Yesterday I undertook the not inconsequential task of buying a new laptop, something I'd been putting off for a long time.
I bought my current Thinkpad in July 2015, i.e. it's over 9 years old, so it's fairly impressive it's still capable of churning out daily blogposts. I queried replacing it in 2020 and your collective advice was "if it's still working keep using it" so I did. It's got slower, as you'd expect, but I've worked around that and put up with the treaclier moments. Then six months ago six of the keys on the keyboard stopped working, a problem solved by the addition of an external keyboard but also a sure sign of approaching obsolescence. The replacement trigger has actually been one of the programs I use announcing it was about to stop working because my system was deemed too archaic. OK, hints taken, purchase approved.
I like that I'm buying a much more powerful laptop than last time and yet it's £90 cheaper. I like that it'll have a bigger screen (because I'm not getting any younger), and also a whopping amount of solid state memory. I don't like that I'm having to buy key software again because manufacturers are overly protective and won't let you simply transfer it. I am not looking forward to all the set-up palaver and trying to customise how everything operates. I am particular nervous about making the leap from Windows 7 to Windows 11, but it had to happen one day. Looking back to 2015 I see the actual delivery of the machine was a total balls-up and I'm hoping that part goes considerably more smoothly this time.
But hey, I've taken the leap and spent the dosh and now await a delivery date. I look forward to the arrival of my ninth computer and hope it lasts as long as the eighth, a workhorse which has served me well for the equivalent of 40p a day. I'll let you know when it gets here, and also whether it's all been a ghastly mistake or whether I should have taken the leap a long time ago.
