I finally gave up on our current laptop (or craptop as I like to call it). It was a great system while it last, but, as most computers do, it’s getting old and unreliable. Simple tasks like burning a DVD was becoming an issue. Not to mention weak battery life and constant overheating. Even after multiple reformats consistent issues are still present which tells me they are hardware related.

After an afternoon of unsuccessfully backing up family photos to a DVD, my anger got the best of me resulting in my youngest son echoing my inappropriate comments directed towards the failing task. After a bit of cool-down time and the guilt of letting my emotional state of outrage get the best of me started sinking in, I decided the frustration was no longer worth it and started researching new laptops.

The next morning after having gained success with a pitch to my wife, the “submit order” button was clicked on Dell’s Web site. The efforts lead to a Dell Inspiron E1705. It has a 1.6 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 2 GB of RAM, a 17 inch UltraSharp TrueLife Widescreen UXGA display (a glossy 1920x1200 resolution monitor), a 256MB Nvidia GeForce Go 7900 GS graphics card, a 100 GB 7200 RPM hard drive (I decided on the fast and big drive for video capture/editing and Windows Media Center functionality), Windows Vista Home Premium, Office 2007 Small Business Edition, a dual-layer DVD burner, a battery upgrade for longer life and all the other typical features.

If find myself refreshing my browser sitting on the status page almost obsessively now. Until I get it, I'll have to settle with these photos.

(Images from Dell)