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.