A Mini-Adventure
This last week I encountered a mini-adventure.Well, it may not have been an adventure to anyone but me. You see, my current computer, a laptop, decided to start giving up, rolling over and expiring. I say start because I am currently using it. But I have an added keyboard because the laptop keyboard no longer works. So the added keyboard is attached at the usb hub. My dvd/cd drive no longer works. It tells me that there is no disk in the drive, no matter how many times I put a disk in. The memory (I discovered I only have 37 GB of memory on the harddrive) is now half full - and that is only with my writing and some cover art. The other half has to be used to actually make the programs work. So the computer is slow, at a crawl. It doesn’t save like it is supposed to. At times it doesn’t even hibernate when told to. Basically, the 5 year old laptop is tired and needs to retire.So I set out on my adventure to find another computer at a reasonable price.Yeah, I know, an impossible mission, but that was my quest.My adventure took place on the internet. You see, because of being caregiver for two invalids I can not go out shopping for a computer. So I have to do all my shopping online.Fifteen years ago, I was a computer whiz. I knew computers backwards and forewards. My hubby used to say I could make the computers do everything including make coffee and dance. Sadly, this week, I discovered that I am a has been. You see, (I seem to be saying that alot) technology has passed me by.I entered a jungle with brands I never heard of: Asus, Acer, Lenovo, Vaio, to name a few. i was surrounded by them. I feared for my life, my sanity. And the alphabet soup was fearsome. XGA, WXGA,NVIDIA, HDD, GMA threatened to overwhelm me. It was all I could do to slog my way through. I approached Consumer Reports, asking if they could guide me through the pathways of confusion. They gave me a map. With that map I traveled the world of online computer dealers.First, one wanted to roll over me with prices too high and memory too low. I escaped, only to find myself face to face with dealers that wanted me to settle for less memory than I have now. Ah, the life of an adventurer.Finally, after wrestling the internet into submission, I found my treasure. In a place called http://www.newegg.com/ the pyramids of LapTop were opened to me. I wandered euphorically through tunnels and passageways filled to the brim with laptops of every discription, size and price.I had to choose carefully. I could only take one.A Sony Vaio NR, rated excellent in performance and display by Consumer Reports, is the prize I walked away with.Well, I didn’t walk away with it. The lovely little beauty will be shipped to me in 3-4 days.Then I get to delve into the adventure of tranferring my data from one computer to another and hope I don’t lose anything.I’ll let you know how that adventure goes
