March 31st, 2008
Geek Toys, Digital Notebooks, and Free Hats.
Despite the fact that I own a VAIO laptop (2 years old), a MacBook (1.25 years old) and a self-built tricked out desktop PC (a whopping FIVE years old), I just ordered a new laptop. Yes, I know, I need to belong to Techies Anonymous, or something, but for me, a new laptop is much akin to what a brand new college ruled spiral notebook was when I was a kid. It’s a blank slate, a world of possibilities, and a series of adventures yet to be had. What might I write on this new machine? Where will I travel with it?
The laptop I ordered is being built by a Florida-based company called Alienware, which caters to gamers, so there’s a note of irony in my selection. I used to be a gamer. I used to be a MUSHer, too, and in my world MUSH has nothing to do with snow or sled dogs (it stands for “multi-user shared hallucination” and refers to a kind of code used to run online, real-time, text-based, multi-player role-playing environments. You can see why they shortened it. If everyone said it the long way, we’d have a severe shortage of hyphens). My husband, however, IS still a gamer (he works in tech, so this is allowed), and here’s where the irony comes in: his new laptop, which arrived on Friday, is a Dell.
Now, it’s true that Dell recently bought Alienware, although both companies are running under their own names, merely sharing system architecture, but all of our geek friends are laughing their collective asses off because The Girl is getting the Geek Toy.
They don’t need to know that I chose the option for all the system lights (including the programmable backlight for the keyboard) to be fuchsia, or that it will come with Vista running in shades of pink, or that the RSS feeds the installers are helpfully subscribing me to include shopping and writing sites, as well as geekier selections.
They also don’t need to know that I’m probably only going to write, make small YouTube films, record audio and maybe edit photos with my new powerhouse, which will come with an HD-ready screen (all very well and good, but I don’t watch movies on laptops. Ever).
They do appreciate that my titanium and magnesium digital notebook, while not offering virtual college-ruled paper, will have a nameplate screwed to the back with “Melissa A. Bartell” etched onto it in “alien” cuneform and English letters. They also appreciate - as I do, because it’s ALL about the free accessories - that it ships with a mousepad, a slipcover and…a free hat.
I’ll do a formal review of the product and process when it gets here in May (it’s going to include a video chipset that hasn’t yet been released).
Until then, you can laugh at how geeky I really am, because these laptops were our anniversary gifts to each other.
