Nightmares
Is it normal to have a nightmare about your computer getting infected with a drive-by browser exploit, and you being unable to stop it or find your OS CD to do a reinstall? Would you be as relieved as I was when you wake up and realise it was all just a dream?
While on the subject of nightmares, I should probably complete the story of the new laptop. We'll pick it up a week last Friday - yes, we're now talking over a week and a half ago; I've been stupidly busy with work, more work and in what little free time is left, an awesome new project. Unlike some of my other projects, I have an excellent name for it, a domain, a logo concept and half a website. The program is modular; I've completed the core, but all the interesting functionality is in the modules, so sadly the bulk of the work is still to do. Still, watch this space - it will be out soon.
Sorry, we were talking about nightmares, laptops, and last week's last Friday.
On Friday 4th, my laptop specs suddenly jumped from "We'll start doing something soon" to "We posted it yesterday!". Nice. I got a phone call from an automated system asking me for a delivery date; I couldn't do Monday, so told them Tuesday morning.
Tuesday came around, I watched the tracking page intently. It left the depot for delivery at 7:03am, and I waited. I waited and waited, and at about 4:45pm the tracking page updated with "11:03 - Address query". After participating in a very exciting game of pass-the-caller, I made it through to the depot in Gloucester (which certainly explains a lot). They told me that the driver hadn't been able to find the flat, so I gave them explicit delivery instructions - "Turn right and keep walking" - and it arrived the next day. I do wonder what would have happened if I hadn't rung though - I guess they'd have sent it back to Dell and I'd still be waiting for it today.
Which would have made the next part of my story even worse.
My laptop arrived, and it is broken. And no, I'm not referring to Vista (although that is dire).
To be precise, my speakers are broken. They emit a noise not dissimilar to a cat being strangled with a Geiger counter.
And that's pretty much where we are now. Dell say they'll send a technician round to fix it, but I have to be in for two full consecutive business days. That's kinda difficult this week, so it'll have to wait until next week. Let's hope I don't have one of those horror story repairs where they break everything else in the process.
Of course, even if it does go to plan, I'll still be left with the CRUNK noises that come from the hard disk, but they are apparently perfectly normal for the M1330, so not to worry. I'm tempted to fix that one by getting a new laptop HD and installing XP on it; but that would be one for another day when I have a little more time.
Comments
Tsk.
Should have bought a thinkpad.
Perhaps... but this was less than half what I would have spent on a thinkpad. And it's not all bad - I can play San Andreas! Hurrah, train journeys will never be the same.
Coca-Cola, that's what you have to be careful of. It rots your teeth. But why didn't you buy a Mac? Macs run Windows and MacOS and Linux, they are fast and look great and the battery lfie is impressive.
Because they cost the earth?
Clearly that is not the case. It is just something to say when you can't think of a *real* reason.
Actually, a macbook is a roughly similar spec and price. I'll be honest - I have wondered if I did the right thing getting the Dell. But never mind - this does the job. Or at least it will once I've had the speakers fixed and have reformatted and installed XP.
Ok, how about "Because they're huge"?
True, the macbook is about 1cm bigger in each dimension, although roughly the same weight. I personally dislike the design of the macbook - I know a lot of people say they're very pretty and stuff, but it's just personal taste, and they do look very... mac. And they only have one mouse button.
All silly reasons not to get a Mac. It's like saying an Acorn looks just so much like... well, an Acorn. And a Pee Cee has fewer buttons than an Acorn, so how could you use a Pee Cee? Another silly reason. Personal choice, tight-fistedness or budget constraints are the only valid excuses in this case. I'd have thought as a pro Web designer, though, you'd have a Mac to test on, if not develop on. I, for one, would see that as essential.
I don't think "It's big" and "It's expensive" is the same as saying "It's got too few buttons".
On that note, the last MBP I looked at didn't have a delete key. Backspace yes, delete nooo. :)
> It's like saying an Acorn looks just so much like... well, an Acorn.
Yes, but I like how Acorns look.
> And a Pee Cee has fewer buttons than an Acorn, so how could you use a Pee Cee?
Because you're running a two-button OS on the PC. However, running RISCOS on a PC laptop requires three mouse buttons, which means third button emulation, and that is a bit of a pain. As I regularly have to run Windows applications on my laptop, I figured I'd miss buttons 2 and 3 too much, and external mice aren't convenient on trains.
> I'd have thought as a pro Web designer, though, you'd have a Mac to test on, if not develop on.
I'm primarily a web developer rather than designer, and the majority of my work has been server-side, so my cross-platform compatibility needs up to now have been met by remote testing services. Now I'm increasingly doing client-side scripting I will need to get a mac, but that won't need to be portable. I decided it would be best to treat them as two separate issues, and get the most appropriate solution for each problem.
> Personal choice, tight-fistedness or budget constraints are the only valid excuses in this case.
Budget-wise, I will be spending more getting a dell and a mac mini than I would if I'd bought a macbook.
Personal choice did play a factor. The design of the macbook does nothing for me, and I just don't like what being a mac owner does to someone. It's epitomised in the Mac vs PC adverts; mac extremists always seem so smug and incapable of accepting that there is a time when a mac isn't the most appropriate solution. My opinion has always been that the focus of Apple is design over substance, that they're overpriced and under-featured.
Despite those preconceptions, I was impressed with the macbook, and did give it serious consideration. However, when faced with two similarly spec'd and priced machines, it came down to what I needed it for and how I'd be using it: a Windows laptop for regular use of Windows applications, and a cheap mac that can sit in the corner turned off until the rare occasion that I need it.
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