The Laptops of My Life

Edward A. Quinto
Surely, it is with personal fondness and nostalgia that we
vividly remember our very first laptop. We must have
gone to a big computer shop and after much deliberation
on a range of brands, functionalities and prices; we finally
bought and brought one home. That laptop became one of
our most treasured possessions for it stores the very
essence of what we are and what we hold dear in life. I
believe that a laptop is the most important gadget for
students and professionals in todays digital age and
Cloud-based Technology which is being challenged now by
the much smaller, handier and cheaper smartphones. For
most of us, the laptop is also a very personal gadget with
which we immediately get hooked up to and at times
interacting with it for several hours daily. The emergence
of the laptops can be described as one of the most
significant technological inventions of our modern time.
Stored in our laptops are our cherished photos, music,
videos, documents and letters; it essentially holds the
daily records of our lives. Indeed, the laptop or notebook
can be viewed as our alter ego or another self, how it
is designed in terms of covers, how it appears, its
wallpapers and what its stored data are reflect the traits
and personality of the owner. Indeed, one can say tell me
the contents of your laptop and I will tell you what you are.
On a much grander scale, the laptop opens up a whole new
world on how we view and run our lives in this
communication tangled age of the World Wide Web. We
surf the web just using our fingertips and marvel at the
instant information and dazzling images we can have
access to. In my grade school to high school days, I
remember that I have to go to the library, open a tall
cabinet, take out a heavy volume of the Encyclopedia
Americana or Britannica and flip through its pages to get
the information I need. Those days are gone as the large
volumes of encyclopedias are going the way of the
dinosaurs due to the asteroid impact brought about by the

World Wide Web. Academics create lectures, make exams,

communicate with our superiors, peers and students,
compose posters for presentation in scientific conventions
and write papers for publication in scientific journals. On a
more personal note, we collect photos, watch videos and
movies and listen to our favorite music using our laptops.
My very first laptop came in the year 2002. Since then, I
owned 16 laptops of which 15 were purchased and one was
a great gift; some of these laptops I still have with me and
others I have given away or sold to relatives, friends and
colleagues. I guess I can be called a Gadget Hoarder for
collecting almost one new laptop every year. The very first
laptop that I owned was a high-end and top of the line
Hewlett-Packard laptop known as the HP Omnibook 6100. I
surely cannot afford to buy an HP Omnibook 6100 in those
days but I was fortunate to be given one by HP Singapore
and HP Hong Kong for winning the 2002 Asia-Pacific Young
Inventors Awards (YIA). The Omnibook 6100 also came
with a high-end all in one laser printer, scanner and copier
which probably served as the prototype and standard for
todays all-in-one inkjet and laser printers. To this day, my
Omnibook 6100 is still functioning though running slowly
on a Windows XP operating system. In the past, it
seriously broke down twice but I was able to have it
repaired, the first time at the computer center of
university and 3 years ago at Gilmore Street where its OS
of Windows 2000 Professional was replaced with an XP
Professional. It was only through my Omnibook 6100 only
that I owned a pre-installed expensive OS Windows
Professional. Nowadays, I settle for the much cheaper XP
Home, Windows 7 Basic, Windows 7 Home Premium,
Windows 8.1 and recently a Windows 10 OS. It is also the
only laptop I have that can still operate the 3.5 storage
diskette which was the main storage device 12 years ago.
Nowadays, its the USB, Microcard or the DVD. In addition,
my Omnibook 6100 already has a dvd disc player, a VGA
and the earliest form of two USB ports. I owe much to HP
for this laptop for it served me so well through so many
fruitful
years
of
academic
work
and
personal
entertainment. Since then, I was so grateful to HP that I
preferred buying an HP laptop over other brands for my
personal computers. However, there was a time when I
tried out other brands of PCs after having been so

disappointed with an expensive HP product that I bought.

These are the recent photos of my HP Omnibook 6100
which is over 13 years old!

The 3.5 diskette which is not anymore found in todays laptops. I

guess my students are no longer familiar with this kind of computer
storage device.

Shown above, is the entry port for the 3.5 diskette of the HP
Omnibook 6100. Todays generation of college students does not
anymore recognize the 3.5 diskette much less the floppy disc of
Wordstar of a bygone age. Now, everything is either the USB or
DVD Disc or the microcard.

To the right is the detachable dvd compartment of the HP

Omnibook 6100

My HP Omnibook in 2007

The HP Omnibook 6100 was followed by my HP-Compaq

laptop. This is my second oldest laptop operating on an XP
Home Edition. This is the first laptop that I sold to a friend
after owning it for 2 or 3 years. Unfortunately, I do not
have an existing photo of my second laptop. But I still have
some recollection of its screen wallpaper shown below.

From the website of HP

My third laptop is another HP-Compaq laptop working on

the higher Windows 7 Home Premium edition. Amazingly,
my third laptop has not yet broken down since I bought it
in 2008 or 2009. In fact this laptop has already outlived its
battery but still works perfectly fine when plug directly
though some of the keyboard letters do not work anymore.
It runs on Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium and Office
Home and Student 2007. My HP-Compaq has served me
well through the years which never gave up on me when I
was preparing my scientific convention posters as well as
my powerpoint class lectures through the years.

Next to my HP-Compaq, is my wonderful and highly reliable

HP Pavilion working on Windows 7 Home Premium and
intel 5 and Office Home and Student 2007. This laptop has
worked so well and dependably over these years on
countless posters and powerpoint lectures without ever
bogging down. Its battery is still Ok as well as its keyboard
and all its functionalities.

The biggest disappointment of my life for a laptop came

from the HP Artist Edition. It is a very expensive piece of
technology that went completely bonkers in just two years
of careful use. At first I was so impress with the HP Artist
Edition with its Avant Garde design and set-up screen
initializations. It is the most expensive piece of technology
that I bought in my life which works on Windows Vista. My
frustration and dissatisfaction with the HP Artist Edition
was what made me venture into other brands of laptop. I
couldnt believe it when it went bonkers in just over 2
years. I went immediately to the HP Repair Service Center
located in the old library of the Thomas Jefferson Cultural
Center in Buendia Extension, Makati to have it repaired. By
the way, I had beautiful experiences at the Thomas
Jefferson Cultural Center (TJCC) back in high school and
early college days. I spent countless hours from lunchtime
till evening reading all the wonderful American magazines,
books and stored microfiles that I can get my eyes on in
the comfort of a modern, air-conditioned and spacious
library. Two days after the repair of my HP Artist Edition
by the HP Service Center, it went kaput again to my dismay
and this time I went back to the HP repair Service but did
not returned back to pick it up. I surrendered it completely
to the HP Repair Service Center since I do not have the
luxury of time to return to pick it up all the way from my
place of work in Sampaloc, Manila. In my high school and
early college life days, the traffic is still bearable, one can
travel to different parts of the city in just an hour or so but

now it became worse that I will dare to crisscross the city

only during weekends.

Photo From HP Website

Screen of my HP Artist Edition showing the photo of my first

bioluminescence illuminated Christmas tree in history

Next is my MSI Notebook. It is much smaller and lighter in

weight yet quite handy for use in my class lecture classes
because if its VGA connection for the projector. Recently it
malfunctioned and it was the first laptop whose software
content I reformatted. I was able to care for it and nurse it
back to healthy conditions. Now its functioning well again.
It works on Windows 7 Home Basic and Office Home and
Student 2007. Most notebooks sold now in the market do
not have a VGA inlet which is quite unfortunate on my
part.

After my MSI, I bought another HP Pavilion operating on

Windows 7 Basic and genuine Microsoft Office Home and
Student 2010. Since I found out that I couldnt do much
with a Windows 7 Basic, I decided to sell it to a teaching
colleague of mine for one-third its original price with 4
more months of product warranty to go.
Next is my SONY Vaio, it is another laptop venture that is
not an HP or an HP-Compaq brand. Its audio output is the
best among all my laptops but it does not have a VGA
outlet so I cannot use it for my class lectures unless I
procure so sort of adapter. It operates fast working on
Microsoft Windows 8 and Office Home and Student 2010.
Last week, I was informed by sales agents at Abenson in
Manila that Sony has stopped producing the Viao. Well I
guess my white Vaio could one of the last of its kind for
SONY and so it could be a museum piece someday.

I guess, the stiff competition for the sale of personal

computers has taken its toll on the production of
seemingly well-established laptop brands. Even HP is not
immune to this trend of global slowdown in the sale of PCs.
Recently, I saw in the news that the HP company will be
broken down in two with each having its own commercial
objectives though HP will still continue to make and sell
personal computers. Well in HPs heyday, I can count 7 HP
laptops out of 10 other brands owned by my co-teachers in
the academe.
Next is my MacBook Pro, truly an amazing and handsome
piece of technology. From the hype of Apple brands from
cellphones to tablets to PCs, I told myself that I have to
own one though apple brands are known to be very

expensive. Unboxing my MacBook Pro was so thrilling and

the mere sliding of my hands on its smooth metal casing
stimulates a sense in me of technological perfection. Its
keyboard that lights up in the dark is a much welcome trait
which suits me quite well since I like working late at night
with my room lights off.

Recently, I also bought an ACER Aspire Switch 10 with 500

GB storage inspired by its tablet laptop conversion
functionality. As a laptop I find it rather small for my use so
I also sold it to a colleague at half the price and still under
6 months warranty. For laptops, I want a big screen but
now have the standard 14 diagonal sized screen. Its
difficult now to find a 15.6 screen.

A year ago, I returned back to buying the HP brand again.

This one operates on Windows 8.1 and Office Home and
Student 2010 but is no longer with me since I was able to
sell it at almost one-fourth its original price. Sorry I dont
have any photo of that laptop with me but last month my
co-teacher who bought from me brought to school and its
still functioning in tip top shape. The leopard skin hard
plastic cover given to me by the computer shop when I
bought it still there.
I also bought an HP Intel Celeron laptop that I manage to
sell at almost one-fourth the price.

My latest laptop is this thinly cute shiny charcoal black HP

laptop. It is an HP Pavilion 14 Notebook PC. So far it looks
and operates Ok that I hope it will last longer but I found
out that it has no VGA inlet.

To sum it all up, since 2002 I bought and owned 15 brand

new laptops: 7 HP, 2 HP-Compaq, 1 MSI, 1 Apple MacBook
Pro, 1 Acer Aspire Switch 10, 1 Samsung, 1 Sony Viao and
1 Toshiba.
The monitor and laser printer below are the promotional
giveaways for the purchase of a Samsung Laptop.

Many of these laptops I already sold to friends and

colleagues and given as gifts to my relatives and many are
still under my possession. Surely, they made my life
colorful and exciting, the mere act of installing genuine
Microsoft Office applications like Word, Powerpoint and
Excel from a flashy metallic-sheen disc and antivirus
programs downloaded from the internet and the transfer
of personal data to a brand new laptop were thrilling
moments like owning a laptop for the first time all over
again. I already bought 4 genuine copies of the Microsoft
Office Home and Student 2007 and 2010. You get full
benefits from the use of genuine OS and Office like regular
updates, care and protection from Microsoft. In addition to
my laptops, I also have the following gadgets; a Nokia cp
of which I must have owned 7 types of advancing
functionalities through the years. Recently, I owned an
iphone 5S, Ipad 1 and 2, LG G Watch, Starmobile Intel
Engage 10, Alcatel One Touch Pop and a Sony Xperia Ultra
T2. I am still thinking of whether I buy an Iphone 6S plus or
a Samsung Galaxy Note Edge this Christmas. Samsungs spen is a very tempting functionality not found in any
iphone. As for printers, I owned an HP 1420, HP 4260 AllIn-One printer, a Samsung Laser Printer and now I have a
Canon P200 All-In-One printer. Not to mention, buying
several versions of the internet wireless sticks and pocket
wifis from Smart and Globe since they both introduced the
use of these gadgets decades ago. I believe that Smart and
Globe have to canonized me for all the saintly patience I
went through using their gadgets in most instances, losing

money when these wireless internet gadgets were not

working at all or working at a snails pace. For my internet
connection I now have to resort to the more dependable
and faster PLDT Home DSL since at the top of the Sun
Residences where I live, these wireless internet gadgets
have been rendered useless. Well those are the wonderful
and the not so wonderful gadgets that I owned and needed
to live connected and functioning in our internet age.