On the other hand.... (computer update)

My new-to-me computer is happy, and so am I!

While I was in New York last month my sister gave me her old laptop, so that I would have a computer running Windows XP. It needed a new battery so I ordered one before I left New York. It arrived two days after I returned home. It was the wrong battery.

When I called the customer service department the representative was polite but firm: it was the right battery. The fact that it was the wrong shape and size, and didn't fit into the enclosure, did not dissuade him. He did issue a return authorization and arrange for FedEx to pick the battery up at their expense.

That left me without a battery and without the money I had paid them, pending their 15-day refund process. The existing battery had about a 40 minute useful life, and I really didn't have a convenient place to use it plugged in. As a result, I didn't use it much at all, and didn't begin transfering software and data from my old laptop, in order to travel with only one.

This week I bit the bullet and used money from next month's budget to buy another battery, from a different online vendor. It arrived today, while my friend was here. I immediately installed the battery and began charging it, but otherwise left it alone. When my friend left I noticed that the "charging" light was out. The new battery was fully charged in less than two hours. Yippee!! I now have a 3+ hour battery life.

Now I have 48 hours to transfer everything before I return to New York.