Today my two year old Sony Vaio laptop died. The hard drive is done, taking everything with it. This includes upwards of 10,000 pictures that were not backed up. Thankfully I have most of the best photographs on flickr but that only accounts for maybe 20%. With the repair cost being close to 50% of the original cost of the laptop there is not much sense in fixing it either. ERG!I'm done with pc's and will be upgrading to a iMac or MacBook. I will also be adding an external hard drive so I can backup, live and learn! For the interim I have set up our old HP desktop computer, circa 2002. It is running windows XP which surprisingly runs better then crappy Vista. I am happy the old computer is still around or I would be computer-less for a month or two. Life isn't the same without a computer...
Any Mac users out there with feedback?
Damn that sucks!! Sorry to hear about your computer blues. I'm a Mac user and will never go back. There's a great software you might want to look into once you go Mac called Time Machine - automates the entire back up process (takes a "picture" of your computer every day, making looking up old or deleted files a cinch). Also, Aperture is fabulous for organizing your photos. Listen to me. I sound like an Apple saleswoman. Anyway, you won't regret spending the extra.
ReplyDeleteGood luck!
I am so sorry Dan. Especially for the loss of the pics. Have you looked into data recovery services? The pics may still be on the hard drive.
ReplyDeleteThen go mac with a backup external hard drive for data....I love my macs especially my MacBook.
Oh no ! That's a real shame about your pics, Dan ... :(
ReplyDeleteI remember trying Vista when it first came out for a test-drive. I ran the bug-ridden OS for about 3 months until I got fed up and came back to XP. Still use XP today. Windows 7 is apparently a major improvement over Vista.
Sar - I wanted to get a macbook when I bought the sony. At the time the cheaper sony laptop was more attractive, now not so much! Thanks for the info.
ReplyDeleteGrafixmuse - The repair guy tried recovering the data but didn't have any luck. Not sure what happened but it is cooked.
Miss M - I got the laptop just as Vista came out, big mistake. It got even worse with the SP2 update.
Geeka - I guess it is completely dead, the guy tried recovering. The computer also shipped without any disc so I have no way of reinstalling anything. I really have a distaste for windows now!
Sorry for your loss of data Dan.
ReplyDeleteI love my Mac. Mine is 5 or 6 years old and still going (with a few repairs my husband has done).
Good luck with the new computer shopping.
Oh, Dan, that stinks, but it does give me good incentive to back things up, myself.
ReplyDeleteI'm so sorry.
What a bummer....I'm sorry you lost so many pics... :(
ReplyDeleteI switched to a mac about 1.5 years ago and LOVE it. Btw, I'm an IT consultant, and still work on PC's day in and day out.
ReplyDeleteOSX has a built in backup app that is dirt simple, and only requires an external drive equal to or larger than your internal HD. Its SIMPLE to setup, and will save your butt someday. For an offsite backup, I like crashplan.com.
If you have any questions or problems, let me know and I'd be glad to help. Take care and good luck.
Sorry to hear about your computer Dan. That sucks that it died only after 2 years. The next computer I get will be a mac too. Everyone I know who has one loves it. Plus, I'm sick of PCs and all of the antivirus/antiphishing/anti-whatever that you have to install. It doesn't matter how fast your computer is, PCs just come built with so much junk that everything runs slowly.
ReplyDeleteOh that is too bad. I hate moving to a new computer (my old one was 7 years old before I got my husbands hand me down). I know it is worse to lose photos that you wanted.
ReplyDeleteWhen my PC died, I didn't have money to buy into the "mac cult", so I am a happy Linux and BSD user.
ReplyDeleteAs a former PC tech, I just want people to be happy with their computer, but I just saw this today for a chuckle:
http://img694.imageshack.us/img694/2594/pcbeatsmac.png
That's too bad, Dan. One of my employees is a computer geek that swears by his macintosh pc. He says that it starts up much quicker than windows...
ReplyDeleteEmily - Thanks, I am hoping for a sale!
ReplyDeleteRibbit - I have lost data before, I hope to learn from my mistake this time...
Sunny - definitely sucks, we were even talking about getting a backup drive on box day.
Joe - Thanks for the info.
Thomas - They really are a pain, especially Vista. Mine was getting error messages for a couple months and now its done.
Daphne - We usually keep computers until they are dead. This one was way to soon though, it should have lasted at least 3 more years.
Red - Most Mac's do seem to be rather expensive. I am looking at the iMac 3.06gh 21.5", seems fairly competitive to similar pc's in my area once you add the monitor. Also looking at a refurbed MacBook from apple.ca, they are pretty small though.
EG - I think it is worth taking the plunge. Seems the price difference is usually made up in repair costs.
Argh, so sorry to hear about your laptop and losing all those pics :-(
ReplyDeleteI'm another happy MacBook user. I'm on my 3rd Mac, & 2nd Mac laptop. My my first laptop was used, and had been in service at a local school and had been used by a 7th grader for 4 years old when I got it; I used it 3 1/2 years before the wiring in the hinge went. I have found my Mac to be remarkably trouble free especially in comparison to the pcs at my workplace, which routinely do not make it through the 4 year rotation. I think you'll be pleased.
That is distressing to have a computer go down and take down data with it. Even worse, one as young as that one is! Not a mac user but a Windows XP fan. Never made the Vista move and glad I stuck to my guns on it. I hope the back up machine holds up until you find just the right replacement.
ReplyDeletehenbogle - Sounds like macs are pretty sturdy!
ReplyDeletekitsapfg - The old computer is working really well but there also is nothing on it. If I loaded all my programs it probably wouldn't even start, that's why it was replaced in the first place.
That stinks. You know I recently lost all of my program files, when I did a "complete backup" that turned out not to be complete. Luckily, they were all on my desktop at home, so got re-installed this week. I don't have a Mac, but didn't bite on Vista, bought one of the last laptops that had XP installed, and have been quite satisfied. I'm about to bite the bullet and go for a new laptop, though. Windows 7 sounds pretty stable, and this laptop must be going on 5 years now...it has had a lot of use!
ReplyDeleteI got a macbook two years ago and I love it! Much better than the windows (xp) laptop before that. My sister was looking at macbooks a few weeks ago and if you can find a white/black one instead of the newer aluminum one it is cheaper. The only difference, besides plastic/metal is that the metal one has a lighted keyboard.
ReplyDeleteYou'll definitely be much happier at the Mac Camp :) We are a housefulf of Macs with no problems with them so far (and some of them are OLD). We have a macbook pro that's 5 years old and it takes a beating and keeps on kicking, I wouldn't do our job without one.
ReplyDeleteI'd recommend paying for carbonite, it backs everything up offsite. I have a back up on an external hard drive here in the office (set up so it backs everything up overnight while I'm sleeping every night) and everything gets back up to Carbonite as well.
No more worries of dead hard drives dragging things down with them. I had this happen once, fortunately I only lost unimportant things (not all the accounting for the 2 businesses I run).
Mr Chiots wanted me to mention using Super Duper as the backup to external hardrive program (evidently that's what we use).
ReplyDeleteI have an iMac and LOVE it, would highly recommend, we also have a macbook, which we also love, depends on if you need portability or not.
Buying refurbished is a great way to go as well, save a few bucks and it's still a great product, a few of our macs were purchased this way.
Dead after only 2 years, that is a huge bummer. I just switched from PC to Mac a month ago and I love my Mac. The old PC had a miniscule hard drive and I had to constantly remove files, mostly photos, to an external hard drive, which crashed... Then the PC started to blue screen on a regular basis. It wasn't worth fixing and I was sick of windows so now I'm a happy Mac user.
ReplyDeleteI too am a Mac user for 2.5 yrs. I love my Macbook. If find it sooo much easier to use than a PC. I will never go back. My DD and her DH have an IMAC and they love it. I agree with Sar, time machine is great, and the external hard drive is wonderful too. Make the switch you won't regret it. Besides you can laugh with us MACERS at the commercials (PC VS MAC)
ReplyDeleteJust use external hard drives and free operating systems. What could be more urban?
ReplyDeleteBummer! But you'll love your new mac!! Sweet!
ReplyDeleteI have a PC but also have a Macbook Pro and honestly when my PC dies we are going Mac all the way. I have an external hard drive and my PC hard drive just died also but thankfully I had most of my stuff on my external HD and didn't lose much.
ReplyDeleteOh No, I am so sorry. I have had that happen, and have learned to have a external hard drive, It fits my lifestyle, and is easy to use. I it has more room than my brothers laptop! So it hold all of the thousands of pics that I have!
ReplyDeleteGrrr! Good luck getting back up and running!
ReplyDeleteGrrr! Good luck getting back up and running!
ReplyDeleteI had a similar problem recently, and also switched to a MAC. I have the MacBook Pro and like it very much, sorry to hear your Sony bit the bullet on you, I hope you have much better luck this next time around!
ReplyDeleteIve been happy with my Mini. I run two USB drives in addition to my main drive. All my pics are off on a separate drive. In fact they are scattered an the USB and another NAD network drive. The Mac Mini would be a good thing to get as your keyboard, mouse and display can be used
ReplyDeleteDan this may sound dumb but it has worked in the past for me....used to recover data on non damaged drives way back when. Put it in the freezer overnight...this will free up the bearings and some other parts....when you have a new computer attach this drive as a second one...using an external case or you can buy a connector cable that goes to usb.
ReplyDeletequickly transfer the data if the drive spins up. Email me if these don't make sense.
PS I run a macbook and Imac (love them) and I am in the windows IT industry :)
My computer went out on me last year and wouldn't load Windows. I was able to pull the drive out and connect it to a "USB to IDE/SATA Adapter Kit" which allowed me to pull all my file off the bad hard drive before I reinstalled the OS. The kit enables you to view your "dead drive" through a USB connection on a working computer. It was only 25 bucks and I was able to save all the files. Maybe that's an option for you.
ReplyDelete