Let There be Weeping, and Gnashing of Teeth

I’ve predicted that my laptop (Sony Vaio PCG-TR3A; 512MB RAM, 1000mHz processor, 40GB HD) would be put on the “List of Things Timmy Wants Replaced” because of a hardware failure, not a software failure. I wish I didn’t know if I was right or not.

A few days ago, I turned it on, and discovered a 1-inch wide cluster of vertical, multi-colored lines, and a 1/4-inch cluster of horizontal, black and white line going across my screen. Eek! I’ve tried cycling the pixels, the press-on-it-with-a-damp-cloth method, and the tap-it-with-a-pen-lid method, and nothing works. I also asked for help on the Ubuntu Forums, and they told me that it sounded like my pixels were gone for good.

This is the part where the teeth-gnashing starts.

I searched eBay for either the same laptop, or a replacemnt screen ($261), both of which were too expensive to consider. And the money I have in the bank is for stuff like cars and college, not fixing a computer annoyance. I may be able to complete a programming job which would cover a new one (I’ve been wanting to have a full GB of RAM for a while. Maybe I’ll live dangerously and get two…or four), or if that doesn’t work out I’ll sit tight and wait and see if somebody I know is getting rid of their “old” laptop.

In the meantime, though, I’m left guessing about what a few of the words in the middle of my screen are, and shifting windows, StarCraft units, and text around to compensate. It could be worse–it’s been a much bigger inconvenience to boot up to a GRUB Error 17. But I can fix a GRUB Error 17. Oh well.

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I tried to take a picture, but the several I took didn’t look right at all.