burn-out coverage…

OK, it’s been just over 2 years since I’ve started using my current laptop (7/15/2007) – an OK Inspiron 6000 (1.6GHz Centrino, 2GBs RAM, 533FSB). Well, that finally gave out two nights ago. It handled the task of parsing and compiling code (Java, of course!) at a pretty good pace; all while serving up streamed music via my yahoo subscription. It served me well.

I say burned-out because it was about 2AM on a Monday night, it was time to doze off. So I logged on to Netflix, and started streaming a horror film, turned out to be a bad straight to DVD one too. About 30 minutes in, I had fallen asleep. Not a problem, my power management setup would normally have shut everything down. However, it seems the laptop had reached its end.

I was jarred awake by a loud pop. Opened my eyes and for a moment or two saw some odd message on the screen, just before it went dead. Oh well, another lesson learned, and probably not the one you’re thinking. Since this upcoming laptop will be my 3rd since early 2001, I now know that I should always extend my complete care and accidental damage plans when offered to. I’ve always bought the two year plan, and ignored the extension plans offered. I’ve been acting as if it was simply a commodity, when in fact it was more like an extension. It’s been my legal and legitimate performance enhancer.

Anyway, here’s what’s on the docket – a slightly better Inspiron 1721 (Turion 64X2 Dual Core, 1.8GHz, 1MB cache). We’ll see how that goes. Oh, and yes, this time I am getting burn-out coverage.