For those of you who don't know, I finally bit the bullet and bought a new computer. It...is...awesome!!!
Anyway, I intended to write about the results of the fix I had done on my laptop earlier. I didn't do so, however, because I was waiting for the worst. I had my doubts that replacing the hard drive on that computer would correct the problem, but I had high hopes. Unfortunately, my doubts were more accurate than my hopes. My laptop did work much better for a little while. It was repaired in January. When it was returned to me, some of the manufacturer perks were missing, but everything else worked as it should (once I had it all loaded again). My game worked, and my computer wasn't freezing on me at all. I was content with the results.
Then, last month, the problems started again. It started slowly, but not as slowly as before. The computer would lock up after I exited my game (SWTOR, if you're trying to keep track), and only when I exited my game. It didn't happen every time, but often enough. Then, it was freezing every time I exited my game and most of the time I finished watching a video (especially a full-screen video). Finally, it locked up repeatedly while I was trying to play my game. If you know my relationship with SWTOR, you realize that was the last straw. Clearly, either the hard drive wasn't the only problem or something I'm doing to my hard drive causes significant, escalating damage because this was the same issue all over again. (This all started again after I finally reloaded my Sims 2 games, so maybe they're part of the problem--too much memory usage?)
As the problems started, I immediately started looking into new computers. I've given up on laptops for the games I play. They work well enough for me for a while, but not permanently. Thus, I was researching desk top computers, which I haven't owned since before college. I wasn't sure if I wanted to go prebuilt and do the best I could there (while avoiding Dell because my Dell laptops--3 total over the years--have not lasted as long as I needed them to) or if I wanted to try the custom-built option. I've heard from my gaming friends that custom is the way to go. Unfortunately, I know too little about computers and what I need to build one myself. So, I looked for companies that would do it for me. I found one that looked good and gave me many (too many?) options for the specs on my new device. With a ton of help from a friend (whom I met in SWTOR--this is my main social circle now, I guess), I decided on the basic specs and add-ons for my new computer and put in the order. It involved spending money I don't exactly have, but I found, oh, so many ways to justify the purchase (I'll spare you the list; I'm sure you can imagine it).
After two weeks of waiting for assembly and shipping, my computer arrived!! The friend who helped me build it called it the "monster" and was absolutely right! It's larger than I expected, and I now know what the inside of my computer looks like. There is plenty of space to add more devices, should I decide I want to and I eventually figure out what I'm doing. It plays my game beautifully. I bought a new monitor that is much larger than my laptop's screen, so I can become fully immersed in the game (whether that's healthy or not, I haven't decided...). I've set up a "work station" that is far more conducive to game play than what I did before. In theory, I shouldn't have to buy another new computer; I should just be able to buy new parts and upgrade the one I have.
God bless Squeaks for putting up with all of this process. She allowed (even helped!) me move around furniture in the living room so I could set up a space for my computer that wouldn't cause me to spend so many hours completely alone. I didn't want to abandon her completely; she may be regretting that now. We cleared out a corner for my new desk and chair, and the rearrangement works much better than either of us had expected.
I am content with how all of this has worked out. I briefly regretted spending the money to attempt to fix my laptop, but it seems to work just fine when I'm not trying to play SWTOR, so I'm hoping it will last me a while for basic tasks before dying completely. Once it does, I'll still have the "monster" and I might replace the laptop with a tablet, since those seem to be much better lately for basic computering tasks.
Showing posts with label Tech. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tech. Show all posts
Friday, April 11, 2014
Thursday, January 9, 2014
January Means "Pricey Repair"
So, another year, another hefty maintenance bill. As many of you may remember, the first two months of 2013 had my car in the shop to the collective tune of around $1500; that was not fun. This year, my Dell laptop is the issue. This computer is just over three years old (bought December of 2010); I always hope a laptop will last me a while, but I'm coming to assume that they won't.
If you haven't heard/seen me complain about the problem lately, let me enlighten you. My computer has been locking up/freezing quite a bit lately. It started several months ago, but it would just lock up occasionally when I was playing my Star Wars (SWTOR) game. Then, it randomly froze the screen once or twice just sitting on the desktop. I coped because the inaction happened rarely enough for me to ignore, and the computer would then go a week or more without freezing at all. When I say locking up or freezing, I assume you know what I mean: the mouse stops moving, CTL+ALT+DEL does nothing, and the only way to do anything is to do what I call a "hard restart," which involves holding down the power button until it restarts (I know that's probably not good for the machine, but I have no other option). It's annoying, but not too unbearable when it only happens occasionally. However, it probably is a sign of worse coming...
About two months ago, this issue began occurring more often. The computer would freeze several times in a row, then be fine for a few days before repeating the process. Then, it wasn't as issue limited primarily to game time, but it was happening randomly on an internet page or when the screensaver was running or right after I had started it up. This has happened increasingly often in the past weeks. Now, it's a miracle if I can actually play one of my games. I'm relieved when I can check all of my e-mails and Facebook before it freezes on me. This is not how technology should work. Between Monday and Wednesday, that computer must have locked up and required a restart no fewer than two dozen times. Technology is "supposed" to make life easier (though none of us believes that anymore...), but this situation had become more than ridiculous.
I faced a dilemma: try to fix the computer or give up and replace it? On the one hand, fixing it might be a little pricey up front, but it might allow me to avoid the expense of a new computer for another couple of years (depending on what the problem turned out to be). On the other, payments for a new computer over a year wouldn't be too bad and I'd probably have to reload everything on my fixed computer anyway, but the delay would be even worse and I probably shouldn't be making any major purchases right now (I'm hoping my car will last a little longer, but I just don't know...).
I decided to try the repair option. I'm used to that computer; I know it does what I need it to (when it's working, anyway). I have all my files backed up at least two different ways, but they're all from that computer, so the recovery should be simpler (I hope). I found a small, local computer repair business that seems legitimate and decently priced, so it seems worth a shot. At the worst, I'll be out the money and have to buy a new computer, but I'll know that laptop repair ultimately isn't worth it. I'm really hoping that it is.
Apparently, the freezing problem my laptop had was due to the hard drive; it was dying. Once the tech told me that, everything made so much sense. Why else would my computer lock up at such random times--during start-up or in the midst of loading a game or immediately after I had just spent hours playing a game or while just sitting there in idle mode? The hard drive is vital to all those processes; if it was trying to keep going, but the hard drive was giving out, of course it would freeze! The techs are going to replace the hard drive, reload the OS, and clean out all the gunk that has gathered inside over the past three years. It's costing more than I'd prefer, but not as much as I had feared, and I'm desperately hoping my computer is like new and works perfectly when I have it back. I assume I'll have it back tomorrow, but I'm not sure at this moment. I'll let you know how this goes for me!
If you haven't heard/seen me complain about the problem lately, let me enlighten you. My computer has been locking up/freezing quite a bit lately. It started several months ago, but it would just lock up occasionally when I was playing my Star Wars (SWTOR) game. Then, it randomly froze the screen once or twice just sitting on the desktop. I coped because the inaction happened rarely enough for me to ignore, and the computer would then go a week or more without freezing at all. When I say locking up or freezing, I assume you know what I mean: the mouse stops moving, CTL+ALT+DEL does nothing, and the only way to do anything is to do what I call a "hard restart," which involves holding down the power button until it restarts (I know that's probably not good for the machine, but I have no other option). It's annoying, but not too unbearable when it only happens occasionally. However, it probably is a sign of worse coming...
About two months ago, this issue began occurring more often. The computer would freeze several times in a row, then be fine for a few days before repeating the process. Then, it wasn't as issue limited primarily to game time, but it was happening randomly on an internet page or when the screensaver was running or right after I had started it up. This has happened increasingly often in the past weeks. Now, it's a miracle if I can actually play one of my games. I'm relieved when I can check all of my e-mails and Facebook before it freezes on me. This is not how technology should work. Between Monday and Wednesday, that computer must have locked up and required a restart no fewer than two dozen times. Technology is "supposed" to make life easier (though none of us believes that anymore...), but this situation had become more than ridiculous.
I faced a dilemma: try to fix the computer or give up and replace it? On the one hand, fixing it might be a little pricey up front, but it might allow me to avoid the expense of a new computer for another couple of years (depending on what the problem turned out to be). On the other, payments for a new computer over a year wouldn't be too bad and I'd probably have to reload everything on my fixed computer anyway, but the delay would be even worse and I probably shouldn't be making any major purchases right now (I'm hoping my car will last a little longer, but I just don't know...).
I decided to try the repair option. I'm used to that computer; I know it does what I need it to (when it's working, anyway). I have all my files backed up at least two different ways, but they're all from that computer, so the recovery should be simpler (I hope). I found a small, local computer repair business that seems legitimate and decently priced, so it seems worth a shot. At the worst, I'll be out the money and have to buy a new computer, but I'll know that laptop repair ultimately isn't worth it. I'm really hoping that it is.
Apparently, the freezing problem my laptop had was due to the hard drive; it was dying. Once the tech told me that, everything made so much sense. Why else would my computer lock up at such random times--during start-up or in the midst of loading a game or immediately after I had just spent hours playing a game or while just sitting there in idle mode? The hard drive is vital to all those processes; if it was trying to keep going, but the hard drive was giving out, of course it would freeze! The techs are going to replace the hard drive, reload the OS, and clean out all the gunk that has gathered inside over the past three years. It's costing more than I'd prefer, but not as much as I had feared, and I'm desperately hoping my computer is like new and works perfectly when I have it back. I assume I'll have it back tomorrow, but I'm not sure at this moment. I'll let you know how this goes for me!
Wednesday, December 18, 2013
Cable Co Woes
For a while now, I have been meaning to call my cable company to see if I can get a better rate for my internet service. Internet has been my only service all year, and I felt I was paying far too much. I have also been having some trouble at home with my cell phone lately (it suddenly decides it doesn't want to receive a signal or maybe the tower decides not to send it), so I thought it would be nice to have home phone as well, but I didn't want to pay an even higher monthly bill. Unfortunately, this company owns the cable lines in my apartment complex, so I have no real options for which company I use. I hoped that a rational call to the company would help, but I was wrong.
I am not an especially confrontational person. I let things go, I don't stress overly, and I accept what comes. I learned in college that this is the basis of stoicism, and I embrace that attitude. Whatever comes, comes; it'll all work out eventually. However, with work being as it has been lately and my income dropping a little more than I would like, every little bit of money saved helps, so I thought I'd try. I'm also not always comfortable making demands over the phone, but I realized this was really the only way to attempt this process.
I called on Monday and spoke to someone who seemed to know what he was doing. After a bit of back and forth (I'm not really a negotiator), I was to have internet and phone service together for a few dollars less than I have been paying for internet alone. I counted that as a win because I actually made the call and instigated some changes. Frankly, I was gloating about it a bit (even though it really only mattered to me).
That celebration did not last long.
I was supposed to receive a call about an installation appointment for the phone service on Monday night. That call didn't come then or yesterday, so I decided to try this morning. First, I attempted the chat customer service, thinking it would be faster. It wasn't. The person's responses took forever, and he found that the work order for the phone service had been cancelled but couldn't tell me why, so he suggested I call the local office, which was exactly what I was told the only other time I've tried their chat customer service. (I've decided this function is worthless for this company, and I told them so in my survey, as though that will do any good.)
So, I called. No one ever could tell me why the order was cancelled, and I was especially annoyed that I hadn't been informed of the cancellation. Anyway, today, I was much more forceful than usual, due to my increasing annoyance and the run-around I should have expected from a cable company. First, I spoke to someone to set up the phone service; she couldn't do anything about the price. Then I called a different number that took me to the same automated answering system that never has the option I need. That sent me to a nice lady with an Indian accent in the billing department; she couldn't do anything either. I needed Retention, which she told me is not accessible from the main menu; you have to speak to someone who will forward you to retention (how is that efficient?!).
At that point, I finally made it to the person I needed. I believe it was the same person who had set everything up for me on Monday that was subsequently cancelled. I chose to act like I didn't realize it was the same person (he'd probably never remember anyway), but my irritation and frustration were almost certainly coming through. Anyway, after more haggling, he gave me a slight discount and the phone service for no additional cost. I'm going to have internet and home phone for a few cents less than I've been paying for just internet. Yippee.
While I ended up with what I wanted (if not necessarily for the lower price that I wanted), I feel defeated. This is a system set up to make people give up and take what they're given. They have us in a choke-hold, knowing that there is very little we can do about any of these situations. The phone system is frustrating. The reps are nice enough, but they make the same placating statements repeatedly and overtly try to butter callers up. If ever I live somewhere I have a choice, I'm fairly certain I will try several other companies before coming back to this one.
I briefly thought about doing what those in the gaming world call "Rage Quitting," where a player gets frustrated or angry and quits the mission or group/guild without putting any further thought into it. I am not that spontaneous, though, and I'm too logical to cancel something that both Squeaky and I need. What would we do without internet?
I'll be fine, and my frustration will ebb pretty quickly, but, lucky you, I decided to write this blog entry immediately after getting off the phone. Sorry.
UPDATE: And continuation of frustration and rage...to avoid the delay of installation and the problems of setting up an appointment, I was told I could pick up what I needed from the local in-person customer service place and install it myself. So, after driving to the other side of town and standing in line for twenty minutes, I was told that what I had been told was incorrect and, because of certain details of my account's origins, I will have to have a tech come and install the stuff. Also, I couldn't set up an appointment at that time because one of the people who accessed my account this morning (probably that same guy from the call on Monday!) still had my account open, so he couldn't access it while I was there to make any changes. Now, I have to attempt to call them later to see if they can get into my information and give me a blasted appointment! This is so much more trouble than it's probably worth, but I'm determined to see it through!
*Sigh*
I am not an especially confrontational person. I let things go, I don't stress overly, and I accept what comes. I learned in college that this is the basis of stoicism, and I embrace that attitude. Whatever comes, comes; it'll all work out eventually. However, with work being as it has been lately and my income dropping a little more than I would like, every little bit of money saved helps, so I thought I'd try. I'm also not always comfortable making demands over the phone, but I realized this was really the only way to attempt this process.
I called on Monday and spoke to someone who seemed to know what he was doing. After a bit of back and forth (I'm not really a negotiator), I was to have internet and phone service together for a few dollars less than I have been paying for internet alone. I counted that as a win because I actually made the call and instigated some changes. Frankly, I was gloating about it a bit (even though it really only mattered to me).
That celebration did not last long.
I was supposed to receive a call about an installation appointment for the phone service on Monday night. That call didn't come then or yesterday, so I decided to try this morning. First, I attempted the chat customer service, thinking it would be faster. It wasn't. The person's responses took forever, and he found that the work order for the phone service had been cancelled but couldn't tell me why, so he suggested I call the local office, which was exactly what I was told the only other time I've tried their chat customer service. (I've decided this function is worthless for this company, and I told them so in my survey, as though that will do any good.)
So, I called. No one ever could tell me why the order was cancelled, and I was especially annoyed that I hadn't been informed of the cancellation. Anyway, today, I was much more forceful than usual, due to my increasing annoyance and the run-around I should have expected from a cable company. First, I spoke to someone to set up the phone service; she couldn't do anything about the price. Then I called a different number that took me to the same automated answering system that never has the option I need. That sent me to a nice lady with an Indian accent in the billing department; she couldn't do anything either. I needed Retention, which she told me is not accessible from the main menu; you have to speak to someone who will forward you to retention (how is that efficient?!).
At that point, I finally made it to the person I needed. I believe it was the same person who had set everything up for me on Monday that was subsequently cancelled. I chose to act like I didn't realize it was the same person (he'd probably never remember anyway), but my irritation and frustration were almost certainly coming through. Anyway, after more haggling, he gave me a slight discount and the phone service for no additional cost. I'm going to have internet and home phone for a few cents less than I've been paying for just internet. Yippee.
While I ended up with what I wanted (if not necessarily for the lower price that I wanted), I feel defeated. This is a system set up to make people give up and take what they're given. They have us in a choke-hold, knowing that there is very little we can do about any of these situations. The phone system is frustrating. The reps are nice enough, but they make the same placating statements repeatedly and overtly try to butter callers up. If ever I live somewhere I have a choice, I'm fairly certain I will try several other companies before coming back to this one.
I briefly thought about doing what those in the gaming world call "Rage Quitting," where a player gets frustrated or angry and quits the mission or group/guild without putting any further thought into it. I am not that spontaneous, though, and I'm too logical to cancel something that both Squeaky and I need. What would we do without internet?
I'll be fine, and my frustration will ebb pretty quickly, but, lucky you, I decided to write this blog entry immediately after getting off the phone. Sorry.
UPDATE: And continuation of frustration and rage...to avoid the delay of installation and the problems of setting up an appointment, I was told I could pick up what I needed from the local in-person customer service place and install it myself. So, after driving to the other side of town and standing in line for twenty minutes, I was told that what I had been told was incorrect and, because of certain details of my account's origins, I will have to have a tech come and install the stuff. Also, I couldn't set up an appointment at that time because one of the people who accessed my account this morning (probably that same guy from the call on Monday!) still had my account open, so he couldn't access it while I was there to make any changes. Now, I have to attempt to call them later to see if they can get into my information and give me a blasted appointment! This is so much more trouble than it's probably worth, but I'm determined to see it through!
*Sigh*
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