Our New COMPAQ

Our desktop has been getting weirder since I last ranted about it here. For some time, we found a way to "cheat" the computer: by opening the notepad, typing some texts, and not saving it when prompted by a dialog box because if the gullible were to click "Yes", the computer would shut off automaticlaly. So this went on for a while. Then lately, it has decided to close its mind just out of the blue in spite of the trick.

Just like a mutating virus (or bateria?), this computer is able to outsmart the human (a dumb one perhaps?) by adaptation. And I'm at my wit's end. So this morning I decided enough is enough, and unplugged it's lifeline. Good riddance, I said to myself.

Being a decisive man than I'm, I left for a local Staples store at 10.00am, the opening time today. Purpose: to shop for a new PC of course. Actually, the first thing in the morning I did was to compare PC prizes among the brochures that came with the Sunday papers: Staples, Office Depot, Best Buy, and Dell (for some reason there was no brochure from CompUSA and Circuit City).

And I gravitated toward Staples for a couple of reasons: No hassle from having to submit $200/= rebates, and there's a store nearby. After I took pain to compare apples with apples down to the Processor type, Ram size, Harddisk size, and even whether it's the Basic or the Premium version of MS Vista, I note that price-wise they are all comparable. So Staples it is, despite the $50 e-rebate (but this is just a few clicks away based on my previous experience in purchasing a SLR camera for my duaghter).

I stepped out of the Staples store, lugging two boxes (one for the 17" LCD monitor that comes packaged), and reached home at 10.30am. Opening the boxes, unwrapping the plastic covers, and doing the necessary connections, I have everything where it should be by 10.50am. Switching on and letting the computer configuration run on automatic mode, I was on the Net by 11.15am. And this is the first blog from my new Compaq Presario SR5130NX, at a nifty $450/= after the e-rebate.

Now my erstwhile blogging companion is also a Compaq. One would have thought after this somewhat unpleasant experience, I would have opted for another name brand. But before its light went out, this Compaq had given me a near uninterrupted service of more than three and a half years. That ought to count for something. So Compa/HP it is.