Computer Predicament

June 2008 I ordered a laptop computer from Dell computers. It was not the state of the art computer but the laptop was considered an advanced system. The top of the line computer in 2008 had a quad-core computer processing unit also known as the CPU. My understanding of a quad-core is each core is a CPU and the four together increases processing significantly. The memory installed into the top computer was four megabits of random access memory also known as RAM. The video card was two video cards stacked and operated as one card. The video card had its own memory of one meg of RAM to increase the speed of producing an image on the display without using the main memory. Dell offered one of the first blu-ray players on the high end systems at a substantial cost of 1,000 dollars. The blu-ray was not going to fit into my budget. Most systems had a DVD drive with the ability to write to and read from a disk and to use the lower standard compact disk. The power would be supplied from a nine cell battery providing longer use of the system before needing to recharge or plug into a standard outlet for power. The last significant component would be the display. A 17 inch display with a high resolution equal to the high definition television was standard. The top of the line computer was envious but with a price tag close to 5,000 dollars it was well above my budget.

The laptop I ordered from Dell computers was an XPS model meant for high end computing processing and gaming. My laptop had a duel-core CPU and was considered a step down from the quad-core but still providing a great processing speed. The memory was two megs of RAM with an option of one additional meg for a total of three megs. The video card was a single card with 512 kilobits memory and produced a high quality image. A DVD drive was part of the package. The battery was six cells which did not provide more than two hours of operation. The laptop did have a 17 inch display with the high resolution. The price tag for my system from Dell was 1,700 dollars and was more reasonable cost then the high end machine.

In December my laptop quit working three months after the warranty expired. I spent 600 dollars to repair and was working fine. Friday the computer quit working again but this time a loud pop emanated from the back and the computer turned off. It will not turn back on so I feel the power supply had shorted out and is now defunct. I am in a quandary as to repair the computer or go and purchase another laptop. A new computer will cost about 800 dollars where the repair could cost between 200 and 400 dollars. I find it difficult to toss out a system costing 1,700 dollars but knowing I can buy a similar computer for the price of repair.