UNITED STATES—In a matter of 5 years, I have purchased 2 laptops, and I am now on the verge of having to purchase my third. Let me be clear, this guy is not a happy camper. The first laptop I purchased lasted quite some time, a little over 4 years and only broke as a result of me hitting my computer because it froze. Yes, that is quite stupid on my part.

However, my recent laptop purchase which has been less than 2 years has me seeing red. Now, this is not any old ordinary computer. This is a HP, and I purchased it from ABC Warehouse. Normally, I would be coy about revealing a retailer, but in this case I don’t care. I rarely purchased electronics from stores that I don’t think specialize in electronics, so I knew it was a gamble; I only wish I had trusted my instinct a bit more.

Laptops are not cheap people, and the ability to raise $300-$500 to purchase a laptop is no easy feat. I mean this is hard-earned money that I worked my tail off to save. I knew the moment that I purchased that laptop I was going to have issues. For reasons I have yet to decipher, the fact that the sales associate was so determined to try to get me to purchase a warranty was a warning to me that perhaps something wasn’t right with the laptop.

I take the laptop home and for the life in me I constantly have problems with the zoom function, which blows up or shrinks on its own volition. Now this week, the top portion of the laptop is not closing. Its cracking, the screen looks like it wants to fall apart. Man this is the worse feeling ever, I need my laptop for work and school purposes and the thought of having to come out another $300-$400 for a laptop has me livid. I thought an HP laptop was to be some of the best, well; I’m starting to think otherwise.

So I’m learning a valuable lesson: I will never purchase electronics devices from ABC Warehouse and I will never purchase a HP laptop ever again. This is a lesson learned, that sometimes what you think is a good deal, or if you instinct is hinting that something is off, it’s telling you that for a reason. That means you cannot allow that intuition to be ignored. I still have a desktop computer, but I have not used the computer in years.

After this recent incident, I’m starting to think it might not be a bad idea to utilize my desktop. It seems to be reliable, I’ve never had issues with the computer and it sits in a stable spot where I guess the wear and tear that happens with a laptop is not likely to transpire. I’d like to believe the evolution of technology is a good thing, but the more I think about it the more frustrated I get. I’ve spent easily $1k on 2 laptops that will now be non-existent, so as a consumer I would love for someone to tell me what is fair about that?