My desktop computer, which I bought for a fiver about nine months ago, will no longer power on at all. I do have access to a work laptop, but the crucial word there is ‘work’ – I can’t watch DVDs on it, for example, and I wouldn’t feel entirely happy about doing anything non-work-related that might have a financial benefit – such as writing my books.
Unfortunately, I’ve not got any money at the moment. We had to pay to fly to my in-laws’ for Xmas last month, and I made a loss on Thought Bubble (still worth doing, but a loss nonetheless). I certainly can’t afford a *new* computer (and apart from anything else, Holly’s using my old cast-off laptop, so it’s her ‘turn’ for anything new), but I do need something for this kind of thing.
Does anyone in the Manchester area have a spare machine I can borrow for a few months or that I can buy for a very small amount?
It doesn’t have to be any good at all. The machine I was using was a Pentium 4 with a dodgy video card, and I have DVD drive, hard drive, memory and so on. I just need anything with a processor from within the last decade or so, that I can run a low-footprint GNU/Linux install (Debian Sid with XFCE as desktop).
Before anyone answers ‘helpfully’, I am aware of hire-purchase schemes. My credit rating’s not good enough.
I’m just glad my work machine runs GNU/Linux, or I’d be bashing my head against the wall with frustration.