Thursday, June 2, 2011

I Am a Sloth (and proud of it)

I've been kind of thinking about getting one of those new Android readers (like Motorola's Xoom).  I've got a Kindle, and it reads well, but it doesn't have the touch screen or the ability to play many games.  With an Android based reader, I'd have games galore and the ability to load the reader of my choice (including Kindle for Android so I don't lose my current library).

In part of my ongoing research I decided to go to Best Buy last Sunday and get a hands on review of the little devices.  I decided to get an Acer Iconia because they were a lot cheaper and I was rather unsure.  The reason I did it was because Best Buy agreed to give me 3 years no interest on all my purchases.

While I was there checking out tablets I spied behind my left shoulder a laptop.  Now, I've been playing Rift.  It's a rather entertaining game, but I'm not ready to blog about it yet.  My kids were over and my youngest daughter was on my speedy desktop computer (so no Rift for me).  And, I've been wanting a laptop for a while now.  It just seems like a natural progression.  I had already been doing research, but I just wasn't ready to spend the money yet.  Since Best Buy was offering me 36 months, no interest, I said to myself, "No time like the present".  So I bought a laptop.

I didn't buy the one pictured to the left.  I bought a stripped down version from Best Buy.  Reviewers are fond of calling it, "The 'watered down for Best Buy' version."  But at 36 months no interest, that gives me 3 years to pay it off at $34 per month!

While at Best Buy I bought a little laptop desk so I could sit on my couch or in my recliner and play on my computer.  It's similar to the one pictured here (without the light and with a mouse pad that slides out on the side).

Finally, I went home.  Once home I started putting everything together.  First thing I had was a big happy helping of buyer's remorse.  So I packed up the Acer Iconia and took it back to Best Buy for a refund.  This made me feel enormously better.

I got everything installed on my new laptop.  Incidentally, if you do buy an Asus G73SW laptop and the keyboard lights aren't working, you must go to the Asus website and download the ATK drivers (I think ATK stands for Asus Technical Keypad or something like that).  The lights are controlled by the keypad and if the drivers aren't installed, the keypad doesn't work.  I accidentally disabled mine whilst trying to uninstall unnecessary software.  You might have to uninstall the existing ATK drivers and install the new ones.

On Tuesday evening, I sat in my recliner, in front of my TV, with a beer in my cup holder, playing Rift and watching the Mavs lose valiantly to the Heat.  I had brief moments of guilt because of all the things I "should" be doing, but it was masked by the shear satisfaction of being a sloth.

2 comments:

  1. Sloths are great. They don't hurt anybody and, with a little grooming, could be cuddly.

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  2. I think you might have won some sort of prize for that comment.

    While writing that little ditty it occurred to me several times that sloth could go both ways: either an animal that hangs upside down in the trees or a lazy bastard.

    I appreciate your optimism.

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