I’m getting very frustrated with my laptop. First off let me tell you that this particular model is called the HP Pavilion Entertainment PC (DV9000 series). I want to emphasize the “Entertainment” part of the name. Entertainment as in sound and video, right? Apparently not. I’ve had to buy external speakers so Jim and I could hear any movies we watched. Next is from watching movies, the thing would overheat and lock up so I’ve had to install higher feet under it to allow for better airflow. The most recent crisis is that it says “No Audio Output Device is installed”. So now, I have no sound, at all. Skip the next paragraph if computer stuff bores you.
So, I install drivers. But mind you, it’s not that it doesn’t have a driver, it’s like the sound card is missing. I’ve rolled back to a different restore point which does indeed allow the sound card to work … for a few hours. I’ve tried different drivers. I’ve tried the HP support website. I’ve Googled my error and found that tons of people have it. Oddly, everyone seems to have a different fix for the same problem and what I’ve tried, hasn’t worked. It all makes me want to have a Mac. I hear such good things about them but they’re so expensive. Maybe they aren’t as expensive as PC’s being too cheap? I’m sad.
This campground, Dallas Metro KOA, is pretty nice. We’re in a spot across from the dog park. Dasher loves it. We can let him off his leash and he can enjoy the large open space. It’s almost too large, I think. I think it would have been better to have 2 smaller areas. The fence around the dog area is low. It concerns me a little since he can jump high but so far he’s not tried the jump. Most of the time, he’s not interested in running around but rather laying in the sun. He’s working on his tan I guess.
It’s almost 3pm now and we’ve not done anything today. We’re here for 10 days and there isn’t that much to do here. Oh sure, there’s some things but most are museums and things we aren’t all that interested in. Last night I also ran tripadvisor.com for things to do in Dallas, Fort Worth and Arlington. I confirmed, that 90% of the stuff was – well – blah. I think we’ve probably narrowed down the sightseeing to just a handful of stuff.
Above: Pool, clubhouse, swing set.
Above: Dog park.
We made our menu out, made the grocery list, went to Sam’s, came home, unpacked, went to Walmart, came home, ate lasagna, surfed the net for a while and then went to Coldstone with a $1 off coupon. Yum for cheaper. Yeah, just go to coldstone.com, join their club and get coupons. For $300,000 we can get our own franchise. 
You two should give some serious thought to a Coldstone franchise. I've only been following your blog for a few weeks and see the addiction. Of course, my heart belongs to Ben & Jerry.
ReplyDeleteLove the pics, as always.
I don't think we could do that dog park. Looks like the fence is just the wood? My pooch is only about 8 lb so she would just walk right under! She's generally is a good dog and stays by my side- especially around other dogs.
ReplyDeleteWhat operating system does your laptop use? If it's a newer one, your problem might be Vista. We had driver issues when we had to replace our desktop last year due to a lightning strike. NONE of our software would run correctly with Vista and our printer wouldn't print. Fun times. Makes me wish I had gone Mac a long time ago. I'm just learning the commands and cool bells and whistles on my MacBook Pro, but am loving it so far. And the best part? NO VIRUS PROTECTION REQUIRED. It's a Mac thing.
ReplyDeleteYou're right, they aren't cheap (especially the laptops), but when you subtract all the headaches and maintenance issues, repairs, virus protection (etc.), it evens out. Bite the bullet Garret and save your pennies. Maybe sacrifice a couple What A Burgers this week. You'll be there in no time.
XO
@Tonya: Yeah, the franchise is expensive but cheaper than most.
ReplyDelete@Liz: The fence has chicken wire or such from that top bar all the way to the ground.
@Alix: Vista. The funny thing is it's just over a year old and has been fine. I think PC's have issues later down the line sometimes. So tell me, what CAN'T you do with a Mac? Seriously.
Garret, we have a new Mac. I noticed that it won't recognize my aol mail sometimes. The AOL welcome box will show I have mail, but up in the corner, the mailbox is empty. I have to restart the computer to get the mail to come up. I have this problem at least once a week. AOL has glitches with MAC. So, I would say I'm not 100% sold with MAC, it's just another computer.
ReplyDeleteMarkandCraiginTennessee
MarkandCraig: I was wondering. There's gotta be some cons to it. I figure some of my games and what nots won't work?
ReplyDeleteGlad I'm not the only one who thinks that the Arlington/Dallas area is blah... I've been feeling guilty for not getting out and doing more stuff, but most tourist type stuff does not seem interesting enough to endure crappy traffic for.
ReplyDeleteDerek
You answered my question - chickenwire, huh? I wondered why Dasher didn't just try to go through the fence.
ReplyDeleteYou make me crave some ice cream from Cold Stone, but until reading your blog I'd never heard of it! Imagine my chagrin when I looked at their website and discovered there are several within 10 miles of me. Now, if I get hooked, it's your fault.
Nancy in Atlanta
Garret, we really don't play games so I can't say whether or not it will work with the MAC. The sales guy, of course, said we would be totally blown away with a MAC.... NOT! It seems kinda slow and I have the Verizon 3G card. Sometimes, it's really slow!
ReplyDeleteI did have two viruses on my old Dell laptop over a 5 or 6 yr period. Cost me about $60 each time to fix.
M&CinTN
Well, I used Macs in my last photography class - we had 30 or so of them.
ReplyDeleteCrashes & hang ups came along at the rate of 4-6 systems per class.
I don't think they are a bit better than Windows systems, I think you just have different issues.
The virus thing isn't exactly accurate, there have been Mac viruses. They just haven't done all that good of a job of spreading. But the fact they are there means that hackers are working on it.
The computer I'm on cost me 800 bucks. As close as I could get to this on a Mac would have cost me 3k. And that was just a 15 inch screen, where this one has a 17. The Mac had either a 60 or an 80 meg hard drive (I forget now) and this one had a 100 meg.
I figured for the $2000.00 difference, I could put up with a LOT of glitches. Virus protection is only like 60 bucks for 3 years, so yeah, even adding that in, I could not stomach the difference in price.
And a lot of your games won't work. Unless you also purchase Windows (which some of the newer Macs can run). But you will have problems w/ graphic cards and such on games. When I was looking, a sales person told me flat out that more games fail than work on the Windows running Macs. Oh, and Windows doesn't come with it, so add several hundred to the price.
That's been three years, but yeah, ya know, I ain't rich enough to 1) repurchase all my software in different versions and/or 2) gamble that much money.
As for the lock up on your laptops, are you using a cooling pad? Laptops with real graphic cards all have massive heat issues. You can pick 'em up at Walmart cheap enough, look for one w/ three or four fans.
I have an HP too, and only had lock up issues before I got the cooling pad.
Side note: overheating can fry your cards. So if you've been running w/out a cooling pad, that may have taken out your sound card.
Here's the pad I'm using, it was way cheaper to buy it on eBay (they run about 40 bucks usually)
http://tinyurl.com/m9bsma
Walk On: I solved the overheat thing by just adding lifts to the bottom of the laptop a few months ago. Now it's been OK. The sound card thing I think is some bios or software issue because on a rollback to 2 days earlier it worked again. Oy.
ReplyDeleteOh and I think the price on MACs will keep me away. Too rich for my blood.
lol, yeah, the price stopped me cold.
ReplyDeleteI gave them an honest chance, but when I realized my choice was spend 800.00 or spend 3k, well, my lame little bank account made that decision rather simple. :P
The Coldstone nearest me closed up. I have to go like 45 mins now to get one. That's probably a good thing considering their cost and calorie count.
I've finally tried Coldstone and now I see what all the hype is about! It was fantastic!
ReplyDeleteMaybe I started following you after you answered this question, but how long are you guys gonna be traveling the cross country? It's so awesome that you are able to do something like this.
Walk On: It's probably for the best. Just think of Cod Stone as evil.
ReplyDeleteJackie: LOL. Well, it should be good. Basically you pick the ingredients. Peanut Butter Perfection rocks.
Jackie: Oh, how long? Well, originally it was going to be 6 months or until the $$$ ran out. July will be 1 year that we've been unemployed. August will be one year on the road. The money has lasted longer than we thought so it will be one year.
ReplyDeleteJim and Garret,
ReplyDeleteWhy don't you two find some work that you can do from the RV? If you're still loving the full time life after a year then it's going to be hard to give it up and go back to a house.
Tonya, we'd both love work at home jobs so we can still travel BUT they're almost impossible to come by. So many people would love
ReplyDelete1- a job to begin with.
2- a work from home job.
We'll be lookin' though.