the notebook

Kim and I had been thinking about getting a notebook computer and going wireless for a while. Last weekend, we finally got hooked up--or unhooked up.

It's crazy how much cheaper notebook PCs are now than they were 4 years ago, around the time I built my desktop system. I'm guessing that increased production capacity for LCD screens is a big factor. [Check out the falling prices for LCD HDTVs.*] I was able to get a notebook with a faster processor, 4 times more memory, and a DVD/CD burner for about the same price or slightly cheaper than my old desktop [sans DVD burner].

It's really nice to be able to "compute" from my couch, sitting on the floor, at the dining table, or anywhere in the house other than our depressing office. But the best thing about the new notebook is that it's quiet. My old desktop is really loud: it has a fan on the power supply, a case fan, CPU fan, and a fan on the video card. The resulting noise is something like that of a harrier jet hovering two feet over my head.

I'm still getting accustomed to the notebook keyboard. It feels like it's a full size keyboard, but it doesn't have the concave key surface like my desktop keyboards at home and work. I definitely make more mistakes on the notebook keys. I suppose I could plug in a full size USB keyboard if I decide to work on a novel or something like that [not likely]. But I could see us phasing out the old desktop and having the notebook as our sole PC.

Now I have to figure out what stuff I need to backup or transfer from the old desktop. There's four years worth of crap on there that I could probably live without but for some reason I've allowed it to languish on the old hard disk.

* LCD and plasma flat panel HDTVs are still way too pricey for me. But they seem to be dominating the floor space at the big box electronics stores. I think you can buy new "standard definition" tube sets for half a song, now. In a couple of years when I decide to board the widescreen/flat panel bandwagon, I will probably have to pay someone to take away my old Sony tube TV. Or I could give it the old Viking funeral in Lake Austin.