My New Baby

Not the crying, pooping, giggling type of baby, but the processing, internetting, typing kind! Yup- my new computer!! I am definitely keeping this puppy now that I have had a chance to play around with it and I am satisfied with its performance (you have 14 days to return a laptop so if you are shopping around you can take one home, try it out, and return it if you don't like it).

My computer history is not a happy one. I got my first laptop as a graduation present when I was going off to University. It was this giant blue Toshiba and it was definitely a lemon. In the first 6 months I managed to melt the harddrive (thank god for backups)! Then it was recalled by the manufacturer for an overheating issue, which I got fixed. In its last year of life it was overheating every few minutes, despite the repair, and was basically a terrible computer.

So I ordered a new computer from Lenovo. Then I went through the customer service experience from H-E-Double hockey sticks with THAT company. They kept cancelling my order, then telling me it was in transit, then redoing the order, then cancelling it again....it was BAD. After some choice words, a few tears, and a massive discount in the cost of the laptop, I got the Lenovo (and this was in my last semester of university- when I really needed a computer to do my projects and study!!).

The Lenovo was a great computer compared to the Toshiba. It did need to have the keyboard replaced after a year, but I swear to this day that is because someone spilled their drink on it and wouldn't own up to it. About a year ago something happened to the battery and it needed to be plugged in full time. But beyond those two issues, it was constantly running fast and was super quiet. However all good things come to an end and my screen broke suddenly and while the harddrive was happily safe, I couldn't use it! It was time for a new computer yet again.

This time I did not have the luxury to shop around or order anything custom online. In the PC vs Mac debate, I am still a PC girl. I have a 27" giant Mac at the office and I honestly don't see a difference beyond the interface of the operating system. Programs in my Mac will freeze, Macs are becoming more and more susceptible to viruses, and a lot of the internet is not coded for browsers beyond Internet Explorer. It is highly annoying at work and I had to install a Windows interface on the Mac just to use certain websites!! And you know what? My work Mac BROKE 6 months in. So ya. I ain't paying $2500 for basically a pretty looking PC. And I just like the mobility of a laptop so that's why I didn't choose a desktop either :)

My only options were going to be what was in stock at Best Buy (I live downtown and there aren't much shopping options here). So I talked to my brother, who knows his stuff, and got a basic idea of what to look for.

Sooooo....welcome my new laptop!!

It is an HP Pavilion dv6-6188. Now, I am not sold on the HP brand because I know a few people who have had bad experiences. I do not know if that is because most people who have had a laptop have had an HP, or if perhaps HP used to be shabby but now has improved. I really don't know so I will have to take my chances on that.

The stats of this laptop are pretty fantastic for the price I paid:
- 15.6" screen
- AMD A8-3500M processor
- 750 GB harddrive (3 times my old one- and I had upgraded my old one!! haha)
- 5400 rpm harddrive speed
- 8GB of ram
- Dedicated video memory


The only cons I would say it has are that the battery life is only 4-5 hours and it is quite heavy. But I don't move my laptop that much, so those were not considerations in my search.


Anywho, I got all that for only $599 plus tax!!! It was on sale for $150 off! Sadly for you guys, the sale ended the day after I bought it. Maybe my old computer breaking was a blessing in disguise?? My budget had been under $1000 and I was hoping to spend around $500-$700, but I had no idea I could get 8GB of ram and dedicated memory for my graphics card for that price!


So now you know the sexy machine that I am writing these posts from! Did anyone else have any unexpected computer failure lately??