Oh dear, it's just not fair when writers have computer problems. The writerly challenges are such that one should at least be insulated from acts of techno-violence.
My computer died about a week ago. I had to buy a new one. It's name is Sink, because it is a drain on my bank account. I also lost data in the crash. 2000 songs (including most of my Broadway) gone!!!
Oooh, I'll send you some ink and a quill pen! Or perhaps a lovely 1930s typewriter... I hear there's one store left in NYC that still sells ribbons for 'em!
There seems to be something electrical gone bad in its little guts. A short, as it were.
(jo considers low-tech alternatives. 'First, catch your gooose.')
I'll have to buy a new one. (Computer, not goose.)
Rats. Fortunately, I am not in my small town in Virginia, (where there are maybe 39 laptop computers for sale. Total. n One of them is bright red.) Last night I flew to Silicon Valley. (flap flap.) I am now in the very hub of the universe, computer-wise, and should be able to locate the exact machine I want. I shall go and pretend to be knowledgeable in front of technogeek storeclerks who will not be fooled.
I want an XP machine because I hates the VISTA. This is hero quest material.
Probably I will end up buying a computer online anyway, which I could have done in the comfort and privacy of my own home without exposing myself to the amused contempt of clerks who are still flirting with the whole shaving concept.
But before I can give up and order online, I must embarrass and humiliate myself in front of strangers. One of those cosmic laws.
I send backup files to Gmail every night when I close the computer. I may have lost a chapter or so of MAGGIE, which is the pits. But it's no more than a couple few thousand words.
So this is not disaster. It's just time and annoyance and dealing with technical stuff which baffles me.
Frustration and Bafflement are good to experience because I can use it for my characters who get frustrated and baffled from time to time. I will examine and cherish these moments and try to apply them to the WIP.
Nobody can recommend a good laptop. Everybody just looks blank and says ... "I bought mine three years ago and it works fine."
Not Mac, though.
I would like to go Mac since everyone who does is pleased with it. But I am emotionally unable to face the learning curve in Mac AND the learning curve in everyday life in Paris 1794 at the same time.
HP Pavilion dv3510nr - $999.99 Memory (RAM): 4 GB Hard Drive Size: 320 GB Screen Size: 13.3" http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=9027714&type=product&id=1218010176167&ref=06&loc=01&ci_src=14110944&ci_sku=9027714
Lenovo IdeaPad Y530 - $629 Note: If you order this laptop today (March 2) on the Lenovo website, the price is $534.65. You would have to type in the discount code USPMULTIMEDIA. Memory (RAM): 2 GB Hard Drive Size: 250 GB Screen Size: 15.4" http://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/controller/e/web/LenovoPortal/en_US/integration.workflow:ProductDisplayBundle?IsBundle=true&GroupID=37&Code=40512RU&OID=:00000025:00001B69:&PID=GoogleBase40512RU&CAWELAID=237662810
If you want to have the Windows XP operating system, buying a laptop with Vista installed on it should not be a problem. Ask your friends if they have an XP installation CD. If they don't, you can buy one from Newegg for $89.99 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116511&nm_mc=OTC) Installing XP is a breeze; just insert the CD and it will take you through the process.
I do love my Lenovo. Sturdy machine, still going strong after a few years, even though I've worn the print off several of the keys. (Which I find odd. I must have highly acidic fingers or something. Or else my hand lotion is _not_ as gentle as it claims.)
Oh, and something to cheer you: I saw TSL in the library the other day. For some reason, this shouts "Jo has _arrived_" to me even more than seeing your books at the bookstore. I was tickled.
I break out in a sweat and nausea just looking at that from a distance. Do the computer mechanics give you a loaner till yours is fixed, like happens with cars?
My eyes almost fell out of my head. You've got some serious electronic equipment there. So...what's the diagnosis? Is it salvageable?
If you want a word-processing-only device, Dell's selling $399 XP laptops through their online store. We have three Dells, two workstations, one laptop; and one's eight years old. Nothing conked out yet. In the meantime, Hubby's gone through three Toshibas. So stay away from those. ThinkPads are highly popular, but I just don't like their UI.
Don't believe the rumours about Vista. After initial teething troubles it really does work well now, providing you have a computer with enough oomph to cope with it. And since you're buying new, it will do. Get 3GB RAM and it will work like a dream.
I have a Sony Vaio which I love but the battery life is fairly poor. Fine if you mainly use your laptop at a desk which I do, but not brilliant if you often need to use it away from a power source.
The other thing I'd recommend is an automatic online backup service. I use http://mozy.com and I've found it excellent. You don't need to remember to do the backup and you can schedule it as often as you like.
I wandered out and had a look at the hp machine, since I had a VAIO for a good long time and was pleased with it.
The old VAIO still works, as a matter of fact, after having about a million words typed on it. But a bunch of keys got pulled off. And a toddler went though and got a few more just lately which is making typing a bit more difficult than I like. And it is physically falling apart. I have to tape it shut with duct tape which is sort of embarassing.
I replaced the VAIO a couple or three years back, with my spiffy little Averatec which is sorta like retiring the jeep and buying a Fiat. The Averatec keeps breaking.
So I have a fondness for hp. Dell is also well spoken of, and it has XP machines.
While I was trying to decide between hp and one of the Dells -- doing this dithering that I am so very good at -- the Averatec rose creakily from its bed of pain.
Buying a new machine has now been pushed back a while. I am so relieved.
@Ros -- I am fairly unenthusiastic about VISTA, which I have visited on loaner machines from time to time. I will take your word for it that one becomes accustomed. I do react poorly to technological challenge, I'm afraid.
3 GB RAM. My mind just boggles. 4 GB.
That was about the total computing power of the world in 1960.
This does not look good. Hopefully you have a good technogeek to help you.
ReplyDeleteOh dear, it's just not fair when writers have computer problems. The writerly challenges are such that one should at least be insulated from acts of techno-violence.
ReplyDeleteYou have my sympathy.
My computer died about a week ago. I had to buy a new one. It's name is Sink, because it is a drain on my bank account. I also lost data in the crash. 2000 songs (including most of my Broadway) gone!!!
ReplyDeleteI hope you have better luck.
Ouch. My sincere sympathy, and best wishes for the speedy recovery of your hardware.
ReplyDeleteLinda G.
Oooh, I'll send you some ink and a quill pen! Or perhaps a lovely 1930s typewriter... I hear there's one store left in NYC that still sells ribbons for 'em!
ReplyDeleteYikes! What is the problem?
ReplyDeleteThere seems to be something electrical gone bad in its little guts. A short, as it were.
ReplyDelete(jo considers low-tech alternatives.
'First, catch your gooose.')
I'll have to buy a new one.
(Computer, not goose.)
Rats.
Fortunately, I am not in my small town in Virginia, (where there are maybe 39 laptop computers for sale. Total. n One of them is bright red.) Last night I flew to Silicon Valley. (flap flap.) I am now in the very hub of the universe, computer-wise, and should be able to locate the exact machine I want. I shall go and pretend to be knowledgeable in front of technogeek storeclerks who will not be fooled.
I want an XP machine because I hates the VISTA. This is hero quest material.
Probably I will end up buying a computer online anyway, which I could have done in the comfort and privacy of my own home without exposing myself to the amused contempt of clerks who are still flirting with the whole shaving concept.
But before I can give up and order online, I must embarrass and humiliate myself in front of strangers. One of those cosmic laws.
Hi Kat --
ReplyDeleteI am so sorry to hear about your computer. I'm especially sorry to hear about the lost data.
I do not yet know what I have lost. I have backups, but one never knows.
Bummer for you. Just ... bummer.
I'm backing everything up right now!
ReplyDeleteAnd I'm sending you happy-computer-can't-wait-for-Maggie's-story vibes.
I send backup files to Gmail every night when I close the computer. I may have lost a chapter or so of MAGGIE, which is the pits. But it's no more than a couple few thousand words.
ReplyDeleteSo this is not disaster. It's just time and annoyance and dealing with technical stuff which baffles me.
Frustration and Bafflement are good to experience because I can use it for my characters who get frustrated and baffled from time to time. I will examine and cherish these moments and try to apply them to the WIP.
Nobody can recommend a good laptop. Everybody just looks blank and says ... "I bought mine three years ago and it works fine."
Not Mac, though.
I would like to go Mac since everyone who does is pleased with it. But I am emotionally unable to face the learning curve in Mac AND the learning curve in everyday life in Paris 1794 at the same time.
Recommended:
ReplyDeleteHP Pavilion dv3510nr - $999.99
Memory (RAM): 4 GB
Hard Drive Size: 320 GB
Screen Size: 13.3"
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=9027714&type=product&id=1218010176167&ref=06&loc=01&ci_src=14110944&ci_sku=9027714
Lenovo IdeaPad Y530 - $629
Note: If you order this laptop today (March 2) on the Lenovo website, the price is $534.65. You would have to type in the discount code USPMULTIMEDIA.
Memory (RAM): 2 GB
Hard Drive Size: 250 GB
Screen Size: 15.4"
http://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/controller/e/web/LenovoPortal/en_US/integration.workflow:ProductDisplayBundle?IsBundle=true&GroupID=37&Code=40512RU&OID=:00000025:00001B69:&PID=GoogleBase40512RU&CAWELAID=237662810
If you want to have the Windows XP operating system, buying a laptop with Vista installed on it should not be a problem. Ask your friends if they have an XP installation CD. If they don't, you can buy one from Newegg for $89.99 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116511&nm_mc=OTC) Installing XP is a breeze; just insert the CD and it will take you through the process.
Good luck! :)
Jo,
ReplyDeleteI do love my Lenovo. Sturdy machine, still going strong after a few years, even though I've worn the print off several of the keys. (Which I find odd. I must have highly acidic fingers or something. Or else my hand lotion is _not_ as gentle as it claims.)
Oh, and something to cheer you: I saw TSL in the library the other day. For some reason, this shouts "Jo has _arrived_" to me even more than seeing your books at the bookstore. I was tickled.
Linda G.
I break out in a sweat and nausea just looking at that from a distance.
ReplyDeleteDo the computer mechanics give you a loaner till yours is fixed, like happens with cars?
My eyes almost fell out of my head. You've got some serious electronic equipment there. So...what's the diagnosis? Is it salvageable?
ReplyDeleteIf you want a word-processing-only device, Dell's selling $399 XP laptops through their online store. We have three Dells, two workstations, one laptop; and one's eight years old. Nothing conked out yet. In the meantime, Hubby's gone through three Toshibas. So stay away from those. ThinkPads are highly popular, but I just don't like their UI.
Don't believe the rumours about Vista. After initial teething troubles it really does work well now, providing you have a computer with enough oomph to cope with it. And since you're buying new, it will do. Get 3GB RAM and it will work like a dream.
ReplyDeleteI have a Sony Vaio which I love but the battery life is fairly poor. Fine if you mainly use your laptop at a desk which I do, but not brilliant if you often need to use it away from a power source.
The other thing I'd recommend is an automatic online backup service. I use http://mozy.com and I've found it excellent. You don't need to remember to do the backup and you can schedule it as often as you like.
Hi Everyone,
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for your sympathy. I have been feeling very sorry for myself and it is a great pleasure to do so in good company.
As you see from the next message, my computer is now healed. Yipeee!!!
I will zip out tomorrow and write madly, madly, madly.
They changed the time on me when I wasn't looking.
There I was ... y'know ... metaphorically bailing out this sinking dingy. I looked up. Somebody had stolen an hour from me.
Figures, thinks I.
Hi Sparkle --
ReplyDeleteI wandered out and had a look at the hp machine, since I had a VAIO for a good long time and was pleased with it.
The old VAIO still works, as a matter of fact, after having about a million words typed on it. But a bunch of keys got pulled off. And a toddler went though and got a few more just lately which is making typing a bit more difficult than I like.
And it is physically falling apart. I have to tape it shut with duct tape which is sort of embarassing.
I replaced the VAIO a couple or three years back, with my spiffy little Averatec which is sorta like retiring the jeep and buying a Fiat. The Averatec keeps breaking.
So I have a fondness for hp. Dell is also well spoken of, and it has XP machines.
While I was trying to decide between hp and one of the Dells -- doing this dithering that I am so very good at -- the Averatec rose creakily from its bed of pain.
Buying a new machine has now been pushed back a while. I am so relieved.
@Ros -- I am fairly unenthusiastic about VISTA, which I have visited on loaner machines from time to time. I will take your word for it that one becomes accustomed. I do react poorly to technological challenge, I'm afraid.
3 GB RAM. My mind just boggles. 4 GB.
That was about the total computing power of the world in 1960.
I use it to collect Lolcats.