On Computers

So, the cord on my AC adapter to my laptop became stripped and my laptop can’t run on AC power until I get the replacement. Of course, HP didn’t notify FedEx of the shipment in time to ship it out yesterday so it won’t ship until Monday and I won’t receive it until Tuesday. It’s a poorly designed cord if it became stripped this easily. I’ve had my laptop for about a year and a half and am not rough with the cord, so it shouldn’t be worn like it is. Also talking about poor designs, the CD drive is very poorly designed on this laptop (and many laptops I’ve seen). The bottom of the tray is part of the bottom of the laptop causing strain on it that shouldn’t be there when you hold the laptop on the left side. All laptop should have trays enclosed completely and not have part of the tray as part of the computer shell. My sister’s Toshiba and mom’s Gateway have the good kind of drive. Compaqs and HP’s don’t.

Also, my Dell is getting old. It’s about 5 years old now and is needing to be replaced. It has served me well and I’ve never had a problem with it, but with dual core processors and new operating systems using more ram and needing bigger and better video cards, it’s just time to buy a new system and not try to upgrade the existing PC. I’ve also been thinking of making the switch to a Mac. With Vista coming out, now is as good as time as any. Some of Vista’s features (from the little experience I have with it via my sister’s new laptop) are cool, but maybe it’s time to go another way. I won’t go Linux, so Mac is my other option really. Do I really want to pay twice he amount for a computer that has basically the same shelf life as a PC though? That is a decision I will have to make. And the Mac commercial where Mac and PC are talking and the security keeps saying “Cancel or Allow” is so funny because it’s true. Everything I was doing when helping my sister with her laptop was asking me to confirm. I’m sure it’s something you can turn off, I just found it funny.

So, now I wait for my AC adapter. Even with poor design, I love my laptop and hate not being able to use it much (if I hold the cord just right I can get power to it). Being stuck at my desk on the desktop sucks.