My New Studio

I  have just set up my new Dell Studio laptop. Yes, the same one that tells you to Write.Recite.Compose.Connect.Explore.Create.

Not that it was the catchy advertising that caught my eye and made me place a Dell order. Three weeks ago, I was reeling under the double impact of getting stuck with one of the worst pieces of technology ever foisted on an unsuspecting human being – a Compaq Presario V3000, and having lost all my data including my most precious Kerala pictures to a whimsical crash. I was as close to being numb as is possible without being ‘Comfortably Numb’! My first reaction was of course, taking the most direct path – rush the poor pile of plastic chips to Hospital. The Service Center, that is. The guy who examined it looked up at me with a look that said: ‘I have absolutely nothing against you but I’m going to have to kill you.’ and told me that it was a Boot Sector crash, which meant that the hard disk would have to be replaced. He also, with the utmost kindness, no doubt, told me my laptop was out of warranty and I would have to cough up something like half a thorough-bred race horse. And you can imagine, I’d much rather buy that half a horse than invest in a dying piece of the unspeakable. But I didn't stop right there. Like a good, albeit suspicious patient, I consulted another doctor for a second opinion. What I heard here as the damages that I would need to incur just to recover my lost data, pretty much damaged my peace of mind. It was then that I sought refuge in good old Martin, my Chief Technology Officer based in my homeland of Bangalore. He was quick to decry my attempts at trying to cure the dying and suggested that I go in for a new painless computer. He even sweetened his advice by offering to buy my pretty though defunct laptop for 10 thou. He suggested that Dell was commonly considered easy to use and low-maintenance, and a value buy as well. I rationalised this suggestion over the next few days of Google research and user reviews on the internet and took the decision. After that it was for me the matter of a moment to find the nearest Dell Showroom – not surprisingly, I found one within a few hops and skips from my home in Bandra. After that it was a process of a lot of cross-questioning the dealer about T6400 or T6600 (Intel processors,that is), how much RAM would work for Vista or Windows 7 (which was released on Oct 22), what were the color options….well, you get the drift. All the analysis and ‘customising’ done, I was finally able to place the order for the laptop with a feeling of contentment that I’d asked as many questions on one topic as was humanly possible.

The Dell Studio 15.

It is finally here and I’m toying between the idea of sticking to Vista Home Premium or going for the newly-released OS Windows 7. Whatever OS it might be, I’m pretty sure I’m going to “create” more blog-posts on my Studio.