Medium rare laptop

Sometimes life is like the movies: just when you think the world is going end, a deus ex machina steps in and magically everything is okay.

Today I come rushing home because it's the end of the semester and I have finals coming up and I need to write two papers tonight so that I can go camping this holiday weekend with peace of mind so I get home and GIL says, hey honey, you're just in time!  I'm cooking french fries! 

Oh that's good, I say, because I haven't eaten yet and I have all this work to do.  Let me just put my bike away.  I walk into the kitchen and notice my computer's not on the kitchen table.  Which.  Means. It's.... oh, SHIT!!!!

I open the over door.  No fries.  Just one miserable looking laptop.  (STOP:  EXPLANATION OF WHY I KEEP MY LAPTOP IN THE OVEN: I keep it there because I live in a high crime area in a house with windows that don't even lock.  I figure the oven's actually a very safe place.  Who would think to look there for valuables? and if the house burns down the computer'd be okay.  The system worked just fine when I was living alone.)

My screams cause GIL to drop his book and come running. 

I accomplish all of the following in under 3.8 minutes:

• rant
• rave
• think of all the data I lost in addition to the machine itself
• wonder how I'll get my papers done
• cry
• hate myself for thinking the oven would be a good storage place
• hate GIL for not remembering that I keep it in there (I told him TWICE! you'd THINK he'd remember something like that!)
• fall to the floor beating my fists on my legs
• pace the room
• plan how to get a new laptop before the end of the semester even though both of us are so broke we can't even buy enough groceries to get us through the month
• resolve not to permanently ruin GIL's relationship with my parents by telling them that he cooked the laptop they gave me for Christmas
• yell at myself
• yell at GIL
• cancel our weekend plans

It's 2:30 in the afternoon.  I just got home from class have tons of work to do before we leave for the Thanksgiving holiday and I nearly lost my computer.  It was cooked.  In the oven.  At roughly 300 degrees.  For about five minutes.

Here's what it looks like:

But the story's not over.  I'm happy to report that I am not typing this from my boyfriend's computer. 

I'm working from the melted laptop you see above.  When we set it on the table to inspect the damage and noticed that the little green light was flashing.  We pressed the button.  Welcome, it says.  Then it starts Windows.  We breath a sigh of relief until it goes to a black screen and displays the following message:

"Your computer powered off because it overheated.  This may be caused by... [list of a number of things I don't remember just that oven cooking was not one of them].  Please wait while we readjust your settings".  Then the desktop appeared and it was back.  It even found the wireless signal and connected.

Can you believe it?  IT'S FINE!!!   The thing is completly fine!  Apparently, for as awful as it looks, the only melted thing is the casing.  I'm told we could just buy a new case for it.

I have never felt such raw, pure emotions as I felt then.  When you literally feel all the cliches associated with a particular feeling.  A flood of relief swept over me.  I felt weak at the knees.  I think I am still shaking.

Comments

[SamsLembas]

Seriously, get a new battery for that thing. It could easily explode, and that would not be good for the computer. Or the person using it.

In the meantime, take your battery out and use a/c power.

[OneYearGoal.com - $100,000 in one year]

That's hilarious. Great commercial for Dell or whichever laptop co you're using. You might considering investing in a fireproof safe, or at least a mini one to put in the oven ;-)

One Man. One Year. $100,000 online. To buy locks.
http://www.oneyeargoal.com

[SierraNightTide]

Oh My Gawd

This sounds like something I would have done. :p

Glad to hear that everything worked out out. That's one great hottop you've got!

[jim]

Look, I don't want to be cruel -- but you're both pretty dumb. And for a fact, hiding things in the oven is too obvious; I know a lot of people who've tried it, so a a burglar might give it a glance too.

Get some paper and tape -- cover the exposed laptop parts with paper, then cover it in duct tape. It'll work, and it means you don't have to spend about the price of a budget laptop to get it re-cased :D

[AskTheAdmin]

So how did this make its way to digg 2 years later? How is it doing now? Stil good? did you ever change the battery - how about the cdrom? What model was it?

AskTheAdmin.com wants you to check out our newly redesigned site today!

[Bill Sanders]

If you are a Marxist, why do you OWN a laptop? What entitles you to owning that laptop? The poor people who don't have a laptop in your neighborhood are obviously trying to get one (that's why you had to be the capatalist pig and hide yours, right? And did you know your laptop is made mostly by slave labor in Asian countires? I guess it's OK to enslave Asians, as long as they don't have any African ancestors, right?

It's called Cognitive Dissodance - saying you believe one thing while doing everything in the opposite direction.....why don't you live on a commune? There are plenty around the country! Or better yet, you have visited countries that start with 'C' - why don't yuu join the free, unoppressed workers in Cuba?

[Bill Sanders]

If you are a Marxist, why do you OWN a laptop? What entitles you to owning that laptop? The poor people who don't have a laptop in your neighborhood are obviously trying to get one (that's why you had to be the capatalist pig and hide yours, right? And did you know your laptop is made mostly by slave labor in Asian countires? I guess it's OK to enslave Asians, as long as they don't have any African ancestors, right?

It's called Cognitive Dissodance - saying you believe one thing while doing everything in the opposite direction.....why don't you live on a commune? There are plenty around the country! Or better yet, you have visited countries that start with 'C' - why don't yuu join the free, unoppressed workers in Cuba?

[lonegeek05]

Great story with a happy ending!

I put my laptop in the bookcase between two similarly sized books. It's pretty well hidden, and won't be cooked by mistake.

[fryke]

*NOW* will you learn to backup your important data?

I'm shocked that it still works. I guess the Curie point for the drive is higher than 300 degrees.

[Nick]

That is a truly amazing story, i work with computers for a living and have seen some stuff to rival this that has not lived. I definitely recommend backing it up asap. also, i would send the whole story along with alot of pictures to Dell and tell them how you liked the laptop. they might send you a new case, they might send you a new toy, i have heard of it happening, but don;t bet on it :)

[proteo5]

Why don't you sell your story to dell so they can make a great publicity of their product with your story and you can get at least a new laptop.

I am pretty sure any warranty you had is now void :)

[Jeff]

If the house burns down, the laptop will be fine.

Wow. Cuz its in the oven. WHERE THE FIRE STARTED.

[ninjaface]

honestly, its a dell, it should be burned!

[Quasar]

Dell laptops get so hot anyway (especially Pentium 4 era) that it could have happened without the oven. Seriously though, say what you want about Dell, but they are tough computers. Btw I once hid Moonshine in an oven, fortunately it did not explode.

[Joseph]

Contact your Manufacturer, send pics, and ask for a new one. You just might get lucky and they will use your story for marketing.

:)

[Scotto]

Um, if it "shutdown due to overheating", why do you leave it on while it's in your oven? Doesn't it run out of batteries? Or might you leave the power cord plugged in so as to alert theives to its exact location?

And if it had "shutdown", the "green light" would not be blinking.

Finally, I call charades on the whole thing! That case material undoubtedly has a higher melting temp than some of the other crap inside, e.g. insulation on wiring, the little rubber dealys that bounceback the keys, etc.

You took the case off of it, fried the case, then reassembled.

[AJ]

Oh - at first I was worried, then I saw "Dude, it was a Dell!"

[Geek]

Ive melted laptops before. The melting point of the plastic is far lower than the other parts of the system. People have no idea what they are talking about. When you move the parts to the new case, just check for distortion. It should be fairly simple to see the parts that have been damaged. 300 deg for three to five minutes isn't that bad. Part of that time the oven would have been pre-heating.

[Herman]

Next time you leave your laptop in the oven, turn off the breaker (or remove the fuse) to the oven.

[sotu]

maybe you should lay off on something else and invest on new locks, or whatever you need to make you house safe.. leaving a laptop in the oven is a ridiculously bad idea to begin with.

[Eamon]

Make sure to back up your data even if it's working now...

[Neil]

I see you have a Dell. If you have the CompleteCare warranty, you can get it replaced...

[Christina]

The fan inside your computer has probably been destroyed, so you will definately need to buy a cooling tray (Usually about $30 USD). Dells tend to overheat frequently anyways, but melting the fan probably didn't help! Until you get a cooling tray, you can prop up your laptop on bottle caps to give it some extra ventilation space.