The latest bad news/good news. . .

[febobe]

We have determined that the little pin inside the power outlet wiggles. So it's NOT stable any longer, meaning damage WAS done to the inner workings after all. Bad news.

Also, there is no one locally who knows what they're doing. . .the one guy we called told us a lie (claimed the motherboard must've gotten shorted out, which is clearly not true) and tried to gyp us into hiring him to get my stuff off it and sell the used computer to him for scrap parts. :P Jerk. :P Dad IS checking out one last place over about 30-45 mins away, but otherwise our only hope is a place back home which might be able to help.

Sigh.

In one bit of good news, however, I managed to drag all my stuff onto a single 2.0 gig flash drive this afternoon - pics, Ais docs, fanfic docs, and all. Haven't tested the results out yet, but everything appears to have "taken" properly. :) So that's REALLY good news. :D I feel infinitely better now.

Of course, that leaves me with barely half an hour to forty minutes of battery power remaining, but hey. It was worth every minute of it.

This means I can post fic as long as I'm at my parents' house, which will be for at least one more week. How soon I resume after that depends on how soon I get my computer back.

OK, Dad talked to the guy. He recommended calling HP directly, said they usually have a flat rate, like $200, to fix it. I like the sound of that, so I'm gonna get the number now so we can call. And now that my stuff's saved, I'm less terrified about my baby leaving my hands. . . .

Just an update,
Febobe
who is beginning to regret taking the monitor off her desktop at home and storing it upstairs!

Comments

[shirebound]

I managed to drag all my stuff onto a single 2.0 gig flash drive

Whew! You must be so relieved to have everything backed up. And if you turn down the brightness and power levels, you might be able to eke out every ounce of battery power available.

*hugs*

[claudia603.livejournal.com]

ugh, I'm sorry this is happening! No fun at all :-(

[surgicalsteel.livejournal.com]

Oh, what a relief!

[ancalime8301]

It's fixable, that's the important thing. :) Not sure how much it would cost, but certainly less than a whole new computer! ;)

I'm glad you managed to get everything off... that's a relief.

**cuddlepets**

[febobe.livejournal.com]

Not by much, there's the prob. . .and my parents are starting to lean the whole new computer direction, since they're the ones who are offering to fund the venture, and don't think it's practical for me to fork out half or two-thirds of a new computer's cost to get one this old fixed.

That IS a relief, though. :)

Would you mind terribly, BTW, taking a look over the specs for the dv 6000 series on the hp site and recommending a model and specs for me based on what you know? I'm really hoping to get away with baseline but need to know what I'm getting myself into with which model. So far I'm zeroing in on the HP Pavilion dv 6700z model, but. . .thoughts?

Thanks muchly,
Febobe :)

ETA: Make that the 6700t - it's got a Pentium processor instead of that kind I don't recognise. . . .

*snugglienestles*

[ancalime8301]

Well, obviously, the ultimate decision lies with those forking over the cash. ;) But I'm curious if one of the store shops would be any cheaper than the HP quote you got... since I'm assuming that includes mailing the laptop in to them and all. Just a thought.

The Pavilion dv6700z doesn't look too bad. The positive reviews are encouraging, and the specs seem decent. Keep in mind, though, that getting a new computer will require learning a new operating system (Vista), which might make putting some of your programs back on a little more challenging (is your mush program compatible with Vista, for example?). Theoretically the wireless network shouldn't be a huge hassle, but Vista does have completely different wireless menus than XP, so it's an added wrinkle.

CNET thought it was pretty good, if that helps:
http://reviews.cnet.com/laptops/hp-pavilion-dv6700z-customizable/4505-3121_7-32814487.html

Oh, sure, edit the comment while I'm working on responding... ;) AMD processors are slightly different, but comparable in performance, and considering that you probably won't do much that will tax the processor, I wouldn't worry too much about that one difference. If there's something else about the 6700t that you like, by all means consider it, but the processor isn't a huge deal. Aside from that, it concerns me slightly that the customer rating is lower, especially since most of the respondents didn't bother providing reasons why that is (so I don't know whether their opinions really matter or not ;)). Otherwise, the options are identical as far as I can tell...

CNET's review for it is almost the same as the 6700z: http://reviews.cnet.com/laptops/hp-pavilion-dv6700t-customizable/4505-3121_7-32814492.html

Hope this helps! :) **cuddlesnugs**

[febobe.livejournal.com]

Keep in mind, though, that getting a new computer will require learning a new operating system (Vista), which might make putting some of your programs back on a little more challenging (is your mush program compatible with Vista, for example?). Theoretically the wireless network shouldn't be a huge hassle, but Vista does have completely different wireless menus than XP, so it's an added wrinkle.

THAT part is what all worries me at this point. . .but then again, I'm going to have to bite the bullet and do it some time, aren't I? Given that this is a 2004 laptop, I mean. . . . I have no idea whatsoever how I'm going to figure it all out, but I guess I'll just have to try.

CNET's review of the dv6700z looks better to me than the 6700t one, and then there's the customer rating issue, so I think that tells me something. Given your reassurance about the processor, I think I might just calm down about that and go with the AMD one, given that that was the only thing batting in favour of the 6700t at present.

This is/was TOTALLY helpful!!!! :D Thank you SO much!!!! :D *nestlecuddlesnuggliebeams gratefully*