A Bit Of A Scare...

[realsorien]

Last night, as is usual I was on the laptop chatting idly with people between rounds. It came to be time for my last round, and I moved to type a 'gotta go!' message. When I started typing, there was a 'zap!' sensation of a spark, and the laptop just froze, the screen image slowly degrading. This HAS happened before. Usually, just shutting it off and taking the battery out for a while gets things okay again- I dunno why, though I suspect it has something to do with the charge draining away.

Anyway, I tried this and... Nada. Nothing. I fiddled as much as I dared, then packed it up (battery taken out) with the sinking feeling that I'd just fried my expensive toy.

However, I tried starting it again, and it worked! I am DEFINITELY going to get everything backed up tonight!

I'm also rethinking my priorities in laptops. I mostly need it for internet and writing, and I want a keyboard no smaller than what I have now... It would be NICE if it could handle CoH, but... I don't need it to. So if and when this thing fails I'm prolly looking at something a lot cheaper than what I was earlier drooling over.

Hopefully, this won't be soon. But given that the keyboard is going out, one of the USB ports has a bad connection, as does the power cord socket, I may have to consider it sooner than later.

Comments

[foeclan.livejournal.com]

It's winter. Dry air is an ESD hazard. Use the grounded plug on your power supply if you aren't already, and avoid bouncing on your office chair (if they're plastic they'll generate a lot of static). ESD damage sometimes rights itself in a few minutes to a few days, so that could be why it recovered eventually. Backing up is definitely a good idea though.

If you just need email, web browsing and chat stuff, you could always go for an Eee PC ($299 at Target) or an XO (there's a 'give one get one' program where you spend $399 and you get one and another is donated to needy children, Link is here (http://www.amazon.com/gp/browse.html?ie=UTF8&marketplaceID=ATVPDKIKX0DER&me=A34NLXJLC88VVS))

Good Suggestions...

[sorien.livejournal.com]

The Eee PC is just too teeny. I want a decent sized screen, and a keyboard at least the size of the one on my current laptop. I've actually considered the XO... More than likely, if I can get the overtime I'll go for something that'll actually play games- From the brief amount of looking I did I think I could get a laptop that'd run CoH decently for around $1200. Thats 2 shifts a week for 6 weeks- I've done that before. If something happens before I get that together, I can (I do NOT want to though) afford around $600- Emergency money is why I took some extra out on the refi. I'd rather save and get something better, however.

And I'll switch to the grounded plug!