My New Aspire

My New Acer Aspire

I recently hinted here that there was what seemed like a miracle in the making for replacing my cranky, quirky, aging netbook.  This is the story I promised.

It was a week ago tonight--about this same hour--when my sister came in this room and asked me if I'd taken the med that make me groggy yet.  I thought she was reminding me since it was more than an hour past my bedtime and I was still up and still working on my post.  But when I shook my head and said "I was just about to", she said, "Good.  Come out here."

I followed her out to the living room where I saw my nephew seated on the couch with a computer on his lap.  She directed me to Mom's recliner and then sat beside her son.  Then she proceeded to tell me how shortly after Dad died they had received a notice in the mail regarding a class action suit for owners of a certain model of eMachine computers like Dad's.  They joined it and the results just recently arrived.  They were given a choice between a $60 cash payout or $365 credit applied to a selection of refurbished Acer computers.

My sister said she had then suggested to Mom that they use the credit to help me get my new computer.  It has been no secret here that I've been having knock-down-drag-out tussles with my netbook for months and live in fear that some vital function will quit at any moment.  I had started saving for a replacement but was waiting for my SSI disability to kick in again before I could hope to have enough.  That could be months.

So Mom had agreed and Carri had given her son the task of watching the list of approved machines for one that would fit my needs.  He had found one but if I agreed they would need what I had already saved to put with the settlement credit.  It didn't take me long to agree once Levi described the machine:

Acer Aspire (I liked it already just for the name!)
15.5 inch screen
8G RAM
1 Terabyte hard drive
CD/DVD read/write
Windows 8
4.5lbs

They completed the order that night and it arrived today.

My netbook sits on my laptop's lap.

I've spent the entire afternoon and evening learning my way around. it.  I learned after I got onto the desktop that it was a touch screen as well.  Even Levi was surprised by that and also how thin and light weight and how good the screen resolution was.  He was jealous.

Another thing I discovered after it was on: the keyboard is backlit so I can read the keys without having a light shining on them that puts a glare on the screen.

There are very few aps on board tho.  Which is why I'm still using the netbook to do this post.  I had to edit the photos--crop and resize and auto adjust and after trying out a free photo edit ap I found in the ap store and then the one that was on board and finding the first inadequate and the second too complex to learn inside an hour I gave up.  I needed the Microsoft Office Photo Manager which I knew my way around.

It is going to be a chore to get all my fav aps downloaded and their preferences reset.  Then I'll need my files all transferred or synced with the netbook (all 260+ G) and I'm not sure how so I need my nephew's help but he is a night owl and was heading to bed soon after I pulled it out of the box.  He'll probably be up soon but I'm already overdue for bed.

Tho my old night owl self is trying to assert primacy again tonight.  It is hard to walk away.

BTW the image of the drum set in the top picture?  That is not a desk top.  That was a 'game' I downloaded from the ap store.  It is touch screen drums.  Each drum and cymbal makes a distinctive sound when touched.  I love it.

It was free.  So was the Microsoft Solitaire Suite and the Tetris game I got.  I saw bunches more free aps to try out.