Urgh

[desperance]

My throat is scratchy, my head is a little detached, and I don't want to go outside. Ever again, actually. I think maybe I'll cry off the theatre tonight. It's the wrong side of the river and getting there would involve Effort, which looks - well, kinda mountainous from here.

Also, I have spoken to my computer men, who still haven't managed to source the needful part to fix the desktop. Am now seriously thinking of replacement. If anyone has recommendations, I'd be interested (perhaps not Dell, in the circs: which is a shame, as I've been a loyal and happy customer thus far, but this machine is less than three years old and apparently they no longer make the proprietary part that would keep it running). It mostly needs to do - well, you know what I do. Word-processing and internet, largely. Photos of cats. I don't watch movies on my computer, nor listen to music. My needs are few, though I do like them to be met promptly; slow machines drive me crazy. (Which was one reason why I shifted from Windoze to Linux, tho' that's an old story often told...) (Also, I remember when a 386 seemed mindbogglingly fast. Hee...)

Comments

[dedbutdrmng.livejournal.com]

I have come to love my HP Entertainment PC. I'm not a movie watcher on the computer but now I can watch the BBC's Iplayer which is a bit of a revelation. more importantly it has a lovely swirly cover. It was £500.00 from PC World but I have the large screen (17" I think) version as I find it easier to work on. The smaller ones were cheaper.

It has built in wireless too which is apparently normal but I regard as a form of magic. No wires for inquisitive paws to bat.

[wishwords.livejournal.com]

I have to second the HP recommendation. They have several nice, inexpensive machines, not a lot of bells and whistles, but plenty of power and speed. And frankly, you might want to check into the Dells. I've heard they went through a cheapness phase but are pulling out of it. You'd have to ask some computer tech people though.

[ogre-san.livejournal.com]

386's were mind-boggling fast, back when they weren't running anything but DOS. All relative, I guess.

[julesjones]

I feel your pain. Went back to bed about 11 o'clock this morning after phoning $BOSS to give her the bad news, and have just emerged with great reluctance, mostly because I know I need to get some liquids down if I don't want to feel even worse. Given that before I actually went out to the doctor's I was contemplating maybe just waiting until after the rush hour and going in to work when the roads were quiet... Damn thing seems to go from "Hmm, I feel a bit bleh" to "Outside is Too Much Effort" within twelve hours.

[desperance.livejournal.com]

Relative indeedy. I loved DOS; I loved the whole command-line approach to computing. I was a power-user then (and, yup, my 386 was a powerful machine). Then Windows happened, and I hated that whole mouse-and-icon philosophy, and became a computing idiot; and then I discovered Linux but I've never learned it properly, so now I'm kind of half-and-half, I'm a bluffer with just enough know-how to get away with it. Sigh...

[triciasullivan.livejournal.com]

I have an HP Pavilion that is a workhorse, 3 years old now or is it 4? pretty cheap, just good basic machine. Also have a Pavilion laptop and have had no trouble from either of them, ever.

Hope you feel better soon.

Morgan Computers

[durham-rambler.livejournal.com]

Morgan Computers have some HP reworks at prices from £322 to £575 and these do not include the screen (which you have) so cutting down on cost. Alternatively why not ask your repairers (or my man in Durham) about building a new PC but installing the hard disk and other reusable bits from your current one?

Re: Morgan Computers

[desperance.livejournal.com]

I have been thinking exactly this: but this morning I thought, "Hang on a minute. The hard drive doesn't just have all my data on it; it also has the operating system, obviously. Which believes itself to reside in a specific machine with specific hardwares. So what happens when it wakes up in a different machine with different hardwares? Does it just adjust, reconfigure itself and carry on as before - or does it flip its little electronic lid and throw spasms in all directions? I do not know. I must ask someone who knows..."