Brain? Brain? What is brain?

[madbaker]

My brain broke yesterday.

Actually, that's not a bad general statement; but the one that went foop! Zot! was the PDA where I keep all my appointments, passwords, phone numbers...

Fortunately, I'd backed it up relatively recently. However, it'll probably be at least two weeks before it's fixed.

This is the second time in less than two years that this model has conked out. #&*%@#%^*@! I want HP to make a version like they used to build calculators, where they subject them to seven gravities before they approve the model.

Mutter, mutter.

Comments

Brain?

[goldenstag.livejournal.com]

You're using an HP model? Blech. I'd seriously recommend getting something else, either from Palm or from Handspring. Much higher quality. <g> HP computers in general are a royal pain in the a**.

Re: Brain?

[madbaker.livejournal.com]

No, I'm using a Palm. I was contrasting it with HP calculators. I'm still using my HP 15-C from high school. Once in college I accidentally dropped it down the staircase and it hit the unpadded metal rail, bounced, and dropped another story onto the concrete stairs.

Result: a slight gash in the case but no loss of functionality. That's what I'd like in my Palm PDA.

Re: Brain?

[goldenstag.livejournal.com]

Ah. Interesting. I think these things are just more complicated. On the other hand, it would make sense for Palm and everyone else working on them to make them more sturdy, but frankly I think that they'd rather that you bought a new one when that happened.

Reverse Polish Demolition

[fionnbharro.livejournal.com]

Way back when....

Late one saturday night in the undergraduate physics lab in the basement of DeLaRoche hall.... you know, the one next to the north stairwell with the sofa and death-ray machine -- yeah, that one....

Ed Hach (http://tinyurl.com/2zb3x) and I were taking a break from some E&M homework on the blackboard (yes, you do homework on the blackboard as a group), and going through the calculators in the 'lost and found'. We decided to compare them in a drop test down the stairwell. Granted, from third floor to basement, it's only four stories, but it was the best we had.

The results:

Casio will survive a drop from about 10 feet, but will break at the '1 floor' mark.

Texas Instruments will survive a three-story drop with no ill effects. A four story drop caused the LCD panel to pop out.

HP Will survive a four-story drop -- NO PROBLEM.

An HP calculator will NOT survive a four-story drop while a 2.5 kg mass is dropped with it, such that the calculator hits the floor, bounces up to hit the mass falling just inches above it, and is then smashed between the floor and the mass as said mass hits the floor itself.

Re: Brain?

[wingedcorset.livejournal.com]

I did that with a work cell phone. Nextel. I dropped it down a flight of stairs, right after being given a lecture on being careful with it. Result: a slight scratch on the case and better reception than it previously had.

[rustmon.livejournal.com]

why do I believe that electronics today represent cars of yesterday; their life expectancies are incredibly short because they *know* folks will just upgrade to the newer, faster model...

*sigh*

Sorry about that. My trusty weekly calendar still works; I never remember to carry the electronic ones anyway.....

[seamoose.livejournal.com]

I understand. My Palm was beginning to die, but I managed to lose it. It was an old Palm Pilot (basically the II), but until the screen started to go wonky, it was a decent machine. UNFORTUNATELY, when I lost it was just after a catastrophic hard disk failure on the machine that I backed it up on... I think that I have managed to recreate all the data on my new one.

poor dead brain

[corva.livejournal.com]

My first PDA was a hand-me-down. I am still a recovering Luddite and at the time a bit of a techno-phobe. I latched onto it and it became my friend, and my calendar mistress. When it died, it had a number of epilepsy type fits and then went *zit*, I called tech support for some help. They asked me what kind of Palm it was. I told them it was a regular Palm, no number no letter just Palm. There was pause and then the bozo laughed at me. He told me it was so old there wasn't even tech support for it anymore. It was given to a friend who told me he would make some sort of art out of it.

Another gushing fan of vintage HP...

[aastg.livejournal.com]

Sure, their current CEO is a myopic twerp, but my HP 17B calculator is THE GREATEST. They are much valued at the Orifice, because they are the only calculator that can match our origination system's Reg Z calculations (it's what we use to validate our calcs).

Re: Another gushing fan of vintage HP...

[madbaker.livejournal.com]

About 10-15 years ago they wanted to stop producing the HP 12C. After all, it's a vintage calculator, doesn't graph, program, etc.

But it's the unofficial calculator of Wall Street.

Their plan to stop production lasted (maybe) two weeks.