So, the netbook was starting to crap out if it was off the charger for more than, say, 35 minutes. And it could not deal with the Internet as a whole anymore- there's too many videos, too many websites with lots of graphics, etc. and it was always an underpowered computer to begin with. It was made for browsing the internet, but the internet as it was in 2008-2009. Which is not the same internet as the internet in 2014. I had planned to save up for a new laptop as soon as I got the living situation figured out and was just going to limp along until then.
Except then I got my bonus. And it was considerably more money than I had anticipated it being. Like, nearly 20% of my salary (although after taxes it was closer to 10%, but that's still a significant amount of money). Way more money than I needed for moving expenses. I also got a notification from the employee discount program at work that there was a special promotion at Dell to give people who worked at my company Dell employee pricing. So, I went to look. And found a 12G laptop with a dual core processor and half a terrabyte of hard drive space for 40% off, which put it under the $700 I was anticipating spending on a new laptop.
It arrived today. I'm typing this on the new laptop, Celerity (yes, I know, I named my car that. But I've taken to calling the car Puddlejumper, because it kind of looks like a jumper, so I swapped the names). Let me explain how big of a deal this is: I clicked on a 40 second video and it played. It didn't buffer for 5 minutes and then start playing after I'd wandered away and forgotten about it. It.just.played. I don't even know what to do with that.
Fortunately, I have a long weekend coming up so I can play with the new machine to my heart's content. And probably install Civ and spend a couple hours with my OTG (One True Game). So, um, yay!
Except then I got my bonus. And it was considerably more money than I had anticipated it being. Like, nearly 20% of my salary (although after taxes it was closer to 10%, but that's still a significant amount of money). Way more money than I needed for moving expenses. I also got a notification from the employee discount program at work that there was a special promotion at Dell to give people who worked at my company Dell employee pricing. So, I went to look. And found a 12G laptop with a dual core processor and half a terrabyte of hard drive space for 40% off, which put it under the $700 I was anticipating spending on a new laptop.
It arrived today. I'm typing this on the new laptop, Celerity (yes, I know, I named my car that. But I've taken to calling the car Puddlejumper, because it kind of looks like a jumper, so I swapped the names). Let me explain how big of a deal this is: I clicked on a 40 second video and it played. It didn't buffer for 5 minutes and then start playing after I'd wandered away and forgotten about it. It.just.played. I don't even know what to do with that.
Fortunately, I have a long weekend coming up so I can play with the new machine to my heart's content. And probably install Civ and spend a couple hours with my OTG (One True Game). So, um, yay!