What kind of Techno-challenges are you all facing? The NaNo-ing is reminding me that I need to give my laptop a little attention.
OK, so here's the good news: The current laptop is newer than the one I originally did NaNo on when I first started this November madness back whenever. With the first laptop, I was always kind of in fear that the computer would crash and so would my NaNo. Nothing like a little pressure?!
So this one is new, light-weight, etc. etc. However, the battery has totally given up the ghost and did it quite quickly, making me hesitant to take the laptop anywhere except using it like a desktop here at home. If I'm working on something and one of the wee dogs so much as nudges the power cord, bye-bye writing (Yes, I "ctrl+S" often). It doesn't take much to plunge the laptop into darkness (and me plunging into a funk).
So I decided that I'd order a new battery -- no, make that TWO new batteries, so I can NaNo anywhere my little heart desires. Went to the Dell site, discovered ONE battery is $155. Oy. Nevermind what two would cost. Definitely makes me want to pull out the pads of paper and a nice sharpened bunch of #2 Ticonderogas.
I also happened to read the "reviews" of the particular Dell batteries, and was not totally amazed to discovered that these supposed long-lasting batteries aren't, and only got more than a 1 star rating because someone gave the batteries a 5 star rating (probably they just bought theirs). Anyway, there was the statement that one person had gotten different batteries that were much cheaper and lasted way longer.
So I googled and found them much cheaper (as in, TWO of the cheaper ones are less than ONE of the Dell ones) and should have them within a week or so. They are also covered by warrantee AND have a 30-day return policy.
Nice. Then my laptop and I can travel and NaNo in various places again!
:-)
Hannah / Apple Valley
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27,046 / 50,000
Nov 4, 2009 - 01 30
I need a new power cord. but that requires spending money. And spending money requires working (as well as paying off my debts). My battery could use replacing too, but that's a whole different matter. I thought I had lost one- or two-hundred words earlier when it got unplugged. (not a lot in the scheme of things, but it seems like a lot.)
----------Click Me!
1,620 / 50,000
Nov 4, 2009 - 10 48
I don't use my laptop much anymore. It's a bit old - early 2005 - and it got a lot of use for a few years, but it still works. I just happen to prefer my desktop.
One thing that does worry me a lot is the prospect of writing a lot and then losing it to a power-out. One of my wish-list items for the future is a back-up power supply, one that will charge up and then run for a few minutes with an alarm sound if the power goes out. A moderately reliable one is about $60, apparently - not bank-breaking, but I still don't have a spare $60 right now.
----------"In the grim darkness of the far future, I still haven't finished my novel."
322 / 50,000
Nov 4, 2009 - 11 14
Laptop troubles.... Don't get me started. Oh, wait. You asked me to tell you. Okay, here it goes. So, I got this laptop when I graduated high school in 2006. No big, right? I mean, it's only a year old when it first comes out and slowly gets older and older... Well, last year as I was attempting NaNoWriMo for the first time, my hard drive crashed. Everything was gone. My dad is an IT guy and knows that sometimes hard drives can be saved with a little work, but when he checked it out, this one had just basically fizzled out and died. So, that was in 2008. It was 2 years old for as long as I've had it, 3 years old when using technological terms about just how old equipment is.
So, my dad gets me a hard drive because I'm in college, and I kind of need the laptop to get anything done. It's all good, I'm thinking nothing's wrong now, and I can probably squeeze a few more years of life out of this laptop, right? Wrong. Perhaps it's simply because it's old, or maybe I just wore down the fan, but my computer overheats. A lot. When the left side of my computer gets hot enough to fry an egg, I know that my computer's going to shut down any minute. This started occurring somewhere in 2009. I figured no big deal just replace the fan, and everything will be hunky dory again. Well, my IT guy who is also my dad informed me that it's not that easy to swap out a laptop fan. Plus, I don't have money. Scratch that idea.
I try my best to hibernate my computer before it decides to implode on me, and I also do my best to keep it in cold areas when I want to use it for more than 4-5 hours. It's quite tedious, and you can imagine how hard it is to remember that the computer is about to pass out from heat stroke when you're busy tapping away. Maybe if I just used it for writing, it wouldn't be hurting so badly, but I'm a gamer too so I suppose both of those is just too much for the little guy.
Anyway, now I've been having more problems recently including random restarts, odd viruses that start eating away at the Windows drivers (I once turned my computer on to find myself looking at old Windows 98 interface on a computer claiming to run Windows XP), and a lovely blue screen of death claiming I have faulty software somewhere that flashes for about five seconds before rebooting my computer. Occassionally, my computer will even have difficulties recalling the hibernated material and request a reboot. It's quite pissing me off, and this old piece of shit that is the grandfather of my boyfriend's computer is about to find itself thrown out a window and flying through the air.
I am currently expecting money for school so I'm hoping that because I use my laptop mainly for school that my parents won't mind if I get myself a new little netbook. I recently discovered a very nice 10" screen HP pink mini for only $378. Only problem is that, of course, it doesn't have a CD/DVD ROM drive, which I would really like to still have in my new laptop. So, I'm doing a little bit of looking to see if it would be cheaper to pick a different laptop or stick with the one I adore and get an external. My dad being the awesome IT guy that he is, he can probably find me some really good deals on external hard drives. I'm hoping not to spend more than $500 for a new laptop.
So, there's my shpeel. Hopefully it didn't make you all cringe with fear.
Oh, and Hannah, your first problem was with buying a Dell laptop. ;-) My dad says Dells are the worst. They can only use Dell parts because they have issues with parts that aren't Dell. So, I hope the non-Dell batteries work for you. I know only two people with Dell laptops personally. One hates it and has nothing but problems because he can only repair it with Dell parts, and the other loves it because the tech support is still in U.S. and not in some 3rd world country. I personally adore HP, Toshiba, and Sony. Then again, I've used all three of those companies and loved them. However, don't get a Sony VAIO. I didn't have much luck with those...
----------“Forget all the rules. Forget about being published. Write for yourself and celebrate writing.”
–Melinda Haynes
17,405 / 50,000
Nov 4, 2009 - 12 02
I am fortunate to never have experienced technological challenges during NaNo. My laptop is from 2006, but it is awesome.
However, I definitely feel for everyone who is going through tough times. When my laptop caught a vicious worm back in January 2009, I was a franctic, miserable person. (I do everything on my laptop... Write, draw, web design... It's my life!) But the Geek Squad fixed it good as new and haven't had any issues since. (Kapersky is great virus protection software.)
Best wishes!
----------~Jacquelyn
site | journal | da
322 / 50,000
Nov 4, 2009 - 20 41
So here's a new techno-challenge to add to my growing list: my laptop's screen recently fizzled out. I am now plugged into an outer monitor glaring with hatrid at this old piece of shit laptop I have. I am definitely getting a new laptop when my school money comes in. There's no way I can do schoolwork on a laptop like this!
----------“Forget all the rules. Forget about being published. Write for yourself and celebrate writing.”
–Melinda Haynes
33,798 / 50,000
Nov 4, 2009 - 21 56
You know girl you take the prize for persistance.
----------Neither writer's cramp, nor power outages, nor writer's block, nor empty coffee pot will keep us from our appointed word count.
8,137 / 50,000
Nov 5, 2009 - 09 32
I haven't had any major problems with my laptop. It's a Toshiba and I have enjoyed using since this June. What's getting on my nerves is the word processor. It keeps telling me that I have some grammatical or spelling error when I know that I did it right. Really annoying. Other than that it's been fine.
Good luck to everyone with their writing.
Lone_wulf17
30,331 / 50,000
Nov 5, 2009 - 11 17
Lone_wulf17
Go to "Tools" and options or settings, then "spelling & grammar" -- you can turn off the pesky "more grammatical than thou" settings. It may be labeled slightly differently, depending upon your version of MS Word.
Very civilized. Not annoying at all.
BTW, want to know how to REALLY mess up your grammar / spell check and annoy yourself like you wouldn't believe? Insert a section of writing into your document that is in another language AND have your spell / grammar nag-ivation set to "on." Then, right at the end of the other language, start writing again in English. It automatically starts harassing you based upon the language you've just cut-and-pasted. AIEEEEEEEEEEE?!!!
:-)
Hannah / Been there, spell/grammar nag-ivation does that / Apple Valley
1,620 / 50,000
Nov 5, 2009 - 11 21
With manufacturers, it's definitely a question of experiences. My 2005 laptop, still going strong, is a Dell, and still good enough for me to use for work when I'm travelling; and our old desktop, which we used for almost six, was also a Dell. However, in both cases, we were buying professional hardware, at or near the top of the range offered (hers was bought for graphic design, mine for coding), and I've heard a lot of bad things about the lower-end models of the Dell range. That may be one reason why our experiences were better.
By contrast, my wife's HP laptop is less than two years old, has had a run of problems and issues; and it was a high-end model too, one of their touted "entertainment" laptops, not cheap, and fitted to the gills with the highest-level upgrades we could give it. It needed to be returned to the manufacturer once after its display died after ten months; and when we got it back, it was obviously the same hard drive in another body; and not a new body, either. Some of the paint was worn away in places.
It's safe to say I won't be buying HP again after this experience.
Anyway - thinking about heat problems, our HP laptop has been a monster for this. We found a couple of cheap solutions that helped keep its temperature under control, though.
1. Clean out the vents with canned air. Really cheap, can sometimes help unclog a blocked fan or something that's not working how it should anymore, and rarely a bad thing. It works better if you have removable access points that you can open up, to give any trapped dust an easy way out of the system.
2. Buy a floor tile. Make it large enough for the laptop, and sit it on top of that. This was my wife's solution (she used to do the same thing for some other bits of hardware she had) and it really helped a lot -- the cold tile really helped to keep the laptop temperature down.
3. Another possibility, and one we use for my wife's laptop sometimes right now - get two pieces of wood, an inch or so square and as long is the laptop is deep. Again, this just helps the laptop cool itself; giving it a bigger air-space beneath really seems to help it with pulling in air for cooling more than it manages when it's sitting on a flat surface (or, god forbid, on any kind of fabric).
Not that this helps with the other issues the laptop is showing, mind you -- sounds like it's time to move on -- but I figured I'd mention these anyway, in case anyone has a use for them.
----------"In the grim darkness of the far future, I still haven't finished my novel."
322 / 50,000
Nov 5, 2009 - 13 23
Wow DoctorJest, thanks for the tips about HP laptops! My first was an HP, and my dad used to love HP. Now, he's telling me to try ASUS. I looked into ASUS laptops at Walmart, and the only one available is a Disney edition. >.< I love Disneyland and all, but carrying around a Disney laptop is not my idea of "college student" material. However, I am now definitely second-guessing my HP mini netbook decision. I may just look into ASUS at Best Buy and other stores. Walmart may be cheaper, but if they're only offering an HP, I may want to look elsewhere. =/
----------“Forget all the rules. Forget about being published. Write for yourself and celebrate writing.”
–Melinda Haynes
25,022 / 50,000
Nov 5, 2009 - 22 09
Hoo boy, reading some of the problems makes me not so concerned about mine - it's just irritating, but doesn't really hinder me if I don't let it.
----------See, my laptop's a hand-me-down from my mom, who infamously doesn't take care of her electronics. It's a lime green Sony Vaio, and the lid's scratched up pretty badly in some spots. Then, one time after we had adopted our latest puppy, she left it out and open on the ottoman in the living room. The puppy, being the monster she is (we've lost more than shoes to her), ate several of the keys off the keyboard, including enter, three of the four arrows, the 'k', period, comma and a few others. It was after that that Mom decided she wanted a new laptop and I could have the green one to replace my old PC.
I couldn't even use it until Mom bought me a USB keyboard to use with it. It works great now (a bit slow but that's my own fault, lol ) but the keyboard's too bulky for me to justify bringing the laptop to school to work on writing. I'd have to empty half my bag just to carry it. Maybe if I can find a bigger bag, that problem will be taken care of.
It's nice to be able to semi-rant about my wimpy little problem though. =] Yay.
Now to go catch up on word count...
0 / 50,000
Nov 10, 2009 - 13 30
Post deleted by user.
25,022 / 50,000
Nov 14, 2009 - 15 54
So.... now I have a greater problem than before. Wonderful. I spent a good part of today writing, and was actually making a dent in how many words I needed (I was down 21 thousand when I woke up. Last word count, I was actually only down about 14 thousand. So yeah, big dent, at least for me.
About an hour ago, now, my laptop crashed. I've tried just about everything, and it will not work. I've pretty much assumed it's dead (my tech friends seem in agreement with this). Not only did I lose a bunch of very precious files, that I've worked on for ever, but I lost all my progress on my novel. A few friends have chapter 1, but I don't even think I have the nerve to work on that story anymore.
I might try starting again, I might not. I'm not sure. I might just come back again next year, and try then.
Edit/Update: So, after my friend listened to me rant and almost cry (not about NaNo, about my laptop) she at least reminded me of one of my pre-NaNo projects I had started to get ready for the challenge. I got halfway through, and then gave up. I'm going rebel to do this, but I'm going to try finishing it in the next half-month. So, for now, I'm technically caught up. I hope that I stay that way this time. =]
----------30,331 / 50,000
Nov 15, 2009 - 18 24
An update on the Techno-Challenge...
I ordered two new batteries from the on-line way-cheaper battery shop, and they arrived (uh... can't remember when: Last weekend?). Anyway, I put the first one into the laptop which of course has been only functioning plugged in, and -- YIPPEE! -- the obnoxious little yellow light that had been blinking by the laptop screen hinge QUIT blinking and went off entirely.
It charged itself up just overnight, and I've already used the laptop untethered. Nice. Excellent, in fact.
Today, thanks in part to the new battery, I'm trying to catch up and making a bit of headway on my word count. Hope that my work schedule will cooperate today and in the coming week, so I can get back to concentrating on such things as the 1662 Book of Common Prayer, the 1933 English Hymnal (with Tunes), Girl Guide customs of 1943, and a host of other goodies...
Will Susanna find out the truth about Kate's past? Will Kate and Ellis find that they're an item? What about Ed in California? Oh, and how does a souvenir program from Ely Cathedral and a 60 year-old sewing pattern figure in with all of this?
Beats me, but I'm working on it -- !
:-)
Hannah / Apple Valley
35,226 / 50,000
Nov 22, 2009 - 14 00
I had my story on a USB memory card thingie and I can't find it. No! Either I left it at home or it fell out of my pocket at church. I'm hoping for at home. *crosses fingers* this is hell.
----------30,331 / 50,000
Nov 22, 2009 - 16 38
Oh, dear! Hope you find it or it finds you. Which ever, and SOON!.
Hannah / Apple Valley
Drinking lots of coffee and tea, so at least I'm forced to take breaks
:-)
35,226 / 50,000
Nov 23, 2009 - 12 21
Oh, dear! Hope you find it or it finds you. Which ever, and SOON!.
Hannah / Apple Valley
Drinking lots of coffee and tea, so at least I'm forced to take breaks
:-)
I found it! Woot! *does happy dance*
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