Sunday, March 13, 2011

iPad? No. Inspiron Duo? Yes.

For the past year or so, I've wondered why the iPad is so popular. Windows tablets have been around for years now, but of course, Apple has managed to popularize tablets with one that runs a non-desktop OS.

IMO, I'd much rather take a tablet that can run every Windows program over a tablet that can only run mobile apps, and doesn't support Flash!

As if the iPad wasn't already enough of a rip, I was reading through the Staples flier today, and saw something I'd heard about before: The Dell Inspiron Duo. I don't own a tablet, and don't really plan to get one. I'd rather have a computing device that has a keyboard, or a mobile phone with a touch screen. Still, Dell has come up with a product that actually appeals to people like me. This thing can act just like any other 10.1" netbook with an Intel Atom, but the Screen can flip over special so it looks just like a normal tablet.

You can have a laptop and a tablet, all in one..... for $500! Wait a sec.... doesn't the iPad cost $500? Yes, it does. So...... why would you buy an iPad? Oh, yeah, it's a sleek, stylish, and really easy to use. Is that really all people care about nowadays? That magical App Store that lets us download programs in only 5 seconds? IIRC, us Windows users have a magical tool called Google to look for software, but that's just ever-so-complicated. Linux users even have a package manager, which is essentially a Linux app store!

I will give the iPad one thing: it's great for autistic children and 99-year-old women, although I don't think that accounts for a large percentage of iPad owners. My opinion might be skewed, being that I'm a computer nerd, but I really don't see Windows 7 as being that complex. I think that the main cause for iPad-ism may just be a want for instant gratification. People would rather have a device that's ridiculously easy to use than a device that requires just a little bit of effort but can do so much more!

/rant. Yeah, that was definitely my rant of the day. I just want to get it out there: if you want a tablet, DON'T GIVE INTO THE IPAD CRAZE!

Celeron D..... FRIED!

This marks the first time that I actually burned out a CPU. Without thinking, I let it get into the 80s Celsius, which led to the degredation of my epic 4.5GHz overclock. At lest I found one on ebay that's 200MHz quicker! :)