I didn’t want to do it. I don’t like setting up new computers because not only is it a lot of work, but it takes weeks before it feels like “home.” My preference is that everything I buy should last forever, but that’s not the way it works anymore.

This (current older) computer can’t power through Photoshop. RAM isn’t its only problem. It’s got 16 GB which in a previous life would have powered through anything. Today, just as there is no such thing has having too many closets, you can’t have too much memory. Whatever you’ve got, Adobe will build a version of Photoshop that will suck your memory dry.

The new one isn’t one of the classy name brands. Not a Mac, Alien, or Dell. The prices on those machines are out of sight for me.

So what’s in this one?

It’s an LG with 15.6″ Full HD – 1920 x 1080, which is the same as my current model. It runs an Intel 11th Gen i7 – 1195G7 Processor with Intel Iris XE Graphic integrated in the processor. I would have preferred a dedicated graphics card, but new computers are integrating graphics with the processor and supposedly they work better. I hope so.

It has 32GB LPDDR4X 4266mhz RAM and a 1TB PCIe M.2 NVMe SSD. It should be fast.

2-USB-C ports with Thunderbolt 4 support, 2-USB-A 3.2 ports, a full-size HDMI port, a microSD card reader (which is completely useless because cameras still use full-size SDs), and a 3.5mm audio jack. It has military specs and only weighs 2.5 pounds. My current computer weighs close to six pounds. I sometimes think It’s trying to kill me. By the end of the day, I look at it, exhausted, and think: “I only have to lift it one more time.” I sometimes quit because I’m too tired to move it even once more time.

The frame on the new one is a full-metal magnesium alloy. I don’t toss my computer around, but they do slide off my lap to the floor or off small tables. It’s a floor with rugs, but still. it gets dropped occasionally. Also, I eat when there’s a computer nearby. Almost always there’s a computer nearby. Also, it has a bigger keyboard. Maybe I’ll be able to write something without more typos than correct words?

It has Windows 11 installed. This time because I’m not merely getting old — I AM old — I’m hiring our local computer guy to set it up. I have always done setups myself, but I’m tired. It’s time to pass the wand.

This older computer has been crashing, locking, or freezing so often I can’t even count. We have an unstable ISP and every time it glitches, my computer freezes. Usually is comes back on its own after a couple of minutes, but I have to reboot it several times after I work in Photoshop because Windows machines are not good about emptying the cache. This is a very old problem they have never fixed.

These days, every time I got up and go away for even a couple of minutes, it will have crashed by the time I get back. Worse, it locks while I am using and for some reason, usually right before I save.

Owen and I spent hours going over the available computers that had at least 24GB of memory, good graphics, and at least 1 TB of hard drive. I wasn’t going to get everything I wanted at a price I could manage, but this is close.

We have gone from poor to flat broke. I refused to use a credit card for this. I want it paid for and not lingering forever in the morass of credit debt. I’m in shock, but I’m not further in debt.

It was now or later. If I didn’t do it now, it was going to be a future emergency. I don’t make well-considered purchases in emergencies. All things considered, I got a good deal. What I need doesn’t come cheap. This cost almost the same thing ($20 less, actually) as the older computer.

Waiting won’t get me a better price either because as far as I can tell? Prices aren’t going down.

Categories: #Photography, Anecdote, Computers, Operating System, Technology