….and get a new laptop. Which I find hard to believe I had to do considering the previous one only lasted a couple of years.

If you’ve been paying close attention you’ll remember I alluded to having laptop problems after I finally got my broadband connection sorted out. My keyboard and touchpad stopped working a couple of weeks ago and my IT guy lent me an external keyboard so I could get my essay written. I left my laptop with him this week to see if he could sort the problems out for me. The touchpad still doesn’t work but the keyboard does, although he’s not sure how long that would last. So rather than spend more money trying to fix the old laptop I just went out and bought a new one. I would rather buy a brand new one than throw money after an old one that still had software problems; the touchpad never did work properly, I couldn’t use my old Office 2000 and I couldn’t install certain applications, like the software from my Nokia phone. I also couldn’t open jpeg attachments. After I paid £50 to get the broadband connection sorted out, I wasn’t going to throw more money at it and be without a proper laptop for goodness knows how long while it was getting fixed. Now more than ever I need a laptop for my coursework.

I’ve stuck with the devil I know and I’ve bought another Dell. The previous one was a Compaq, which I won’t be buying again. Them or their sister brand Hewlett Packard. Do you remember the problem I had with the intermittent charging of my battery and I had to threaten to take PC World to court because they wouldn’t accept responsibility? Even though it was within the time of the warranty? Nah, I’m better off without it. I had since looked up any info on-line and I found a techy forum which said that Compaq laptops where renowned for batteries which didn’t charge properly.

I promised myself that after the way PC World behaved with the battery I wouldn’t buy from them again, so I’ve bought this Dell from Tesco’s. I’ve never bought an electrical item from a supermarket before, much less a laptop. But after extensive research I’ve found that Tesco’s were selling the 1545 with a dual core processer for £399, while Dell’s own website had it for £449. Plus I took advantage of their promotion and doubled up my Tesco clubcard vouchers and got an extra £40 off. Tell you what, these clubcard vouchers really come in handy. Remember I had used them previously to get money off my course?

Hopefully now all my computer problems are resolved and I can just get on with things. Wish me luck.