Talking to Billie is GOOD TIMES / Computer specs

High-scoring words of the night so far:

ISOTACH (768 points) - against Pat K. [three 4W]
VOILE (128 points) - against Jono M. [two 4W]


Went to the library to get THE TIME-TRAVELER'S WIFE and a book on women's psychology. Should be interesting reading! Talked to Corey and Billie about friends, plans, hanging out, out-of-order reactions, and highlighters. Andrew confirmed that he and Adam are twins - he's two minutes older. HA, I KNEW IT! :P


[19:24:41] Flami: the hamsterette: STUPID COMPUTER!
[19:24:51] Corey: well, FINE, I'll just tell you to make it work and stay here......................
[19:25:45] Flami: actually, it might be useful to have you here since you can look for new computers with me
[19:27:46] Corey: or you can find something you like, and write down the specs and I'll tell you if that's good or not :P
[19:29:43] Corey: here's your checklist:
15.4" (or bigger) non-glossy / shiny screen

1-2gb+ of RAM minimal, 2 for sure if you're getting Vista

No Celeron or Sempron processors, get an Intel Core 2 Duo processor if possible

Media buttons are a plus
[19:29:55] Corey: just make sure it has all that and it should be A-OK, boss
[19:29:58] Flami: should I go for Craigslist or Future Shop?
[19:30:46] Corey: uh, I think Future Shop = Best Buy here, so probably there even though they suck... just don't listen to much they have to say about what you need... they don't know what they're talking about, or they'll just try to sell you more than you need :P
[19:31:01] Corey: Craigslist is probably a pretty crappy place to be making big purchases
[19:32:19] Flami: yeah... although it does seem cheap, but Future Shop does have store policies on returns and repair, I think
[19:33:38] Corey: yeah, they'll sell you a replacement policy if you let them... then when you go to use it, you'll have to have it sent in and fixed like 9000 times before they give in and get you a replacement like you paid for :P
[19:33:56] Corey: but you should at least get a manufacturer's warranty no matter what
[19:34:31] Corey: if you have places like Office Depot or other office type stores.. Staples, Office Max, whatever, they usually have okay stuff too
[19:37:07] Flami: we have Office Depot, and Staples stores are everywhere
[19:38:06] Corey: well, check those. they're probably better
[19:39:08] Corey: Staples carries Dell stuff now. the brands really probably don't matter all that much, but they've worked pretty well for us... they use Indian tech support though, so if that's a concern, it's not the best choice :P
[19:42:24] Flami: is Indian tech support good or bad?
[19:47:31] Corey: Indian call centers suck ass. they have a script they will never deviate from (so you can't really ask anything), you often can't understand what they're saying, and they're trained to wear you down so you'll give up on asking for a supervisor if you want actual help
[19:47:39] Corey: so yeah, they're great :P
[19:49:38] Flami: hmm.. I've read some Dell horror stories, so maybe not...
[19:53:36] Corey: look at any company, nobody likes any of them :P so it doesn't really matter that much
[19:54:08] Corey: oh, Lenovo is supposed to be good these days.. they're the people that designed the IBM Thinkpads or something, and now they have their own Thinkpads or some shit, and they're supposedly good
[19:55:38] Flami: yeah, my sister has one of those Lenovo laptops
[19:59:34] Corey: just find something that looks decent to you, and the keyboard and touchpad seem good :P nobody agrees on brands
[20:00:50] Corey: mine's a Dell and is over 4 years old now with no problems or things breaking... the left mouse button has a spot now where the blue paint or whatever actually rubbed off, so that doesn't look so great, but no issues other than that :P
[20:01:14] Corey: I have a marker the same exact color, and colored the blue back in, but it doesn't stay :P
[20:03:17] Flami: hahaha... should I get you a coloring book for Christmas then? :P
[20:04:24] Corey: no, it's my laptop that needs coloring! and I'm going to try it again right now, dammit
[20:04:43] Corey: this time, I'll use my good alcohol-based markers.. the last time, I tried it with a normal water-based one
[20:07:24] Corey: I haven't been into drawing and art much since high school, but I used to be decent at it and really into comic-style art... so I have a bunch of good quality alcohol markers that don't show streaks and stuff, and you can even blend colors and stuff
[20:10:55] Flami: hey, that sounds really good then!
[20:15:47] Corey: well, it's staying so far and I accidentally put my finger there a couple times before letting it dry :P so maybe it'll work
[20:16:36] Flami: haha, whoops... maybe it will :D
[20:18:16] Corey: probably better at least. those markers kick your ass. I used them for most of the stuff that got into school art shows and they make my stuff look better than anyone else's :P
[20:19:49] Corey: here's a funny church video for you :P
[20:20:31] Flami: what is hyper threading?!
[20:21:26] Corey: it's sort of a way of making a processor act like two... kinda. you don't need to worry about that :P it's not bad, but you don't really need it either
[20:22:02] Corey: it's in most Intel CPUs, so you'll probably get it if you get Intel... it really doesn't matter as far as you're concerned :P
[20:30:32] Flami: the hamsterette: oh, okay... I saw some reference to that on a Craigslist ad...
[20:30:50] Flami: the hamsterette: and how does one processor act like two?!
[20:39:16] Corey: it's just the way it organizes the instructions it needs to do, basically. look it up on Wikipedia... it explains that, and then you won't understand it, and all will be well :P
[20:40:15] Flami: um, thanks... I was looking for a non-tech explanation :P
[20:41:10] Corey: well, there you go! it's how it deals with stuff :P