Comments on: The New Computer http://www.mountsutro.org/2010/02/08/930/ An Electronic Periodical Tue, 31 Jan 2012 13:44:31 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: David July http://www.mountsutro.org/2010/02/08/930/#comment-64573 David July Sun, 21 Feb 2010 20:54:43 +0000 http://www.mountsutro.org/?p=930#comment-64573 My Gateway Solo is definitely showing its age. The keyboard has some wear and broken keys, the battery became a fifteen second UPS years ago, the LCD panel cannot be closed due to a crack and malfunctioning hinge and the CD-ROM works intermittently. I should probably define intermittently for this context. The CD-ROM drive stopped working for good over four years ago. I even looked into replacing it but did not think the value to me was worth the cost. When I tried the drive again in September 2009, you know, just for the hell of it, wouldn't you know it worked well enough for me to reformat and install Windows XP from disc. This computer may just run forever. It is a tempting thought to turn it into a digital picture frame once the ThinkPad arrives. What more could a PC in retirement want? My Gateway Solo is definitely showing its age. The keyboard has some wear and broken keys, the battery became a fifteen second UPS years ago, the LCD panel cannot be closed due to a crack and malfunctioning hinge and the CD-ROM works intermittently.

I should probably define intermittently for this context. The CD-ROM drive stopped working for good over four years ago. I even looked into replacing it but did not think the value to me was worth the cost. When I tried the drive again in September 2009, you know, just for the hell of it, wouldn't you know it worked well enough for me to reformat and install Windows XP from disc.

This computer may just run forever. It is a tempting thought to turn it into a digital picture frame once the ThinkPad arrives. What more could a PC in retirement want?

]]> By: Jeff http://www.mountsutro.org/2010/02/08/930/#comment-64568 Jeff Thu, 11 Feb 2010 23:17:09 +0000 http://www.mountsutro.org/?p=930#comment-64568 Oh wow, I have a Gateway Solo notebook that I bought in 2000 (hello, Windows ME!). It's like a tank compared to the netbook I got recently. I don't have the Gateway in front of me right now so I'm not certain of the model number, but I'm sure it's a close relative of yours. Somewhere along the way, I dropped it (and where the AC adapter plugs in took most of the brunt), and its power connectivity was never the same (also its original battery is kind of shot by now), so I stopped using it many years ago. But I recently booted it up to transfer files off of it, and it still chugs away! Oh wow, I have a Gateway Solo notebook that I bought in 2000 (hello, Windows ME!). It's like a tank compared to the netbook I got recently. I don't have the Gateway in front of me right now so I'm not certain of the model number, but I'm sure it's a close relative of yours. Somewhere along the way, I dropped it (and where the AC adapter plugs in took most of the brunt), and its power connectivity was never the same (also its original battery is kind of shot by now), so I stopped using it many years ago. But I recently booted it up to transfer files off of it, and it still chugs away!

]]> By: SursumCorda http://www.mountsutro.org/2010/02/08/930/#comment-64565 SursumCorda Mon, 08 Feb 2010 11:52:31 +0000 http://www.mountsutro.org/?p=930#comment-64565 Good luck! I hope it does better for you than Porter's two-week wonder Lenovo that we couldn't even make lemonade with. However, all manufacturers can have bad days, and we will almost certainly go with Lenovo when we try again. We both have been happy with our T60/61 machines -- at least until my fan quit just out of warranty; we'll see how things go -- and our old R31 is still going strong. Good luck! I hope it does better for you than Porter's two-week wonder Lenovo that we couldn't even make lemonade with.

However, all manufacturers can have bad days, and we will almost certainly go with Lenovo when we try again. We both have been happy with our T60/61 machines — at least until my fan quit just out of warranty; we'll see how things go — and our old R31 is still going strong.

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