System Information
The laptop saga continues. After going through the Dell Inspiron 5150, the 12" Powerbook, the HP dv1000 and the Fujitsu 7010D I have now also eliminated the Dell Inspiron 700m. Almost the right machine. Almost. But they skimped on the period and comma keys as well. Of all the keys to skimp on, guys!!! Its just dumb.
Otherwise the build seemed good and the keyboard was quite solid. Certainly more usable than the 7010 keyboard. One other niggle: the screen was too high res - 1280x800 on a 12" wide aspect display is just too dense.
It also felt at the upward end of acceptible at 4.1lbs. In a way this is a good thing because I have finally found my parameters. It cannot be a Mac (I like windows too much). It must have a full size keyboard. It must way under 4.1lbs. Ideally it would be black and have a volume wheel and a CF card reader. I would like an optical drive.
To make things worse, I hunger for a tablet: the averitec c3500 is very nice but too hot and short lived. the toshiba m200 is very nice but lacks an optical drive and is quite expensive. Nothing else in this arena appeals to me.
I wish I could do with a Mac. It means giving up so much. I feel like I give up so much choice when I consider the mac. Mac advocates seem so religious - that doesn't make it wrong, just icky. What is so wrong with Widows? What level of sophistication does a user really require from the operating system? If you're not going to be writing applications, what gives? Ok, the allure of running unix on an incredibly well designed laptop is appealing. But does it make you more productive? Perhaps some, but not me.
Anyway, my last, best hope is the IBM Thinkpad. Possibly the M200. Probably the T42.
I have been a camera and laptop glutton. It needs to stop. The canon sd400 is fast enough for me, and its small and simple. I should get that.
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