Jack and Dell

August 20, 2008

I am now the owner of a Dell XPS1530. I purchased this doozy a week prior on dell outlet. The only machine with the features I wanted at a discount was in fantastic flamingo pink, which now sits proudly in my mostly black and green room. I had to get matching speakers of course. The laptop’s impressive features (even a remote control for who knows what), will most likely be wasted on me. In fact my immediate reaction after pulling the pink laptop out of the box was one of despair, as if I will be responsible for the repression and eventual destruction of this beautiful machine. I would not disappoint, after a half hour, the speakers still did not work, as with the fingerprint recognition feature. The finger identifier, quite nifty actually, uses a small sensor below the keyboard that can store my fingerprint through a scanner. I have to move my finger above it at the right speed and depth, not as easy as the instructional video indicated. In the 200 attempts, I successfully scanned my index finger only one time, and that was only during practice.

Turning to youtube for a finger swiping demo, I came across many related videos of people filming themselves as they took their own xps’s out of the box. Titles like “Unboxing my xps1530” where the perpetrator carefully unwraps layer after layer like a kid on Christmas day. They then continue to zoom at the laptop from all angles, as if the climax to some perturbed erotica. It made me queasy.

The real reason for getting a computer was, well, how can an ex-student go without one? Also, I needed somewhere to put the music that is now available to me through the ITUNES SHARE FOLDER at work. I will never go hungry for new music again. There’s been so much to listen to lately that I’m noticing it affecting my work, so my broken headphones may be a blessing in disguise. I took them down the hall to Rolf; a rock star and road hog at heart, and the best headphone doctor around.

I’ve got a busy few days ahead. A great friend is coming to stay for a few days; we’re painting the down crimson and hitting up Jack Johnson at the gorge this Friday. Then, off to China for two weeks starting Saturday… I should pack.