Thursday, June 2, 2016

New Laptop Ordered

My trusty Asus Netbook EEE has seen it's last days. It has been a faithful backup when we travel, easy to carry around in my backup looking for WIFI, 10.1 inch computer. The battery is the original. I bought it in 2009 for $430. Problem is, it has Windows XP which is no longer supported and I keep getting annoying notices on screen.

This alone did not bother me but last winter I started having trouble charging the battery and now it will not charge at all. I could invest $30 on a new Ebay battery but I think there are also problems in the charging system. To top it off, I used Crazy Glue to attach a replacement rubber foot to the bottom and some crazy glue ran in between the battery and the body, gluing the battery solidly to the computer.

After playing with this problem for a while today I decided to replace the computer. I wanted a small unit because I like to use it while laying on the bed in the motorhome while Norma watches her movies and the laptop is just too big. Yes, I know. Pretty lazy but I enjoy it.

I searched eBay and Amazon.ca this morning and finally settled on a refurbished HP 5103 Mini computer. It has good ratings on old review sites from back when it sold for $650 US new. I bought it from a Canadian seller for $105 plus $12 shipping. It comes with Windows 7 but there are lots of them for sale on the Internet with Windows 10 installed so I know it will take the upgrade. I actually emailed the seller to ask him if he would do the upgrade for me before he ships it. If he does, he does, otherwise I will do it myself as I have already done three upgrades so it is not something I am afraid of tackling.

It is a pretty basic computer. It will not do "gaming" but neither do I. I want it for Blogging, browsing, emailing and Quicken. Not much else so this will do me.
Mini 5103 N455 10.1 250/2GB

11 comments:

  1. Good deal Croft! Kevin will be proud! The old laptop owed you nothing and if you can squeeze a few years out of this one it's all good. Happy blogging!

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  2. Super glued the battery to the computer. Got a good laugh at that one.

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    1. I was lucky I didn't glue my hand to it as well. When I worked I super glues a plastic part I was trying to repair to mt hand and walked from store to store like that trying to find something to release it. That got a few chuckles around Prince Rupert, BC as well.

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  3. I just tried to 'upgrade' my Asus EEE to Windows 10 from the Windows 7 that came on it and now have no video. I'll image it back to Win 7 and maybe try again. Or not. At this point it is 3 or 4 down on the list of computers used.

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    1. I knew from somewhere that the Asus would not take Windows 10. You just confirmed it, thanks. Now, good luck reverting yours!

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  4. Pretty hard to go wrong for that price. Good deal!

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    1. Now that you have confirmed it, I know it was a good deal! :)

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  5. Super gluing the battery to the computer is a good way not to lose it ;)

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  6. Sounds like a good deal hope it works well for you.

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  7. You could probably get by with a Chromebook.

    But this one should work fine too.

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    1. I kind of looked at the Chromebook but to be honest I wanted something simple that I was used to (Windows) and had a hard drive. I didn't want to jump onto (fall off of?) another learning curve.

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