Way to start a Sunday morning...

[lagilman]

with your laptop going dead mid-post.

Um....

*sighs, gets out brain-transfer device to move files to desktop for storage*


*pets EEE for being new and brave and going with me when I travel*


If anyone wants me, I'll be burning backup cds....

EtA: this laptop was 2 years old and I didn't pay top dollar for it, so this is more along the lines of 'damned inconvenient timing, you SOB' than OMGTFHALP! Still, frustrating and annoying and all those other techie muttering things. Especially since we can't seem to figure out WHY it died (not overheating, not a power cord problem, etc). Damnit, do not want new computer. Do. Not. Want. Vista.

Comments

[matociquala.livejournal.com]

...growf.

[black13.livejournal.com]

My laptop is 6 years old, and Do Not Want Vista is my second reason (the other being not having the money anyway) to get a new one.

On the other hand, there are places like Dell, where you can custom-order your hardware, and they might even preinstall something other than Vista on it if you ask.

Or go Mac.

[lagilman]

Dell was offering XP up until a month or so, to those of us holdouts. Then they pulled back, and all that seems to be available is Vista. I suspect a Plot in the Timing.

Since I now have the EEE, I'm less fussed about getting a lightweight machine. But I do like having something that's portable around the apartment...

[black13.livejournal.com]

If you know any IT people...?

I have a very good friend who works in IT, and he takes care of all my computer needs. When he set up my new computer, he got a clean hard disc without anything pre-installed, and installed XP.

If you know anyone like that, they can help you. And probably will.

[lagilman]

If you know any IT people...?

*laughter* Um, yeah. A few. Once I give up on this laptop and accept the need to drop $$ on a new machine, it will just be a question of how much power I'm going to need, and then configuring it to my specs. But I'm not quite ready to give up on this one, not without knowing the cause.

I'm usually pretty good at troubleshooting these things, and when that fails, my brother-in-law the EE rides to the rescue. Am waiting on him to respond to my IM-yelp about the specifics of the problem.

[autojim.livejournal.com]

There's a Double Sooper Sekrit way to get XP Pro on a new Dell.

It has to be on one of the business Latitudes (and maybe the semi-pro Vostros, didn't check), not the "personal" Inspirons, as near as I can tell, and you specify Vista Ultimate with XP Pro Downgrade Option.

IOW, there's a price to get it, but you *can* get it.

Just sayin'.

[redwolfexr.livejournal.com]

Any gaming (XPS) laptop has the same options, Jim. Probably at a cheaper price point too.

I have never found the Latitudes worth the cost increase.

[lagilman]

*gets out popcorn, settles in to watch this installment of Tech Wars....*

[autojim.livejournal.com]

What you're likely to discover is that Dan and I will wind up tag-teaming someone into purchasing the machine they didn't know they needed... until they have it.

We've done this before. :D

[redwolfexr.livejournal.com]

But we use this power only for good.... mostly.

(Jim can outneep me on vehicles all day long, but I can hold my own in computers.)

[autojim.livejournal.com]

You're right, Dan, but the customer in this case didn't want the XPS 1330, she wanted something smaller. Hence the Latitude D420. It didn't hurt that I found one equipped hardwarily exactly the way I wanted it in the Outlet, and Dell foolishly sent me a substantial e-coupon.

As far as a new Latitude, yeah, they're pretty spendy. I will say, having a Latitude D620 for work and the Inspiron 1525 for home, that the Latitudes seem a bit more robustly built to this engineer, even though the innards are clearly similar.

[lagilman]

Speaking as someone who has had both an Inspiron and a Latitude, the latitude is definitely sturdier. However, the power bricks suck no matter what.

I test drove a Vaio yesterday and was quite pleased with the screen and the keyboard, and since this won't be a hail-on-long-trips laptop, the weight's not so much an issue. But no decision will be made until I'm back home again.

[autojim.livejournal.com]

Yep. At this point, I have a motley collection of 65W and 90W Dell power bricks. For whatever reason, the big honkin' 1525 came with a 65W, and the dinky D420 came with a 90W. K glommed the 65W for the D420, I've got the 90W for the 1525, and I've got a 65W for mobile use and a 90W attached to the docking station at work with the work D620.

Oh, and Miss E's 1520 came with a 90W. But since that one, along with its 'puter, pretty much resides at her dad's, it's not really a problem.

At one point during the setup phase for the 420 and the 1520, I had all 4 laptops *and* the desktop up and running at the same time, along with two Samsung C300 color laser printers.

And then discovered K had taken the camera with her.

Oh, well.

[redwolfexr.livejournal.com]

I have a D600 from work, and an Inspiron 1720 as a personal work machine. (not all contracts provide laptops, but most do so I still keep a laptop as backup) Bought a pair of refurbed Kensington 120W Auto/Air/AC adapters and haven't used the one that came with since. (one for office, and one for the truck/home)

The cases on Latitudes are indeed sturdier, its the main sales point. Same guts as the similar Inspiron with metal re-inforced cases. (and even magnesium if you order them that way -- Misty had one)

---

I liked the Vaios as well, just couldn't get a pre-config set up the way I wanted it -- and their custom machines are in Latitude territory with decent configurations. I wanted a top end video card, since thats the part that "ages" the fastest on PCs. The other problem was Sony (as well as HP, Toshiba and Fujitsu) did not offer a 17" panel in 1920x1200. I found that really odd in machines that had Blue-Ray drives available. (my semi-retired 3.5 year old Dell also has a 1920x1200 res panel)

I always spec higher than most, so I end up with fewer alternatives.

(edited because I meant Fujitsu)

[learningtoread.livejournal.com]

You're definitely cool enough for a MacBook

You would not regret.

[lagilman]

It's a Religious Thing. I used to be a Mac Girl, back in college, and my last side-job we used Macs in the office. I really do prefer The Other Side, now.

[redstarrobot.livejournal.com]

Do. Not. Want. Vista.

The Eee is just a gateway drug to Linux, you know. :)

[lagilman]

As soon as I a) figure out how to sync my Palm OS to the Linux or b) find a PDA program I like as much as the Palm, I'll probably go Linux without much of a backwards look. But I do dearly love my Bunter 2.0, and I'm not ready to give him up just yet. My life would get very complicated if I couldn't sync everything easily...

[redstarrobot.livejournal.com]

Linux has shipped with Palm sync tools for years, although I have no personal experience with them - my impression is that a few years ago, they were a touch hardware-dependant, but I don't know about now. The big ones I know of are kpilot, gnome-pilot, and jpilot. (I have heard some good things about gnome=pilot and Ubuntu lately.)

[lagilman]

All the info I've seen on gnome veered into the techie-geek, which is not somewhere I can be right now (brains previously occupied, alas. Them as ain't been et). But it will happen, someday less laden with Stuff.

(I think February 2011 might be workable...let me pencil it in)

[fakefrenchie.livejournal.com]

Go Mac. You'll never go back!!

[spiziks.livejournal.com]

When I ordered my new laptop from Dell last winter, they still offered some models with XP. I don't know if they still do.

On the other hand, Kala ended up putting XP on her desktop and she reports none of the horrible problems I had with it, so maybe they've updated it for the better.

[neutronjockey.livejournal.com]

Do you know how to access the start-up configuration? I'm looking for something that says dumprep on it that is common to XP and Vista 'puters.

[lagilman]

The laptop is an ex-laptop. Dead. Despite a fully charged battery, and a power cord that is displaying full bars of power right until the moment I try to connect it to said ex-laptop, it's not powering up at all. Trying to find the right cord so I can slave the hard drive to my desktop, but I'm beginning to think it went missing in the last move...

[neutronjockey.livejournal.com]

Drop the battery, remove power cord, hold on power-on button for a minute. Reconnect power cord only (leave battery out), attempt to power up laptop.

Outside of that...without being able to be there physically with the craptop I can't offer much in the way of troubleshooting a dead machine :(

So sorries you are having technical woes.

[lagilman]

Been there, tried that early on, yeah. There's something either Very Simple wrong, or Dastardly Dead. I'm betting on the latter, alas. and nopw my external cd burner doesn't want to work. I am going to kick everything into a corner and go write on papyrus, soon.

(it could be worse. It could be hot and humid out. I could be without computing entirely. I might *eeek!* be without 'net connectivity!)

[egret17.livejournal.com]

Woe. You might still be able to find a decent OEM deal on XP out there - that's what I did because I wasn't going to use Vista on my laptop.

[lagilman]

OMG I adore that icon... totally adorable, weird, and spooky, all at once!

[egret17.livejournal.com]

Thanks! 'Tis the Eye of Mayhem, my youngest.

[handlebar605.livejournal.com]

it looks like it's flipped sideways?

[egret17.livejournal.com]

It is - she was lying on her side when I took the picture.

[arouraleona.livejournal.com]

As others have said: Amen on the vista thing, that's why I'm fighting to keep my 4 year old used notebook...

Good luck with your computer woes!

[redwolfexr.livejournal.com]

Last version failed to upload:
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You have three ways to still get XP on a machine even if you can't order it depending on how strictly you want to determine license.

If you buy a new Dell machine you can transfer the license from your old dead machine to the new one. MS argues you cannot, but its widely contested and they have not been willing to test it in court. As long as the old version is fully dead its not a duplication. (Dell OEM software will not install on a non-Dell machine)

Second, you can buy an OEM version from multiple vendors for $80 or so. Technically you are not the OEM unless you build it yourself, which means you get no tech support from MS. (thats all the OEM license really means, though MS usually requires their vendors to sell it as a package with hardware. What hardware? Any.)

Lastly, you can buy a retail upgrade which includes MS support. The License requires there to be a version of Windows on the machine to replace. (it allows you to dual boot XP/Vista as well) Those are around $90. I recommend a dual boot though, even if you never use the Vista side. (if your XP ever has to be reloaded on a blank drive you would have to load Vista first)

I ended up migrating to the Vista side eventually, but I still can boot to XP if I need to. I build my own desktops, and buy Dells for laptops -- so I use OEMs mostly. (OEM can be loaded from scratch or can dual-boot, but cannot be used to Upgrade. MS locked out the transfer ability on some of their OEM packages.)

Of course a fourth option would be to buy full retail, at $180. That lets you upgrade, transfer settings, blank install and gets full MS support.

(more neepery than you wanted, I am sure...)

One last note, you can buy a drive enclosure for $20 or so that will hold the old drive from your old laptop and connect via any PCs USB port. I use one for backing up my laptop to one of my desktop drives. Its much faster than a networked connection.