Rogue

Finally, after over a year without one, I've bought another laptop. My last laptop was an IBM Thinkpad 1.2Ghz, 512Mb, 40Gb, & ATi mobility video. My work laptop is a HP 1.6Ghz, 512Mb, 40Gb & Intel video. My 'new' laptop is a 2.3Ghz P4, 512Mb, 80Gb, & SiS 64Mb video; an Acer Aspire 1700. It also has the standard DVD/CD-RW and wireless, but whatever.

It's a step up. Not a massive step, but a step. The biggest difference of course being that I own this one. It's not under lease, it's not from work, it's mine.

Follow up:

The kicker is that the damn thing weighs an absolute tonne. The average adult might not have any issue toting it around, but I have next to no upper body strength - so it's an issue. Also, the battery life is rubbish with just over an hour and a bit running on it's own power.

I should also point out that this isn't a new laptop. From what I've read the original production line started back in 2004, with the previous owner having it for about 4 months, although he bought it through his work. But by the same token I didn't pay for a new laptop either. I didn't have to sell a kidney to save the $3000+ average price of a laptop, just $1000 for it. I know you probably know someone or somewhere I could get something with twice the specs for a tenth of the price, but I don't care. So keep it to yourself.

The pluses for the laptop are certainly that it has a great screen. Full 17" 1280x1024, and with the 64Mb video card it doesn't shy away from games. It also has a full keyboard, with the numeric keypad there and all. And, the best bit in my opinion, the RAM and the HDD are standard size - not weirdo micro laptop size, but full PC size. This is what contributes so much to it's herculean weight. It means that should I upgrade my desktop PC with a new HDD, I could take one of my 160Gb drives out and drop it straight into the laptop. Or I could take out one of my 1Gb RAM sticks and swap it into the laptop. I like that. It's a neato feature. But with so much weight and the slightly dainty battery life it does mean it's not so much a mobile computer as it is a moveable computer.