New Laptop

This is my first blog post from my new laptop. I managed to break the hinge and case of my old laptop while traveling in the UK. When I returned home, I took it to the Geek Squad at Best Buy and they shipped it off for repair. As it turns out, the repair cost was just about the same as the replacement cost, so they recommended I just get a new one with similar specifications.

So I did, for a grand total of $650. I will confess at this point that this is one of the lowest powered laptops I have ever purchased. Before now I always went for the newest in speed and power, and the lightest weight possible. This time I went for my budget, trying to keep the cost of this new machine in line with the cost of repairing the old one. As it happens, these two costs were exactly equal.

There are a couple of significant differences I will have to learn to deal with. First, this new laptop is ever so slightly smaller than my old laptop. It means tighter keyboard space and a screen that is just the tiniest bit smaller after the case covers the edges. The second thing, as a result of the first thing, is that this machine weighs a few ounces less than my old laptop. For me, this is a major plus, worth the slightly smaller screen and the slightly tighter keyboard.

I live online. I spend most of my waking hours on Facebook, doing email, browsing. I also use my laptop for watching Netflix. It is easier for me to sit in my wheelchair at the table and watch Netflix on my laptop than it is to set myself up in the living room and watch it on my TV. Plus, when I am in the living room, I have no place to rest my arms or put down a coffee when seated in my chair. So I tend to watch at the dining room table.

All these bits of data mean I need a lightweight computer that can do Internet browsing, video streaming, and blogging. I no longer need a monster; these days something barely average will do for me. And I can afford it, mostly.