Whoho!

[Sully]

Got the above laptop free from work... Basically they where dumping it in the eco bin for disposal. Some nice cleaning and install of XP and Office 2000 I have got a laptop I actually like working on when sat on the train. Not too small, not too big this oldy is still a goodie.

Anyway the important thing is I got another 2000 words wrote over the last day on the train that normally I spend twidling my thumbs or sleeping. So the fic Seven days should be over sooner rather than later. Would guess going by current speed and hopefully lack of writers block about 2 -3 weeks from now the story will be ready for edit for James to edit up (only he would then be able to give you an estimate on how long it will be from there).

Anyway thats the little bit of news for today. :

[Armageddon]

Sounds good to me! Very nice find. I got some of my hardware from my family when they get new hardware. One of my upcoming setups comes from my aunt. Would make for nice test or play computer. Also nice to hear about the story. Can't wait to see how big it is when finally complete. Will this part be one big part like Meetings was or split into 2 parts?

Also, just out of curiosity, what is this new toy's specs?

Happy writing, good luck and good find!

[guyverfanatic]

Awesome! Free stuff is always good. What are the specs?

I can't wait to see the new story.

[McAvoy]

My squadron just replaced all of our laptops yesterday. I wonder where they go afterwards. 14.1" screens too, which is a good size for portability. I'd like to have one vs. my behemoth 17"one.

Free stuff that you actually want is always great though.

[Sully]

Well over the last 2 weeks I've got two laptops.

The old small one:

IBM X31 important specs:

Uses DDR PC2100 or 2700 2.5V SO-DIMM memory, no support for parity/ECC

Total of 2 memory slot, 1 slot prepopulated with either 256MB or 512MB depending on model

Supports up to two 1GB SO-DIMMs

Supports maximum memory up to 2GB

Dual-mode, high-performance Mobile Intel® Pentium® Processor at 1.3GHz, 1.4GHz, 1.5Ghz, 1.6GHz, 1.7GHz.

Enhanced Intel SpeedStep technology

1024 KB onboard L2 cache memory

I know my one is the 512MB of ram version. It's about 5 years old now so it's technically not the best. But it has a 12.1inch XGA (1024 x 768) active matrix TFT display which is not wide screen and overall makes the laptop and nice size to both look at on screen and type on. Only thing I don't like is the small backspace key.

This laptop took me over 2 days of work (mostly waiting for millions of patches from Microsoft) as the OEM image on the laptop was Windows XP SP1. I've the hard drive backed up through ghost onto my own private server so if the hard drive ever dies I can quickly get another up and running again in about 20 mins. The laptop has a strange qurke of freezing if not plugged in when it goes idle. But tbh I'm not fussed has the battery is ****e given the age of the laptop and Irish Rail trains all now have plugs on them to charge devices like laptops etc.

So then we've the laptop that actually cost me a lot of money!:

NEW Dell Studio 17

Intel® Core™ i3-330M (2.13Ghz, 4Threads, 3MB cache)

Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64bit, English

17.3” High Definition+ (1600x900) LED with TL

1GB ATI Mobility Radeon™ HD 5650 Graphics Card

3072MB 1067MHz Dual Channel DDR3 SDRAM [1x1024 + 1x2048]

320GB (7,200rpm) Serial ATA Hard Drive

DVD +/- RW Drive (read/write CD & DVD) with DVD Burn software

1 year of coverage included with your PC

McAfee® Security Centre - 15 Month Protection - English

Lovely laptop but like McAvoy I find that this size laptop is HUGE it's litrally twice has wide as the X31! Great for gaming and other such stuff so when I get sent to Shannon or some other town that has nothing to do I've an entertainment system to play on rather than watching ****e TV. At the mo though I'm using it less than the X31 I got for free. Odd that

Anyway I'm now into the final battle with the Grakken. Once that is done I can get back to some good ole character driven hate without having to explain who is who after forcing the Grakken to finally have some real characters and develop said characters in a story where there is sooooo many fights isn't easy. As such I wouldn't be at all surprised even after I've said the fiction is wrote it will be a fair few weeks before James and myself are happy with the edits to the story. There's a lot of development in the story and at the mo too little action that needs to be edited in.

This will be one big part , the other previous smaller parts will be merged together so isntead of it being 7 uneven parts it will most likely be 3 or 4 parts to 7 Days. This will be done after 7 Days part 7 is fully published.

I'll have a chat with James at some point over the weekend and we'll decide what will be the best way to get it to you guys. But at the mo personally I'd sooner publish it late and complete rather than fixing it up later in a rewrite (though that might possibly happen later for small edits where Creator needs tobe replaced with Gen for example). The choice "Might" be left up to you guys but again that will not be decided until after the chat with James.

[McAvoy]

I agree 17" laptops are not that portable mainly because they're desktop replacements. I almost got the 20" HP one last year and decided not to just because of the sheer size. In my world, space is a premium. The only reason why I get 17" laptops is because I usually have only one computer at one time. I have a bad history with laptops.

12.1" screen would definitely be useful on deployment. I use my laptop basically as a super expensive and huge portable DVD player.

I am definitely looking forward to the new story.

[Sully]

I am definitely looking forward to the new story.

21000+ words now and still not over. This is pre James edit.

[McAvoy]

That is about half of Meeting of the Warriors.

[Sully]

That is about half of Meeting of the Warriors.

But bear in mind action stuff yet to be wrote and given more detail, and you still have James edit and that's not over yet by any means. The Grakken are in the last part of their battle, which then leaves us in the final phase of the story. And that battle will be nasty and hard fought and will have a few surprises.

All in all, Meetings was 42,500 approx words.

At the moment in it's unfinished and basically about 2/3 stage 7 days part 7 is 21,500 words. It's getting there considering it was 17,000 and stuck at that for 3 odd weeks untill last week when I discovered trains and small laptops work well together

Though I'm tempted to buy a Dell Mini 10 next month.

[jedi-guyver]

Though I'm tempted to buy a Dell Mini 10 next month.

Those netbooks are pretty awesome

[McAvoy]

Going laptop nuts aren't we?

[Sully]

Going laptop nuts aren't we?

Bought it this morning!

[Matt Bellamy]

I'm actually looking at one of these for next weekend...

http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/P ... ME%29.aspx

Though, I'm going to toss another gig of ram on it.

Going laptop nuts aren't we?

Bought it this morning!

Thought you couldn't afford one?

...Could it be possible that you've given up on beer for a week or two?

...Or maybe food...? Yeah, probably food. There is no way you'd give up your beer

[Sully]

Both

[McAvoy]

You must eat and drink alot to save up enough money to buy a laptop within a week or two.

[Matt Bellamy]

You must eat and drink alot to save up enough money to buy a laptop within a week or two.

Of course he does... He's a full blooded Irshmen, living in Ireland.

He'd be filthy rich if it wasn't for the drink.

Granted, that is incredibly common... I've known people who blow more than that in 2 weeks of eating out and partying on the weekends... AND it is only a Netbook.

[McAvoy]

Well I am an Irishman... name only though. Might have 20 to 25% in me.

I have been there before as well. Having alot of money to spend and then blow it all on beer and more beer.

[Sully]

Well I am an Irishman... name only though. Might have 20 to 25% in me.

I have been there before as well. Having alot of money to spend and then blow it all on beer and more beer.

Welcome to club Irish