Hey, Mom! Talking to My Mother #104 - New Laptop

Hey, Mom! Talking to My Mother #104 - New Laptop

Hi Mom,

I am aware of the issues related to announcing to the world that I have a new laptop, but I have a new laptop. What's really interesting is that I bought this machine on September 7th, and I am just now moving in to it. That's how busy I have been lately. I mean, who has to wait a month and a half to start using a new machine? What's worse is that it was a couple of weeks before I even opened the box in which it was shipped, longer before I opened the box containing the actual machine, and just today when I powered on the machine for the first time.

First off, let me just say, I LOVE ASUS. I have been using their motherboards for years. And now that they make machines, I bought an ASUS desktop in 2009 (which I just upgraded), my previous laptop was Asus, this machine is Asus, and I bought an Asus tablet. GOOD STUFF.

So why did I buy a new machine?

I needed more hard drive space, and it was better and smarter to simply get a new machine than to upgrade the old one, the Ultrabook, that I bought two years ago.

My first impressions are generally positive, though I miss the light on the power supply that glows green when I have a full charge and red when I do not. In fact, yesterday, the machine told me I was plugged in but NOT CHARGING. This seems very odd for a machine that is plugged in to an active outlet serving power.

I also miss the speaker bar at the hinge, but that's a small thing, not a major criticism. I have not yet made a piece of cardboard to cover the touch pad because I am hopeful that with this machine the setting that turns off the touch pad actually works, unlike on my previous machine.

But can I share specs that will mean nothing to you, Mom?

I jumped up to a 256 GB Solid State hard drive, which is very nice, and about double what I had previously and more than double if I subtract the partition where I stashed Unix (Ubuntu).

new laptop slimness

I had an i5, and this is also an i5 but there's a boost in speed and the RAM is doubled (I had 4 GB): 2.20 GHz (Turbo Boost Up To 2.70 GHz) Intel Core i5-5200U Processor with 8 GB DDR3L Memory (and ability to add another 4 GB for 12 GB maximum).

And it's a touchscreen!! That could be fun. I do not use the Windows 8 tablet grid thing, but maybe I will fart around with it now that I have a touch screen. Camera and all that stuff. I like this: Co-developed with Bang & Olufsen ICE power, ASUS SonicMaster Technology delivers true-to-life sound with deeper base and wider range.

previous laptop slimness

It's not as thin and slim as my previous computer. It probably weighs a little more, and it did not come with a cool slip case, so I may go buy one to avoid scratches.

I sort of "sold" my previous one (I don't like calling it "old" as it's a 2013 purchase and in really good shape) to the Big Guy, and he just took it with him to Mackinac. He doesn't know it yet, but he may also be getting a tablet.

BUT, here's a thing, when I was deleting bookmarks from what I thought was a locally stored html file on the old laptop I was really deleting them from the GOOGLE cloud. And there's no individual help from Google. Though, Google should do two things: 1. When I am foolishly deleting bookmarks from the cloud which will eliminate them from all instances of Google Chrome on all devices, I should have to click through MANY messages that impress upon me what is happening and it's final. I could swear the one message I saw told me I was deleting local bookmarks saved to that machine AND NOT in the cloud or affecting other machines.

2. How hard would it be to provide a link to restore yesterday's back up? Surely, Google backs up this data. I should be able to recover it.

But the upshot is what I have always suspected: DO NOT TRUST THE CLOUD. Back up your data to files and save multiple copies. It's still more trust worthy than ephemeral storage in space that you do not control completely.

I am still not sure I want to upgrade any machine to Windows 10. Anyone who is actually reading, please share your views. Or Mom, if you have special insight from the spiritual plane, please give me a sign. :-)

Have someone give you a kiss, and tell you that I love you.
Talk to you tomorrow, Mom.

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- Days ago = 106 days ago


- Bloggery committed by chris tower - 1510.18 - 20:25
and again 1510.19 - 7:16

I felt that this post needed a picture of Marjorie and her family...