I wasn’t able to resist the urge of putting together another desktop computer after not having done so in a few years. Having a laptop is great, but I decided since I wasn’t using it much for its portability I’d be happier with something a little more powerful and upgradeable. This is what I have:

Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 (3GHz)
RAM: 2GB OCZ DDR2-800
Motherboard: ASUS P5Q Deluxe
Video card: ASUS 512MB Radeon 4850
Hard drive: Western Digital 500GB 7200RPM SATA 16MB cache
DVD Drive: Samsung 22X DVDR
Case: Antec 300
Power supply: Antec Earthwatts 500W
Monitor: Acer 22″ Widescreen

All in all, it’s great, and I have no complaints. The case is among the nicest I’ve worked with, and the monitor is bigger than I had imagined (though a 24″ would be cool too!). And of course, the hardware is really, really fast. I’m not planning on doing any overclocking, because this seems plenty fast to me already, but there’s that possibility if I get bored.

Oh, I think this was the first time I put together a computer that I didn’t have any defective/damaged hardware (usually it was RAM). Either QC is up in general or I lucked out this time around.

Update (6/12): After informing HP that we were unwilling to pay their $750 repair charge, they decided to undo our service order and send the laptop back. They claimed we would receive the laptop by 6/11. After it didn’t arrive yesterday or today, Katy called and found out that it hasn’t been shipped yet and no one is able to confirm when it will be shipped back to us.

Update (6/17): The laptop finally arrived today, including a form saying it wasn’t fixed. After a bit of finagling, it turned on and booted into Windows. I’ll mess around with it over the next few hours, but it seems to me the motherboard having been destroyed by moisture can pretty much be fully ruled out at this point. My belief that HP made up a new problem to avoid fixing known problems under warranty is reinforced.

TLDR: HP has horrible products and horrible customer support, and I will never buy from them again no matter what.

* * *

Back in August me and my lady decided it was time to upgrade our computers. She had a Dell desktop that she got after high school graduation (it was starting to show its age) and I had a self-built desktop that I had continually upgraded over a few years. I wasn’t unhappy with what I had, but both of us really wanted more portability than a desktop offers (it’s great to be able to take your computer with everything on it to school or on trips and even just other rooms in the house).

Aside from portability, since we’re students, the main consideration was price.  I spent a few weeks doing some basic research and found that HP offered the best bang per buck ratio, especially with a nice discount code I found on fatwallet. We configured Katy’s in August. It was an HP DV6000Z series with a 15.4″ LCD, a gig of RAM, 120GB hard drive, and a 1.7GHz dual-core Turion. Pretty decent entry-level specs for a $600 machine.

I ordered my own a few weeks after hers arrived and I had some time to check it out and see that it was decent. Pretty much the same machine except the DV9000Z series which basically means it has a 17″ screen. I also opted for a 2GHz processor and two gigs of RAM.

First problem: After just a few weeks of having mine, I ran into major problems with the wireless network card - it worked very sporadically for a while, then stopped working entirely. I tried all the basic stuff like reseating it and messing with drivers to no avail. I contacted HP customer support and right away they offered to send me a replacement card which I gladly accepted, thinking it would fix the problem. The next day they went back on this offer and instead asked me to send the entire laptop back for repairs. Since I realized that meant a system restore, and since I had only just finished getting rid of all the crap bloat the laptop came with and putting all my stuff on it, I decided to get a wireless-n ExpressCard instead.

Fast-forwarding to March of this year, Katy’s laptop started having some weird problems. One problem (problem #2) was identical - the wireless problem. It seemed odd to me since we actually originally had different cards (she had wireless-g and my internal card was wireless-n) and different chipsets from what I can remember. Clearly it’s either a random fluke for us to have the same problem with different hardware or alternatively something else was wrong with the systems.

A few months later we ran into problem #3 - Windows wouldn’t properly recover from sleep mode. It was impossible to get the display to come back without rebooting the system. I mostly resolved this by just turning off sleep/hibernation altogether, but it was only a matter of time until we got burned again.

Problem #4 was that the system would boot into Windows (you could hear the startup sounds) but the display wouldn’t turn on without rebooting the computer a few times, opening and closing the lid and waving a voodoo chicken over the computer. Since the computer was sort of still useable and we didn’t want to deal with a system restore, we decided to wait and see if it was something we could fix on our own.

Before I could get that far, we ran into problem #5. Now the system wouldn’t boot at all and once in a while gave a series of BIOS beeps indicative of a display problem. I tried everything I could think of, including reseating everything and taking it apart and checking the display’s ribbon cable connection. No luck.

At this point I started doing some browsing on the ‘net and found that other people were having similar problems with their DV6000s and 9000s. Eerily similar problems that lots of people were running into. I even found a page on HP’s site that outlined the problems we had and the models affected (ours of course). Check out the site. It even says that it you’re experiencing the problems described, and have one of the models listed, you could be eligible for free repair. All other hope lost, we decided it was time to send it in.

HP sent us a pre-paid box to FedEx the laptop to them and they had it within a day or two. A week went by without hearing anything from them, so we checked the status on-line and found a $740 service charge listed. I figured it was because that was their estimate of what it’d cost to replace parts and that we’d be covered by the free repair since clearly they sold a bunch of defective laptops.

Later on Katy decided to call customer support and find out what was going on. Woops, I was wrong about the service charge being waived. They claimed that their certified technicians found “moisture” in the laptop and thus the warranty was voided (we didn’t have their expensive accidental damage plan). Nevermind the fact that the laptop had all the problems listed on their site and nevermind the fact that $740 to fix the laptop was $200 more than it cost in the first place. They also claimed that they had been trying to contact her, but she never received anything via e-mail, telephone or postal mail.

I called HP customer support on her behalf and was given the same spiel: broken display, broken LCD hinge cover, broken AC/DC adapter, broken fan, broken motherboard (and a few other things that I can’t remember) all apparently caused by “moisture” found on the motherboard. I tried getting an explanation of how there could be moisture on the motherboard if we never spilled anything on the computer and I was told I wasn’t being accused of having done anything myself. Why, I asked, if I hadn’t been responsible for what happened, should I be expected to pay for the damage? You see, I was told, heat issues in the laptop could have caused moisture to condense. I pleaded that if that was possible, it would mean that it was either due to a design flaw or a faulty fan, which should definitely be covered by warranty. After all, we never brought the laptop to the desert, or to the rain forest for that matter. And most of the problems began during the winter when humidity is low, and our apartment was a steady 65F.

When I was again told that I wasn’t being accused of damaging anything but that warranty wouldn’t cover it, I asked to speak with a supervisor. In response I was informed that a supervisor would tell me the same information. I asked to please speak with a supervisor. Same response. I just said the word “supervisor” a few times. Silence. Then, the unfortunate rep told me that we’d get a call from someone on Monday or Tuesday. I hung up and called again ten minutes later hoping for a better response.

Different rep but same story, sadly. This time around I really tried hard to plead and explain things in different ways and they still wouldn’t budge. Obviously, if their service technicians say there’s “moisture” on a motherboard that’s that. I pushed aggresively to speak with a supervisor just so I could make sense of this, all the while knowing that the “moisture” found inside the laptop was fabricated to void our warranty. I asked, “please, PLEASE can I speak with a supervisor” and after thirty seconds of silence the rep came back and told me there are no supervisors avaiable until Monday during business hours. I hung up.

Today, a Monday, during business hours, Katy called HP again. They gave her the same runaround, but she was at least able to speak with a supervisor (and his “senior agent”) who were more understanding of our perspective, even realizing that $740 was likely more than we paid in the first place. Turns out this didn’t matter since they decided to send back the laptop right away when we said we were unwilling to pay $740 to fix a $500 laptop that should have been covered by warranty.

So, now the laptop is on its way back to us, and I realize it’s likely only a matter of time until the display on mine stops working and then it stops booting entirely and then I send it in so they can tell me a power surge damaged the motherboard or there’s moisture in the case or I dropped it from a high building or ran it over or whatever else they think of to avoid covering it under warranty.

And then we’ll have to buy two new laptops. Just not HPs this time around.

(Oh, one of the reps did admit the source of the problems for most people: too much lead in their solder mix.  Of course they couldn’t admit ours was the same and accept the fact that we never spilled anything on the laptop or left it outside or used it in the shower and that it had the same list of problems that their site claims will be fixed for free.)

While driving on forest roads with my last five dollars in gas, the car kicks up dust from the gravel below and the smell is thick and stale, almost like an old musty basement. The sun is setting and the trees cut up through a huge sky that fades from dark blue to purple to orange. Soon the stars will show and their light will bend through the clouds above, effortlessly reaching us from almost immeasurable distances.

Just past Stockfarm Bridge, I bring the car to a stop. I leave it idling calmly near the smooth, dark flow of the Chippewa River, and walk back to the bridge. The bridge itself is long and narrow, set atop ancient pilings, its deep brown wooden road surface smoothed from decades of use. There aren’t many of these old bridges left, even on the other remote forest roads. The structure is wide enough for only one vehicle, and too much traffic at once would likely cause it to splinter and plunge into the river below.

These antiquated bridges and roads are remnants of life years ago, when the land was still being stripped clean of its lumber. They were arteries from the heart of the forest, feeding humanity’s hungry expansion. Now they are neglected by most travelers, but they remain as a testament to the way so many men struggled to make a living, cutting down and hauling the huge trees out along dirt roads.

Tonight, no one else is here. There is likely no other human being for many miles. There are no power lines, no cell phone towers or other obtrusions. If not for the pines swaying and creaking with the wind and random unexplained sounds in the distance, the forest would be completely calm and still. Of course, the forest does not desire to explain itself or its noises. It simply exists, though continually changing, unable or unwilling to express itself through more than creaks and crashes.

No one else is here, and I am waiting to capture a certain feeling. It cannot be replicated on command, nor can it be described in much detail, because although it is universal in experience, the details are unique to each individual. It may or may not happen for me tonight, but the conditions seem right. I am searching for the feeling of being alive.

I do not feel truly alone in the forest at night. My senses awaken; all movements and sounds are exaggerated by the dulling of nightfall, and a certain connection can be felt. Although isolated from humanity, the connection that I feel is overriding and strong. A person may be reminded of late night childhood pseudo-philosophical conversations: We are one with the Universe, one with Everything. We are always connected despite our best efforts of isolation.

After the sun sets, the stars come out and the temperature falls. Half a moon rises, cratered from epochs of unfeeling abuse. The river below flows quietly, wide and slow, and gradually changing the landscape by moving the dark, loamy earth. It is languid in its role of erosion, if not completely uncaring and unknowing.

There are now night sounds throughout the darkened forest. Nocturnal animals are living out their night lives, and the general feeling shifts from peaceful to slightly eerie. There is not much to do but listen to the forest and look around, trying to find something real to focus on. Many shapes are blurred, lacking contrast and detail, but an overall composite of the forest can be drawn.

The ground cover is dense, as are the tall, slender pines penetrating through it. If trees could want, perhaps they would want the unobtainable feeling of being part of the sky. They reach down into the soil and have something firm to grab, to feel; they reach upwards but can never grab the stars or do more than sway with the wind.

The sky above me is so huge that I get the human feeling of being small and utterly insignificant. There are more stars than people, and there is more distance to cover between them than all of humanity combined will ever travel. Most will never travel the world. Many will never stare into a night sky and truly let their mind roam.

The experience of being alone in the forest at night is intense. There are layers of thoughts and emotions as my imagination fills the gaps of what my senses perceive. My mind is left to blend the abstract imagination with concrete reality, and as the night darkens, the line between the two shifts quickly out of focus.

The sound of light rain hitting the trees above becomes prominent, as does my realization of the declining temperature. My senses have fully awakened and work to gather as much information as possible, and the night is as dark as it will
become. Every sudden sound is startling because such a lack of light means no sources can be pinpointed. It is now very easy for my imagination to fill in the details, and every sound becomes a predatory animal stalking slowly through the shadows. Every bush or tree or stump becomes nondescript but dangerous, and the wind causes distant branches to move in threatening ways.

While the fear itself is real, it is a fear of something imagined and not real. It is extremely rare to see an animal searching for prey, even at night deep in the forest. The bears and wolves of this forest are not animals, they are merely branches moving with the wind. The sounds of the forest are similarly not of anything inherently dangerous, but rather trees creaking in the wind and the occasional brush snapping underfoot as a deer wanders by.

The landscape itself is not very dangerous, being that many predatory animals have been hunted to the brink of extinction. Yet my mind will not allow a feeling of peace and calm, and my imagination continues to fill in the bleak details. A battle between rational and irrational is being waged, with the rational mind temporarily keeping the imagination in check, but always with no clear winner.

After I hear a thunderous crash, my mind is quickly snapped back to reality. I do not know what the sound was, but it was very close. My heart races and I dash for the bridge, car still waiting. I had not wandered far, but I am out of breath. As I begin my escape, contemplating the noise, I realize that for one brief moment I captured the feeling I had sought out by coming to the forest: I felt alive.

Hold tight, Geraldine, I need to say what I mean
Time’s gone by for so long and I’ve seen all the wrongs that I’ve done
Since we have yelled and stomped our feet after you took me in your arms
Cut from you near death you drew the breath that made me one

And I must call on your sweet soul
In the times when we walk in shadows of sorts
I cherish the mother you are

Hold tight, Geraldine, I mean to say what I mean
Oh, I owe you for the stars in the sky
and the breath that was life of my own

And I must call on your sweet soul
In the times when we walk in shadows of sorts
I cherish the mother you are

And I must call on your sweet soul
In the times when we walk in shadows of sorts
I cherish the mother you are
Yes, in the times when we walk in shadows of sorts
I cherish the mother you are

Hold tight, Geraldine, I mean to say what I mean.

– Chuck Ragan, “Geraldine”

http://youtube.com/watch?v=f8lPzMlY5fo

http://joshebben.com/2007/12/07/47/ 

As the months and years wear on, taking their toll on our minds and our bodies, it becomes important—even vital—to remind ourselves of what it means to be alive; what it feels like to know, unassailably, that we are truly alive. This feeling is not easy to capture, nor is it simple to explain. Yet it remains significant, because someone who never thinks of the implications of being alive—who never desires to truly feel anything—is little more than a walking zombie, drifting through their days with little conscious awareness.

The feeling of being alive comes easily in the forest after nightfall, with our senses alert and working to gather as much information as possible. As cars pass down this old gravel road, the smell in the air is thick and musty, almost like an old basement; perhaps evoking distant childhood memories of someone’s grandparents’ basement where the kids would play hide and seek on long summer days. As the sun sets, the trees cut up through the huge, open sky that fades from dark blue to purple to orange. Once the stars begin to show, their light bends through the clouds above, effortlessly reaching the earth from almost immeasurable, unthinkable distances.

The car calmly idles on Stockfarm Bridge, resting above the smooth, dark flow of the Chippewa River. The bridge is long and narrow, set atop huge, ancient pilings, and its deep brown road surface smoothed from decades of use. Its structure is wide enough for only one vehicle, and too much traffic at once would likely cause the bridge to splinter and plunge into the river below. Stark thoughts like this help remind us we’re alive, as do thoughts of those who traveled these desolate roads so many years ago—the loggers and the lost, wary travelers. These antiquated bridges and roads are remnants of life years ago, when the land was still being stripped clean of its lumber. These roads were arteries from the heart of the forest, feeding humanity’s hungry expansion. The roads now remain dormant, and rutted, with the gravel compacted from decades of rainfall and the seldom passing of a car. The feeling of being alive comes naturally knowing that we are here, now, actively observing the world and thinking these thoughts, thoughts of those who came to the forest so long ago; those who are no longer with us.

If not for the pines swaying and creaking with the wind, the forest would be completely calm and still. There are no other human beings for many miles, nor are there any power lines, radio towers or other obtrusions. All movements and sounds are exaggerated by the dulling of nightfall in the forest, and the night sounds of nocturnal animals are nearly overwhelming. The ground cover is dense, as are the tall, slender pines penetrating through it. If trees could want, perhaps they would want the unobtainable feeling of being part of the sky. They reach down into the soil and have something firm to grab, to feel; they reach upwards but can never grab the stars or do more than sway with the wind. As the trees are alive, we are alive as well, and like the trees we are often rooted into our mundane existences. Being able to break free is what makes us human, and reminds us that we are alive.

Over the weekend I was hanging out with a friend and for whatever reason we started discussing web browsers.  Since I’m still living in the days of RAM not being inexpensive, I always become concerned when programs use inordinate amounts of memory. For quite a while Firefox has had a pretty bad problem when it comes to memory management which can be seen by running the browser for extended periods of time. The longer you use it, the more memory it needs. For example, you might start up the browser and see that it’s only using ~24MB with one tab open, but after using it normally for a few hours and closing all but one tab it might use something more like 70-100MB. Even if this is only because of the browser’s RAM cache, Firefox clearly isn’t doing enough to free its memory for reuse. (In fact, it’s hard to even find settings for the RAM cache. You have to use about:config and while you can enable or disable the cache, you have to create a new value ‘cache.memory.capacity’ to change the cache size.)

Because I’m interested in memory usage, I decided to try out the latest version of Firefox (the 3.0 beta) and see how it compared. Unfortunately, my idea of doing a side-by-side comparison didn’t work out because even after installing the new Firefox into a new directory and trying to run each manually from the executables, the only one I could get to start was the newer version. After restarting, the only one I could use was the older version. There’s probably a work-around, but I decided not to bother, because at this point I was informed that the Opera web browser is now completely free (and not even ad supported anymore). I think I missed that memo by maybe two or three years.

Way back when, I used to really like the Opera browser. But then a bunch of stuff happened with built-in ads and some other stuff and of course Firefox was new and seemed pretty nifty, so I kinda lost track of Opera. After downloading it a few nights ago, though, I’m kinda bummed I wasn’t using it at least alongside Firefox, because it’s pretty good. I’m not sure yet how much better it is with memory, but it definitely feels faster than Firefox in just about every way. (Note: if you haven’t noticed already, this is turning into a shameless Opera plug.)

It has this cool Speed Dial thing where you can customize a list of your nine favorite sites and then every time you open a blank tab, you see this 3×3 grid and you can click on the site you want to visit. It’s faster and simpler than bookmarks or toolbar buttons for your most commonly visited sites. I also like searching from the address bar rather than the dropdown search bar in Firefox. You can just type “g search term” to search google or “w whatever” for Wikipedia or any number of other things that you can easily set up (edit: I’m now finding that Firefox has this feature too, but I sure as hell never knew about it before). Page zooming is a cool gimmick, as is easily turning images on and off for an entire page. Then there’s mouse gestures and the superior download manager (it even has a built in BitTorrent client for people too lazy to use microTorrent).

There are drawbacks of course, the biggest one being lack of tens of thousands of third-party plugins. If I were slightly more of a plugin fiend, I could see myself only wanting to use Firefox. Opera sort of makes up for not having my favorite Firefox plugin (Adblock) with a built-in “Block Content” feature, but it feels pretty clunky and doesn’t always seem to work on the things I want to block. So, I’ve switched back to the traditional and superior HOSTS-based method of blocking ads. I miss having Forecastfox to tell me the weather, but I can live without it. All in all, Opera seems pretty decent, and for someone who doesn’t use a bunch of plugins, it’s definitely worthwhile when compared to Firefox.

Photos taken by Peter Tomich, reposted with permission.