Disclosure: I have thing for old skool headphones.

It’s easy to trace. I clearly remember popping on my mom’s old, plastic 70’s set on my head to listen to her hi-fi receiver… maybe play a few of her records. There was a ritual, a respect to carefully removing the vinyl, gently placing it on the table, placing the needle down with feather-light touch, as not to scratch the precious music. (I know, this coming from the girl who’s dropped her mp3 player countless-times.) Then putting on those headphones and getting lost in that all encompassing sound.

Anyway, I’ve got great associations with retro-cans, and apparently I’m not the only one.

Panasonic RP-HTX7

These are almost exactly what my mom had. And aren’t they ADORBS?

There’s also a red pair:

Which, sure, look like something you’d find on the firing range but I don’t care. The wire cup mounts give me pause, I’m sure they don’t travel well, but just cute as hell.

JVC has a pair that is a more current interpretation of the look, I’ll post that soon.

* * *

ETA: Oh looky here what I stumbled across at Apartment Therapy’s Unplugged.

My picks are here, although after two days straight of sweltering 100+ degree heat I’m glad to have buds, as ear sweat is not the business.

I find it ironic that my previous posts were about my laptop, my new bag, and my habit for abusing my electronics (the sansa toughskin review) as to my HORROR I nearly dropped my laptop a yesterday.

While ascending the stairs in the parking garage I slipped and caught myself before falling. Unfortunately my laptop bag continued its pendulum momentum, swung off my shoulder and hit the concrete step hard with a sickening smack. As soon as I got to my car I took the lappy out of the bag, put it on the trunkhood and fired it up. It was fine, THANK GOD.

So kudos to Gateway and Decode/Sumdex for building good products for bad owners!

Tech moves so damn fast that by the time I write up a review it’s been discontinued or upgraded.  So let’s got walking through the graveyard…

If a e200 series sansa took a semi-truck tire out behind the middle school and got it pregnant (tm Tracy Jordan), this would be their love child. Ugly bastard, but damn, did it live up to its name.

First, the bad news.

Cons:

- Added weight and bulk (though imo this partic skin is much more sleek than current versions– tho to be fair this might be due more to the sansa design than the  skin itself.)

- Screen protector seems to now be permanently attached to unit.

- Belt clip cracked and broke, but honestly that was after a good summer’s worth of 1hr a day  walking attached to my hip pocket. And when I get my stroll on I swung my hips, dammit. It fought a good fight.

- Plastic “hinge”(?) for clip wore a small circular mark on unit. Fortunately it has that “liquid metal” backing, so the damage was minimal compared to if it had been plastic.

Pros:

- Props to both skin & sansa on this point. I dropped this bad boy so often. On grass, on dirt, on pavement and sidewalk.  Sometimes the ToughSkin absorbed shock and unit kept right on playing. At worse it powered-off, but on restart it was fine, and after double checking there were no scratches or dings on the unit.

- This silicone was not of the cat-hair magnet variety. It’s tough and matte like an eraser.

- Grip “treads” are great if you are holding mp3 player w/ sweaty hands.

- The skin actually made it easier to use the buttons surrounding the scroll wheel.

* * *

As I’ve noted above, Speck continues to make skins for zune, ipod, etc. but sadly the sansa model is no more.  Something about its proportions made it so tomboy-cute, moreso than the successors.

I TOTALLY recommend Speck ToughSkin. It completely lived up to the name, and more than a year later I’m glad I dropped $20 on this instead of some generic silicone for half the price and 1/4 of the protection.

*Also, I suggest picking up a refurb 2nd gen sansa for <$50, stick a cheap microSD card and throw in RockBox.  Have fun, lemme know how it goes!

Disclaimer: NO I haven’t done a clean install, no 3DMark tests here, I’m doing that this summer, life allowing.

WAYS…

I know it’s only been a month (if that) but here’ s some quick hits. Or more accurately, “misses”. But no worries, they are minor.

Keyboard:

-The smaller keys continue to feel wiggly and sound weak. I type a lot, and the HP never gave me pause. These still do. Additionally, there’s more gap b/t keys than I’d like, and chics with long nails might get them caught on rare occassions.

- Copper colored number keys = still hard to see in low-light. Using qwerty #s for in-game shortcuts is a bitch.

-Left function key where ctrl should be. Again, an in-game annoyance.

Web-cam:

-Stil finicky as hell. I have a $10 web cam that is less picky.

- Cam doesn’t work with yahoo messenger 8. Gateway already has a page for this in their support section.

Monitor:

- Crappy viewing angles. I knew this going in, it’s well documented elsewhere, but after looking at my friend’s HP 15.4″ I was irked all over again. Really atrocious given the price point. On par w/ lappy from 3 years ago. Note: I’m picky, maybe most won’t care.

I could try to spin this as a positive. Crappy viewing angles = free privacy screen!

But I won’t.

Processor/mem (non-game):

- I have seen some lag w/ CS3 Browse (drawing thumbnails, sometimes not properly drawing portions of screen). Note: latter bugginess might be software-issue. If you want to know how it fares in games, see the “Hits” section.

Gloss:

- It’s sexy as hell for the first day, then after couple decent gaming seshes you go OCD cleaning off all the hand/finger grease. I dunno, maybe it’s a girl thing, but it bugs.

Size:

- No joke. 17″ is a big mofo. Not a crit against this lappy, per se– if anything it is much more slim and sleek than my friend’s 17″ XPS. More a warning. Your in-store bag choices at the moment are few. You’ll sometimes side-eye those teeny ultra-portable 14.1″. But the vid card needs the space, so deal with it.

Best Buy:

-Okay, this is not specifically against this lappy model, just me firing a bootless cry to heaven over the fact that Best Buy recently rolled out a slightly better configged lappy & free game for the same price. Damn. You.

* * *

So endeth the bitch session. On the positive/hits side:

Size (again):

17″ is great for doing layout, even with *just* 1440×900. It’s almost the same as my current crt, so I’m quite comfortable with it.

8800 (games):

It runs the games I’ve thrown at it wonderfully. Test drove Team Fortress 2 with no probs, UT3 deathmatches with everything maxed, and the not-at-all-vid-card-intensive-but-fun Audiosurf looks hypnotically gorge.

Against the holy-grail of Crysis: it CHOKES on the opening in-flight sequence with everything maxed– frame rates drop to ~10fps, sync is off, etc.

However, backing up to all medium settings looks fine: smooth framerates, white-caps on water, dense foliage, etc. I’m sure fine-tuning the settings will eke out an even better balance of detail/performance. What would also help is popping a damn t9300 in here some sweet day.

But ITMT, with my casual gaming/design workload this rig suits me fine so far. The workaround for the viewing angle is to double-check my work on a calibrated crt that I trust.

That’s the haps. I’ll check in next month, if anything a-splodes.

Look what arrived on my doorstep a mere THREE DAYS after ordering!

[And here is where I'll post a photo. Gimme time.]

Nice work, ebags!

The quick stats:

17.5″ x 13″ x 3.5″

, Polyester Ballistic, 2lbs 8z

First off the bags is slightly different from the pic on the ebags’ site. The black version now has full pleather straps, which feels more secure, and offer slightly more padding than the previous fabric version. The pleather also is used as a decorative detail on the outermost pocket, which is also a nice, subtle style improvement.

As for the fabric, it is lightweight yet tough. It’s not on par with the heavier/thicker weave Briggs & Riley totes/duffles I own, yet those bags are also slightly heavier in comparison.

The profile is relatively slim, which makes it easier to carry, but unfortch also means it doesn’t easily stand up on its own. Even with said thin profile, I was able to fit in my massive black Gateway P6h831-FX with battery attached. That was a welcome surprise, as this gaming lappy is no compartively skinny macbook pro. It’s a tight fit, for sure, but it’s no struggle to zip up.

The most I would try to stuff in this bag. For a sense of scale, that’s a full-sized mouse. Does that help?

Working the AC adapter into the second pocket took some effort, but it too (eventually) fit. That task would have been much easier if the two front pockets had the same “accordion” design as the interior file pockets. Said pockets can accommodate a 1/2″ binder with ease, and there are additional pockets in the back of the bag, and within the laptop compartment.

Plenty of organization options for more folders, thin software manual, etc. but I didn’t try to carry anything else as I really started feeing “it” my shoulder. You know you are hauling too much when the refrain “I need to work out again” keeps going through in your head. Although as bonus, doing curls with this bag really made my biceps burn. Score!

At first blush, Decode’s tote meets all my needs. If I was taking the Gateway with me everyday I’d opt for a backpack to 1)carry more items 2)avoid shoulder separation. But as I only plan to take it with me maybe once or twice a month on trips, this tote design is more than adequate. It’s feminine, but not girly, practical, tough enough, carries what I need and matches my casual-professional style perfectly. So far, so good.

Btw, Ebags is currently running a Mother’s Day sale on this bag, with allegedly free gift-wrapping (although I didn’t get any. You might need to enter a special code.) It’s currently $49.99– that’s 44% off list– but if you are patient they”ll have another 20% off promo that drops it down another $10

FYI there’s a more recent, follow-up review

Recently I’ve gotten some decent freelance gigs plus acquired a windfall (not my “econstimcheck”) and have the ability to nurture my “big kid” side: gadgets and high end games. Within the space of nearly a week I went from playing a wii for the first time to getting one. And now in my sights are a new laptop. You’d think I’d be happy as a little girl. I am not.

First, some background. I’m cheap as fuck. Credit my immigrant mother. No purchase can proceed without research, no matter how small. Sunday mornings are for a cup of coffee and the sale section of the newspaper, methodically pouring over for deals. Items circled for the fantabulous savings, even if they aren’t necessary. I waste pen ink, not money.

And yet, here I am, right after freshly pulling the trigger on a $1300 laptop. A desktop replacement. And I have a desktop that doesn’t need replacing. Hours upon hours of web research, bleary-eyed 3am scanning 50+ page web forum threads. Due diligence indeed. Especially with the big ticket items. Said “ticket” is bigger than I’d anticipated. It’s like I went in for a econo-sport and came out with an SUV. A great deal on the thing. But still… that’s a ton of money, and as is the case with electronics, I’m likely going to buy MORE things to play on said gadget. Good money after bad?

UPDATE:

Anyway, deets on the newest addition:
Gateway P6831-FX.
The world doesn’t need more lovingly shot piccies of this lappy, so go look it up on notebookreview.com.

First, the “bad”:
-I, too, have the finicky webcam issue. It gets confused in lower light situations and the cam input goes dark. You need to maintain enough ambient light and keep the properties window open concurrently with the webcam viewer. Boo! Hopefully this is a software issue.
-I agree with other reviewers, the lcd’s viewing angles are subpar.
-I’ve read some claims that lcd has a “semi-gloss” coating. This is only matte compared to a mirror.
-Keys don’t feel as reassuringly firm as hp, the direction keys in particular. Worrisome.
-The function key is on the bottom left, squeezed next to the ctrl. Annoying, particularly because in my anim/design apts I’m all about the shortcuts.
-The copper-color paint for the number keys is impossible to read under low light conditions.
-The battery juts out ~.5″ from the back – doesn’t bug me none now, but I may be problematic when it comes to finding a laptop bag.
-Heavy. Mostly due to the vid-card, I assume.

The “good” (or caveats to the previous bad):
-I like the matte copper/black gloss/pseudo-carbon fiber design scheme. The large FX on the lid is a bit much, but it’s distinctive, and I feel no impulse to slap a skin on here to make it unique (or, in the case of the HP artist-edition, HIDEOUS)
-With the monitor brightness turned down, you can squeeze out 2+ hours of power from the battery. Granted that’s just web surfing, word processing, but that’s good enough for me, and frankly this things going to be plugged in 90% of the time.
- Good fan placement, no immediate need for a chill pad. No searingly hot spots on the keypad/palm rest during gameplay.
-Easy access to panels/layout that offers desktop level ease-of-upgrade w/ the having to do a full teardown.
-A full numberpad is awesome to have, obviously in the gaming context but also for work.
-It is hefty (hefty, hefty!), however, it’s I wouldn’t say it’s aesthetically “bulky” and it is seems thinner than comparable, overpriced gamer portables.
-The WXGA+ native res of 1440×900 much to my relief is more than adequate for my needs.
-None of the dell grainy screens (I went to staples to verify this often blogged complaint. Yes, it’s real, and it’s craptacular), decent image when you fiddle with your nvidia settings.
-Speaking of nvidia, sweet baby hey-sus, I quite enjoy my 8800. I had a 7600GT in my desktop box, so the upgrade from that (plus my admitted long absence from PC gaming) makes me a fricking kid in a damn costco-sized candy store.

So here I am, more saucer-eyed than an anime chic downing red bulls, wondering “what to buy? WHAT TO BUY?”

Specifically:
What games?
What case?
What mouse?

I’ll address those questions in weeks to come. What I will not do that I’m sure most new owners of this lappy will is bombard you with benchmarks, scores, overclocking horror stories and machismo bullshit about how badass my lan killer is. In otherwords, I’m not a 14 year old boy. Hahah, I kid. A little.

What I will say @ this point is that it works fast enough for my needs (CS3, some video editing/encoding/ 3D rendering to be tested later) AND my wants (running, gunning & grinning).

Tune in next time as I bitch about finding a bag for this behemoth.