My New Laptop...

After numerous failures trying to get my Zune software downloaded, I called upon a family friend who knows everything there is to know about computers and asked his advice. His solutions? Either buy Media Center 2005 and borrow an old copy of XP and start over on the hard drive or just buy a new laptop.

I guess I knew in my heart it was time for a new computer, but I was not in any hurry because mine was working fine. The worst that had ever happened was that it had overheated a couple of time, which I hear is common in Toshibas. Despite that, I had already told myself that I would just get another Toshiba when the time came.

It came, it's here.

There are probably people out there who will cringe at the thought of heading straight to Best Buy for a new laptop, but I did. I wanted their service plan to fall back on if anything went wrong in the future. I have no one to go to if my computer needs fixing.

From experience, I've learned that if you're going there on a Saturday, the best thing to do is get there when the doors open. They open at 10am, I was there at 9:55. About 15-20 people were already waiting outside.

When they let us in I headed for the computer department. A nice young man probably sensed my eagerness and offered to help. I told him I wanted a Toshiba laptop. Top of the line was $999, but the screen was small and the keys were all black and very glossy. I didn't like it at all. Granted, it had more memory than the rest, but also more than I would ever need. I settled on the one that fit me aesthetically and in practicality. It was less $$, "only" $799. Then you add on the 2-year service plan, Microsoft Office 2007, and tax. Hey, you gotta do what you gotta do. Good thing I had already loaded most of my things onto my external hard drive months ago.I was out of the store by 10:08am. What can I say? I've always been a fast shopper.

The rest of today was spent "personalizing" the new laptop (with its lovely 17" screen.) It is blazing fast and there have been no problems at all. Best of all, the Zune software downloaded perfectly on the first try and my little player is now working great. It does everything automatically! You save your CDs using the software and the device saves them on it immediately. Pretty awesome.

So, it was an expensive day, but I'll get tons of use out of everything.

(Speaking of expensive, I paid $49 to fill up my gas tank today with gas at $3.86/gallon. That was the cheapest I could find. Every other place I passed had it for $4.15. The guy in front of me at the gas station paid $98 to fill up his van!! Oy vey...)