Have Laptop Will Travel

Laptop envy

Originally posted on October 11, 2007 @ 11:54 pm

I think it is safe to say that laptops are the new must-have, status symbol accessories. Forget about mobile phones, laptops are the new neck-turners. To prove my point, just go to any restaurant, cafe or coffee shop and I’ll bet the moment someone whips out a cool sub-notebook or the newest “IT” item from Apple and you’re bound to look at the person with envy or wonder how the hell he or she could afford such a great gadget.

I admit I’m one of those guys who can’t look at a new Macbook Pro or Fujitsu Lifebook without drooling. The bad thing is that I go all metaphysical because of it. I begin to wonder how THEY can afford it and I can’t. Am I destined to forever be relegated to the group of people who always have to settle for low-end or low-midrange laptops?

In my envy, I also start mocking these people. I look at the websites they surf (Ha! Plain old Yahoo! Entertainment. What a bore!) or even the kind of information that they look for (Beyonce! Josh Groban! What atrocious music tastes!). I know that I’m being unfair and that my desire to have a really cool laptop has made the worst come out of me. But I also know that I am not the only one who feels the same way. I guess the best thing to do about it is just ignore them, be happy with what I do have — and try to “accidentally” spill cafe latte on those damn Macbooks.

Hot laptops on your lap, anyone?

Originally posted on August 18, 2007 @ 12:34 am

Heat is one of the things that annoy me the most in laptops.

Okay, it’s great that you can bring your computer anywhere with you and basically do anything you want, anywhere you want. Portability is really a great come-on for anyone, but heat issues with certain laptops can really dampen your enthusiasm for them.

Take for example, my trusty Acer laptop. We’ve been through so much together. It has been a very able and tough road warrior but what I hate about it is that I really can’t consider it a “laptop”. Any attempts to use my lap to prop up my laptop will only last for thirty minutes or less. The bottom gets uncomfortably hot for any extended usage time. It actually gets hot enough for me to worry about my fertility. I can imagine my little sperm cells boiling down there, all because of a little computer.

I hope computer companies make laptops with more effective heat dissipation designs. I’ve already heard of units that employ heatpipe technology to wick away ambient heat from CPUs. I look forward to future products that will employ more exotic heat dissipation solutions so I can finally get a laptop that I can put on my lap without fearing for my balls.

Computers and depreciation

Originally posted on August 10, 2007 @ 9:06 pm

I recently visited the buy and sell section of one of my favorite online forums. I periodically do this because I have discovered that some really great bargains could be had from the buy and sell section. I was doing the virtual equivalent of window shopping when I chanced upon an ad posted by one of the forum members. This guy was selling his old iMac G4 20″ desktop PC for about $1,199. I couldn’t believe my eyes! The ad further explained that the G4 had been used for a fe w years and that he initially bought the iMac for $2,800.

If you look at the numbers you’d think that you’re getting a real bargain. The guy must be crazy if he’s selling it at that low price! The seller may think that he’s offering a great bargain price, but in reality, he’s ripping off any prospective buyers. Here is where the iniquity of depreciation kicks in. A cursory look in eBay and you will discover that the highest bid for a used but good condition iMac G4 is $200. Yes, a measly 200 bucks. And to put it in a better perspective, the newly released iMac Aluminum, that marvel of desktop architecture, has a base price of, hold on, $1,199. That’s the price being offered by the seller in that buy and sell section!

Depreciation really sucks especially when it involves items that you paid so much money for. The seller may not have any intention of tricking hapless buyers and only wants to recoup some of his investment on a PC. But the sad reality is, the moment you buy a computer, whether it’s a desktop PC or a laptop, it is already obsolete and have devalued in price.

If you have any intention of recouping your investment in computers. Follow this simple advice: Sell it off after two years. Even then, the most that you can get is maybe half of what you paid for it.

Be Warned For The Microsoft Surface

Originally posted on June 8, 2007 @ 12:59 am

Every one who’s interested even only a little in new technology and geek stuff, knows all about the iPhone by now. How wonderful it is, how much it will change your life and revolutionize your garden shed.
But you might also have heard read that Microsoft presented the iPhone big size this week with its Microsoft Surface technology.

What is it? Think iPhone, but bigger. Think iPhone but can do more. Think mobile phone, but with the capacities of a real computer and a BIG screen. In coffee table size format.
Forget touchscreen. Think video capture and analysis of what you do.
Think whatever Apple Inc. was dreaming of, Microsoft just patented and presented it.

But it’s Microsoft and that alone comes brings his specific problems. Find out after the jump, the dangers behind the Surface technology.

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Google Girl, Ask.com Marketing Had Better Done This

Originally posted on June 6, 2007 @ 3:41 pm

Ask.com has been often in the news lately with its new marketing campaign. During the horrible guerrilla campaign against Google, the central question remained ‘Would you switch to Ask.com’

No. No way. The picture after the jump explains everything. That would have been efficient marketing. Meet (a) Google Girl.

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