You may have seen across multiple technology sites over the past month, some stuff on a Apple docking patent. What this does, it is takes a portable computer, like a MacBook, and it goes inside the dock that looks similar to an iMac. This will allow it to be used as a desktop like device with many extra ports and such.

Laptops are becoming more popular and are starting to take over a lot of the desktop market. People are turning to laptops for what they need, except in a portable package with similar and/or sufficient power for their needs. People are turning to laptops to use as desktop replacements and therefore a type of dock is a well welcomed device for the home. This allows for all peripherals such as hard drives, monitors, keyboard and mouse to be on your desk, and you can dock your laptop and use it without having to plug half a dozen plugs into your laptop.

With the Apple dock, the laptop inserts into the device, and there is where the limitations start. First off, you lose the ability to use one screen. It is being wasted inside the computer. For some people, this wouldn’t be an issue but you could use the laptop screen as a secondary monitor to display stuff, such as your iTunes library, or even other applications that you may not use. It would be useful for displaying information that you don’t need to see but it would be nice to have displayed without getting in the way of the apps you are using and without you having to select it. It would be good if it was just there at your side on the laptop screen.

You are also limited to the screen size of the dock, which is dictated by Apple. They could have multiple docks with different screen sizes, but that means you have to pay extra for it, and it probably won’t be cheap. You could even be better off getting an iMac and leaving the dock out of it. It will most likely be cheaper to buy a Dell monitor, or any other brand, for cheaper than the dock is. If the laptop isn’t very powerful, it might struggle with displaying two large resolutions if the dock happened to have a monitor port for a dual setup.

What I would rather have is a dock that can be used with all the Mac notebooks, not just the one that the dock is made for. Also I would like to be able to use a monitor of my choice and have many ports on the dock. It could work similar to how their iPod docks do, you just slide the laptop into it, and it just goes. All peripherals and such connect to the dock and get detected by the computer on insertion. I would also be able to use the screen on my monitor for other applications and not have it wasted.

On the assumption that the new notebook is ultra slim, it might not be as powerful as bigger laptops, in many ways. If so, is it really a good option to use it as a desktop replacement? If people wanted a Mac desktop replacement, they would probably go for a higher end line with higher processor, dedicated graphics and larger screen. A lower powered notebook might not suffice as a desktop machine. In that case, the dock is a waste of space, and probably a waste of money. A port replicator dock would be much better and could also be usable with multiple notebooks, models from now, and in the future.

This is really all based on speculation, and not a real product. Maybe in less than 12 hours, we find out what this really is and if it is plausible. I may end up eating my words, but some of my points may still be valid. It is a neat idea just sliding in your portable computer into a monitor/iMac like device and use it as my desktop. It can be two units in one, a slim portable computer for when i need the portability, and then a desktop like computer with a bigger monitor and more ports and such for when I need that functionality. I would have to get some real information about the notebook and the dock, before I can have real opinions about the actual product, and I would have to use it for a personal opinion of the actual product. We shall wait and see.

Yesterday, one of the desktop computers gave in. The thing just would not work. It had a good life, seven years with no problems what so ever (except for viruses and spyware.) My sister was using it as we replaced it a couple of years back. We looked around a few shops at the computer and decided that maybe a laptop computer would be an option, rather than a desktop. The price of a laptop isn’t that much different from a desktop and depending on what you use your computer for would depend on if it is a good idea to go portable or not.

We ended up getting a new laptop, same series as mine, only a higher model. The main differences are the better processor, an AMD Athlon X2 1.8Ghz, 120GB Hard Drive, Bluetooth and Vista Home Premium. Other than that it waspretty much the same, except for Compaq’s new (ugly) logo. It is a huge upgrade for my sister, going from a 1.3Ghz, 30GB Hard Drive with 512 RAM. I wouldn’t notice that much of an advancement but for someone using such a low spec computer, this computer would be blazing!

Some of the thing I like about this one, than my model, is the precessor. Yes, its a little faster but what makes it better than mine is the heat. With the new laptop, you hardly feel any warmth coming from the thing, where as mine, you always feel heat coming from it, and depending on the conditions, it can even get to the point that it burn you if it touches your skin too long. I would benifit from a cooler processor because I use my computer on my lap and it can get uncomfortable when using it for a while, and even be unbearable if the weather is hot as well.

Another thing that is great about it is the bluetooth. This is one thing I have never experienced in my life, and for a lot of people, its the normal, even old technology. I was surprised about how great it work. Sending a picture from a cellphone took 30 seconds, from capture to looking at it on the computer. I know there are other things you can do with bluetooth but just sending a picture amazed me. I have no idea why our digital cameras, Mp3 players and other common devices don’t use bluetooth to communicate with computers. Bluetooth is a great feature, but personally I wouldn’t use it because I do not have any bluetooth devices. Still, it was amazing to play with.

The final little difference is Vista. Yes, I have been using Vista since February, or so I though. You really aren’t experiencing Vista unless you are using Home Premium or above. Home Basic in my books, doesn’t count anymore. It is stripped down, I don’t even know why they even have this version. To me it seems like a bloated XP with a fancy skin on it, nothing mch new here. I love the smoothness and animations of Premium, especially the Flip3D. It is so pretty to look at and I can’t believe they would have a version without it. To be honest, the visual features is the only real selling point of Vista, yet they have a version that lacks all that.

Do I wish I could have that laptop instead of the one I have now? Yes! Would I trade what I have for that one? No! This is my laptop and I am going to keep it forever. I wouldn’t trade it in for anything. I wouldn’t mind a new laptop in the nearish future so we will see what happens. Some more RAM and Home Premium would be nice to get and would make this last until it is time to upgrade. MacBook Pro, I’m coming, just wait a little longer!

As you should know, my laptop has gone back to the repair shop to get the wireless fixed. Its been gone for three days now so I presume they are either lazy, or waiting for parts to come or something. I really miss my laptop and would trade this desktop in anyway, just to have it back. Lucky I am not going to have to do that and can have both. Here are a short list of things that I miss about her. Don’t worry, its not a top ten list.

I really miss Vista. Some people will think I am crazy but there are heaps of little things in Vista that I wish they had in XP. One of the things is the quick search. Finding applications in “All Programs” is a tedious task and is becomes very easy to miss just typing in the first few letters on an app and hitting enter. Not only that, but I miss the stylish black bar and the blue Windows orb. XP looks so square and unclean, if you know what I mean.

I also miss the smooth video playback this temporary computer doesn’t offer. I have had to suffice with jumpy, poor video playback. I assume it is due to the crappy video graphics this computer has but I wouldn’t know to be honest. Video looks great on my laptop, its also in nice widescreen so there are not huge black bars above and below a video. Also the glossy screen makes the video look so much better, not really but it makes me feel better about watching TV shows on it.

Another thing that I miss about my laptop is it being portable. I can use it anywhere, in the living room, in the kitchen, in the bedroom or even in the bathroom/toilet if I please.  I miss being able to snuggle into bed with my laptop on top of me watching a few TV shows to finish off the day before I go to sleep.Its a luxury I wish I had but obviously this desktop computer can’t provide me with that. Being stuck to this desk with and uncomfortable chair is annoying, I just wanna hop into bed and watch some shows.

The thing I miss the most about my laptop is that fact that it is mine, all mine. No sharing, no one else’s grubby mits on it, no one else’s hard drive space or anything. Its 100% mine and I can do anything I want with it.  Not having to worry about losing other peoples files or having stuff running that will slow down the computer for other people is great. This desktop is so slow and if I lose my families documents, or pictures like I have in the past, I’m in trouble. Everything that happens with my PERSONAL computer is my problem and I will be the one to suffer any consequences.Too bad that it feels more like HP’s computer than mine at the moment with all the problems as well as the stupid junk software that got loaded onto it when they reinstalled Windows.

Hopefully my computer is back to working order every soon. It will probably Tuesday if the problem isn’t too deep. I really miss the little thing. To be honest, I wish they could have just replaced the whole dam thing with a nice working one. We all know that that is never going to happen though, haha. They don’t wanna lose money, which is why they wanted me to attempt a stupid system recovery to reinstall Windows  so they hopefully didn’t have to pay for repairs. Sucks they they are paying for it twice. Come home soon lappy, I miss you

And this is the first week of term four over. I though I wouldn’t be able to fit everything into my week but somehow I managed, even with the many obsticles. I have two more tv shows to watch and one more podcast to listen to for the week that that all my media consumed, for this week at least. Having no laptop and having a lot of other events, such at my other commitments as well as my grandmothers 80th birthday,  have been some distractions of the week and I will easily fit everything into a regular week. Because of the week, the posts here have been a bit weak. I promise a couple of post with more in them next week.

Onto another subject, I want to remind you all that this is a personal blog. No news here, just me and my life. If you are not interested in this, please do yourself a favor and unsubscribe from the feed. It sounds odd that someone is asking for people to subscribe, normally people are harping on for people to subscribe and such. To be honest, I don’t care about how many people read this, how many people subscribe here or how many people comment here. If you want to, you are most welcome. I don’t need people to criticize my posts , especially about spelling and grammar. If it bothers you that much, refer to what I said a few sentences back, I don’t need you commenting on grammar errors. If you don’t want to get over it and really must say something that is irrelevant to the topic of the post, email me.

With that out of my system, I will continue to do what I normally do. I hope to get my laptop back before Heroes, Prison Break and Chuck on Tuesday. I hate watching these widescreen shows on a standard monitor. Its amazing how much I miss my laptop. You don’t really realize how useful something, or someone is and how much they mean to you until you do not have them. This is how I feel about my laptop and I hope that she never has to part from me ever again. I miss you lappy!

As I ranted about two days ago, my wireless in my notebook isn’t working.  yesterday I rang Compaq and they told me to do useless crap that I had already tried. I told them I had done it but they insisted that I tried it again. Anyway, without luck, I was told that I would have to restore my system. I backed up my files and waited for the call center to open up the next day.

They walked me through restoring it with their recovery software and I had no luck with that. The software stalled at the par where it re-installs the operating system. I tried restoring from the recovery disc but no luck, same error.  Now I had no way of restoring my computer. The hard drive had been reformatted so there was nothing on the disc. I then had to drop my laptop at the HP certified repair center for them to put Windows Vista back on it and test the wireless adapter and replace if need be.

I have no laptop now and I won’t be getting it back for at up to seven days. That is a long time to wait for her I miss her already. Now I am resorted to a slow, crappy Windows XP desktop. I hate this machine! It will do though, better this than nothing at all. I’m going to have to convert my TV Shows to watch on my PSP because this stupid computer doesn’t play well with Divx. Poor Me!

I am a little pissed of at the moment. Things aren’t working how they should be, people aren’t doing what they should be, things should be happening that should be and people are doing stupid things they shouldn’t be. Sounds complicated, well really its simple, my wireless adapter isn’t working, hp online support didn’t help me, hp call support works only in business hours and some asshole decided to rar a bunch of rars, all these things have pissed me off.

I was using the wireless in my bedroom about two hours ago, it was going fine. All of a sudden the connection dies. I try to reconnect to my home network. Oh god! BSOD! An error message about a driver or something. I let it do its thing and restart. I don’t see my network, for a matter of fact, it doesn’t find any networks, none of the random ones in the neighbourhood (default and linksys.) Something is not right. I do to device manager to have a look at the network adapters and my wireless adapter is not on the list.

I decide to communicate to HP support. I took the online support rather than the phone support due to the fact that there could be a possibility of talking so a foreigner with an accent hard to understand. I though I would skip the pain and frustration of that if I could. I talked to a support guy, gary was his name. He was kinda helpful in the sence of not asking stupid questions and skipping straight to the part where my options are to take it out and put it back in or ring NZ support to figure out how to get it fixed.

I decided to call the HP support number but later realize that I need the Compaq support number.I don’t get why HP support doesn’t give the the option to redirect to Compaq support or at least use the same support center. I ring the right number after getting it off the internet. I am greeted by a familiar voice, the guy from HP Support Line. The hours of Compaq support are between 8:30am and 6:00pm. I don’t get why, chances are they use an international support center because its cheaper, if this is the case, I should be able to call anytime of day. This is stupid and means I am going to have to fit them in between 4:30pm and 6:00pm, else I will have to wait till a few days.

Not having wireless is very inconvenient. You don’t realize how great it is until you are reduced to using wired. Its great being able to ly in bed with the internet on your lap. Its wonderful. I decided that I will connect to a wired connection to download some TV shows to watch in my bed since I won’t have any internet. The first show I download, the fool rared a folder full of rars. Why couldn’t he have un-rared it and re-rared just the individual file. People are stupid, things are stupid! I am having a shit day! Things shouldn’t just randomly break, support should be 24/7, and people shouldn’t do asshat things. If all these though could happen, the world would be a better place!