Ten Little Chances to be Free (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
tenlittlebullets) wrote2009-05-12 05:49 pm
tenlittlebullets) wrote2009-05-12 05:49 pm
HP tech support = such a pain in the ass.
Ugh. So, my big shiny laptop has been dead for almost a year, during which time I've been using a cute little netbook with limited capabilities. I finally got up the patience to call HP tech support today, and after an hour-long phone call during which I paid $50 to be led like a six-year-old through the diagnostics I'd already done on my own time, it was determined that the laptop was dead, dead, dead and if I ever want it to work again I'll have to ship it off to them so they can replace the system board. Which will cost $400.
On the one hand, the broken laptop is a really nice computer--huge screen, ample storage and RAM, DVD burner, built in webcam, and most importantly it runs Windows XP. I am not sure I want to pay a fortune for a new computer that runs bloody Vista, and doesn't have my data on it either. On the other hand, broken laptop was purchased at the end of 2005, making it three and a half years old.
So the options are basically: pay $400 to fix a really nice but headed-for-obsolete laptop, spend a little more than that for a comparable desktop, or spend a fuckton more than that for a comparable laptop. The advantage of a desktop is that it's cheaper and easier to fix. Advantage of a laptop is that I can take it to France with me.
Sticking with just the netbook is not an option: it has no CD drive, no camera, limited hard disk space, and more importantly it's running a fucking stupid crippled corporate version of Linux with no way to install software and no multimedia capabilities. If I had a working other computer I could find a way to put Ubuntu Netbook Remix or something on it, but as things stand this thing is only useful for web browsing, IM, and word processing.
I'm leaning towards just paying the $400 and whatever it takes to get a warranty on the repairs, because the broken laptop worked just fine before it died (aside from overheating, which all HP laptops are prone to) and I can probably get a few more years of life out of it. I'm just concerned that that's a lot to spend on a comparatively old machine.
On the one hand, the broken laptop is a really nice computer--huge screen, ample storage and RAM, DVD burner, built in webcam, and most importantly it runs Windows XP. I am not sure I want to pay a fortune for a new computer that runs bloody Vista, and doesn't have my data on it either. On the other hand, broken laptop was purchased at the end of 2005, making it three and a half years old.
So the options are basically: pay $400 to fix a really nice but headed-for-obsolete laptop, spend a little more than that for a comparable desktop, or spend a fuckton more than that for a comparable laptop. The advantage of a desktop is that it's cheaper and easier to fix. Advantage of a laptop is that I can take it to France with me.
Sticking with just the netbook is not an option: it has no CD drive, no camera, limited hard disk space, and more importantly it's running a fucking stupid crippled corporate version of Linux with no way to install software and no multimedia capabilities. If I had a working other computer I could find a way to put Ubuntu Netbook Remix or something on it, but as things stand this thing is only useful for web browsing, IM, and word processing.
I'm leaning towards just paying the $400 and whatever it takes to get a warranty on the repairs, because the broken laptop worked just fine before it died (aside from overheating, which all HP laptops are prone to) and I can probably get a few more years of life out of it. I'm just concerned that that's a lot to spend on a comparatively old machine.