14/31 Every time it happens, it's a little less traumatic

[darkemeralds]

Hard drive failure is what I'm (pretty sure I'm) talking about here. This Dell Studio workhorse laptop has weathered four and a half years of my significant demands, but is finally showing signs of...something.

Remember when hard-drive failure was a major catastrophe? Now, not so much. Virtually everything I need to save is in the cloud already. Because I run Ubuntu and work primarily in web apps, I don't have any expensive software. In fact I won't swear that I have any non-free software on here at all. And if I do have to resort to professional help, getting a laptop to the shop is nothin' compared to what it would take car-free me to get an old desktop machine there.

I'm reinstalling the operating system in a few minutes. Thanks to Linux, this operation is relatively painless. Free, too. If the symptoms (terribly slowed-down response times, web-page crashes in all browsers) don't clear up with a fresh install, I'll have to start thinking (fast) about a replacement drive.

Does anyone use a solid-state drive? And if so, was it a replacement for an older HDD? How'd that go?

If worse comes to worst and I have to buy a new computer: anyone using Chromebook?

Comments

[grrlpup]

I have a Samsung Chromebook, the fairly recent $249 one. It has had one repair episode, while still under warranty. Other than that it's been fine. It is basically a web browser plus keyboard. It doesn't talk to my printer, and I had to give up iTunes; those have been the only real drawbacks. (I do take comfort in knowing I have a work computer and the PSU lab if necessary, should I need them.) Feels nice, decent battery life. I believe Acer has a new one coming out at a similar price point with slightly better specs.

[darkemeralds]

Thanks for the good report! I don't use iTunes, so that's not a problem for me, and I print so rarely that when I do I send stuff to the corner package-print-and-mail place. I'd miss a few things in the Ubuntu environment, but way less than I would have missed a year or two ago, what with web and mobile apps.

At $249, the price point is practically irresistible. It's going to cost me nearly that much to replace the hard drive, I think. Hm...much food for thought. Thanks.

[azurelunatic]

I had an absolute hell of a time in 2011 when I visited my parents with my Chromebook, George. They had no wifi.

When I'm using George, I miss IRC and Scrivener.

[darkemeralds]

I've developed kind of a generalized fear of no wifi, since everything I do on my computer is in the cloud to begin with. I suppose I could write locally. Hell, I suppose I could write with a pen on paper. LOLOLOLOLOLOL...

I haven't used IRC in ages--not directly anyway, though I do love a good chat. Scrivener for Linux has never unfolded its charms to me, though I have it. I believe it's only beta and will probably improve as most Linux things tend to do.

By the way, the OS reinstall did solve my issues, so for the moment I'm in the clear. But my laptop is not a traveling device. At all. It sounds like Chromebook is a reasonable traveling option.

[vampirefan]

I actually have been loving my Chromebook. As grrlpup says, it's a browser plus keyboard. It's kinda like a tablet without the touchscreen.

You can use Google Docs on it offline - you can create new ones without the internets, but to access stuff in the cloud, you have to specifically choose documents and mark them as available offline. Which means, you keep a copy of the doc on your Chromebook that syncs with the cloud. Then, you can work on that doc on your computer and when you have access to the internets again, it will sync up.

HP just came out with a new line that's pretty. It doesn't have an HDMI port, it does use MicroUSB for charging. http://www.google.com/intl/en/chrome/devices/

I've discovered a couple of image editing apps that are pretty nice (although I haven't been making icons or gifs like I used to) so I haven't really put the apps to the test.

Mine is super light. It really does hold a charge for many hours and the keyboard is nice. My only issue, maybe, is sometimes having video and chat lag during our Chatwatches...

[darkemeralds]

Thanks for the update! My O/S reinstall went smoothly so I'm back in business with my four-year-old Ubuntu laptop for now. But when the hardware finally dies, I'll need to replace it with something much less expensive. If I could do 80% of what I want a computer for on a device costing less than $300, that would be amazing.

I was finding Google's own photo editing on G+ perfectly good for everything except artistic icon-making, but it suddenly stopped working in my version of Chrome--did it ever come back on your Chromebook?

Mostly, as I've gone from a high-powered Windows machine to Ubuntu + tablet + Android phone, the things I can no longer do (detailed photoshopping being the main example) just kind of dropped away. Maybe the same would happen with the switch to Chromebook.

I guess with Chromecast, the HDMI port is no longer necessary--or I'm betting that's the idea. Are you getting use out of your Chromecast?