On my techy jonesing
Right then, now that I've got some feeling out, even though I did flounder and have trouble putting words to them, it's still not right... anyway. Just reasoning a want out loud. In 3. 2. 1...
I am sooooo salivating over the Asus Transformer. It's a Android Tablet with a touch screen. It has a dock that turns it into a laptop. It's like almost everything I have wanted for a long time. Although we'd probably be aiming at one with an older OS, and I think this is the older model which is just fine with me.
http://www.asus.com/Eee/Eee_Pad/Eee_Pad_Transformer_TF101/
I would like a laptop I could play a few games on, one that had windows. Real games, not those casual games. A windows tablet like our other motion computing one can kinda do that, the only restrictions are the specs, but it is such a pain in the ass for me to browse the net on more then a casual basis due to the awkwardness of connecting a keyboard to it and how inconvenient it is to do so. It takes dictation, which is cool, and you can write on it and it turns it into text which is also really awesome and works well once you've trained it(this ability is also native in vista and 7, just get the accessory) and all of that would probably be a suitable alternative to the keyboard for most. Unfortunately, writing has always caused me pain. We've always blamed it on the CFS, although it might be Disgraphia. And do you really want to talk to your computer all the time? Just to comment on something?
I never really wanted a normal laptop because I'm a desktop girl. If I'm going to have a traveling computer I want a tablet. I want it to give me much more than the Desktop can give me, and the only thing a normal laptop would give me over a desktop is the ability to carry it around and that's only particularly easy when you are packing something like a netbook, or at least it would be for me. A laptop would be taking so much away that a desktop gives in exchange for availability. I don't see that as a fair toss up. I read a lot. I draw on the tablet. It's fun. It's easy to carry(at least when it's a newer one that isn't heavy as hell, even then it still fits in my large purse.) All of this is not as convenient or comfortable with a normal laptop. I had eyeballed one over a year ago, A laptop that converts into a tablet by twisting the screen around because to me it was the best of both worlds:
http://www.dell.com/us/enterprise/p/latitude-xt2/pd
How breakable does that look? I could never have something with that tiny swivel, plus it was kinda costly. I looked at reviews at the time and other people were complaining of similar with their own, and screens that were prone to dead pixels across them, plus Dell being assholes about fixing it. I had even found a few where the swivel thing broke. I am not dainty enough for something like that.
Now everything about the physicals of the Asus is perfect. It's a lightweight tablet, small size while still being big enough to not squint at the screen. The touch screen is a big bonus. Even with the keyboard it doesn't gain any more wight then any other small laptop, heavier than some netbooks I've picked up, but only by a bit, and still lighter weight than a normal laptop. I could browse, comment, vent, or give helpful information with ease with the keyboard, even with the touch screen it would be easier then using the pen with the motion computing. The big deal here is that the Tablet and the keyboard separate from each other. It can be used as a normal tablet without the keyboard making it awkward and without a easily broken connection. I just keep picturing myself holding a normal laptop like a book, I hate reading books on desktop... >_> The tablet and the keyboard fit snugly and sturdily to each other, locking firmly in place, and detach easily.
It has a droid OS, the downside here is that it isn't as open as a windows pc in terms of being able to put all kinds of shit on it, games and such. People are catching up with the droid market, but it still has a long way to go and it is aiming at a certain market that likes casual games. We will be waiting a long time for the quality of programs that we already have on PC. For one thing Art Rage is a fucking awesome program and is even on Ipad, not Droid though.I have heard that Autodesk sketchbook mobile is a good runner up for Droid. On the other hand, I love my droid phone. I like how it works and its ease. Droid is a lot more stable than windows. Not to mention how open it ends up after you root it. Which is easy as hell. Plus expandable storage space in the form of SD.
....sooo yes, enough reasoning the thing out. I want that thing sooooo bad. We were also discussing upgrading my Wilson, I want a quad core. So we'd have to get that, a new motherboard and a new power supply ...and maybe some ram. We have everything else. Except a decent monitor, but I do have a TV capable of that. My graphics card is still adequate, quite nice really even if a bit aged. Plus I have towers. One of my USb slots is crapped out but that is easily fixed. I am seeing the benefit of having multiple HDs though. Like...a recovery drive, a Windows install and a drive to install every damn thing else to... or at least every damn user file.
I am sooooo salivating over the Asus Transformer. It's a Android Tablet with a touch screen. It has a dock that turns it into a laptop. It's like almost everything I have wanted for a long time. Although we'd probably be aiming at one with an older OS, and I think this is the older model which is just fine with me.
http://www.asus.com/Eee/Eee_Pad/Eee_Pad_Transformer_TF101/
I would like a laptop I could play a few games on, one that had windows. Real games, not those casual games. A windows tablet like our other motion computing one can kinda do that, the only restrictions are the specs, but it is such a pain in the ass for me to browse the net on more then a casual basis due to the awkwardness of connecting a keyboard to it and how inconvenient it is to do so. It takes dictation, which is cool, and you can write on it and it turns it into text which is also really awesome and works well once you've trained it(this ability is also native in vista and 7, just get the accessory) and all of that would probably be a suitable alternative to the keyboard for most. Unfortunately, writing has always caused me pain. We've always blamed it on the CFS, although it might be Disgraphia. And do you really want to talk to your computer all the time? Just to comment on something?
I never really wanted a normal laptop because I'm a desktop girl. If I'm going to have a traveling computer I want a tablet. I want it to give me much more than the Desktop can give me, and the only thing a normal laptop would give me over a desktop is the ability to carry it around and that's only particularly easy when you are packing something like a netbook, or at least it would be for me. A laptop would be taking so much away that a desktop gives in exchange for availability. I don't see that as a fair toss up. I read a lot. I draw on the tablet. It's fun. It's easy to carry(at least when it's a newer one that isn't heavy as hell, even then it still fits in my large purse.) All of this is not as convenient or comfortable with a normal laptop. I had eyeballed one over a year ago, A laptop that converts into a tablet by twisting the screen around because to me it was the best of both worlds:
http://www.dell.com/us/enterprise/p/latitude-xt2/pd
How breakable does that look? I could never have something with that tiny swivel, plus it was kinda costly. I looked at reviews at the time and other people were complaining of similar with their own, and screens that were prone to dead pixels across them, plus Dell being assholes about fixing it. I had even found a few where the swivel thing broke. I am not dainty enough for something like that.
Now everything about the physicals of the Asus is perfect. It's a lightweight tablet, small size while still being big enough to not squint at the screen. The touch screen is a big bonus. Even with the keyboard it doesn't gain any more wight then any other small laptop, heavier than some netbooks I've picked up, but only by a bit, and still lighter weight than a normal laptop. I could browse, comment, vent, or give helpful information with ease with the keyboard, even with the touch screen it would be easier then using the pen with the motion computing. The big deal here is that the Tablet and the keyboard separate from each other. It can be used as a normal tablet without the keyboard making it awkward and without a easily broken connection. I just keep picturing myself holding a normal laptop like a book, I hate reading books on desktop... >_> The tablet and the keyboard fit snugly and sturdily to each other, locking firmly in place, and detach easily.
It has a droid OS, the downside here is that it isn't as open as a windows pc in terms of being able to put all kinds of shit on it, games and such. People are catching up with the droid market, but it still has a long way to go and it is aiming at a certain market that likes casual games. We will be waiting a long time for the quality of programs that we already have on PC. For one thing Art Rage is a fucking awesome program and is even on Ipad, not Droid though.I have heard that Autodesk sketchbook mobile is a good runner up for Droid. On the other hand, I love my droid phone. I like how it works and its ease. Droid is a lot more stable than windows. Not to mention how open it ends up after you root it. Which is easy as hell. Plus expandable storage space in the form of SD.
....sooo yes, enough reasoning the thing out. I want that thing sooooo bad. We were also discussing upgrading my Wilson, I want a quad core. So we'd have to get that, a new motherboard and a new power supply ...and maybe some ram. We have everything else. Except a decent monitor, but I do have a TV capable of that. My graphics card is still adequate, quite nice really even if a bit aged. Plus I have towers. One of my USb slots is crapped out but that is easily fixed. I am seeing the benefit of having multiple HDs though. Like...a recovery drive, a Windows install and a drive to install every damn thing else to... or at least every damn user file.