What do you do if your computer dies midterm or starts getting more 'blue screens of death' than used to film 300? It's time to get a new machine. There are many issues to consider when getting a new machine: laptop vs. desktop, Mac vs. PC, if a PC XP vs. Vista and many, many more. In this article we will explore some of these questions and you can journey with me in the process of replacing a seven-year old laptop.
Unfortunately, I went through this trauma last term. It started with a crash from time to time and worked up to my machine rebooting more often than running. So I was desperate for a computer, but not so desperate I ran out and bought the first machine on sale at Future Shop or Staples. Don't Panic! Take a deep breath -- you can survive without a functioning computer for a day or two if need be.
First, talk to your friends and find out what computer store they use. Here in Waterloo, there is a large variety from which to choose. My old laptop was seven year's old and had served me well, but I had not bought a computer or components in a number of years. Seek the advice of people who have purchased recently, or who know computers. Talk to the geeks in your life and ask questions, especially if you're an artsy who doesn't know what the specs on computers mean.
Next, you have to look at your budget, what you can afford or what you are willing to spend. This will greatly affect your decision. If your budget is limited, or funds are at a premium, you eliminate Mac almost from the top. PC's and Windows-based laptops are significantly cheaper in general. You can also get significantly more computing power from a PC over a laptop for the same price. The second advantage, if money is an issue, is PCs upgrade far more easily than either Macs or laptops. Therefore, I had narrowed the decision to a clone PC.
The reason I went with a clone, is that Dell, Compac, HP and some IBMs all require proprietary hardware like an Apple. You have to go back to the original company for parts and work down the read. For a clone PC, you can pick up a Hard Drive or Optical Drive almost anywhere and pop it in to upgrade or expand your computer. Not so with these name brands.
That however does not answer all of our questions. Now that I had a new PC, I had to decide how to run it. At CSDepot they said the cost for various editions of XP or of Vista was the same. I decided to give Vista a try and see what it was about. (I could always install my old version of XP if needed.) I also upgraded to Office 2007 from the old 2000 version I had been running for a while now.
So I survived my computer dying in the middle of a term, and so can you. So don't panic! Yes - thanks to some friends I now have a new machine and it is very sweet, but that is another story. (You can check it out on my blog here.)
(This is a photo of my laptop and new PC running the Windows Vista Easy Transfer Companion that transfers installed programs from an XP machine to a Vista Machine.)
(This article was written as an op-ed piece that got bumped twice now.)
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