10 Working Days!
Sep. 3rd, 2007 11:43 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ithikaI brought my laptop!
The specs I listed before, and I decided on the Green with webcam. I also brought a second power cable on a very clever suggestion.
It should take 10 working days to get here, and I asked the lady if she could influence its priority at all and she said she would mark it as a high priority order. Nice. :D
I'm getting a free Bag with it, too. Backpack. I figure since it's apparently going to be quite heavy it'd be better than a satchel, not to mention less conspicuous and less obviously laptop-containing. Oh yeah and free RAM to the value of 1.5 New Zealands. (See, it's a new take on the joke.)
It ended up costing me $2084.44 including the second cable. Free Shipping, and stuff. And that includes an insurance plan thing that I don't know if I mentioned before. I think I'm going to insure it with RAC for 2 years as well, so that if it gets stolen I won't have to worry. I got a quote for them and it's heaps cheaper to do than I had expected - just under $130 per year. And that's with them knowing about my status as a dodgy student, hehe.
So thanks to everyone who offered me advice and suggestions! :) I feel pretty confident that this has been a great decision.
I'm planning on going in to South Fremantle to photograph my site for studio on Wednesday at about 12, would anyone be interested? I'm not going to go before 12 but I can go after (my lecture is at 2) so maybe that would help more people come along? *grins winningly*
Since some people *cough*Bean*cough* have complained that my entries are tl;dr material, I'm going to cut the rest to entice you, dear reader, into my schpeil of madness and report-writing procrastination.
Well, with the impending arrival of my new, as yet un-named laptop, Idril's lifespan with me is coming to a close. I can't say I'm not a bit sad at the thought of her leaving this hallowed desk forever (lol hallowed), but she will be moving on to a use more suited to her capabilities, and will be enriching the computing lives of the rest of my family far beyond what they actually need.
Idril was pretty much an impulse buy in, I think, March 2005, from Harvey Norman's "moving store sale." In hindsight, she was pretty overpriced for what it was, but, for a time, I was happy.
She's always been, to my eye, an aesthetically pleasing computer, with her sleek black-and-silver tower, matching keyboard and speakers and monitor, not to mention the fact that the monitor itself is a 17" LCD - by far the nicest I've owned - the tower also featured a nifty sliding drawer which hid away the floppy disk drive (something I was happy the computer had, and still am), the two front USB ports and head/microphone jacks. Recently the drawer has been open all the time, but I like that it can be closed.
Her keyboard I will be keeping, as will I the speakers and mouse, because they're simply too fantastic to part with. The keyboard is, after two years, at that lovely stage where the keys are all soft and have a lot of give, but everything still works, and has a kind of shiny sheen to them where they have become worn with use.
I have to admit that letting my parents have the monitor was probably a bad move, since the laptop's going to be smaller, but I can always sneak it back when nobody's looking if it ends up being a problem for assignments, which I doubt because the dell should have really nice resolution.
Idril's been updated 3 times, hardware-wise : the first time was in the same Christmas as I first played WoW, 2005 I believe, my dad brought me 512MB of RAM, bringing Idril up to a cool 1GB. The next was courtesy of Hurr, who sold me (sold = basically gave) 1GB RAM... wait, whoah.
Something else must have been going on, because I thought Idril had 2GB of RAM, but she only has 1.18. So my Dad must have upgraded my RAM to 512. Eeek. Oh well. You get the picture. The Laptop is going to be much faster. :P
Then, only a few months ago, I added a 250GB HDD to Idril's standard 40. It's a pity that I didn't go with the external option, because that would have made "moving out" of Idril a lot easier. Oh well. As they say, hindsight is 20/20.
I've only been angry with Idril as I've started to realise what makes a computer good and how much these things are worth, oh and since that damned annoying crashing/freezing habit she's picked up. Oh, and since I made the ultimate of mistakes and formatted her myself, which solved ultimately none of my problems, but which created more. Awesome eh?
A list of Idril's stats for purely sentimental and compare/contrast reasons:
Out of store: present day
idril.
Packard Bell iMedia M880
Pentium IV 2.8 GHz with 512KB L2 400FSB
256MB DDR RAM 1.18GB DDR RAM
40GB HDD + 250 GB HDD
SiS651 64MB Shared Graphics (oh lol shared Graphics)
DVD RW Super Multi Drive (about the best thing so far)
17" LCD monitor
Windows XP home
That said though, Idril did come with a fair bit of useful software - Word, Powerpoint, Publisher, Power Cinema (how I miss Power Cinema), and ok, I didn't use anything else listed as having come with the computer that wasn't available as a free download, but I did really like PowerCinema. Basically, it was purple, it played movies and took screenshots. Wait, no, I lie, Idril also had the then-latest Encarta, which I love as a rule. Not that I use it much since leaving high school (or more accurately, year 10), but I still love it. Encarta was one of the first programs I can remember using on a Windows 95 computer. Ah.
Thinking about it, I am probably too honest as a salesperson at Dick Smiths. Because if someone says to me "I don't know much about computer hardware, but I know I need to use x software and I play games like x and I want a good value for money computer" I wouldn't tell them that one of the computers Dick Smiths had in, which I could tell the customer liked the aesthetics of, would do the things they needed in the present and the long term, when I knew very well it would not. If we didn't have a computer that would do what they had asked, sure, I'd suggest that "this computer won't really do what you need but it will do most of it," but I wouldn't tell them to buy anything, because I don't like the idea of misleading people into a fairly substantial purchase for personal gain (admittedly this, for me, is the difference between a black or red sticker next to my name in a job that I do one shift a week at, so it's not really much of a decision). Ok, so the guy who served us that fateful day may not have known better, but I find that hard to believe.
Don't get me wrong though, I have/do love Idril dearly, and if in the future I find a single fucking etnie (etny? I really don't care) or other assorted skate sticker on my beloved monitor or tower I will flip out and (cut sick)wring my brother's insolent neck. The same as if the poor computer gets riddled with spyware because of the same dear, sweet 16 year old boy downloading too much porn without checking anything for any other kind of dodgyness. It's too much to hope for that he would get a hobby. Oh, my parents might not know how that spyware got on the family computer, and they may not know about the history button on web browsers (and evidently, neither does my brother), but I am watching you, Jack.
So, Idril, thanks for the good times. It's been awesome having you, and I will make the most of what time we have left together, provided you don't eat my history report or studio drawings in a fit of freezy rage. Then I will cherish the end of our time together less, but I'll still miss your sexy black and silver tower.
- Srider *
- Eorling *
- Edoras/Edora ~
- Shadowfax *
- Nahar *
- Orome
- Elbereth
- Tintalle ~
- Fanuillos
- Elbereth *
- Nessa ~
- Telperion ~
- Giliath (I believe means "all the host of stars", similar to "Gil-galad")
Stars next to the ones I like most. Prz vote? If you want to know why I've chosen the names, read the next cut - it's ridiculously long though.
~ squiggles indicate ones that I like less than asterisked ones, but more than unmarked ones. :P Generally they just have too many syllables or aren't well enough known (even in the "in crowd")
So... I've only managed to cut out Orome and Elbereth's first listing... lol... no, I'm not going to edit that, yes, Elbereth is one of my most preferred of the shortlist.
Giliath would be too, but I can't remember if it's actually a correct translation from the Quendi and I can't be bothered reaching the whole one foot from the top of my desk to the drawer that my dictionary is in to confirm it :P
This next one is stupidly long. For me. So that's... pretty long.
But it does feature Tolkien-lore pretty heavily.
Which brings me to the next point of this increasingly elaborate entry geared towards procrastinating against writing my report.
I need to think of a name for my laptop. Bear in mind that it will look something like this.
What's that?
Oh.
Never mind.
I guess you should click This link, then. *Snicker*
With Idril, I started the trend (I've never owned a computer exclusively before her, you see) of using Elven Tolkien names, (her second harddrive is called Elrond, but I never got around to actually naming the drive in the computer). I think I will expand it to general Tolkien names, because a laptop is a Different Thing to a Desktop.
I was thinking Strider today, because obviously it's portable, but it is also surprisingly powerful and fast, similar to Aragorn. Then I thought Elessar, but that's not really as relevant as Strider. Plus, two syllables is slightly nicer off the tongue.
Then I thought, that the laptop when compared to others is a little bulkier and with the 9 cell battery it's been described as a "beast," so I briefly thought of calling it Beorn after the Bear Man in The Hobbit - but I'm not going to use this one because it doesn't obviously fit in, and I'm reserving Norse tpye names for something else (I always thought it would be appropriate to have a Siberian Husky called Loki).
I've also been thinking of Rohirrim names, because again the Rohirrim are mobile and powerful, and also very fast.
So I was thinking Eomer or (sorry, too lazy for accents today) Eorling, or OH SHIT I'VE FORGOTTEN THE NAME OF STUFFS LOTRS RE-READ STAT!
Someone find me an e-book download for my DS hax! :P
Anyway, or Edoras or Edora (I like Edora). I like the sound of "Riddermark" but it doesn't really work as a laptop name, so alas! I'll just have to write it on stuff to make things look cool.
I just thought of Shadowfax, which is pretty appropriate (considering the speed is much more than anything I have yet owned) but the colour isn't quite right.
Then there's Orome, who was Vala of Forests and travelling (the only Valar observed by the Rohirrim, though by a different name), although he was also very angry so maybe this isn't such a good idea.
With horse names there's always Nahar (Orome's horse, fast, intelligent, first light to Valinor after the destruction of the Trees), or Rochallor (Fingolfin's horse, but it's too many syllables.. yes.)
There's also my favourite of the Valier, Varda, but I've already named my phone that and it has less links to what the laptop is about. Also Varda was supposed to be inconceivably(!) beautiful, and while the laptop is rather pretty I wouldn't call it the beautiful to end all beautifuls. It would be Elbereth or Tintalle if it was named after her, though. Possibly Gilthoniel or Fanuilos.
A! Elbereth! Gilthoniel!
O! Star-Queen! Star-kindler!
Silivren Penna Miriel
white light, sparkling something
Nan-chaered palan diriel
Fanuilos, le linnathon!
Everwhite, to thee I sing!
Nef aer, si nef aeron!
On this sea, over great seas!
Let's see how much of that I remember (distraction while I'm waiting for the internet to come back:
A Elbereth Gilthoniel
O Elbereth Starkindler,
silivren penna míriel
white-glittering, slanting down sparkling like a jewel,
o menel aglar elenath!
the glory of the starry host!
Na-chaered palan-díriel
Having gazed far away
o galadhremmin ennorath,
from the tree-woven lands of Middle-earth,
Fanuilos, le linnathon
to thee, Everwhite, I will sing,
nef aear, sí nef aearon!
on this side of the Sea, here on this side of the Ocean!
Not bad, not bad. Interesting. I forgot my favourite part
"O menel aglar elenath!
Na-chaered palan-diriel
o galadremmin ennorath"
the words are the prettiest, as is the translation.
And my memory of Elvish spelling's still not too shoddy either. And I translated most of it (rather than just remembering the English translation), so maybe I taught myself Sindar and Quendi better than I had thought.
had completely forgotten this Common last stanza, though:
We still remember, we who dwell
In this far land beneath the trees
The starlight on the western seas
and I never knew the other stanzas. :P
Anyway! Onward!
Nessa was a Valier known for her agility and speed, which I suppose is relevant.
The other two names I was considering were Laurelin and Telperion (the Gold and Silver Trees respectively), although they have very little to do with laptops.
Yeah I'm done. Prz votez for me names? *puppy eyes* Preeeeez!
Btw, logic behind location = Valinor:
Post-movies, Middle-Earth is New Zealand.
Valinor is a land to the West of Middle-Earth.
Australia is a land to the West of New Zealand.
Ta-da!
Therefore Australia wins despite lack of awesome movies, because we are the immortal, eternal home of the Vala and the Elves, the land which knows no sorrow.
Edit:
It's not that I have doubts about the green, it's just that I'm not sure how dirty laptops get. Am I better off calling up and changing my order to a black or a blue? Or even white?
I've been told of concerns with the white getting dirty, but would that just be fingerprints?
If you're going to comment on this one please do so ASAP because if I'm going to make a change I have to do it by 5pm EST tomorrow :)
I had to call them anyway - I forgot to ask them to include the remote control (but only if it's free, hehe)
Thanks!
The specs I listed before, and I decided on the Green with webcam. I also brought a second power cable on a very clever suggestion.
It should take 10 working days to get here, and I asked the lady if she could influence its priority at all and she said she would mark it as a high priority order. Nice. :D
I'm getting a free Bag with it, too. Backpack. I figure since it's apparently going to be quite heavy it'd be better than a satchel, not to mention less conspicuous and less obviously laptop-containing. Oh yeah and free RAM to the value of 1.5 New Zealands. (See, it's a new take on the joke.)
It ended up costing me $2084.44 including the second cable. Free Shipping, and stuff. And that includes an insurance plan thing that I don't know if I mentioned before. I think I'm going to insure it with RAC for 2 years as well, so that if it gets stolen I won't have to worry. I got a quote for them and it's heaps cheaper to do than I had expected - just under $130 per year. And that's with them knowing about my status as a dodgy student, hehe.
So thanks to everyone who offered me advice and suggestions! :) I feel pretty confident that this has been a great decision.
I'm planning on going in to South Fremantle to photograph my site for studio on Wednesday at about 12, would anyone be interested? I'm not going to go before 12 but I can go after (my lecture is at 2) so maybe that would help more people come along? *grins winningly*
Since some people *cough*Bean*cough* have complained that my entries are tl;dr material, I'm going to cut the rest to entice you, dear reader, into my schpeil of madness and report-writing procrastination.
Well, with the impending arrival of my new, as yet un-named laptop, Idril's lifespan with me is coming to a close. I can't say I'm not a bit sad at the thought of her leaving this hallowed desk forever (lol hallowed), but she will be moving on to a use more suited to her capabilities, and will be enriching the computing lives of the rest of my family far beyond what they actually need.
Idril was pretty much an impulse buy in, I think, March 2005, from Harvey Norman's "moving store sale." In hindsight, she was pretty overpriced for what it was, but, for a time, I was happy.
She's always been, to my eye, an aesthetically pleasing computer, with her sleek black-and-silver tower, matching keyboard and speakers and monitor, not to mention the fact that the monitor itself is a 17" LCD - by far the nicest I've owned - the tower also featured a nifty sliding drawer which hid away the floppy disk drive (something I was happy the computer had, and still am), the two front USB ports and head/microphone jacks. Recently the drawer has been open all the time, but I like that it can be closed.
Her keyboard I will be keeping, as will I the speakers and mouse, because they're simply too fantastic to part with. The keyboard is, after two years, at that lovely stage where the keys are all soft and have a lot of give, but everything still works, and has a kind of shiny sheen to them where they have become worn with use.
I have to admit that letting my parents have the monitor was probably a bad move, since the laptop's going to be smaller, but I can always sneak it back when nobody's looking if it ends up being a problem for assignments, which I doubt because the dell should have really nice resolution.
Idril's been updated 3 times, hardware-wise : the first time was in the same Christmas as I first played WoW, 2005 I believe, my dad brought me 512MB of RAM, bringing Idril up to a cool 1GB. The next was courtesy of Hurr, who sold me (sold = basically gave) 1GB RAM... wait, whoah.
Something else must have been going on, because I thought Idril had 2GB of RAM, but she only has 1.18. So my Dad must have upgraded my RAM to 512. Eeek. Oh well. You get the picture. The Laptop is going to be much faster. :P
Then, only a few months ago, I added a 250GB HDD to Idril's standard 40. It's a pity that I didn't go with the external option, because that would have made "moving out" of Idril a lot easier. Oh well. As they say, hindsight is 20/20.
I've only been angry with Idril as I've started to realise what makes a computer good and how much these things are worth, oh and since that damned annoying crashing/freezing habit she's picked up. Oh, and since I made the ultimate of mistakes and formatted her myself, which solved ultimately none of my problems, but which created more. Awesome eh?
A list of Idril's stats for purely sentimental and compare/contrast reasons:
Out of store: present day
idril.
Packard Bell iMedia M880
Pentium IV 2.8 GHz with 512KB L2 400FSB
256MB DDR RAM 1.18GB DDR RAM
40GB HDD + 250 GB HDD
SiS651 64MB Shared Graphics (oh lol shared Graphics)
DVD RW Super Multi Drive (about the best thing so far)
17" LCD monitor
Windows XP home
That said though, Idril did come with a fair bit of useful software - Word, Powerpoint, Publisher, Power Cinema (how I miss Power Cinema), and ok, I didn't use anything else listed as having come with the computer that wasn't available as a free download, but I did really like PowerCinema. Basically, it was purple, it played movies and took screenshots. Wait, no, I lie, Idril also had the then-latest Encarta, which I love as a rule. Not that I use it much since leaving high school (or more accurately, year 10), but I still love it. Encarta was one of the first programs I can remember using on a Windows 95 computer. Ah.
Thinking about it, I am probably too honest as a salesperson at Dick Smiths. Because if someone says to me "I don't know much about computer hardware, but I know I need to use x software and I play games like x and I want a good value for money computer" I wouldn't tell them that one of the computers Dick Smiths had in, which I could tell the customer liked the aesthetics of, would do the things they needed in the present and the long term, when I knew very well it would not. If we didn't have a computer that would do what they had asked, sure, I'd suggest that "this computer won't really do what you need but it will do most of it," but I wouldn't tell them to buy anything, because I don't like the idea of misleading people into a fairly substantial purchase for personal gain (admittedly this, for me, is the difference between a black or red sticker next to my name in a job that I do one shift a week at, so it's not really much of a decision). Ok, so the guy who served us that fateful day may not have known better, but I find that hard to believe.
Don't get me wrong though, I have/do love Idril dearly, and if in the future I find a single fucking etnie (etny? I really don't care) or other assorted skate sticker on my beloved monitor or tower I will flip out and (cut sick)wring my brother's insolent neck. The same as if the poor computer gets riddled with spyware because of the same dear, sweet 16 year old boy downloading too much porn without checking anything for any other kind of dodgyness. It's too much to hope for that he would get a hobby. Oh, my parents might not know how that spyware got on the family computer, and they may not know about the history button on web browsers (and evidently, neither does my brother), but I am watching you, Jack.
So, Idril, thanks for the good times. It's been awesome having you, and I will make the most of what time we have left together, provided you don't eat my history report or studio drawings in a fit of freezy rage. Then I will cherish the end of our time together less, but I'll still miss your sexy black and silver tower.
- Srider *
- Eorling *
- Edoras/Edora ~
- Shadowfax *
- Nahar *
- Orome
- Elbereth
- Tintalle ~
- Fanuillos
- Elbereth *
- Nessa ~
- Telperion ~
- Giliath (I believe means "all the host of stars", similar to "Gil-galad")
Stars next to the ones I like most. Prz vote? If you want to know why I've chosen the names, read the next cut - it's ridiculously long though.
~ squiggles indicate ones that I like less than asterisked ones, but more than unmarked ones. :P Generally they just have too many syllables or aren't well enough known (even in the "in crowd")
So... I've only managed to cut out Orome and Elbereth's first listing... lol... no, I'm not going to edit that, yes, Elbereth is one of my most preferred of the shortlist.
Giliath would be too, but I can't remember if it's actually a correct translation from the Quendi and I can't be bothered reaching the whole one foot from the top of my desk to the drawer that my dictionary is in to confirm it :P
This next one is stupidly long. For me. So that's... pretty long.
But it does feature Tolkien-lore pretty heavily.
Which brings me to the next point of this increasingly elaborate entry geared towards procrastinating against writing my report.
I need to think of a name for my laptop. Bear in mind that it will look something like this.
What's that?
Oh.
Never mind.
I guess you should click This link, then. *Snicker*
With Idril, I started the trend (I've never owned a computer exclusively before her, you see) of using Elven Tolkien names, (her second harddrive is called Elrond, but I never got around to actually naming the drive in the computer). I think I will expand it to general Tolkien names, because a laptop is a Different Thing to a Desktop.
I was thinking Strider today, because obviously it's portable, but it is also surprisingly powerful and fast, similar to Aragorn. Then I thought Elessar, but that's not really as relevant as Strider. Plus, two syllables is slightly nicer off the tongue.
Then I thought, that the laptop when compared to others is a little bulkier and with the 9 cell battery it's been described as a "beast," so I briefly thought of calling it Beorn after the Bear Man in The Hobbit - but I'm not going to use this one because it doesn't obviously fit in, and I'm reserving Norse tpye names for something else (I always thought it would be appropriate to have a Siberian Husky called Loki).
I've also been thinking of Rohirrim names, because again the Rohirrim are mobile and powerful, and also very fast.
So I was thinking Eomer or (sorry, too lazy for accents today) Eorling, or OH SHIT I'VE FORGOTTEN THE NAME OF STUFFS LOTRS RE-READ STAT!
Someone find me an e-book download for my DS hax! :P
Anyway, or Edoras or Edora (I like Edora). I like the sound of "Riddermark" but it doesn't really work as a laptop name, so alas! I'll just have to write it on stuff to make things look cool.
I just thought of Shadowfax, which is pretty appropriate (considering the speed is much more than anything I have yet owned) but the colour isn't quite right.
Then there's Orome, who was Vala of Forests and travelling (the only Valar observed by the Rohirrim, though by a different name), although he was also very angry so maybe this isn't such a good idea.
With horse names there's always Nahar (Orome's horse, fast, intelligent, first light to Valinor after the destruction of the Trees), or Rochallor (Fingolfin's horse, but it's too many syllables.. yes.)
There's also my favourite of the Valier, Varda, but I've already named my phone that and it has less links to what the laptop is about. Also Varda was supposed to be inconceivably(!) beautiful, and while the laptop is rather pretty I wouldn't call it the beautiful to end all beautifuls. It would be Elbereth or Tintalle if it was named after her, though. Possibly Gilthoniel or Fanuilos.
A! Elbereth! Gilthoniel!
O! Star-Queen! Star-kindler!
Silivren Penna Miriel
white light, sparkling something
Nan-chaered palan diriel
Fanuilos, le linnathon!
Everwhite, to thee I sing!
Nef aer, si nef aeron!
On this sea, over great seas!
Let's see how much of that I remember (distraction while I'm waiting for the internet to come back:
A Elbereth Gilthoniel
O Elbereth Starkindler,
silivren penna míriel
white-glittering, slanting down sparkling like a jewel,
o menel aglar elenath!
the glory of the starry host!
Na-chaered palan-díriel
Having gazed far away
o galadhremmin ennorath,
from the tree-woven lands of Middle-earth,
Fanuilos, le linnathon
to thee, Everwhite, I will sing,
nef aear, sí nef aearon!
on this side of the Sea, here on this side of the Ocean!
Not bad, not bad. Interesting. I forgot my favourite part
"O menel aglar elenath!
Na-chaered palan-diriel
o galadremmin ennorath"
the words are the prettiest, as is the translation.
And my memory of Elvish spelling's still not too shoddy either. And I translated most of it (rather than just remembering the English translation), so maybe I taught myself Sindar and Quendi better than I had thought.
had completely forgotten this Common last stanza, though:
We still remember, we who dwell
In this far land beneath the trees
The starlight on the western seas
and I never knew the other stanzas. :P
Anyway! Onward!
Nessa was a Valier known for her agility and speed, which I suppose is relevant.
The other two names I was considering were Laurelin and Telperion (the Gold and Silver Trees respectively), although they have very little to do with laptops.
Yeah I'm done. Prz votez for me names? *puppy eyes* Preeeeez!
Btw, logic behind location = Valinor:
Post-movies, Middle-Earth is New Zealand.
Valinor is a land to the West of Middle-Earth.
Australia is a land to the West of New Zealand.
Ta-da!
Therefore Australia wins despite lack of awesome movies, because we are the immortal, eternal home of the Vala and the Elves, the land which knows no sorrow.
Edit:
It's not that I have doubts about the green, it's just that I'm not sure how dirty laptops get. Am I better off calling up and changing my order to a black or a blue? Or even white?
I've been told of concerns with the white getting dirty, but would that just be fingerprints?
If you're going to comment on this one please do so ASAP because if I'm going to make a change I have to do it by 5pm EST tomorrow :)
I had to call them anyway - I forgot to ask them to include the remote control (but only if it's free, hehe)
Thanks!
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(no subject)
Date: 2007-09-04 11:07 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-09-04 04:03 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-09-04 01:39 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-09-05 02:08 am (UTC)It's a tough decision.
Bweeee...
(no subject)
Date: 2007-09-05 10:32 am (UTC)