Shopping

Okay, so maybe I am not a patient shopper when it comes to clothes, but hardware and software is a pleasure. I knew what my requirements were and spent considerable time researching.  And of course once I bought the laptop, every one told me what a mistake I’d made. Because I have many heavy programs open at the same time, and compile large documents (in either RoboHelp or Acrobat), I decided that I needed an i7. The only one I found that didn’t have a built-in Hebrew operating system (death for professionals writing in English), was HP, and everyone says don’t buy HP laptops. So I ignored them and just pray that I am the exception to the apparent rule. We have had an HP desktop for many years and I have never had a better (or quieter) PC, so let’s keep our fingers crossed.

Then I had to buy everything else – an external hard disk for backups, extended HP warranty to 3 years, MS Office, etc. Oh, and I had to upgrade Windows Premium to Ultimate so that I could run a virtual XP environment (necessary for RoboHelp). I know, Professional was enough, but there was nary a copy of Professional in the whole chain, so I paid an extra NIS 250 for Ultimate.

I was very naive and thought it would take the bright young things at the store one hour to upload the software. I came back the following afternoon.

Finally, I was recommended a software firm where I could buy Acrobat 9 Pro and RoboHelp 8, both Adobe products. They are seriously expensive, especially RoboHelp. They took nearly two weeks to arrive, but that is another story.