Death And Taxes

[Siesatia]

My laptop has finally died after 10 years of intensive word processing, roleplaying and being able to support stuff due to all the ghetto hacking I did to it to make it work with features not yet dreamed up in '98.


Toshiba Satellite 4020 - Circa 1998

Original Specs:

300-MHz Pentium II processor, a 6.4GB hard drive, and 13.3-inch active-matrix LCD screen

Mods:

Wireless Card, Ghetto modded into the system with the help of an electrical engineer friend. - 2002
Hard Drive Upgrade, 6.4GB -> 40GB - 2003
DVD Rom Drive -2003
Movement to a new laptop case when old one falls apart - 2003
Replacement of Screen - 2004
New CPU and RAM Upgrade- 2004
Windows XP - 2005
Replacement of Keyset because they had worn off - 2006
New Battery - 2007

I squeezed a decade of life out of it, and my parents have agreed I can get a new one now, FINALLY, even after the fact that they have gone through perhaps 5 laptops in the time it took me to go through this one. Rest in peace my role playing buddy.


So, any suggestions for a new one? Gotta keep it on the cheap.

[Arizona Nova]

Thats pretty amazing. This laptop here is 4 years old and still ticking, and it's had a whole new motherboard and keyboard put in, as well as a new hard drive. It's essentially an old case with a new old computer put inside it, lol. Anyway, all those parts were shipped to me, by Dell, for free. The motherboard they actually sent a contracted repair guy to my college in the middle of the state to replace, and the keyboard and hard drive I replaced on my own. It was all free with the service plan, which I think I got my money's worth of. If you're going into a situation where you'll be moving frequently (like, between dorms and your house with the school year), I'd say go with a laptop, and I'd put a plug in for Dell too. Yes, the tech support guys are in India and it's sometimes hard to understand, and it's a bit of a treadmill to get through the obvious stuff (yes, the computer is plugged in and turned on for chrissakes), but once they know that you know what you're doing they're fast and responsive.

[Arenumberg]

The sad thing is i thought this topic was about the WoW guild. /nerd.

[Siesatia]

If someone can find me a relativly cheap, (<2000 USD) laptop that can deal with most games, not the super-high end ones, but good ones. It'd be great. Thanks.

[Arizona Nova]

Can't help you with that price. Dell has laptops that cost less than 2000£ though. >_>

[The Othranar]

http://www.gateway.com/systems/product/529668070.php

Pretty decent specs and price tag. Might be just what you're looking for.

[Kanuckistan]

Thats pretty amazing. This laptop here is 4 years old and still ticking, and it's had a whole new motherboard and keyboard put in, as well as a new hard drive. It's essentially an old case with a new old computer put inside it, lol. Anyway, all those parts were shipped to me, by Dell, for free. The motherboard they actually sent a contracted repair guy to my college in the middle of the state to replace, and the keyboard and hard drive I replaced on my own. It was all free with the service plan, which I think I got my money's worth of. If you're going into a situation where you'll be moving frequently (like, between dorms and your house with the school year), I'd say go with a laptop, and I'd put a plug in for Dell too. Yes, the tech support guys are in India and it's sometimes hard to understand, and it's a bit of a treadmill to get through the obvious stuff (yes, the computer is plugged in and turned on for chrissakes), but once they know that you know what you're doing they're fast and responsive.

Yeah, my extended family seem to have always gone Dell - excellent quality and service. Probably buy my next desktop through them, even tho I could get more for less building it myself.