My Charter Cable connection slowed to a crawl so I looked for an internet speed test. I liked this one:
I found I had a 104 kbs download speed. After a 15 minute wait on the phone for a Charter tech person they reset some things on their end, had me unplug my cable modem, and had me reboot. I was back up to 735 kbs. Big difference.
I just ordered a reconditioned ThinkPad. They will give me 7 days to return it. It comes with a 3 month warranty. I ordered it from IBM directly. It is slightly blemished. I got it for $700. It is running at 2 gigahertz, has at least 256 mb RAM, a 60 gigabyte HDD, a 14.1″ TFT screen and has MS XP Pro installed.
I just couldn’t justify the cost of a new ThinkPad. I have a new client that occassionally needs me to take a laptop to job sites. I could have gotten something besides a ThinkPad but I am assuming it to be among the most reliable.
I didn’t order any bells or whistles. They say the battery has been reconditioned so I assume it will be okay for awhile. I will have to buy a wireless card but I can get that for about $70 online.
I had to think long and hard about this purchase. I learned that there are three classes of laptops: Portables (light weight at around 4 lbs), Desktop replacements (at around 8 pounds with large screens) and multi-media (the highest priced aimed at gamers). I don’t really need the best of any of those worlds. My needs were between Portables and Desktop replacements…perhaps a different class altogether, I need a technician’s tool but I didn’t find any discussions about that class online.
I almost ordered a nice business-class desktop replacement Dell for $1018. I decided that I would rather take the chance on a reconditioned workhorse than something fancy that would sit around the house while I worked on a real desktop. I didn’t want to take the chance on an inexpensive model. So, here I sit waiting for delivery. I hope it arrives early next week.