Sunday, September 18, 2005

The endless string of difficulites...



So today I was getting ready for work, ironing a shirt so I would look presentable when I'm hawking fish guts, when I smell something. Something burning. Electronics. Burning circuit board. Once you've smelled this elctronic burning smell, you'll never forget it. I thought the light I had next to the ironing board had finally gone bad, so I unplugged it, and eventually the smell seemed to reduce. I got home tonight and sat down in my big brown chair, and flipped open my laptop. Down in the corner the battery indicator is showing. Hmmm...jiggle the cord...nope....check power strip...nope..hmmm...look at AC converter pack on my laptop cord and the indicator light isn't on. I picked it up, and an intense smell of burnt circuit board came to my nose.

My converter took a dump. I unplugged it and took it apart (all the men say of course you did!) and the insides are seriously smoked. Not a little "I'm a whimpy transitor and I'm going to die" burn out, but instead half the circuit board black as tar, warped, coming apart, totally smoked. Thankfully it didn't start anything on fire, because clearly go VERY hot. So $94 and change later and HP is shipping me a new one. Warrenty ran out back in May. Of course. I'm beginning to think the curse of Phil Johnson has worn off on me.

So I get to do everything on the good ole' desktop for the next few days. For those who haven't converted to laptops, when you get one, you'll find that you almost quit using your desktop. Mine has becomea back up system for times such as this. If I hadn't stuck so much $$ into a desktop, I would have simply gotten rid of it when I got my laptop. Oh well, live and learn I guess.

1 comment:

Chris Meirose said...

It is definately a bummer. I have been really pleased with this laptop. I have gotten great customer service (mostly) from HP/Compaq when I have needed it. I would certainly buy their product again. But having to go for a few days without a laptop at any other time would be a real challenge for me. Thankfully I don't have any classes this week. I am also moving to a new apartment (same building) over the next 3 days, so I suspect my time for using my computer(s) will be limited anyhow.