It's Time To Get A New Laptop

I think I have harped on this before, but after just more than nine years of my Toshiba Satellite, it's time for me to get a new one.  The processor is shot, and even though I had dreams once to DIY it, I am too lazy to find, buy and replace it with a new one.

Then there's the problem with the Operating System (OS).  I had the tremendously bad luck to buy a computer whose latest Windows OS was Vista.  It has been maligned since its birth, and probably unfairly so, but there's been enough ridicule heaped on Vista that whenever I had issues with my laptop, early or late in its life, I felt it was OK to blame it on the OS.  It's kind of like the Hillary Clinton of Operating Systems.

I still dealt with it because it works for me, but other creeping old age problems with the Toshiba has made me think I need an upgrade.  Microsoft support for Chrome is or has ended, so I don't get the latest bells and whistles with the current Internet browser, whatever those enhancements are.  And some time late last year, Microsoft told me (through the opening screen on my laptop) that it will stop supporting Microsoft Security.  That has forced me to go to Comodo, a free anti-virus software that I downloaded a long time ago, but which I had to deactivate because it was causing too much trouble with Microsoft's installed anti-bug software.

Now that Security is done (or soon will be), I have had to rely on Comodo.  And it appears to be fine in general, but it seems to wreak havoc on my lap.  Foremost among my issues is that, when it is up, I can't get on any wi-fi network.  So, what I have to do (which I had to do when I downloaded Comodo and used it the first time, several years ago) is deactivate Comodo, reset my connection to the wi-fi network and, assuming it did finally reestablish connection (sometimes it didn't, at which point I would either leave the house or shut the computer down and say screw it), bring Comodo back up.  It's OK to deal with, but along with the freezing and slow processing my laptop suffers once I do get going with surfing online, it has become a tremendous pain in the ass.

So, I have finally noticed something over the past few months that I did subconsciously: I am spending less and less time on my lap.  It's why I stay over at work -- the computer and the Intranet there is reliable and (for the most part) fast.  It's why I'm typing this on the library now -- the computer and Intranet here is reliable and fast.  I used to dive into my computer after dinner or taking my shower.  Now, I scroll through my phone and/or take a nap.  It's gotten to the point where I avoid the laptop I've had for nine-plus years.  Avoid.  Something I've relied on for years -- for work, for writing, for porn -- I now treat as if it's poison.  Well, it kind of is, but I don't feel great for shunning it like this.

I will say this: After I made the fateful decision to buy a new battery to replace the original one which no longer held any energy, which was about four or five years ago, it hasn't been the same since.  And I don't know if I've written about this before, but I looked in my past blog posts and I don't see it, so I'll just say it now: I got ripped off when I bought this new battery.  From the very first time I installed the battery and turned it on, after which I got The Black Screen Of Death, the computer wasn't half the machine it was.  I'm not sure if the slow processing speed and the freezing is a direct consequence of the old battery; it's probably coincidental.  But like I said, it was a used-up machine as soon as I bought that defective battery.

I'll buy a new laptop after I absorb the financial blow of taking a trip to Hong Kong to see Grandmother.