I hate buying new computers.
Oh, I love shopping for new computers: catching up on all the improvements since I was last in the market, comparing bells and whistles of various makes and brands, and ferreting out those secret spots on the Internet where the best deals are hiding. Fun stuff!
I love having a new computer. The upgrade in speed and functionality is always a rush.
But the moment of purchase? The actual buying of the computer? If freaks me out, man.
Because I know—I know—the moment I pull the trigger, a better deal come along. As soon as the charge hits my credit card, I’ll see an ad for a machine twice as good for half the price. As soon as I casually mention that I picked up a new computer, one of my tech-guru friends will appear and say, “I hope you didn’t get [insert exact model of computer I just bought], because it’s slow, prone to catching fire, and actually full of tarantulas.”
I know. Because it happens every time.
That’s why I’ve put off replacing my work laptop for months. I’ve tried to deny its shuddering instability and love of crashing at inopportune times. But the truth is, it’s costing me money. “Time is money” is a horrible cliché, but it’s true—especially for a freelancer like myself. And when I lose two minutes out of every 10 while the computer randomly freezes, the beast takes 15 minutes to fully reboot after a crash, and it crashes at least once a day… That adds up to a lot of time.
I can’t afford to lose this much productivity. I can’t afford not to buy a new computer.
The new laptop is supposed to show up this week. No, I won’t tell you what it is, because I don’t want to hear how it’s overpriced and gives off radiation. But for my friends on Facebook and Twitter, I will tell you this much: it has a solid state disk drive.
