Mrs. Mecomber's Scrapbook

My aging little HP laptop is starting to show its age. Recently the fan rumbled and made a clinking sound. The fan runs noisily with a tinny sound that can be heard across the room. My hard drive squeaks from time to time, although this has been going on for some time now. And the monitor goes black from time to time (I think it may be a short-circuit with the connection to the computer itself). Obviously, I have to backup my stuff every night, for fear it will bite the dust before the next morning.

It’s been a pretty reliable little laptop for the 5 or 6 years I’ve had it. I use it like my right arm. It’s on all day, and I use it for graphics design, web design, and writing, as well as playing videos. The battery life is shot (lasts me 20 minutes), and the power cord is twisted and mangled. A few dead pixels blot my screen. But it keeps on ticking.

However, I have been saving my pennies and dimes to get a new one. I do not want this one to die before I have another on hand. I work from my computer, and therefore I must have one available at all times. So, I’ve been scoping out different models for the past year or so.

In my searching, I found an excellent notebook review website, called appropriately, Notebook and Laptop Review.com. I’m impressed with the thoroughness of the reviewers. Lots of high-graphic photos, too. If you’re hunting for a notebook, I recommend the site.

Nowadays, all computers come with Vista installed. I’m not too keen on Vista, as I’ve heard so few programs are compatible with it. I can’t believe it’s marketed so widely when software compatibility is such an issue! I’ve considered wiping out Vista and installing Windows XP, but I’ve also heard of massive headaches with this move (I’d have to go and find and install proper XP drivers, etc). I’ve even considered a dual-boot of Vista and XP. I did a dual-boot with Xandros on this XP laptop, and it went well until I had to reformat XP. (As a sidenote, I’ve got a CD of Ubuntu that I am eager to try sometime.)

At any rate, I’m definitely getting away from HP this time. The HP bricking threat I’d read about is enough to make this loyal HP user look around. Almost all my computers and printers have been HP computers! But besides the bricking problem, I’m more willing to stretch my wings and try some other models. Toshiba Satellite looks good. The only problem I’ve heard with it is that they come loaded with bloatware. But bloatware I can handle. The real issue for me is the processor and the speed. I do a lot of heavy graphic design, which kicks on my HP fan so much that it sounds like it will take off in flight.