A few more rants and complaints

Last night I was doing absolutely nothing unusual on my computer when suddenly got the blue screen of death. This would be my brand new computer I bought at Black Friday just 7 weeks ago. And now suddenly my laptop is on its way back to HP to be replaced. My brand fricking new computer is getting replaced. Why? "Bad series number." That's what they told me. HP knows full well they manufactured a defective series of computers. They knew I owned one, they even knew my address and phone number when I called. And yet they were not proactive about contacting the customers to get these problems fixed. No, they wait until we have our documents, music, and photographs on our computers, and then let us just them lose it all when our computers inevitably crash.
Needless to say I am pissed.
Hopefully my old dinosaur of a laptop (that has major issues, which is why i bought the new laptop in the first place) will hold up until the new computer arrives in 7-9 business days. Let's not forget that my full-time job and my freelance work all depend on me having a laptop!

Now for my next rant.
The housing market in Utah (and everywhere) royally sucks right now (no matter what the realtor assn commercials say). Houses are losing value and not selling everywhere you look. This had had an interesting effect on the rental market. First it means that there are a lot of people in danger of losing their homes, or can't afford their payments, who are now attempting to rent out their homes. It also means that there are a lot of investor/speculator homes that are having trouble getting flipped and resold or rented out. Which means there are a larger than usual number of homes for rent available. There's also an interesting scenario playing out in the corporate owned apartment complexes. Those rentals are being heavily affected by the bad economy, and are raising their rent (but then again, don't they always?).
My lease is up in a few weeks. I just got the notice that my rent will be going up a mere $90 if I choose to stay. If I choose to go month to month, it goes up $160. I have no interest in staying and I have been actively looking for a new home. I currently live in a 1 bedroom, 600 sq ft apartment, with some decent amenities. For the amount my landlord wants me to pay on the month-to-month rent, I could also rent a 3 bedroom, 2 car garage, 2000 sq ft home with a nice fenced in yard. Hmm.
I have looked around and narrowed in on a few houses that I really like. I have my heart set on one house that I have checked out and met with the owner about. Last week I told him I was 90% certain I wanted it, and to not give it to anyone else without talking to me first. On Tuesday I called him and left a message saying I wanted to talk about a move-in date. He didn't call back. So on Wednesday I called again, but didn't leave a message. I called again on Thursday and left a message. He still hasn't called back.
Grr...
So I decided it was time to start exploring my backup options. There are 3 homes in the same neighborhood as the house I really want that are all managed by the same company. House A is a small 2 br, no basement, 2 car garage, roughly 1200 sq ft for X+$200. House B is 4 bedrooms, unfinished basement, 2 car garage, 2000 sq ft for X+$100. And House C? 3 bedrooms, 2 car garage, unfinished basement, 2000 sq ft, for X.
Makes no sense, right?
Oh and all 3 houses (4 houses if you count the first house I want) have been on the rental market since before Thanksgiving.
So I call the management agency about the 3 houses. I am interested in Houses B and C, but not so much in House A. The manager was a total butt!! First, he gives me this whole runaround about how if I'm not looking to move until Feb 20th than I should wait and not call him till Feb 10th because "his houses are moving really fast, and they won't be on the market that long." UM NOT THAT LONG?? Just since November!
And let's not forget the part where there are 17 houses either for sale or for rent in this fairly small neighborhood. Trust me, the market is in my favor, NOT his!
So I try to explain to him that I want a house and I am willing to come over and pay him a deposit on the house I want today.
He still says no, that these houses are going to move quickly and he's not going to wait till February for me.
I also pointed out that I have to turn in my 30 days notice to my landlord and I want to have a place secured before I do that. He told me that was "my problem" and he couldn't help me there. And to call back Feb 10.
I just hung up I was so annoyed.
Seriously, in this market can a landlord really afford to turn away a customer?? He has 3 houses (at least) in one neighborhood that have been on the rental market for at least 7 weeks and he's going to turn away a customer?? I can understand that he's hoping to find a renter sooner rather than later, but isn't money in hand better than money you may never get otherwise??