I'm a PC, But Windows 7 Was Not My Idea

After looking and waiting for quite awhile, this week I got a new computer at Sam's Club --- the HP dv7-3188cl. This is my first laptop after being a desktop person for all my computing life. This is a little new for me, especially the track-pad that is kind of like playing a guitar, moving between frets. My musical instrument coordination being what it is --- precisely zero --- the purchase of a wireless mouse was a fortunate choice.

But let's start off by explaining what a jump this is. I would liken it to going from an Edsel to a souped-up Lamborghini. Our old computer was bought in 2001, ran XP on 256MB of memory (I think that barely met the minimum requirements for that OS), and though I managed to maintain it for almost 10 years(!), and I got through UConn with it, it was showing its age. It would have to run old versions of software like Java, Flash Player, etc. because the rig couldn't handle system requirements for new updates. It was barely a Web 1.0 machine in an era that is fast approaching Web 4.0. Let's be clear: I have used new computers and stayed current with operating systems, software and such... I just didn't have one of my very own.

While transferring files via the USB port, what took the old computer 45 minutes to load onto the 4GB jump drive took the laptop about 20 seconds to unload. I can play video now without start-and-stop (and in many cases, video just wouldn't load). I'm discovering Hulu and all that. This can move easily from room to room --- something that is nice in this house even more than others. In the semi-finished basement where the computer is, in early fall and late spring it can get chilly, and in winter with the wood stove cranking, it can get sweltering. Yet in summer, cool and dry, the basement is the place to be. Also, with the puppy, portability is great. From many standpoints, this should have happened years ago.

Computer purchasing is quite the labyrinth to enter, though. Full of crags and turns, false floors and lights at the end of the tunnel that are unreachable. First, by all accounts except Microsoft's, Vista was like so much bloatware, a legacy push-through / money-grab before MS had to do a full-on redo. Windows 7 was released late last year. And then the waiting game turned into the matter of the processor. HP, the maker I'd narrowed down to (based on reputation, reviews, etc.) was in the throes of releasing their Core i3/i5/i7 processors. Nothing like getting a new computer and right away being stuck with old hardware at perhaps the most important part of the computer. Newer, better and faster hardware is bound to happen, and yes, at some point in a computer purchase you need to dive in the pool, but it's nice to have a semi-current machine for at least a couple of months.

Sam's Club has been pretty good for us with regard to electronics. Can't complain a bit. Price this laptop's specs on the HP build website and it'll come to over $1,000. Price at Best Buy, etc. and you get fewer features and less memory, for more money. The bulk clubs can get a good price point because they can move so many of them.

And so, I've been setting this up, customizing a few things, changing some icons, getting new wallpapers for the widescreen and bidding fare-thee-well to some of our old 4:3 mainstays, updating programs, deleting some HP bloatware (not much, surprisingly), installed Avast! anti-virus, transferred files, and all that good stuff. Quite happy with it, so far.