Wednesday, November 26, 2008

If I get rid of two, it's OK to buy one, right?

So, it's been a long time since I've bought a new computer. Like, a long, long time. My last new computer was a laptop with a 300Ghz Pentium II processor, and that was damn sexy at the time. The computer I have right now is a third? fourth? gen hand-me-down that started it's life as someone else's hot-shit gaming box. I'm not honestly sure what the specs on it are, I'd have to look. And, well, I can't.

Because, you see, it's dying. It's been dying for a long time, but doing it slowly enough that I haven't quite been motivated to replace it. But certain things (like video, or java, or the properties dialogue, or the calendar, or starting Outlook) will lock up the box. And every time I need to reboot it, it takes longer, and more tries before it actually boots all the way. Every once in a while, I speculate that I'm the subject of a psychology experiment.

And we have a computer upstairs, that is a one-generation-younger gaming box than mine, which Raven originally got so she could play The Sims. (Yes, that means the newer of my computers is 8-ish years old. Why?) It's only real purpose these days is to run InDesign for publishing and printing BSP stuff.

But neither of those reasons are sufficient to themselves to overcome my laziness, or it would have happened at least a couple years ago.

However, I recently inherited (and, for a change, I mean that literally) a ancient record player and boxes of 78's from the 40's and 50's, and I've been wracking my head trying to figure out where the heck I can put it. And it occured to me, that if I got rid of the computer desk downstairs, it could easily go there.

But I can't just consolidate into the upstairs computer, because it sits on the same desk as Raven's computer, which means I'd be competing for screen time with both her and Kalen, and that's a fight I'm destined to lose.

So, laptop time. If I pick up a nice, high-end beastie with wireless, a big screen and lots of drive space, it can replace both of my aging, power-sucking desktops, and I'm not tied to any one place in the house any more. I can blog by the fire, or publish at the table, or write in the comfy chair. Or hey, I could even read my forums in the hobby room, listening to 78s on my vintage record player.

I like the sound of that. I think I'll buy me a shiny new laptop. After all, it's been 11 years since the last time I did that.

James

Labels: geekery, Stuff and Things

2 Comments:

george said...: Shiny!!; 11:52 AM
Daniel said...: One minor thing I would suggest based on my own experience with laptops is to look very closely at the manufacturers other systems for lifespan and reliability. Compared to a desktop they are a lot less reliable and harder to take care of problems with.

Beyond that, Awesome! Laptops are soooo handy and given the age of your systems I think a good choice.; 12:24 PM