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Geek Culture / For a geek, what could be worse?

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adr
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Posted: 7th Apr 2004 12:53 Edited at: 7th Apr 2004 12:54
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Just as my laptop started to bleep low battery at me last night, I thought to myself "I'll just finish up what I'm doing here before I find the power supply". So, 10 minutes later, when the laptop starts to get really angry, I cave in and go off in search of the life-giving cable.

Much to my horror, when I find the cable, it's broken! The moulded end which plugs into the laptop was snapped. Just then, my laptop gave up the ghost, and self-hibernated.

ARGHHH! All my work is trapped! I've ordered a new one straight from dell (at a cost of £40 GBP) and it'll take 3 to 4 working days, which, given that it's Easter Weekend, (4 day weekend) I'll have to deal with being laptopless for a long time....

stop();
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indi
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Posted: 7th Apr 2004 13:11
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OUCH!


fall down seven times, stand up eight
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Critters
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Posted: 7th Apr 2004 14:57
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nooooo

How will you survive? lol

"If you do not master your anger, your anger will master you, I should know"
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Van B
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Posted: 7th Apr 2004 15:05
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A deceased monkey could fix a broken power lead!

Honestly, get hold of a new plug for the end - some plug kits don't even need soldering!

Even if you have an old power supply, you could take the plug from the end, twist the old wire onto the new plug wire and tape it up with electrical insulating tape. It'd do until your new power supply arrives.


Van-B


The nature of Monkey was irrepressible!.
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adr
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Posted: 7th Apr 2004 15:25 Edited at: 7th Apr 2004 15:25
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Unfortunately, it's not your standard metallic cylindrical power socket/plug in the laptop. It's some custom-made plastic moulded affair. In other words - I can't get a new end. It's all good - it's winging its way through our crappy postal system.

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Dazzag
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Posted: 7th Apr 2004 15:41
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Yeah, my laptop battery now lasts about 10 minutes once it gets to 50%. And when the warning appears to shut down it shuts down withing like 10 seconds rather than the usual 10 minutes. My settings have not changed, just looks like the battery is stuffed. Checked on the web and most batteries are only expected to last about 3 years before going down hill (mine is about 4 years old). They are about £60 a throw too! Luckily I'm giving it to my parents, and getting a new superlaptop. And losing several grand... ho hum...

Cheers

I am 99% probably lying in bed right now... so don't blame me for crappy typing
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BadMonkey91
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Posted: 7th Apr 2004 16:24
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that sucks, I'd try cutting the end off and bypassing it with some Power cord that you could rip off of any old piece of crap, then maybe making a cheap end out of silicon, so the ends dont touch.

c'mon! cob that b!tch!

Badmonkey91@hotmail.com
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Lord Ozzum
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Posted: 7th Apr 2004 19:18
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I have the same problem
Mine broke two.
I'm using a 8 year old compact adapter as we speak

You're just jealous cuz the voices don't talk to you!!!
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Mentor
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Posted: 7th Apr 2004 23:41
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serves you right for buying a (Hell)Dell , any other brand (like my cheapo Acer) has a standard power lead end and can run from one of several alternative supplies available almost anywhere (plus I can fall back on the car adaptor in a worst case scenario), the only downside is it can`t run DB (integrated INTEL graphics are just about capable of basic 2D LOL)

Mentor.

PC1: P4 hyperthreading 3ghz, 1gig mem, 2x160gig hd`s, ATI radeon 9800 pro gfx, 6 way surround sound, PC2: AMD 1.2ghz, 512mb ram, FX5200 ultra gfx, stereo 16 bit soundblaster, ups.
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Lord Ozzum
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Posted: 7th Apr 2004 23:50
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LOL, MENTOR!
I hate Dell
Everyone says they're great though
I know next to nothing about computers, so I tend to sway away from something that openly invites idiots to buy it.
I let Uncle Ronny pick them out, he used to fix computers

You're just jealous cuz the voices don't talk to you!!!
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HZence
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Posted: 7th Apr 2004 23:59
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Dude, that's what you get for getting a Dell!


Team EOD :: Programmer/Storyboard Assistant
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adr
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Posted: 8th Apr 2004 01:54
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Sorry, but you can't turn me off buying dells. I've found that they're by far the best value laptop. I've had experience with a whole load of laptops, all the way from crappy Umax Actionbooks all the way to the lurvely Sony Viaos. Now, granted the Sony's are gorgeous machines, but you can't beat the value you get from dell's online outlet store.

This laptop has lasted me 3 years and it's still going strong. Yeah I'm annoyed about the power cable, but I'm gonna place most of the blame squarely on my clumsy girlfriend who can't seem to avoid stepping on the cable and whipping the power lead out...

That said, my glowing adoration for Dell ends at their laptops - I'm not too keen on their desktops. We have 8 in our office (Those P4 xeons come in handy for a bit of Unreal 2k3) and they're ok (even though all the machines are identical, a colleages machine makes a load of beeps on a warm reset) but my dad's dell desktop seems to be mysteriously sluggish. Then again, he has a habit of clicking "yes" on anything that pops up on the internet...

I think I need to buy a new laptop soon. DBP games are a little sluggish and the poor old intel 815 chipset is a little long in the tooth

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HZence
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Posted: 8th Apr 2004 02:03
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Quote: "That said, my glowing adoration for Dell ends at their laptops - I'm not too keen on their desktops."


We're agreed as far as that goes. I currently have a Dell and am working on upgrading it. By the time I'm done, it won't even be a dell.

I think a key point (that I've made before) is that the reason Dell is America's #1 PC is because the general American public knows very little about computers. They make themselves look flashy by offering a "free CD-burner", "free DVD Player", or "free printer" with the purchase of a desktop. What they don't tell you is that if you wish to upgrade almost anything, you'll have to buy the part from dell (at a high price!). You know how you can plug laptops into cigarette lighters? My friend bought an adapter to do so, and it ended up that the port on the back of his computer was the wrong shape! He had to buy a separate adapter from Dell (I recall him saying it was close to forty dollars). What a rip off.


Team EOD :: Programmer/Storyboard Assistant
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BadMonkey91
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Posted: 8th Apr 2004 16:16
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Just buy newer parts, and put them in your old case. It's a lot cheaper that way.

Badmonkey91@hotmail.com
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Drew Cameron
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Posted: 8th Apr 2004 19:20
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Tough luck about your laptop.
Sorry about this link: http://www.ddrw.dbspot.com
I'm having problems with DBSpot hosting

The Old Remedy 3D Skateboarding - coming April 27th 2004 : 65% completed - website coming soon!
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HZence
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Posted: 9th Apr 2004 04:52
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Quote: "Just buy newer parts, and put them in your old case. It's a lot cheaper that way."


Eh, Dell got me there too! My case is probably about three inches wide. You know all the slots on the back of your mother board (they're horizontal on normal cases)? Well, because my case is so thin, all the slots are vertical. This means my current mobo won't work with a new case - which in turn means if I want to upgrade my PC, I need a new mobo...not only that, new ram (mostly because most new mobos dont use SDRAM).

Ah, the joys of "America's Number One PC!"


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Lord Ozzum
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Posted: 9th Apr 2004 04:54
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lol
That's why I use HP!
America is wonderful, ain't it?

You're just jealous cuz the voices don't talk to you!!!
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HZence
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Posted: 9th Apr 2004 04:54
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Quote: "That's why I use HP!"


...I may not like Dell, but HP is no better.


Team EOD :: Programmer/Storyboard Assistant
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Lord Ozzum
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Posted: 9th Apr 2004 04:55
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ahhhh, but it's much better
buy a compact though
Use it for 7 years.
See what I went through.

You're just jealous cuz the voices don't talk to you!!!
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HZence
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Posted: 9th Apr 2004 04:57
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Quote: "buy a compact though"


See the last post I made before this one, and replace HP with Compaq.

Just please, oh pretty please, don't go with a store-bought computer. They put all kinds of ad-ware on the machines and you really don't know what you're getting. They tell you that you have a "Pentium 4 Processor and a FREE CD-Burner!" And because of that, it sounds just dandy...

Man did I learn that the hard way...


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Lord Ozzum
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Posted: 9th Apr 2004 05:00
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that's why I search through my system for stuff by hand whenever I get a computer
Also do that once a month
But yeah, mostly msn and aol
I delete that stuff

You're just jealous cuz the voices don't talk to you!!!
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hyrichter
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Posted: 9th Apr 2004 05:42
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Doesn't anyone build their own computers? I would never buy a prebuilt desktop! I have to buy every little part and put it together myself so that I know everything is just how I want it.

I know most people don't have the knowledge to do that, but my computer is always reliable.
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Wik
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Posted: 9th Apr 2004 06:46
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Even if they don't, you should re-format to get rid of all the junk computer companies put on it.
I built my computer and I havn't had to reformat once. Then again, sometimes it makes a buzzing noise...I just hit it or push on the front and it stops.


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Pricey
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Posted: 11th Apr 2004 14:56
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i am concidering getting one of those £2 486 laptops from e-bay (postage & packaging £15!). i am typing this on my mum's 1ghz laptop but i just want something to carry around, seems very useful. i guess i could find some freeware windows 3.1 games to play. there are some allright looking colour ones on there.


Dig a pit and poo in it
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