Will Anderson

Today was the day! We finally received our laptop computers. These babies have 4 gigs of memory (hehe, watch out blender!) and a 120 gig hard drive (not wonderful, but an improvement over my old laptop which had only 80 Gigs).

When I first booted, it took only about 2 minutes (even with the first time configuration and everything). Now it boots even faster. Here are some changes since the previous model.

• Improved “Dashboard”Rather than the clunky buttons to control the wireless adapter and the sound, the new computers have light sensors (way cool!) so you just place your finger on them to change things (and the volume control is a light sensing slider (again, way cool!).
• Added portsThere are now 4 USB ports rather than just 3. Though not often an issue, I have had occasion to wish I had more than three ports. Now it won’t be as much of an issue.
  This model also includes an HDMI port, which could be useful for connecting to a (super) bug screen.
  It’s interesting to note that this model doesn’t include the serial port, but I no longer have the only device I ever used this with, so that’s not a problem.
• Different speaker locationWhile I’m not sure whether to call this a feature or a problem, the speaker is now on the front of the machine, rather than beside the keyboard. I’m not sure the sound will be as good because of this, but it allows for a larger keyboard and it’s also less likely to get clogged with grime.

Overall, the computing power is truly amazing. I’m now ready for classes to begin.

I also met with my freshman adviser today and finished registering for classes. I’ve got mostly morning classes, with ECE130 in the after noon. Hopefully this will let me do homework and my work at Ventures in the afternoon and then work for Noble Romans and IRPA in the evening. With 17 credit hours of classes (if you count college and life skills ) and 30+ hours of work a week, this promises to be a busy term.