Thursday, June 14, 2012

wet chips

Remember that nice laptop I bought last January?

Light enough for traveling?  Rugged enough with its solid state drive to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune.

The one that cost more than my month-long cruise -- which says something about the expense of the computer, the reasonableness of the cruise price, or both.  Or neither, for that matter.

Well, I bet you are ready to hear that it has died from the heat and humidity after a mere four months of service.  Exactly like its Sony cousin back in 2009.

But if you think that.  You are wrong.  Close.  But still wrong.

Yesterday afternoon, I was sitting in what has become my afternoon cocoon.  In the shade of my patio with a nice electric breeze.  Catching up on reading The Economist online.  Because my mail copy has taken French leave the past two months.

I swatted at one of the flies that hatched out in our recent rains.  And missed.  Well, I missed the fly.  But I managed to knock over a bottle of water.  On my lap top.

After having done all the dumb things (like leaving am open water bottle next to my computer, I did the smart things.  I pulled out the power adapter.  Held the power switch down until the power light went out.  And turned the computer over to let as much water as possibler drain out.

Now, I will wait.  I will left it upside down to dry out over the next day or so.  Of course, not much dries out around here this time of year.

I will then try the only test that will let me know if it is alive or on the do not resuscitate list.  If it will turn on using battery power, I will be home free.  To ruin it in some more creative fashion.

For the next two days, I am not certain if I will post anything.  But you will soon be the first to know whether I am in the market for another computer.

24 comments:

DonCuevas said...

I would immolate myself if I'd done that. But, I confess, I do eat and drink alongside my laptop. I have developed considerable skill in this area.

Buena suerte, Steve.

Saludos,Don Cuevas 

Francisco said...

While boating I once knocked my super radio into the water, it submerged to a depth of at least 18 inches.  With my cat like reflexes I grabbed it lifted out of the water and was still working as the water was gushing out.  That was some radio, it functioned for years afterward.
  Would placing your laptop in front of one your many fans help dry it?

Leah Flinn said...

I have done similar things to my laptop and it has always made remarkable recoveries. No permanent damage done. At least not that we can tell.

Felipe Zapata said...

I washed some curtains yesterday. Hung them on the line, and they were dry in about five seconds. Might have been a bit longer but not much.

Buena suerte with the computer.

norm said...

Buy a big bag of rice, pour it in a plastic storage box, set that puppy down on top of the rice and close it up for a day or so. It should suck any water out of the computer.   

John Calypso said...

Bummer - my bet is it will survive. YEARS ago my father left his fancy transistor radio (very high tech at that time) in his cooler as he was leaving the Indy 500 race. Forgetting about it - it drowned in melted ice water.

He gave it to me to play with assuming it was dead.  I did as you did and I pulled it apart and dried it as well. Two days later it worked! A $75 radio for a 12 year old was a boon to be sure. 

He took it back!

dunno said...

 http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/gizmos/2003/03/the_war_machine.html

Cdn Cat said...

If a cell phone can be revived from a swimming pool by placing it into a baggie of rice, maybe a laptop could too. You will need a large airtight bag and a fair bit of rice. Worth giving it a try...if all else fails.

Steve Cotton said...

Fortunately, my error was simply water.  If it had been one of my Coke Zero, lime juice, maraschino cherry concoctions, the outcome would have been a bit more-- sticky.

Steve Cotton said...

I thought about the fan, as well.  I turned the bedroom table fan on high, and let it blow across the laptop for most of the night.

Steve Cotton said...

 And that appears to be the case with mine.  I am not a patient man.  Instead of waiting for the usually-prescribed 48 hours, I fired it up this morning.  All seems to be well.

Steve Cotton said...

Even with our incredibly high humidity, I seem to have had the same luck.

Steve Cotton said...

I was ready to retrieve the weevil-infested rice to try that option.  It now appears to be unnecessary.

Steve Cotton said...

Such are the wages of sons with skills.

Steve Cotton said...

 I thought about buying one of those.  It was not that much more expensive than my Sony Z series.  But the military laptop is heavy.  The Sony's best feature is its lack of weight.

Steve Cotton said...

Now that my lap top is working, again, I can use the rice for rice pudding -- as it was intended.

Oreen Scott said...

Oh my goodness! What a mess. I hope everything stored in it is also stored elsewhere. In 2008, my MacBook Air was stolen and I hadn't saved everything. Now my photos go up on Picaso and my documents are filed in dropbox.Clouds, I trust.

The ghosts of photos lost still haunt.

Steve Cotton said...

I store almost no data in it due to its relatively small (but speedy) hard drive. All of my photographs are on a portable hard drive. And my financial, family tree, music, and movies are on butterfly drives. It is almost like the early PC days. The larger problem s losing one of those drives.

Jdreeves said...

My laptop shared my beer once.

Steve Cotton said...

I'll bet it made neither one of you very happy.

Kim G said...

You should consider keeping your laptop in  a plastic bag with desiccant when not in use. That would probably prolong its life by years.  And when the time comes to replace it, consider a Panasonic Toughbook. I know a guy who has one and swears by it.

http://www.panasonic.com/business/toughbook/laptop-computers.asp

Saludos,

Kim G
Boston, MA
Where we've so far had good luck with laptop longevity, but back up often in case our luck changes.

Steve Cotton said...

 My problem is that it is seldom off.  But it sounds like a good idea.

Shannon Casey said...

I did exactly the same thing. Todd was not impressed. It did dry out and still works thankfully. I can't say the same for the Kindle that I sat on though.

Steve Cotton said...

 Good news for the computer.  Not so much for the Kindle.