Here, compy compy compy….
As many of you know, my intention was to either repair my broken laptop or replace it at some point. Right before I made the final plunge, it became clear that replacement would have to be it. See, I’ve never been very good at soldering. I knew this going in, but after comparing motherboard replacement costs to new laptop costs I figured I would go ahead and take a shot at it.
Smoldy
2004-2006
I tried.
So I need a new laptop, and it has become pretty clear to me that I need to obtain this replacement ASAP. It turns out that I don’t actually like to write with pen and paper anymore. I was pretty shocked; like everybody else I have any number of notebooks full of….stuff, and I’m pretty sure this confession is costing me some serious artsy-guy credibility. Nevertheless, I like the glow, the hum, the tapping of keys, the ancillary programs, the distracting programs, all of it. I’ll use a notebook, but I’d much prefer that it be an addition to the laptop as opposed to the whole of the thing.
Financially, it looks like it’ll have to be next month, which gives plenty of time for the plea I am about to plant to take root.
The last laptop was the cheapest Dell available at the time ($650 or so) plus an upgrade or two. This is still the bottom rung pricewise at Dell, Best Buy, Circuit City, what-have-you, and is what I’ll probably end up paying this time around.
However, I figure I know enough people that there’s a good chance that somebody has seen some crusty little used thing on craigslist or knows a place with some crazy sale. I’m shooting for $400, mainly to see if I can. It needs to read DVDs, have built-in wireless capability, and have a couple of USB slots - I’m not super-concerned about the rest of it. My $650 will get me 512MB of RAM and a Celeron/Turion or simliar. That’ll do: play movies and my archives, let me surf and write, play a few songs and an occasional emulated Castlevania and I’m happy.
Keep your eyes open!