Disclaimer: I started drafting this post from my old laptop, in between it’s random shut-downs and crashes. I really am on the new one as of today!
Readers, you all know I’ve been looking for a new laptop for quite a while. My old one had no battery life and it was falling apart. However, I wasn’t about to just go get one until I had the money to do it. But, as I said in my last post, I was eagerly awaiting a $600 income tax refund.
Here’s my new baby:
oooooo shiny!
It’s lovely. Windows 7 Home Premium is much better than Vista. And it’s huge! 17.3″ screen but it weighs less than 6 pounds. Plenty of RAM because I’m always multi-tasking, and better functionality in general.
I’m actually surprised I found something I liked so quickly, and that they had it in stock when I wanted it. Typically, if I’m having computer problems, I’ll end up having the old machine shut down (and in one case, catch on fire!) before I’ve had the chance to find a replacement and back up all my files.
The best part – since I needed a laptop around the same time my tax refund was coming in, I didn’t have to go with the absolute cheapest thing on the market. Instead, I got a laptop from a company I trust, that’s well-reviewed by real users. It’s also refurbished, which makes me feel better about buying it than it would buying something brand new. And, for all PF-er’s out there, I got something I’ve wanted for a long time: a number pad on the keyboard. That’ll make doing math and working Excel on here much easier.
The total cost: $454 with taxes. Saved over $200 on it by grabbing it when I did! Notice, no shipping costs there. I chose to pick up my machine in the store instead of having it shipped because, 1) I’m never at home during the day anymore, and 2) it was much, much cheaper.
This makes my life easier in a number of ways. I don’t have to worry about constantly backing up my stuff on an external hard drive or fight with a power cord that won’t stay in or snap the loose pieces back together every time I open up my computer. Also, since I went the frugal, refurbished route, I’ll have over $100 left of my tax refund here in a couple weeks. I’ll have to decide what to do with that, now, won’t I?
So now I have more adventures to chronicle here: the new laptop!
