It has been a few days since I had purchased my new HP TX2110 laptop and I am enjoying the heck out of this functional tablet convertible! For the amount of money that I paid for all of these features in this HP, there is almost a certain amount of guilt I feel…ALMOST! J
Over the past couple days I have been experimenting more with my first PC laptop and am finding things to be mostly positive with only a couple of newly discovered pet-peeves in regards to software performance. While MS Office, Nokia PC Suite and Internet Explorer have been practically flawless in exercising every command asked of them, I have not been impressed with either the Zune software or the Media Center application. Zune suite and Media Center were captivating at first as viable alternatives to the iTunes library and Front Row suite on my MacBook Pro, but numerous delayed responses in system navigations and media playback proved to be an inconvenience I am not willing to rely on for everyday usage. As a result I have decided to remain steadfast in my current plan to keep my MacBook Pro as my main machine for regular laptop use and my HP TX2110 for mainly schoolwork and occasional home use.
I EVEN TRIED THE ZUNE 80GB!! Upon getting the glossy red model and syncing it with my Zune library I found the sound quality to be excellent and MORE so with the included premium headphones! The user interface did remind me of the Toshiba Gigabeat I had owned a long while back, but overall it was a different and refreshing departure from my trustworthy iPods. Although having an onboard FM radio tuner wasn’t much to write home about, I did like the bigger screen for larger album art and video viewing. At the end of the day I just have too much invested into my iTunes library to go through the hassle of switching it entirely over to the PC, and the interfacing experience of iTunes and iPod is much more reliable and practically perfect. I ended up returning the Zune for a refund. While the Zune does offer better sound quality than the iPod in terms of minor details in playing back a song, my familiar Apple product has been all above adequate in maintaining my media content. Another point is that the iPod is also more compatible with useful third party products such as the Nike Sport Kit which I use very often.
The compact size of this 12inch HP laptop in comparison to my 15inch MacBook Pro is indeed a huge benefit for the sake of portability and I am enjoying every minute of it. Even though this small marvel may seem to be just as heavy as my bigger Mac, it can more easily blend into the coziest of spaces around the house with no trouble. I really am enjoying the slick texture of the keyboard as I am typing this message via MS Outlook and I also do not think that Windows Vista Home Premium is at all as bad as what the public has made it out to be. On the other hand this PC is definitely not my main computer and I have been limiting my use of it to only school and occasional emailing and web surfing. I wonder if my judgment would be different otherwise. Anyway, I am certainly glad to have gotten my hands on this full-fledged tablet laptop for the price I paid and I figured I should not have a want for anything more in the tech toy department…but I was wrong.
To be quite honest in this instant I have to admit to giving in to my addiction for the latest and greatest technological toys. Over the past couple days while using this small HP my mind began thinking about other alternatives for mobile word processing and eventually narrowed the choices down to two models: the HP 2133 Mini-Note and Lenovo’s IdeaPad U110. Before I go further into detail let me start off by saying that I am fully aware of the fact that I have NO business looking into ANOTHER laptop when I have just purchased this HP machine, but whenever I open my Mac or PC it seems like something keeps pulling me back to the CNet review sites and the Google results of “HP 2133 vs Lenovo U110”. Oh well, I guess we all have our vices.
After looking online I find that there are benefits to both machines when looked at from a distance. Both the HP and Lenovo appear to be extremely portable with their small form factors and offer WiFi and Bluetooth with an adequate qwerty keypad, but this extra mobility comes at a price: no optical drive. While the more expensive U110 comes with an external optical drive I assume that one can be found for a good price to be paired with the Mini-Note, so lack of an optical drive may not be too big of an issue to address. So far the HP Mini-Note has been regarded as the best mobile device for worthwhile typing with its nearly full-sized keyboard, but I haven’t really seen much on the typing potential of the other machine. As far as looks are concerned the IdeaPad easily wins out with a very slim profile, an elaborate outside appearance and keys with a glossy piano finish. The Mini-Note on the other hand appears to be nothing more than a MacBook Pro copycat, albeit a very compact and sleek copycat with rounded edges and a professional stance with the overall aluminum finish. While I hear rave reviews of the U110 from James Kendrick of the MobileTech Podcast and read glowing reviews on CNet, there appears to be a concern with a screen that is too reflective, a keyboard finish prone to smudges as well as a lack of customizable models. HP’s model seems to bear the brunt of the harshest criticism in regards to the sluggish performance of the VIA chip with Vista Business and the tendency for high temperatures in addition to a reflective screen. One solution that may be a saving grace for the HP is that on the official site there are certain models available for a downgrade to XP Professional which could possibly be more stable. Another factor in this matter is definitely cost and the Lenovo quickly fades to oblivion in this regard when compared to the HP.
In the midst of all this debating between these two devices I am starting to come to an absolute conclusion: my HP TX2110 is exactly what I need at this point and I am especially realizing this as I continue to type this message on its keys. Another issue that I really didn’t think about is the resolution of the Windows OS on such a small screen. The 12inches on this TX2110 model is plenty small for the tolerated resolution and I believe that going to anything smaller may prove to be non-productive in future use for school. Wow! It looks like in the time it took to write this blog entry I successfully talked myself out of getting either the HP or the Lenovo!!
As all of this continues to unfold I can at least say that I am truly feeling much more well-rounded as a computer user. At this point I never think that it is wise to put all of one’s eggs into a single basket and I am extremely grateful to have learned this from my computers as well as my smartphones. A preference of one operating system over another is never an issue as long as there is an open-minded understanding and acceptance of the benefits of each competitor. We are all different customers with various needs and there is rarely a one-stop shop solution for every technical situation. In my case I find the PC to be much more reliable in managing office duties while my Mac is stellar in managing multimedia duties, and to this day I still switch my SIM between my iPhone , Nokia E90 and my TyTN 2 for their different benefits. It is so amazing to be going through all of this right now, for I know that it can only benefit my growth in the long run as I work towards my degree with ECPI.
TRENT
Sent from my HP TX2110
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