Post by Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe on Jan 22, 2011 8:27:13 GMT -6
Two 17.3" laptops or 1 1/2 Terra-bytes of fun
On my desk sits a tower computer, one that has been there since 2001.
I built that one, using first Win 98SE and then WinMe. Tried to shove WinXP in it, but it wouldn't take it. (I'm not an Apple man - too proprietary and stay from them.) It served me well, but as time went on, it just couldn't keep up with newer programs, java or browsers. I also needed a laptop to take with me for work and in the field for astronomical observation/imaging sessions.
So I bought a Toshiba around 2008.
An average 15" laptop, but it was on sale cheap and worked fine with no troubles.
I had for little over a year, when I dumb-assed plugged in a cooling pad into the laptop a/c - frying it. Literally saw smoke wafting up passed the keys...mocking me.
Damn....
So I got another Toshiba.
It was a hefty 17.3" laptop. Great graphics, AMD Turion dual core processor 250 Gb running Win Vista. (I don't know why some complain about Vista...it's pretty cool actually.) This was my workhorse, using it for my main home computing needs and for astronomical field usage. It did everything I told it to do without complaint or lag..even streaming Netflix to my new 40" flatscreen. Stored tons of tunes and pics on that thing.
Life was good.
I keep my laptops on a rolly-computer table, next to my desk. I like it, as I can adjust the height and move it aside/around where I need it. One afternoon, I just finished reading my emails, when I decided to check my snail mail. Walking passed the laptop screen, my elbow caught the corner and shoved it to the floor - some three feet. I tried to catch it, but it failed to land in my hands and hit the floor with a thud.
Damn...
Setting it back up on the table, the screen was now blank. Did I kill it?
Rebooting the machine, it grasped at digital life. The screen was ok, but I was now getting error messages, and not good ones. I spent the next full day attempting to get into the operation system to have it repair itself...with limited success. At least save my data. The Hard Drive spent a lot of time rewriting to different sectors of the HD, apparently the fall to the floor damaged the HD platter. At one time, it looked like it healed itself, but attempting to work on it only brought it back to the recovery screens. Toshiba, shipped useless Recovery disks with the machine, and they would not work - as I figured I could probably wipe the disk and start over. But they were meant for a different model offering error messages. I was ready to fling them into the street. Calling Toshiba was of no help, as the Tech Rep chick felt I changed the motherboard and I needed to change the DMI's. Idiot.
Damn... #shootme#
A fellow Chicago Astronomer member and good friend is an IT guy and attempted two boot my laptop with software and tech tricks, but to no avail. He at least saved some of my data through DOS commands..(Bless him.)
So, here I was with a non-functioning laptop and a obsolete Desktop running WinMe. I needed a laptop for work and quick.
So researching extensively again, I came across this Toshiba laptop for a great price. (I can't see spending $1,000 for a laptop.) Again, another 17.3" screen with a AMD Phenom II Dual core/2.9 GHz, 500 Gb HD and running Win7. Faster and more powerful than my last broken laptop...and it was cheaper too!
Works beautifully and I am content with it.
But now, I needed to load my programs from disks into it. It's a long process..a lot of astronomical software to shove into it, as well as other goodies. Going through my disks, I come across some that I burned last year that had "Toshiba Recovery".
Hmmmm.
I had first thought that these were just copies of the same useless disks Toshiba packaged with the old laptop...but then I realized that I had not broken the seal on the new recovery disks - not until this recent incident of my knocking it to the floor.
OMG...I actually made Restore & Recovery disks one bored winter night last year directly from the Hard Drive!
Excitedly, I popped in a brand new 500 Gb HD into the laptop, hoping that I could use it at least for an external storage device if this did not work.
Popping the first disk in....the damned thing started to format the HD... displaying for me the proper progress windows.
Oh man...but there are always hangups...missing .dlls, phantom admin permissions or some other crap. Will it work all the way through?
An hour later...the old machine was humming sweetly, beckoning to me to touch it again and desiring to rebond with me.
YAY......! #Yay#
But does it work?
Most certainly it does. Connected to my wi-fi network in a snap and moves at lightning speed.
Now, I have two perfectly fast working laptops...as it should be. With both hard drives at 500 Gbs and an external HD I have...hell.....there must be about 1 1/2 Terra-bytes of storage. This is stuff of Star Trek man!
The old faithful Tower computer will soon be regulated to the attic and room made for the old laptop...(ain't that the way it goes - new and shiny for the old and dull.)
There are some main differences in the two laptops....
The old one is heavier and more solidly built. The new one is much lighter.
Both are 17.3" screens, but the old one has a higher screen, but the new one has a wider screen.
The old one pumped out heat through it's vent like a dryer...the new one is very cool - hardly any heat at all. (The Phenom processor only uses what resources it needs, saving energy and cycles.)
I like the keys on the old one better over the new one.
The new has a SATA/USB combo port.
Win 7 is more intuitive than Vista, but both are good.
Both screens are bright and sharp and pleased now that I have two decent working computers to support each other. Luckily, I also burned the majority of my tunes to DVD, but a lot still may have been lost. I am going to attempt to recover the missing data from the damaged HD from the old laptop...a lot of pictures in there too. Sigh.
But there are now two laptops at the estate...no waiting.
And besides...chicks dig guys with two laptops.
Astro Joe
