*snickers* Rawrbucks. ^_^ That is way too cute - but effective! Well now you'll have to use your paws for communication. :3

*giggle* Knowing me, probably a combination of paw gestures and muffled squeaks. I think up to half of my normal communication is that anyway...

*laughs* ARG... stop upping the cute levels!

So what happened to the old system? Need any help with setup/tweaking of the new one?

My old HP laptop had been with me about four years, though only one of those had been with it as my primary machine. Zelandeth is pretty good with computers and such so he helped me investigate and diagnose it, but it seemed to be an internal problem with the graphics card. Computer had no monitor output at all suddenly, even on an external monitor. We tried a few things but narrowed it down to that, and there didn't seem to be any possibility of swapping out the graphics card for a new one or anything. So we reluctantly had to call it dead.

The new machine is a Lenovo that seems to be working very well. Had the specs I was hoping for at a very good price, and the frame for it feels very solid. Doesn't have the flex that so many modern laptops do, including my old HP. And I got lucky and found one that still had Windows 7, so I'm on pretty familiar territory there. If I'd gotten stuck with Windows 8 I was going to give it a brief try, but was fully expecting to set up a dual boot system with Linux Mint, after your recommendations. Zel's actually been playing around with Mint lately based on your praise for it, and seems to be finding it very agreeable. So it's nice knowing I can fall back on that if ever I need to! As it is though, Windows 7 seems to be working well enough for my needs, so I'm content to stick with that if no need for change arises. I've got all of my programs and documents transferred over (the hard drive was undamaged on my old lappy and I had two recent backups, so that was never a concern) so the only issues now are just tweaking and fine-tuning of individual program preferences and whatnot. And as such things go, GIMP is a particular twitchy case! But generally I think I'm getting by pretty well. Thanks for the offer though!

Hah, good that you found a Windows 7 one at least. Glad to hear that Zel's digging Mint so far too. ^_^ At least with that sorta failure you don't lose anything, just have to go through a bit of frustration. And no, you rarely can replace the GPU in laptops as it's usually part of the motherboard. Only on some models is it a chip that can be changed, and quite often the cost of doing so is prohibitive. Glad it worked out in the end. ^_^

Yeah, very much so. It's frustrating, and definitely is a -very- strong point in favour of desktops over laptops. If I had the space to accommodate one I'd prefer a desky, but between space and how much I'm still travelling up and down the country, a laptop is still kind of what I need right now. It's just frustrating that most laptops seem so cheaply built and made to fail after about two years, unless you start shelling out a lot of money for a high-end business machine or something. I'm hoping this one will be a good compromise though, it sure feels more solid and better ventilated than my old one.

So yeah, just happy I didn't lose anything, and very pleased I managed to find a Win7 machine that had all the specs I was hoping for and more. I think the new machine will work out well. ^^

Yeah, good laptops are pricey. Usually you have to spend around $1500 US and up for them, but even they aren't immune to issues. Best system is to have both, if you can swing it. :/ Eventually you might have the room to do a desky (love that term, hehe).

That's the hope... once my life is more settled and less transitional, have a decent laptop for travel and mobility but have my main computer be a desky. But yeah, in general I prefer buying tech that is going to be good quality and last me well if I take reasonable care of it. I don't like buying cheap crap that's made to fail, and yet it seems like that's so much of what the laptop market is flooded with these days.

Aye, welcome to today's disposable technology society. :/

Indeed. It's something Zelandeth and I regularly gripe about!

Not as though half of the contents of this room being over forty years old and going strong says anything about how things have changed...

*grins*

Yay for sign language?

haha, very funny!

COFFEE CUP SLEEVE IS SUPER EFFECTIVE

Glad you like! ^^ And yes, it does seem to have done its job...

Very nice drawing, love the litle background story hehe.
this also looks quite realistic, from the light/shading effects! ^_^

Thanks! :) Glad they turned out well, and very glad you like. ^^

This made me giggle. :)

Hehe! I'm very glad. ^^

Hey! in no way is 2 sugarxs and 4 sweetners excessive!!!

Is a BIG coffee ^_^

This is very true. I have most definitely learned my lesson and will absolutely never ever tease you about your coffee habits again. ^^

Hell, I've put... 3x that amount in a half-sized cup?
Course, I've got a sweet tooth the size of Texas, so that's not surprising for me.

Just realized the "Rawbucks" in the background
GODDAMNIT IT MADE MY DAY XD!
I dont like coffee, but i'd still go and sit at Rawrbucks because...rawr! :D

Hehe! Glad you liked that, I couldn't help myself. XD I'm a bit variable on coffee myself, but I can usually find something along the lines of tea or hot cocoa that sounds good when I happen to find myself in a coffee shop.

I'm going to do this to the next dragon fursoot I find, with a muzzle small enough. I mean, the next fursooter that's a friend too X)

*giggles!* I imagine it'd depend on the fursuit if the size is right or not, but I sure thought the idea was cute. Pics if it happens! ;D

Hehe! Very sweet of you. ^^ No worries though, I don't actually mind it too much! Though getting it back off around that nose horn could get a little interesting.