http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/12/my-so-called-laptop/ Engadget Comments for My So-Called Laptop http://www.engadget.com/media/feedlogo.gif http://www.engadget.com en-us Copyright 2012 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/12/my-so-called-laptop/http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/12/my-so-called-laptop/May 12th 2010 1:10PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/05/12/my-so-called-laptop/http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/12/my-so-called-laptop/
Ross, you are THE man! You were born with a technology silver spoon!]]>May 12th 2010 1:13PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/05/12/my-so-called-laptop/http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/12/my-so-called-laptop/
LOL, I was thinking the same thing.]]>May 12th 2010 1:22PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/05/12/my-so-called-laptop/http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/12/my-so-called-laptop/
The attack of the nerds has begun, may the jocks and preps be shot down in glorious battle with data streams and bombed by email attachments filled with viruses and trojans. See how the ideal nerd warrior carries his nerf blaster, loaded with plasma injected rounds, several throwing ipod touches, sharpened to the finest of points and protects himself with an iPad (the only thing the nerds found useful for it for the moment).

This world shall burn in the righteous, cybernetic, data-infused fire, marking the end of the old order and the beginning of the Nerd order.



oh and like afterward, nerds get like, too ahead of themselves and whatnot, and like the Droid becomes self-aware and shit, aaaand like, begins a war with the nerds and...oh just go watch Terminator 1 through Salvation and you'll get an idea of how it'll play out. ]]>May 12th 2010 1:26PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/05/12/my-so-called-laptop/http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/12/my-so-called-laptop/
I messed around with severaI laptops in the 80's, but I also remember the "interesting" laptop my Dad's computer company had. It was one of the first prototypes to use a CD-ROM. You physically had to flip a switch to release the keyboard, flip it up, put in the CD, flip back down, the lock up to run!

Anyone else get to play with those?]]>May 12th 2010 1:26PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/05/12/my-so-called-laptop/http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/12/my-so-called-laptop/I was watching the movie "WarGames" the other day again. What a classic. And probably the only film where the nerd is actually also the cool kid. lol]]>May 12th 2010 1:27PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/05/12/my-so-called-laptop/http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/12/my-so-called-laptop/
Great article guys. Really interesting to see who bought what as their first laptop and how that impacts the perspective towards different platforms today (Windows vs Apple).]]>May 12th 2010 1:37PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/05/12/my-so-called-laptop/http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/12/my-so-called-laptop/May 12th 2010 1:49PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/05/12/my-so-called-laptop/http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/12/my-so-called-laptop/
The most impressive thing about Ross' laptop is that manual. At least 18 chapters, with instructions for everything including programming firmware! Today's systems are vastly more complex and comes with far less documentation. No wonder so many people hate technology.]]>May 12th 2010 1:53PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/05/12/my-so-called-laptop/http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/12/my-so-called-laptop/On Virgin1? I watched it too.

Great movie. Didn't like the sequel ("WG2:The Dead Code") as much, if you can call it a sequel (Different main character etc.) but it was still a worthwhile watch.

All the time I watched it I was just thinking "Man I wish everyone still used dial-up" - which is a really, really odd thing to think.]]>May 12th 2010 1:59PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/05/12/my-so-called-laptop/http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/12/my-so-called-laptop/'Nerd' still implies that you love tech, but break out in a cold sweat at the mere prospect of talking to a woman. ]]>May 12th 2010 2:14PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/05/12/my-so-called-laptop/http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/12/my-so-called-laptop/May 12th 2010 2:16PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/05/12/my-so-called-laptop/http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/12/my-so-called-laptop/May 12th 2010 2:16PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/05/12/my-so-called-laptop/http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/12/my-so-called-laptop/May 12th 2010 2:17PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/05/12/my-so-called-laptop/http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/12/my-so-called-laptop/
I loved this article.

BTW, you never had to be called a nerd.]]>May 12th 2010 3:12PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/05/12/my-so-called-laptop/http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/12/my-so-called-laptop/
We prefer being called "Geeks"

this article brought back memories of my first laptop - a Dell Inspiron 8100 with 1GHz P3m, 512MB ram, 32MB video, DVD drive, and a 250MB zip drive. I loved all 10lbs of it!]]>May 12th 2010 3:16PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/05/12/my-so-called-laptop/http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/12/my-so-called-laptop/May 12th 2010 11:26PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/05/12/my-so-called-laptop/http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/12/my-so-called-laptop/http://j.mp/macbook-shootout]]>May 13th 2010 2:31AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/05/12/my-so-called-laptop/http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/12/my-so-called-laptop/here is the diagram for the confused:
http://laughingsquid.com/nerd-venn-diagram-geek-dork-or-dweeb/]]>May 13th 2010 7:38AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/05/12/my-so-called-laptop/http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/12/my-so-called-laptop/May 12th 2010 1:12PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/05/12/my-so-called-laptop/http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/12/my-so-called-laptop/May 12th 2010 1:48PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/05/12/my-so-called-laptop/http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/12/my-so-called-laptop/
Really an interesting read Engadget Staff! Hilarious to see things like "75MHz Pentium" when cell phones are shipping with 1GHz processors!]]>May 12th 2010 2:07PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/05/12/my-so-called-laptop/http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/12/my-so-called-laptop/Those were good times.
We played UT2K4 constantly on the School's LAN. I actually got really good playing with a trackpad, I have no idea how I did it now...]]>May 12th 2010 1:14PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/05/12/my-so-called-laptop/http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/12/my-so-called-laptop/Oh, I almost forgot about all the hacking we did. for one glorious day we had access to the Administrator accounts on our iBook, which gave us full admin access to the Remote Desktop system they had installed on EVERY laptop in the school (even the Teachers).
It was very fun until we heard the announcement over the intercom listing off all our names, and we knew the jig was up.
]]>May 12th 2010 1:18PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/05/12/my-so-called-laptop/http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/12/my-so-called-laptop/
My first was a Compaq Portable with green phosphorous CRT. That was 1983]]>May 12th 2010 1:39PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/05/12/my-so-called-laptop/http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/12/my-so-called-laptop/
/thread]]>May 12th 2010 1:49PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/05/12/my-so-called-laptop/http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/12/my-so-called-laptop/
These milk-fed whippersnaps of today, p'shaw! Mealymouths raised on 'Thin & Light' and ultra-portables...they don't realized 'Portable' computers used to come in the 60lb range...]]>May 12th 2010 3:06PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/05/12/my-so-called-laptop/http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/12/my-so-called-laptop/May 12th 2010 5:45PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/05/12/my-so-called-laptop/http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/12/my-so-called-laptop/May 12th 2010 5:50PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/05/12/my-so-called-laptop/http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/12/my-so-called-laptop/
My first real laptop wasn't purchased until 2006; it was a G4 PowerBook, which I really loved (it still runs but I don't use it much). I was a desktop person before that.]]>May 12th 2010 5:58PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/05/12/my-so-called-laptop/http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/12/my-so-called-laptop/
Oh, yes, because your spelling is so great you need something that matches your talent. I love my iPad as much as the next person (who keeps saying he/she is going to get one), but don't be dissin' the iBook (unless it was a G4, then dissin' is allowed).

btw, make sure to get a bluetooth keyboard with it.

Toodles!

Sent from my iPad]]>May 12th 2010 7:26PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/05/12/my-so-called-laptop/http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/12/my-so-called-laptop/May 12th 2010 8:33PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/05/12/my-so-called-laptop/http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/12/my-so-called-laptop/May 12th 2010 1:15PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/05/12/my-so-called-laptop/http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/12/my-so-called-laptop/
Yes, I remember my Inspiron 3800. Oh, boy do I remember it. Five keyboards, two motherboards, three motherboard-to-LCD cables, two LCDs, the entire plastic shell, audio jacks on one of the motherboards, two batteries, four hard drives, and two and a half years. I paid $800 for it (refurb) and it ultimately cost me double that in parts, first from Dell, and later from eBay when I could no longer afford to buy new. Oh, yes, I remember my Inspiron 3800 very well indeed. It's been almost seven years and I still advise people against buying anything Dell, ever.

On the other hand, I did at least gain a LOT of experience in repairing laptops over those years which has continued to serve me well to this day. Thinkpads Forever For Me.]]>May 12th 2010 4:07PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/05/12/my-so-called-laptop/http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/12/my-so-called-laptop/http://nwcs.com/~jvc/ljstuff/quasilaptop.jpeg
(Added the NERF sticker as a joke on how "sturdy" the thing was.)

You just don't forget a system like that. :)]]>May 12th 2010 4:14PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/05/12/my-so-called-laptop/http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/12/my-so-called-laptop/I have that 8200 laptop too and I cant believe it cost me over 3k to get it. It did the job though..and it did it weighing an awful lot. every so often I still use it and it works just fine.

I had some real crappy laptops before it though - one that broke after a month and still is sitting in a box someplace. Think it was an Acer knockoff. ]]>May 12th 2010 5:53PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/05/12/my-so-called-laptop/http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/12/my-so-called-laptop/May 12th 2010 1:16PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/05/12/my-so-called-laptop/http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/12/my-so-called-laptop/May 12th 2010 1:16PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/05/12/my-so-called-laptop/http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/12/my-so-called-laptop/May 12th 2010 1:18PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/05/12/my-so-called-laptop/http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/12/my-so-called-laptop/It had no battery, no hard drive, and had a blue and white screen...you had to boot and run all apps and stuff from the floppy. IIRC it did have a PC speaker so you could hear sound from the games and stuff. I remember playing police quest and a nightmare on elm street for hours on that thing.

Next laptop was a g4 powerbook (titanium) from when I first started college...man was that a POS, the case cracked after 5 months of using it...it's so thin wow omg...yeah it's so thin that it cracks!]]>May 12th 2010 1:20PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/05/12/my-so-called-laptop/http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/12/my-so-called-laptop/
My desktop computer at the time was the sibling of Ross's laptop above, a Zenith Z-158 (its 8088 could run an 8MHz turbo mode nearly *twice* the speed of a stock IBM PC!) that was also available as a Heathkit. Transfers between the two were done via a null modem cable (built by a friend more talented with a soldering iron than me).
]]>May 12th 2010 1:25PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/05/12/my-so-called-laptop/http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/12/my-so-called-laptop/May 12th 2010 1:25PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/05/12/my-so-called-laptop/http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/12/my-so-called-laptop/
My first PC notebook was the spectacularly small Compaq Aero 4/33c. I think it was the then-equivalent to a netbook today. Super small, I *loved* that thing. Every once in awhile I see one at Weird Stuff in pieces and I want to pay $10 for it but I can't bear to see one that isn't working.]]>May 12th 2010 1:25PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/05/12/my-so-called-laptop/http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/12/my-so-called-laptop/
I had the 25MHz version, it was my first laptop. I used it for years until one day the motherboard crapped out and I upgraded to a Gateway 66MHz.]]>May 12th 2010 2:57PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/05/12/my-so-called-laptop/http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/12/my-so-called-laptop/May 12th 2010 1:25PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/05/12/my-so-called-laptop/http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/12/my-so-called-laptop/May 12th 2010 1:27PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/05/12/my-so-called-laptop/http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/12/my-so-called-laptop/
Just to annoy PC people with our originality and sense of style ;-)]]>May 12th 2010 8:22PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/05/12/my-so-called-laptop/http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/12/my-so-called-laptop/May 12th 2010 1:27PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/05/12/my-so-called-laptop/http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/12/my-so-called-laptop/May 12th 2010 1:28PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/05/12/my-so-called-laptop/http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/12/my-so-called-laptop/May 12th 2010 1:29PM