There's nothing better than, while downloading video, a message popping up on screen saying that you hard disk is full. This is especially fun when you know damn well that it's a sixty gig hard disk, and only thirty have been used. It's even more fun when, after restarting the computer, the lovely little machine refuses to boot into Windows. The enjoyment is doubled when you are told by technical support that all your data (three years worth) has been erased. The enjoyment quadruples when a screw falls into the power source, short circuiting it and preventing me from running a recovery disk. That of course, only happens because the freaking $100 per year technical support thinks that I, a non-technician, am perfectly capable of opening up the computer and rearranging the cords... And the fun just doesn't stop when you are told to wait a week while technical support orders a new part, only to be told again, after the installation of the part, that yet another piece of equipment is needed, and another week of computerless waiting is in front of me. I love computers, they are great fun. Oh well, at least the Rockets are playing well...
This is why I always have at least one back-up computer I can use to get my email and internet fix if one goes down. I remember when my only computer was an eMachines. They apparently use a special power supply, one which happens to be faily unreliable. One day, the power supply went out. I was living in Amarillo at the time, and there was no place in town to buy a new one. My options were to either order one or drive to the nearest Fry's and buy one (and at the time, the nearest one was in Albuquerque, I believe). I ended up ordering two while also taking the next few days to schedule a trip to visit friends in Dallas (where I also happened to also purchase another power supply). There was going to be no way a dead power supply was going to stop me in the future. About two weeks later, I also bought a second machine (ostensibly so I could use the computer in the other room if I wanted, but also so I'd have a backup if the eMachines went down again). I have not been computerless since.
In the immortal words of Chef; "I'm gonna tell you something but it's really gonna piss you off..." buy a mac!
Chef? Are you referring to the BBC Comedy Chef!? That is the funniest show ever . . . next to Family Guy
If it makes you feel better, I just spent 3 days fixing a computer. I built a computer for a friend. Last week, the computer doesn’t turn on, fans spin, but no beeps from the motherboard. So I thought it was the motherboard or the cpu. So, I take it apart all the components, put it back together again, twice. Switched out known working parts in her computer... still nothing. In the end it was an IDE cable that was causing all the problems, a cable that cost 50 cents and 30 seconds to replace. Fudge. I learned my lesson.
