I need a new computer. Why? Well, my current computer looks like this:

How did that happen, you ask? On the night of my Oral Assessment, I fell asleep with it in my bed watching The West Wing. I woke up to find the computer on the floor, with a few tiny red lines in the corner. Ugh. Although maybe it was a good thing: not passing the OA wasn’t an option, as I knew those lines would forever remind me of my failure.

Over the next few months the lines spread, and they still seemed to be taunting me. When you’re not granted a medical clearance and your dreams of the Foreign Service die, we’ll still be here. Fortunately all went well and the lines don’t hold any negative association; however, they’ve spread to be more like red globs, and they’re proving problematic in other ways. They’ve overtaken important parts of my screen, for instance. (When I need to know the time, I have to Google “time NYC.”)

So, it’s probably time for a new computer, but I can’t decide what to get. Here are the standings:

Team Mac

• Aesthetically cooler
• More user-friendly (as least for a user that’s me)
• Tend to last longer
• Small Federal employee discount

Team PC

• Cheaper
• Allegedly easier to service around the world, especially in hardship sort of places
• What State uses

Any important things I’m overlooking?