How Old Is That In Computer Years?
I am considering my options when it comes to my computer. To put it bluntly, it isn't well. Oh, it puts up a good front all right; after all, it's what I'm using to post here. But it's got problems.
The biggest problem is that I can't shut it off. That is to say, I can shut it off, there's just no guarantee it'll start back up. Instead of starting on a cold boot, it chimes a few times and then the sleep mode light just pulses at you in a morse code of distress. Decrypting it gives the answer: no good boot images in the boot ROM (and/or bad sys config block). Also, the shift key is sticking quite a bit now.
I mean, let's face it. It's not a new machine; we bought it over four years ago, and heck, it's a model no longer even made by Apple. Wiping the drive might fix it, but it'll take time and it might not take care of the problem. On the other hand, restarting works just fine and it's perfectly happy to stay on for weeks at a time with no problems.
So. Do I?
1) buy a new machine?
b) back everything up on to the external drive, wipe it clean and try again?
or lastly) continue to do nothing?
Opinions?
Comments
You're asking the wrong person here.
I'd just leave it on, send my word files to my gmail account, and then be sad when it crashes and dies.
Posted by: SarahP | February 26, 2008 10:01 PM
The life of a computer -- any computer -- tends to be in the 3 - 5 year range. It's not that the computer will DIE in that time, it's that technology will have marched happily onward, and you'll no longer be able to use the current software that's out there because you don't have either hard drive space, memory, processor speed, processor, bus speed, the right type of input or connection, or all of the above. Which is fine if you don't WANT to run the new software, but if you get too far behind the software curve, you also start getting files from people that you can't possibly open, or you start sending files to people (like your editor) that THEY can't open.
At four years old, it's time for a new computer, IMO.
Posted by: Stephen Leigh | February 27, 2008 07:42 AM
computer -- garage door -- computer -- garage door .... hmmm, it's going to be an expensive spring.
Posted by: Lisa | February 27, 2008 12:28 PM
Get a new one!! And, it sounds like you should get a new garage door, too? (What happened to your other garage door?)
Posted by: chandra | February 27, 2008 07:41 PM
I, um, caused my car to come into contact with the garage door. While the door was down. The storm yesterday was the death knell.
Posted by: lisa | February 27, 2008 08:21 PM
Um, oops??? Is there any way either homeowners or car insurance would help cover it? Especially storm damage? (That seems homeowners-ish)
Posted by: chandra | February 27, 2008 10:24 PM