Oh Dell, why hast thou forsaken me?
November 19, 2006
I probably shouldn’t be allowed to own computer since I can’t seem to manage to keep mine alive and in fully functional working condtion.
Today, I, or some unnamed person who lives in my house, broke the LCD screen on my laptop. It is dead. Just a vast black landscape.
I am begining to think that there is some sort of conspiracy. Or else God is punishing me for telling my children that the baby Jesus was crying because the were not smiling and sitting nicely in the Christmas photos.
Rob said to me today that laptops aren’t supposed to be replaced yearly, as has been my habit.
Luckily, it is still under warranty so if I want I can send it back and have it fixed for free. The problem with this option is that I would be without my computer for 2 weeks. And as sad and pitiful as it might make me sound, I don’t think I could survive. The second option is to have them send me the LCD screen and install it myself. The third is to pay an additional fee to extend (it ends in a few days) and upgrade my warranty and have someone come out to the house to fix it. I am leaning toward the third option if the fee is at all reasonable.
I had to pull an ancient monitor out of our closet and hook my laptop up to it. The thing is so huge that when I carried it into the room the kids thought I had bought a new television set.
Desperation is a monitor circa 1997.
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There was a similar experience in my household, though the cause of the laptop damage was a foot tripping over it after it had been left on the floor…your post cracked me up!
November 19th, 2006 at 5:51 pmI’ll chip in for option #3 because I don’t think I could be without you for that long either!
November 19th, 2006 at 5:56 pmI had to replace my own keyboard on my Dell laptop. I say go for the self repair job. They have great directions and if you guys can build a house, then you can attach a screen.
November 19th, 2006 at 6:11 pmIf you haven’t tried it: also, the Dell Helpdesk might be able to walk you through just reseating the cable. We have Dell Laptops at work, and usually, the problem is just a wire knocked loose.
If you have … well - the LCD screen wouldn’t be hard to replace and Dell IS quite good at providing instructions. (though there is also something to be said for having someone do it FOR you. See how helpful I am? I provide absolutely no solid opinion whatsoever!)
Good luck, no matter what! and my heartfelt sympathies for laptop woes.
November 19th, 2006 at 6:38 pmDon’t piss off the Dell.”
Don’t you know that phrase? Women who run fabulously popular blogs with great pictures of their children and home life should NOT torture us by considering NOT. POSTING. due to a broken laptop.
Lame excuse. I wouldn’t buy it anyway.
With that said, do what you have to do. Get it fixed. Pay the fee. I. Need. You.
November 19th, 2006 at 6:50 pmMonitor from 1997…! That’s brave.
I bet when you turn it on the lights in the house will start to pulsate
November 19th, 2006 at 7:07 pmMy Dell got a virus in June ‘04 - took to Comp USA for treatment, was going to take 5-7 days to fix. After two days of internet withdrawal I bought a new HP, liked it so much I also bought 500 shares of HPQ.
November 19th, 2006 at 9:19 pmBroken laptop screens make the baby Jesus cry.
No, wait, they make ME cry. Totally different.
November 19th, 2006 at 10:42 pmMy sympathies.
November 20th, 2006 at 12:13 amIt sounds like somebody’s been tap dancing on your laptop. Time out!
November 20th, 2006 at 1:11 amWell I think you are darn clever to know that you can bring out a monitor circa 1997 and plug it into your laptop … I would have just stomped my feet and had a tantrum right there and then.
November 20th, 2006 at 1:51 amThose wood-burning computers are indeed scary for the little ones!
November 20th, 2006 at 2:43 amThe 2 Dell repair people I’ve had come out were great. I vote for option 3 if it’s reasonable for you. There’s nothing like knowing something is done right the first time.
Yikes! So far my one child has broken a CD player, cell phone and cordless phone. I guess the computer is next. But an old-fashioned monitor? Didn’t you throw that out when you did the 27 things????
November 20th, 2006 at 4:52 amOh you poor poor thing! Being without the computer would drive me insane! Yikes!
November 20th, 2006 at 8:05 amPS: Can we still see your Christmas pictures? PLEEEEEEEEASE!
November 20th, 2006 at 8:06 amI sympathize. My laptop sucks. I wonder if it’s because I never ever turn it off, though…
November 20th, 2006 at 8:54 amNobody should have to endure the pain of laptop separation.
My condolences. ;*)
November 20th, 2006 at 10:28 amYou don’t want to be without a computer for two weeks right before the holidays! I bet you could install the screen yourself, you seem pretty handy to me!
November 20th, 2006 at 11:00 amYour dedication to staying online is admirable. I would have sent the thing in and been grateful for the two week vacation.
November 20th, 2006 at 11:05 amIf you send it in, I would miss you. But posting after Darren’s comment, I feel like I am being greedy wanting you to post all the time. Maybe you WOULD like a vacation from blogging. Naahhhhhhh! Do what you have to do to get it fixed and quick!
November 20th, 2006 at 12:03 pmMistake number one…you bought a Dell! At least it’s not HP…they are horrible on customer service.
November 20th, 2006 at 12:21 pmWhen I got my latest computer a year or so ago, I lobbied hard for a laptop. Hubby was terribly fearful of the unspeakable mayhem that might happen to a porr fragile laptop with 8 chhildren thundering around. He leaned hard on me to get a regular computer. I really wanted the laptop but was afraid that he was right and that within weeks one of my kids (a boy, doubtless) would have broken it and I would be hearing ‘I told you so’ from hubby. We got a nice computer with plenty of space for my pictures with a flat screen and a cordless keyboard. Set it up right next to the couch so I can sit kicked back on the couch with the keyboard on my lap. Almost a laptop.
I still pine for a real laptop. Esp on vacation or when camping or when the kids are playing outside, it would be sooo nice to be able to write and watch them at the same time.
But for now this works.
Sorry about yours. I feel your pain.
Mary, mom to many
November 20th, 2006 at 12:42 pmnothing is as frustrating to me as a computer that won’t work. i feel so helpless! so lost!
so…
i’d actually like to stop talking about it now, for fear that bad karma will come back to haunt me and my will be on the fritz.
November 20th, 2006 at 12:46 pmDell’s fairly good about shipping out a replacement quickly if you’re still carrying CompleteCare. Otherwise they’re very slow.
Back up everything on your computer before you send it, even if you’re pulling the hard drive (which you should, they don’t like you to send the hard drive back for non-hard-drive replacements). When I sent mine in, they said they were going to send a replacement computer, so I just pulled the hard drive and sent it on in. Well, they sent a replacement, but not a replacement of the same model of laptop. My hard drive didn’t fit in it. They sent back my old laptop, but in such poor condition that it couldn’t be used to retrieve the files off the hard drive. I had to buy a cable to hook the hard drive up to my husband’s computer to rip the data. This was while I was on bedrest, and I was getting rude emails from them on a weekly basis asking just when I was going to ship back the trashed laptop.
November 20th, 2006 at 1:50 pmI have but one word…Apple
November 20th, 2006 at 3:01 pmOh, can I stand to be without your blog for two weeks?
November 20th, 2006 at 3:27 pmI shudder at the thought.
*hopes and prays for a miraculous recovery of the LCD screen. Miraculous recovery. Now!!*
(Did it work?)
My LCD screen broke too!!!!!
But my laptop is five years old and it’s just time for a new one. But still, misery loves company! Wheeee!
November 20th, 2006 at 4:38 pmDo you think we know you too well when we already suspect one unnamed person as the culprit?
I vote for option 3 also. 2 weeks would be hell.
November 20th, 2006 at 5:13 pmIf you get a MacBook, you’ll be one of the Chosen People, which means you would get gorgeous holiday pictures.
Plus you get the lovely Apple Store experience where they fix things there. They also give discounts for homeschoolers, and you gotta love that!
lol at the old monitor. We are the house where computer things go to sleep, so we have a ton of those, none of them fancy thin monitors here!
November 20th, 2006 at 5:18 pmOh I would die. I’m waiting for the day when the laptop, printer, and scanner all come in one piece. It’ll happen. Won’t it?
November 20th, 2006 at 5:37 pmI couldn’t go two weeks. I don’t think that I could go two weeks without you blogging either. I know the pain of the giant monitor. We had a similar experience but it happened just days after the warrantee expired. AHHH!
November 20th, 2006 at 8:47 pmdell online store…
Hi. Thanks for the good read….
June 29th, 2007 at 2:42 pm