DAMMIT! I dropped my laptop today, and it's D-E-A-D.

[CanuckAmok]

It was an Acer TravelMate 650, with a decent amount of features, but it couldn't take a punch. I dropped it in July, and it landed right on the connector for the power supply. I was filming on location, so I ran it over to a dubious computer shop to have it fixed, and they did a decent job of re-soldering the connection, but it never ran right again. It would just arbitrarily shut down when it wanted to, or make funny sounds, or whatever.

And today, I did the same thing, and it packed it in. No jiggling of the power cord would save it, and I had just enough battery juice left to transfer all my important work and divorce docs to a portable hard-drive before it ran dry.

So now I'm writing from my new, spontaniously-purchased Toshiba P-10 Satellite, which apparently does everything but cut my lawn. It even has a TV tuner attachment. What an age in which to live at/in/on.

But I'll tell you, that was four digits I didn't want to spend today. Thanks to the loansharks at MasterCard for saving my skin, I guess.

Damned gravity!

[Rick Myers]

1. There is NO gravity.

The Earth SUCKS.

Sorry, that's an old Air Force remote site chuckle...

5072 ABS, Galena, "Top Cover for America."

[politicat]

2. My condolences, and enjoy the new one...

I don't know if it'll help, but tax refunds are just around the corner....

Electronics.... who needs 'em. Time to go back to abaci and illuminated manuscripts.

PCat

[BlueJazz]

3. You might want to sell it on E-BAY....

Don't laugh ...I saw a Laptop that was dropped (But had a good screen) sell for $210.00
The case was damaged and wouldn't start but as you well know, the screens cost about 70 percent of the cost of the whole unit.

A lot of Repair geeks will pay you decent money for a dropped laptop...(again...WITH a good screen) :)

[CanuckAmok]

4. Hmmm...

I might try that, but I think I'll be claiming the drop on my insurance, and if I do, the insurance company will want the dead unit back.

But maybe... even though the screen has a scratch on it, from the touch pad. I'm not "wowed" by Acer's assembly...but this new one is my third Toshiba, and so far, so good.

[Spinzonner]

5. Now what are you going to do about the real problem

and avoid sacrificing the new laptop to the Klutz gods ...

[CanuckAmok]

7. Ah, well, there's the challenge!

But I'm protected by my own ktutzitude for a full year because i bought it on my credit card--they have one of those year-long replacement guarantees. But on October 2 2005, I better get coordinated!!

[Spinzonner]

8. What the world needs now

is laptop air bags

[Lefta Dissenter]

12. it's simple

you need one of those strings like the librarians use with their reading glasses! Keep that puppy around your neck, and you'll never drop your computer again! You may end up with the posture of The Hunchback of Notre Dame, but it's a small price to pay.

[Gothic Sponge]

6. Damn, that sucks!

Sorry to hear. I dropped my Mp3 player a few weeks ago, and it died. Good thing you were able to get a new one. Good luck with the Toshiba!

[BigMcLargehuge]

9. Work gave me a Toshiba Tecra 8000 and an 8100

over the course of my five years there. Both machines have been peaches. Rough and rugged compared to some other laptops I've used, handled, tested. The 8100 is almost 4 years old now, runs a P3 750 mHz processor with a stunning 8 megs of VRAM, but it still runs all day, everyday.

Toshiba makes good laptops.

[Covert]

10. Lousy...

I just got a new Apple laptop for my birthday, and from what I heard, it was quite expensive. I'm gonna be using it for film and stuff. What kind of film are you doing? Are you a director?

[CanuckAmok]

11. Hey Covert, welcome to DU!

I'm a Unit Manager/2nd A.D./Line Producer.

I only use my laptop for budgeting and word processing; I'm more involved in the logistics of film-making than the creativity.

Although some of my budgets have bordered on the fictitious...