I saw the silver
space ships flying
in the yellow haze of the sun.
There were children crying
and colours flying
all around the chosen ones.
All in a dream, all in a dream
the loading had begun.
They were flying Mother Natures
silver seed to a new home
in the sun.
See you here again sometime in October.
14 comments:
Funny about the musician. Classic - if the acoustics are good, he won't even notice the smell and trash (probably not much different from some bars/pubs).
I'm on my second Dell desktop computer and my new laptop is also a Dell. I've found them to be pretty reliable. The phone support is, I suspect, no different from any other company - all depends on the luck of catching a good tech person on the other end of the line. My desktop is an old Dell Dimension (appears to have XP from 2002, so that may be when I bought it). My laptop has Windows Vista on it, and I haven't had any problems with that either.
Good luck with the new PC - you'll be thrilled with the speed of a new one, I'm sure! See you when you're back online.
I have worked on Dells at work, and they are shabby. The IT friends I have all have to deal with the cheapness of Dells, and hate them. I cannot recommend a different one because...
I am a Mac-head from way back, so my view of a reliable computer is a little skewed. I think they should just work and last many years.
I'll have a word with my techie son and see what he recommends; he should be back here tomorrow.
Loved the photo, and hope you'll be blogging again soon
Jan x
Sorry to hear it, mm.
I'm a Machead too, and although the outlay seems high at the outset, the headaches are few to nil.
They survive Merc rx remarkably well too. ;-)
Five years is a long time for a laptop. I've had Dells, and they are on the cheap side, but on the other hand, they're on the cheap side. Until computer technology levels off I don't think it makes sense to buy high end -- generally today's cheap computer does what last year's pricey one did. And you don't want to do anything that fancy with it, right? It just needs enough memory to run a word processor and a reliable internet connection. Go cheap.
I'll miss you!!!
Enjoy the enforced blogging break.
I am on a Dell, second laptop. No problems, but then I do have a very tame tech head on hand!
Will miss you.
hubby says, "dell." there are some high end ones for sure, but no reason to spend the extra. dell is cheaper, and you get more perks for your money.
my favorite laptop was my toshiba which we replaced last year when my keyboard starting acting up. when i had the new one up and running with all my files transferred, hubby took the old laptop apart. he realized i needed a new keyboard - cleaning was not enough (i had spilled something on it which i think caused a shortage). he ordered a keyboard for it off ebay and put it in. now i have 2 "new" laptops.
i still have a very old laptop which runs windows 95! after that i had a compaq which i despised! compaq was taken over by HP so i would probably never ever buy an HP because of it. i used to fantasize about beating it with a hammer or throwing it in the creek behind my house.
i will miss you. hurry back but have much fun in the meantime! happy computer search. :)
Go Mac! Don't hesitate - buy a MacBook right now!
One of the very great songs...
a golden september...lovely words, evoking autumnul moods. See you when youre back online!
Thank you everyone. Comments, encouragement and advice taken on board .....
Have just discovered your blog and loving it. As for computer—I adore my Mac. It's like driving a Cadillac.
Cat: Thanks and welcome! Ill be back in a few weeks (I hope).
Get a Mac...no viruses, and totally reliable. A wise investment. I love mine.
Maureen: Thanks for the input. And welcome.
Still on the dying laptop.
Such indecision. I was going with Dell but the Mac proponents here are very persuasive ...
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