milkypink [dot] net

So! As you may remember, I am still out one fully functional laptop computer. Ai is a nice stopgap, but she’s really for travel and is less than spectacular for heavy video viewing.
Enter Sony’s CW series – the latest refresh to their C line that caught my attention way back with the ability to have a pink (!) laptop. In the end, I chose the white giant that was Shirayukihime (a customized FZ series) due to various factors and although she died, I’m still, for some reason, considering another Sony laptop. No hope for me, really.
The specs and pricing look good; my current preferred spec set is as follows:

• Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor T9600 (2.80GHz) (6MB L2 Cache! ♥)
• Genuine Microsoft® Windows® 7 Professional 64bit (choosing this for XP compat ability & also for Fresh Start)
• Poppy Pink (like I would chose any other color, really. if the pink is hideous I might go the white route but I’m hoping it’s okay XD)
• 320GB Hard Disk Drive (5400rpm) (I could go the 500GB route, but to be honest I’d rather have a large external drive than a huge internal one, so)
• 4GB (2GBx2) DDR3-SDRAM-1066 (not overkilling here, I can add more RAM later to suit my needs)
• NVIDIA® GeForce® GT230M GPU (512MB VRAM) (pretty powerful vid card, which means Sims ♥)
• CD/DVD playback/burning (not going with the BluRay drive because, not sure I would use it.)
• Fresh Start (a.k.a. no Sony bloatware, free trials, etc. gunk-free lappy? yes plz!)
• Standard Capacity Battery (VGP-BPS13) (I’m debating whether to go the extended life batt on this, only $50 more for 6hrs vs 4hrs, so. hmm.)

I’m tempted to wait a bit to see if Sony offers any deals with the holiday season coming up, as well as keep an eye out for potential issues with this model – orders just opened yesterday, so no one’s got theirs yet, I think. For that purpose, I stalk the forums at notebookreview.com – they were very helpful with information about the FZ series, and there was even a walkthrough explanation for how to disassemble (which was handy when I wanted to clean out the dust).

In other digi.tech news, I think I’ve pretty firmly decided that until the iPod touch has a camera (which I suspect will happen post-x-mas) I’m not upgrading. I suppose, unless, my current iPod bites the dust, but it’s a pretty sturdy piece of tech, so that looks unlikely :D

And finally, in the most exciting news, Barnes & Noble has released their own ebook reader, called Nook. It’s quite similar to the Kindle, but with some important differences:

• two screens, but, not the way you are thinking. on top, an e-ink screen. on bottom, a capacitive color touchscreen ♥♥ which is spectacular.
• microSD card slot, which means you could have a potentially infinite number of books/files
• pdf support! ahhh… so nice…
• supposedly will use ePub format? which is not too bad (better than Amazon’s format, anyway, DRM still included presumably)
• lending books to friends this, I am SO excited about. I mean, okay, I don’t lend out books a whole lot, but just, the acknowledgment of that’s what people do with books is ♥
• easy switching between Nook, PC, iPod Touch, etc. etc. (the PC addition is important, Kindle’s only got iPod Touch/iPhone)
• wireless provided by AT&T, which, I don’t really care too much about what company does this, but it’s worth noting

Basically? I’m currently stupidly excited about this tech for no easily explainable reason. But I will hold back! and wait for the device to actually SHIP and get used by some early adopters (a.k.a guinea piggies) before seriously approaching the purchasing process. I mean, it’s not even shipping until Nov 30th, so. Naturally, if it’s awesome supply will be short for holidays but I think I will live. I’m thinking it would be most useful for things like my Japan 2010 trip, so there’s enough time between then and, say, July for supply to meet demand. XD

I already explained why I won’t buy an iPod Touch until it comes in a 64GB+ flavor, but what about other technology?

The Kindle. Amazon’s attempt to jumpstart the ebook market is pretty neat, I’ll give you that, but there’s one thing I can’t STAND about it.
It’s black and white! No, scratch that. It’s darker grey on light grey. I know monocrome is the only thing e-ink can do right now, but I just can’t let myself take that plunge. I know I’d never use it the way it is now.
My love of physical books not withstanding, the lack of color really turns me off to ebook readers. Sure, a lot of books don’t require color, but some do! I’d love to flip through magazines on something like that, especially with the ability to zoom in… (oh Japanese magazines, I love you, but your print is so small I need a magnifying glass to discern the kanji sometimes). Once I took that step forward into portable electronics with color, I never wanted to go back. The days of monochrome are over!
But technology must advance to the point where price comes down before Amazon will use it.
And on that day, I will seriously consider buying a Kindle. But not until then.

Netbooks. I’ve talked a little about why I’ve thought about buying one, but I still haven’t taken the plunge.
The reason? They’re just not unique enough for me.
I feel like buying one is traveling back in time and picking up the latest model from 2003. Sure, they’re small, and sometimes cute, but what do they really do? Do I really want to spend $400 on a nearly throwaway computer?
Things that would make me swoon and would push me towards buying one:
A swivel touchscreen. This would allow me to use it for fun things like browsing digitized magazines, drawing while bored, or even writing small notes down. Basically, it would be awesome. (This is the main thing that’s keeping me from snapping one up right away! Admittedly I have to do some more in-depth research, but if there was one, I think I would have probably heard about it by now? Vaio P-like proportioned Korea model not included.)
More RAM. On average, netbooks seem to top out at 1GB of RAM (with some only allowing up to 1.5) I can live with the 1.6Ghz processor, but 1GB of RAM seems a little slim for me. 2 would be perfect, though.
Color! I’m so glad that some companies are latching onto the idea that netbooks can really express individuality, but since I’m so picky it’s difficult for me to find ones I really love.
Looooooooong life battery. At least 6 hours, preferably more. My netbook will be my travel companion, and outlets are frequently not found in airports… at least not for travelers. Sure, you say, 6 hours should be plenty for any trip across the US. Oh yeah? Well what if I’m going to Japan? 14 hours of travel and no sleep means 8 hours (at least!) of no netbook use D: Extra batteries are a possibility of course, but it’s yet one more thing to bring around with me.
Screen size. Yes, small is good, but if it’s a tiny computer, you should at least maximize the area where you can see things on the screen! (I’m looking at you, Eee!) This has gotten better with the newer models, but then it just gets weird with the Vaio P. I really hope other manufacturers don’t follow Sony’s example on that one… α~ (ー.ー”)

{ Edit: quick google search showed me the Eee T91 and T101, which I somehow managed to miss in all of the CES coverage?! anyway, will keep an eye out for those babies… (*　・・*)　♪ }