Fixed Laptop
After a week of trying to find a replacement video card for my laptop, I decided that I'd have to bite the bullet and purchase a replacement card from Dell, even if that meant a 2-3 week waiting period. In the meantime I'd have to beg or borrow laptop resources.

Luckily for me, when I called Dell Spare Parts I was informed that they had a single card sitting in their distribution centre. I affirmed that I definitely wanted the card, and then went about ingratiating myself with the service representative and two levels of management.

The end result was quite impressive. The card reached me in less than 24 hours, which I didn't think was possible given that it had to travel from Singapore to Melbourne and get cleared by customs along the way. I now have a working laptop with better graphics performance. Huzzah!

The invoice, on the other hand, will take at least a week to arrive.

Despite the expense and inconvenience of repairing the laptop, it has given me a couple of good stories for my upcoming SAGE-AU presentation.