Yesterday when I went to my main PC I was confronted by a black screen. I quickly verified that the PC was fine but the monitor was malfunctioning. I replaced it temporarily with a spare (I tend to have spares on hand for most computer components), checked how quickly Amazon would get me a replacement, then ordered a replacement online with Micro Center. An hour or so later I hopped in my car, drove to the Micro Center store (about 7.5 miles away), got into the queue for Internet orders, picked up my replacement monitor and took it home.
It took me an hour or so to get the new monitor working. As it turned out although the cable I had been using worked fine with other monitors it didn’t work with the new monitor. Fortunately, I had a spare cable (remember: I keep spares) and my spare cable worked. So, a mere two and half hours after I realized there was a problem I was back in operation. That sort of cut into my day.
For you, someone having a high level of diagnostic competence as well as “spare parts†to repair computer problems, it was a couple of lost hours to your day. For most other people, with embarrassingly absent computer skill sets, the lost time might have been days layered with tons of frustration.
Computer parts are through the roof. A lot of the available components are older generations, and they cost two or three times as much as usual.
I was hoping to build a new machine, but it will be at least six months to a year before I start looking for parts.
“Computer parts are through the roof” — Due to the cryptocurrency craze.
As long as the prices are such that a GPU can make back its cost mining within 6 months even at current inflated prices (2x the MSRP prices); those GPU’s are going to sell out.
In general semiconductor capacity is very tight, it is going to show up in a lot of different goods later this year.
“That sort of cut into my day”…..I refer to those days as being “eaten by locusts”. I had such a day last Thursday; attended two meetings, one of which was unscheduled, and the day was lost. Eaten by locusts.
There needs to be some correlate to Murphy’s law for computers. My work computer will work great for weeks, then the one day I have the most I need to do on it there will be problems.
Steve