computer woes, solved

Taking a break from study abroad for a moment…my faithful T60 Thinkpad school-issued computer pretty much died a hideous death before I left for Spain (2 days before, to be exact). At RPI we make give our computers a LOT of crap, both mentally and physically. Although the T60 line is ESPECIALLY not known for its problem-free, trustworthy-computer usage, it was a workhorse and handled my Adobe software suite as much as its tiny little processor let it.

Ok, I’ll admit it. The thing was a pain in the you-know-what. My class to special pride in trash-talking our computers and bragging to those freshmen with shiny new computers who complained about theirs that WE had T60s…the most defective, recalled versions of the school’s issued laptops (every class gets the next newest model). Among other things, ours were recalled for defective/explosive batteries, and known to have issues with the BIOS, motherboard, CD/DVD drive, processor, and pretty much every other piece of hardware known to man.

I’m not bitter at all!

So, I shouldn’t have been surprised that after a long and drawn-out battle (VERY drawn-out, I can’t even emphasize how painful this process was – nights and days of sweat and tears and screaming “WHY WON’T YOU BOOT UP MY PROGRAMS IN LESS THAN 10 MINUTES!!! WHY!!!”)…my laptop died. One morning it just decided, I’ve had enough.

Yeah.

Luckily!! My dad and I had been thinking about this (well, more that my computer might break while I was IN Spain – guess it jumped the gun – or that if it was stolen, that computer has everything important on it, tons of software, and even more personal information). So, we decided the best bet would probably be to get one of those fancy new-fangled netbooks:

Mainly it was the colors that drew me in. I’ve always been a sucker for packaging ;).

Anyway, there it is. My one and only computer since I got to Spain. And I love it! It’s so easy to pack into a purse and go, it weighs literally nothing compared to my old computer, and it does exactly what I need it to while here – surf the internet, post blog posts, upload photos (built in memory card slot, swoon!), makes calls on Skype (built-in webcam – I’m spoiled now!) and that’s about it. It handles heavier programs (I may or may not have some video editing software on here, oops) very impressively, too. I’m sure it wouldn’t work for an entire year’s worth of, say, graphic design classes, but it’s not supposed to. This little computer does everything it’s supposed to and a little more, and handles it beautifully.

I’m so not used to that!

Anyway, I’m a little scared about what I’ll come back to once I turn on the T60 again (ugh). I need some files off of it and I’m hoping the (4-month) break will have let it rest a little and, I don’t know, be more agreeable? I fully believe that computer has a mind of its own and just likes to spite me!

Wish me luck with that….T-minus 3 weeks until I find out what’s up with it!