I Am A Very Bad Girl

[shipperx]

I am a very bad girl. My laptop has gone back to being very, very tempermental. I've had its power supply repaired three times now. I know it's just that the computer ends up with a hell of a lot of abuse. I use my laptop 98% of the time (my poor desktop is old, obselete, and usually ignored... though it's a great mp3 player). Anyway, the last time the power supply on my laptop went nuts I swore that it was the last time I'd get it fixed. Sure, I have a friend who has repeatedly fixed it for free, but it's a pain in the ass!

So, my power supply is back to acting as hinky as hell (And oddly the #3 only works about every fourth time you strike it)... so I went to Dell online and bought a new laptop. Sheesh! Bad Lisa! That's not a cheap purchase and I'm a cheapskate. But... I use my computer all the freaking time. Plus, I've hated that my computer doesn't have a CD writer. Guh!

I did qualify for no interest until 2006 so I have 8 months to pay off the computer, which really shouldn't be a problem. It just always makes me clench when spending money. (Although I did get one of their 34% off sales... not that Gateway and Dell don't ALWAYS have computers on sale.) This one will be wide screen with a DVD writer and an internal wireless modem. So woohoo!... Except I know I'm going to be cursing up a storm if it doesn't detect my wireless modem easily. I did get the Intellimover which is supposed to take the settings from my existing computer.

Of course I will now have two laptops. One that works... and one that's on the cusp of failing and tempermental as hell with its power supply.

Comments

[acristleo.livejournal.com]

Yay for you! I would be so lost without my laptop. We all deserve to treat ourselves every now and the, right?

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

To be perfectly honest, I think my laptop is my primary form of entertainment. It's where I download mpegs and watch them. It's where I do all my photo manips. And because it's wireless, it's where I sit up in my comfy chair with my feet propped up and surf the net while posting (SO much more comfortable than sitting at my desk). It's also where I write fanfic. So all in all, I spend a whole hell of a lot of time in it (I'm not ashamed, I'm ADDICTED!!!) I spend more time on my laptop than I do watching TV. My mother freaks when she has to use it because I've used it so much that I've worn the letters off of several of the keys. So... yeah, it is a major indulgence on my part. I don't own an Ipod... but I go through computers. I can't seem to help myself.

[fishsanwitt]

I know the feeling of the non-working laptop. Mine is behaving for the moment. ::crosses fingers::

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

I can't help but feel weird when replacing a computer that's less than five years old. But... something just isn't right with this laptop. How many times am I supposed to fix the power supply? It breaks way too easily and if I didn't have a total geek for a friend I would have ended up spending a hell of a lot having it repeatedly fixed. That's why I didn't buy another Gateway laptop. This time I'm trying a Dell (that and Dell had a better deal tonight. I did check both sites)

The laptop I'm on now hasn't completely ceased working, but the power supply has become extra hinky again and I really would like to transfer all my stuff before it decides to die so I went ahead and ordered a new one. I just feel absurdly indulgent buying a new laptop.

[fishsanwitt]

Better safe than sorry - and look - you now have a second (albeit 'hinky' laptop - for 'other' stuff :)

[cy-girl.livejournal.com]

A word of caution - you might want to confirm that you got the no-interest financing. They do bit of bait and switch on that no interest deal as we found out the hard way. My husband followed the 0% financing link, completed the application and got an e-mail that we qualifed. It wasn't until we got our first invoice that we realized that they were charging us an interest rate.

They wouldn't tell us why we didn't qualify for the no interest financing even though we're homeowners with almost no debt outside our mortgage and excellent credit. I've since found out that Dell financial has been reported to many states attorneys general for this business practice. Here's a link to an article I found on Forbes about it

http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2005/03/04/ap1863170.html

We're very happy with the laptop but we'll never finance another one with Dell Financial.

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

I'll be sure to check.

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

Well, I double checked and they claim I have 0% financing through January... though they do that really irritating thing of not only do you have to pay it off by January (to get the deal) but you also have to make minimum payments each month or they can charge you (which I bypass by having calculating it all out and pre-arrange payments through on-line banking. You can schedule payments as much as a year in advance on my bank so I just divide the total then schedule the correct amount each month for automatic withdrawal and can happily forget about it). I really dislike it when they set up the minimum payment or you get the penalty of interest thing. (Rich's used to do that before they were taken over by Macy's and it was why I cancelled my Rich's card). But, thanks, forewarned is forearmed and now I know to schedule payments for the entire thing with the very first bill.

[hazel75.livejournal.com]

You're not too bad. And the fact that you qualified for the 0% interest justifies it all.

Good for you!!

[http://users.livejournal.com/opalescence_/]

Can I be really impolite and ask what features it has and what you paid? If you don't want to post that here, e-mail me at opalescent@comcast.net. I'm looking. My power source is going. It's getting pushed in or something. Anyway, it's going. Thanks.

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

I started with this one:
Inspiron 6000 (http://www1.us.dell.com/content/products/features.aspx/2x_inspn6000?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs)

Then I customized it adding:
370 Cerleron processor
Windows XP Professional
8X DVD Writer
Word Perfect 12 Office Suite
Dell Internal Wireless

Then I added as a peripheral a 256MB USB Key (256 MB portable storage/stick memory... which is a total extra, isn't even part of the computer but something I've wanted for a while so that I can transport autocad drawings from my work computer to a home computer. AutoCAD drawings tend to be really large.)

With upgrades and tax it was close to $900.

(When you go through customizing, it will automatically price it up for you. Strangely, once the order was done the price quoted over the phone ended up the same as the one on the website... but they charged be $20 less. I also got free shipping.)

[http://users.livejournal.com/opalescence_/]

Wow, that's fantastic!