Frustration and Fallujah

So after my long trip to Hue and other places, I got back to Hanoi without the family. I saw this as a great opportunity to try to fix my HP 6640F Desktop Computer (which is a giant piece of shit).

Since the system crashed right out of the box and the restore partition didn't work as advertised, I thought I would just reload the OS with an OEM version of Windows 7.  I know people out there are wondering why I just didn't return it, but that is a super long story that entails dozens of frustrating email posts to HP Customer Service and ends with the fact that HP doesn't receive computers for repair via USPS (which is the only method of shipping for me here in Hanoi)... Actually it ends with me owning a twenty pound black box of hardware that isn't worth a shit.

Anyway, after I reloaded the OS, everything was going great for the first day and then it just locked up, never to reboot correctly again.  Even if I were to ever get it running for more than a day, I would never trust it to store important pictures of documents ever again.  I believe the issue is hardware, and trying to isolate the problem (hard drive, memory, motherboard) just takes too long and could get expensive (spending good money after bad).

I seriously considered the Fallujah method of retaliation.  I had some spare cord, gasoline, and the Pajero and driver from work picking me up yesterday morning, and I thought I would tie the worthless block of shit to the back of the Pajero, light it on fire and scream through the streets of Hanoi until I got to the Long Bien Bridge where I would remove it from the Pajero and hang it from one of the bridge spans.  I could get thousands of Hanoians with sticks to start chanting "Da Dao HP!" (tranlsated: down with HP!)

I wrote a review on NewEgg where I bought the computer (unfortunately, I was TDY when the box came in and by the time I opened it and discovered it was a lemon, the 30 day return policy for NewEgg had expired), but they wouldn't post it.  Something about language and criticism of NewEgg.  So, this is my review of the HP6640F for anyone to see, and no one to stifle my language or criticism. And, in fact, I like NewEgg a lot, I just wish they had a little more flexibility in their return policy because HP sucks, Sucks, SUCKS!

I am strongly considering just building my own computer now.  At least I can blame myself for any issues and it could be a good project that I can work on with Megan.  As a matter of fact, maybe HP sucks because God made them suck so my "free will" would lead me to spend more time with my daughter in meaningful projects... right!