Firstborn totalled her car last night. She has had a near-new Toyota Yarris. She rear-ended a Landrover Defender on the way to a scrapbooking class (Clearly, arts and craft are more dangerous than you'd think).

Defender 1 - Yaris 0

Her car was completely mangled. There is not a mark on the Defender.

She wasn't hurt, thank god, but she was pretty shaken up, so Dace stayed over last night, at my house, where I had my own little drama when my desktop computer died. Fortunately I still have the Tablet PC, but it was most inconvenient of the computer to decide to snuff it at that particular moment.

Now I have to replace it. I was thinking of getting a Mac (in a month from now when it was supposed to die at a convenient time), but I'm in the middle of an MS with a very tight deadline and don't have the headspace to change to a new  system. And there's no Apple dealer for 1500klms in any direction, which makes after-sales service somewhat problematic. I could buy a Dell on-line, but I've heard lots of horror stories about their after-sales service. I wouldn't buy another Acer, because the one that just died is an Acer and it's given me no end of trouble.

So, I might check out the HP range. They have an agent in town and the Tablet PC is a HP, and it's been very reliable. Or I could check out the little computer shop in town where the guy builds his own machines and get something custombuilt out of parts he probably sourced off eBay - and end up with the most reliable after-sales service in town:)

Decisions... decisions...

But back to Dace... because he slept over last night, he went to bed waaay too late, because I let him play Age of Mythology on Secondborn's computer for much too long. I told him, when he kept reappearing for drinks and other sleep-delaying tactics, that I was going to be very peeved at him if he couldn't wake up in the morning because he was too tried.

Naturally, this morning, when I tried to wake him, he didn't want to get up. When I finally started to get cranky about his refusal to get out of bed and started the "I told you so" routine, he sat up in bed, bright as a button, and told me:

"I wasn't sleeping in because I was tired, Nana. I had to finish what I was doing in my dream."

LOL...

I love a sleep in. And it's usually 'cause I'm tired...
And I am forever being harrassed about it...

But... Huzzah!! Dace has come to my rescue, with the perfect excuse...

Thanx Dace

Oh Dear, I have a confession... I do that frequently (or try to) however it never ends up the way i want it to, cleary my imagination is nowhere near as developed as Dace's. Would he consider doing a workshop do you think? :)

oh heavens, poor Firstborn. Glad she wasn't hurt, but you tell her to make sure to stock up on radox etc for baths, because her body will protest.

Having been conned into buying an Acer, I agree with your assesment, after this one dies, I'll never buy another.

We've said it before, but it deserves repeating: Dace is one cool kid!

I'm so glad your daughter is okay, if shaken. Giver her a hug for me...and the dreaming boyo while you're at it. :)

I have a Dell, and haven't had any problems (touch wood) with their after-sales service. Then again, I have heard some horror stories from a friend of a friend.

Mac has an apple care warranty that can be purchased when you buy the comp. It has a support line. Also, you can buy mac's via the apple website.

Hope firstborn is doing okay.

If you wish to keep all your existing software licenses you can buy an Intel Mac and run Windows XP or Windows Vista on it - in fact you can dual boot and also run Mac OS X on it too and choose which Operating System on bootup to run.

You get the sweet stylish design of Mac hardware yet can run Microsoft Windows and keep your existing software licenses (ie. Microsoft Office and other applications).

If you go for a PC then steer well clear of Acer and Dell, Dell are terrible I once called tech support and had to access BIOS on a laptop and they kept telling me which Function eg. F1, F2 etc... to press until I ran out of Function keys - hopeless talking to foreign tech support centres!

HP on the other hand I have not had a problem with in terms of laptops, Desktops I build my own through wholesalers and sometimes retailers have better prices than wholesale. Steer clear of second hand parts fom eBay where it is really 'Buyer Beware'.

Dace 1 Nana 0
:-)
Whats the chant- Dace is our hero?
Laters
Kristen

Glad Firstborn is OK.

+1 for buy a Mac. I've heard bad things about Dell, Acer, HP screens and have had rather disastrous experiences with NEC (not that you were considering it, but just in case). Apple phone support is pretty good (and actually, y'know, in Australia) and apparently for hardware issues they send you a box which you put your gear in and send back to them for service, but this hasn't actually come up for me.

Buy a Mac, buy a Mac, buy a Mac!
Lovely computers.

Dace is so cool.

Dace is adorable. Reminds me of a friend of mine who said when he was young, "But I AM being have!"

As for the computer thing, I can't speak for things in Aussie-land, but my Dell support has been nothing short of horrific. As much as I'm a PC person, I also have to recommend a Mac. And if you're worried about changing systems, you can always do what FallonTechSupport suggested and get an Intel Mac and just run XP.

Can I kill your cancel button? I've clicked it three times instead of the 'Post' button. x_x

I hope Firstborn is okay -- crashes are scary.

For your computer problem, I have three Dells in the house (two regular computers, one laptop.) The people with Dell haven't given my family and trouble and neither have the computers themselves. Maybe we're just lucky.

THANK YOU DACE! I know have the perfect excuse! (Except on school days. ^^)

Hugs to firstborn.

I bought an HP laptop at Christmas and it's beautiful (yes, that's a recommendation Sharyn, I could sense you were mildly green with envy while it was sitting on your kitchen table) especially as I have a widescreen one. Lots of realestate to have lots of windows open.

The ex has a Dell laptop which he bought quite a number of years ago and hasn't had too much trouble with it.

I don't have an issue with Macs but IMO PCs do have cheaper parts and are generally easier to find and maintain. I've had three pcs and a mac. I generally get more $ savings from the pc though the mac did keep going for ages but, geeze, expensive for RAM and upgrades! pc RAM $50 mac RAM $200.

We purchase with DELL here at work (software development house) and they seem fine. My understanding is that every company will have someone saying the aftersales service is bad.

Asus has a country wide "onsite" warranty for their laptops, meaning they will pay for you to post it to their nearest service centre. I don't know about their phone support, I never had to use it.

I hope Firstborn wasn't too emotionally attached to her new car. The breaking of the bond between man and machine can be difficult.

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