My Ordeal with Dell

Dell XPS M1530 - Purchased January 2009
Intel Core 2 Duo T8100 2.1 GHz
4 GB DDR2 SDRAM
500GB Western Digital HDD
15.4 inch screen
Nvidia GeForce 8600M GT
2 year limited warranty
$1226


September 2^nd: Unable to boot into operating system.  Called Dell, spent half an hour with tech support to get the error message that told them that my hard drive had failed.  During the half hour phone call, the tech rep asked me a couple times if I was still on the line: geez, who had more patience here, him or me? Since I’ve read that Dell is willing to change the motherboard and heatsink if customer complains about the heat, I nonchalantly mentioned that my machine “feels hot to the touch” when I use it.  The tech didn’t say another word and automatically sent me a motherboard and heatsink.

September 7^{th -} FIRST REPAIR: Replace motherboard, heatsink, and hard drive.  Obtained Dell’s media remote that was stuck in its bay inside the machine.  Got a stripped screw replaced with a good one. I had to wait over the Labor Day weekend to get my laptop fixed.  Otherwise it was in operable.  Performed low level format on old hard drive and RMA’d the thing.

Service performed: Laptop repaired, could boot into Windows.  Formatted over the factory image and proceeded to install Windows 7 with the software I usually used.  Found that instead of having a Nvidia GeForce 8600M GT, the motherboard they shipped me was a Nvidia GeFroce 8400M GS.  Fine.  I could live with that.

September 11^th: Laptop unable to boot past the BIOS loading screen, showed nothing but a white cursor.  After a few tries, figured out that the time and date were set to the factory default.  Suspected dead CMOS battery, machine would boot up fine as long as time and date were configured properly.  Called Dell to get a new motherboard.  Tech representative had a stronger Indian accent than the first guy did.  Decided to ship out a motherboard and hard drive. Laptop operable in the meantime.  Made a disk image with the free Acronis that Western Digital provides online.

September 14^{th -} SECOND REPAIR: Laptop serviced again by the same field tech, very nice guy but had a strong case of the yellow fever.  Laptop operable and loaded with previously made image.

Service performed: Replace motherboard and hard drive.  Need to low level format second hard drive (first shipped one) and RMA the thing.

Verdict: Machine operable.  GPU temps at 80C max on SC2 with medium settings, 65C max on lightweight tasks.  Dell's customer support is decent, but should have higher standards for their machines.  Latest BIOS update is not on Dell's FTP server, Dell field tech gave me a service technician's copy of the CD.

Back to the Cutting Board

Here at Gotlactose Development, it is quite the norm for the blog to change drastically in a short amount of time then see long periods of neglect.  Before you is another layout change to the blog, hopefully followed by more periodic blog updates.

iPad Follow Up

After getting my hands on Apple's newest mobile device, I have some opinions of my own.

Apple was right in that they already have a market of consumers who know how to use the iPad.  Once I picked it up, I knew right away how to manipulate it.  However, I'm also the same kind of guy who can learn how to use most foreign electronic devices in a short period of time.  But it definitely felt familiar, yet somewhat new.


User Input:
Yes, obviously the screen is much bigger, but it was no longer my thumbs that did most of the input.  On the iPhone and iPod Touch, one could hold the device in one hand and use the thumb on the same hand, or hold it with one hand and use the forefinger of the other hand.  With the iPad and its size, using it with thumbs is impractical: the reach they have relative to the entire device's size makes the experience awkward and difficult.  I ended up using my forefinger the whole time.  Typing on landscape mode wasn't as awkward as I had thought: within a few minutes, I was typing as fast I would on my iPod Touch.  Yet I was using my full hand on a somewhat smaller sized touch keyboard rather than two thumbs on a tiny screen.  But hands down (no pun intended), typing on portrait mode was horrible.  The keyboard was much too small to try to use your whole hand with the QWERTY set up we've all learned in typing class, yet it was not small enough to use with simply two thumbs from either side of the device, as most people do with their iPhones.

Verdict: It's decent on landscape, but I can definitely see why Apple decided to market a keyboard for the iPad.  The iPad keyboard could definitely use some more ergonomic work.


Display:
Yes, the screen is much bigger, but so what?  To me, I don't know if the extra spacing between icons on the springboard was necessary.  And for some reason, I couldn't drag and move the icons on the demo device I was using.  Having only four columns of icons on each page of the springboard and dock is a definite waste of space.  I used a five icon dock hack with my jailbroken iPod Touch and I loved it, I'm sure the iPad can comfortably accommodate five or six columns per page.

There happened to be an episode of Battlestar Galatica on the iPad demo device and I promptly had the device play it.  I'm not sure if it's the file itself or the iPad, but the video quality did not look superb.


User Interface:
However, I will say that the UI does look refined.  It does retain the familiar iPhone feel, but the Calendar and Contacts apps have a nice iPad touch (awesome word choice there) to them.  Apple really made use of the extra space.

This brings me to the point of being able to use iPhone apps on the iPad.  Apple claimed that from day 1, the iPad would have access to the tens of thousands of apps that were originally written for the iPhone.  I used the Engadget app and right when I loaded it, I was disgusted with it.  The resolution was so poor, it felt the need to scale it back down to the iPhone size just to use it comfortably.


Physical Design:
I'm glad Apple decided to put a rotation lock on the device, the little toggle next to the up and down volume buttons.  The iPad did not feel too heavy in my hand, but unfortunately I did not get to experience what it would feel like to carry it because the demonstration device I used was tethered to the table.  However, as I was using it, for some strange reason, I felt that the device was too thick.  Yes, I realize it is a tablet and Apple is known for making the devices thin, but I would probably attribute my discomfort with the thickness as poor ergonomic design.  In terms of physical design, the iPad really is just a giant iPod Touch.


Price Point:
$499 for the 16GB, $599 for the 32GB and $699 for the 64 GB.  It's a bit absurd, but so was the iPhone's price when it first came out.  I realize that the iPad does not have the commitment subsidy that the iPhone does, which might actually justify its higher price, which is also why I think the data plans for the 3G models (add an additional $130 for 3G capabilities) is actually pretty fair.  $14.99 for 250 MB a month for $29.99/month for unlimited with no contracts.  This is essentially the iPhone plan without the voice or 250 MB a month option.  I feel that Apple should do the same data pricing plan with the iPhone because I would have seriously considered being a loyal iPhone customer if they had done this from the beginning.

Yet the iPad's price point is too high for it to be ubiquitous.  If there was an iPad in every living room, lounge, social area, then the world would seem much more futuristic.


So in conclusion, the iPad is a good device for reputable company's first attempt at a tablet computer, but it is in no way the pioneer or revolutionary icon of a new age of computing.  If someone were to give me one as a gift, I would kiss the ground they walk on for a week, but I would definitely not drop $499 from the base model. If the price was lowered to $300 for the 3G version, then I would consider it.


Dear Apple,

You may be able to revolutionize the computing industry with a large multi-touch tablet, but you have to redesign the casing that comes with it.

Signed,
Apple Mobile Device User
iPod Nano 1G, iPod Touch 1G, and soon iPhone 3GS or the newest model


Sent from my PC.

Post-iPad Release

Saturday, April 3, 2010 – Apple’s iPad Launch

The long anticipated release of Apple’s tablet computer, the iPad, finally reached the hands of the mainstream consumers.  Many friends of mine lined up for the iPad release at midnight and some even got a picture with Steve Wozniak, the co-founder of Apple Inc, who was also waiting in line with the other customers.

Now that a week has passed and people from pundits to little kids have taken the device for a spin, their feedback has made their way to the Internet.  The main concern with the iPad is the kind of situations and locations that the iPad would be perfect for.  Of all the reviews I have read, a commonly agreed upon area to use the iPad comfortably is the couch, having the device propped up against one’s legs with the knees bent at an approximate 90 degree angle.  

Yet of all the reviews I have read, Gizmodo decided to post a review of an inevitable place that all gadgets end up: the bathroom.   Although people don’t like to talk to about it, they take their electronic devices with them into the bathroom and use them while they take care of their business.  In our attention deficient disordered society, simply sitting on the toilet isn’t stimulating enough, we have to be making phone calls, returning text messages, checking Facebook or Twitter.  Although engineering these electronic devices have come a long way, their mortal enemy remains to be water, a substance that is ubiquitous in a bathroom.  For that very concern, I have seen far too many friends drop their mobile devices into the toilet (hopefully an unused one) and it poses a huge risk for something as large and potentially slippery as the iPad.  Alas, the iPad and bathroom Internet surfing were not meant to be.

So that takes care of WHERE the iPad should and should not be used.  But who is Apple’s latest and (hotly contested) greatest intended for?  I can tell you right now, diehard tech enthusiasts do not like the iPad for its lack of features and poor design.  If these diehard tech enthusiasts, who are the type of people who would still use computers and gadgets even if they weren’t cool in mainstream culture, don’t like the iPad, who is expected to love it?

How about the expansion of the computing market?  The current hurdle in computing is the learning curve.  Sure, for you to be reading this, using a computer may be second nature to you, as is riding a bike or driving a car.  But to explain the concepts of computing to the uninitiated seems like a daunting task for the teacher and a vague and arbitrary subject for the pupil.  How do you explain the concept of “windows” in which programs run in, that you can have multiple iterations of these “windows” to run the same program, but you can’t have multiple programs run in the same window?

In comes the Apple iPad.  Its aim is to simplify computing and ease the learning curve for those uninterested in learning how to interact with a computer.  The main target audience: children and the elderly.  A two year old has little difficulty learning how to manipulate the Apple iPad because she knows that she can just TOUCH what she wants and move it.  Try to have her use a mouse on a computer and it may be difficult for her to grasp the concept of moving the mouse and having to click a certain button in order to manipulate the computer.

And now, WHY?  Why should people care about the Apple iPad?  As I was outside enjoying lunch with a friend yesterday, I sat next to a group of girls who were talking about the iPad.  One girl believed that the iPad and tablet computing in general will completely replace the laptop within five years. 

While I may not completely agree with the timing or the statement itself, tablet computing is slowly making its way into the consumer marketplace.  Take the laptop, for example.  It was somewhere between 2000 and 2010 that the price and functionality of laptops had finally hit an equilibrium that was acceptable by consumers.  Prior to the ubiquity of laptops, desktops were all the rage.  Prior to desktops, people simply didn’t have computers.  Following the trend, it seems as if tablet computing will do the same to laptops.  The only question is when. 

Facebook Hiatus and De-Toxing

Detoxification is a process in which the body rids itself of undesired substances, used as a treatment for substance abuse patients. After being bestowed upon the title of "most likely to be on Facebok" by a large group of my peers, I impulsively decided to go on a Facebook hiatus for a pre-determined amount of time. And to be honest, it has been hard.

Part of my addiction to Facebook is caused by how easily accessible I made it. I have the Facebook mobile app for the iPod Touch (read: NOT the "iTouch"), which allows me to check Facebook anywhere I can get Wifi on my iPod Touch. I set up my laptop so that if I hold down the shift button, press the escape button, and type "fb" (short for "Facebook"), my laptop will automatically open a new tab in Google Chrome and access Facebook. As most of you reading this from Facebook may already know, any chance I had in front of a computer or in a Wifi zone, I would check Facebook and post interesting articles that I come across my subscribed RSS feeds.

The first step to resolving a problem is to admit it. Yes, I was addicted to Facebook. But it was not an unhealthy obsession: I will always like to be kept in the loop about EVERYTHING, part of the reason why I post so many articles on Facebook. I believe information should be freely passed between people and knowing is most of the battle (contrary to what this T-shirt claims) of life.

So I decided to test my self-discipline and stop going to Facebook.com. I adjusted my email notifications so that they would still collect in my Gmail, but I would not be notified of new notifications unless I wanted to look at them. Therefore, when my hiatus is over, I can keep track of what I missed out on. Meanwhile, I have still been accessing my Twitter, Formspring, instant messaging, and obviously my blog. Some have argued that this defeats the purpose of my hiatus.

My answer to these naysayers is no. No, I am not disrupting my Facebook hiatus by accessing these other websites. The purpose of my Facebook hiatus is not to distance myself from distractions, but instead to test my self discipline, to test that if I want something done, I can see it through.

See you on Facebook after 11AM on the 17th. Don't forget that there's daylight savings time this weekend, so my hiatus is actually only 211 hours. Good luck for those on the quarter system and have their final examinations.

Catch you on the flip side.