I must say that Dell is responsive and helpful, but Del somehow fixed himself with no help from either the technician or me. Since I couldn’t see anything on the monitor and couldn’t shut the laptop off, I unplugged it, let it run down its battery and eventually it must have shut off by itself. After hearing back from Dell with the troubleshooting steps of hooking up a different monitor to check if it was that, the video card or the motherboard, I tested the power button and everything came up fine.
This is the one thing I don’t like about a laptop, I guess. I’m familiar with hardware, and if something goes wrong with a pc I have no problem with opening it up and rooting around inside. With Del, I am automatically dependent upon a systematic support procedure, and why in hell they can’t print a full owner’s manual when you pay $2,500 for a machine is beyond me. How can you get online for help or to read the manual if the computer doesn’t work? Luckily, I have other computers and two internet connections to reach help.
Anyway, I don’t have a clue what went wrong, nor do I know how it was fixed. I don’t like that. Then again, with a computer that talks to me and has pegged me as a human, I suppose I must learn how it thinks.
The Lost Children: A Charity Anthology
I’d suggest a few things: check your power scheme and play with it. The power button if depressed for 4 seconds will turn the machine off. Often a dell laptop will hiccup coming back from hibernation or standby. Also, learn your fn hotkeys and get accustomed to the sounds the machine makes and its automated tendencies. Really, everything you need to know is on the keyboard.
It’s an animal. All animals have their quirks.
I will, thank you.
But shouldn’t he get use to my habits as well? I have quirks too, you know.