My DigitalZone

All right. I bought myself a new laptop. It’s Compaq Presario Laptop with AMD Athlon X2 QL-62 Dual-Core Processor. As you can see in this post, my laptop (Toshiba Satellite) crashed and I restored the factory default. Toshiba worked fine but it was about time to be replaced. So, I did a quick search on the internet and picked this one. Ideally, I wanted to get one with Windows XP but all new laptops seem to be loaded with Vista. The specs of Presario seem to fit my needs at this time. When I bought Toshiba, I was traveling regularly, so the size and the weight were my major factors. But not now. I wanted an affordable laptop that’s reliable and more RAM and disk space. My Compaq Presario comes with:

• AMD Athlon™ X2 QL-62* dual-core processor
• 2GB DDR2 memory (expandable to 4GB)
• Multiformat DVD±RW/CD-RW drive with double-layer support
• 15.6″ WXGA widescreen display with BrightView technology
• 250GB SATA hard drive (5400 rpm)
• NVIDIA GeForce 8200M graphics
• Integrated microphone
• 5-in-1 media reader
• 3 high-speed USB 2.0 ports
• Built-in high-speed wireless LAN (802.11b/g)
• Built-in 10/100Base-T Ethernet LAN
• Weighs 6.5 lbs. and measures just 1.7″ thin
• Good battery life of up to 2 hours and 30 minutes
• Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium Edition with Service Pack 1 (SP1) preinstalled

So far so good. It’s not sluggish as I was afraid. The screen is wide and bright. I need to test the battery life, though. Overall, I am very pleased with this purchase as it was only $429.00 at BestBuy.

Considering I paid over $1,100 for my old Toshiba, it was a good deal.

One thing to note is that this laptop comes with 32bit version of Windows Vista. I have a friend who bought a higher-end Compaq Presario with 64bit Vista, and she’ been having problems installing her old software. So far, all the software I have got installed without problems on my new laptop.

My laptop wasn’t working well, so I restored the factory default settings. It’s working fine now, but I am now in search of my next one. I noticed that laptop prices have been going down dramatically. So, buying a new laptop is not too big of a deal these days. Still, I had to check out eBay to see what’s available there. Not bad. They have some nice ones there. Here are some listings for HP/Compaq.

As I had problems with VERY persistent trojans (see this post), I spent this weekend reinstalling Windows XP. It was tedious but went well except for 2 glitches. The computer didn’t recognize the network connection and audio devices. So, I had to download drivers from the ASUS sites. I didn’t have to do this when I first installed WinXP, but anyhow, everything is fine now.

Of course, I installed Virus protection and firewall program to protect it.

Toshiba Satellite A305-S6908 15.4-Inch Laptop ($679.99)

My 3-year-old laptop, Toshiba Satelie, started to malfunction. It automatically shuts down after splashing the dreadful blue screen. I thought it could be overheating because I had it on my lap and could feel the heat. After several rounds of rebooting, it still doesn’t work properly. It boots into a normal mode for about 2 min. then, it starts to reboot automatically.

When I booted into a safe mode, it works fine. So, my plan is to do a system restore. At this time, I am copying most of my data to an external HD.

The similar thing happened about a year ago. It became so unstable in a normal mode, so I did the same. Moved the files to an external HD and did a system restore. I know it’s going to be a pain becase I need to reinstall a lot of software but I don’t want to spend too much time troubleshooting this old laptop. I hope I can finish everything over the weekend.

It’s probably about time to replace this though. But I don’t want to buy a new computer with Windows Vista on it. Oh, well. Let’s see what happens after the restore.

Suddenly, I found myself looking for a new DVD/CD burner because I physically broke the one I had. I kicked the tray when it was open. My attempt to fix it manually failed, so I needed to get its replacement. The one I broke was Plextor. I don’t remember how long I had it but I loved it because of its reliability. I have been a fan of Plextor for over 10 years, I think. The first-ever CD burner I bought was a crap, which was good at making CD coasters. So, I paid a premium (at the time) and switched to Plextor. That was a good decision. No more coasters.

Now the time has changed, so we use DVD burners. Naturally my first DVD burner was also Plextor. I don’t remember its price except that it was higher than other brand’s. When I searched for a new DVD/CD burner this time around, I was amazed at the prices. Most of them are very very cheap these days. Since I’m rather impatient, I went to a small local computer store and got a cheap one. I was going to get Toshiba but I got LITE ON instead mostly because of the price and the store clerk’s recommendation.

$24.98 at Amazon.com
Lite On IHAP122-04 DVD Burner – 22x DVD+R, 8X DVD+RW, 22x DVD-R, 6x DVD-RW, 16X DVD ROM, 48x CD-ROM, 32x CD-RW, IDE

Installation was very easy and there was no glitches. I did pick IDE, by the way. I burned several DVDs and no problem there. I did feel that this unit was a bit noisy but it was not annoying. This came with a newer version of Nero. The new version of Nero is really bloated and a bit sluggish. Overall, I like this product and I recommend it, especially at this price.