New Toys for October

Well before I get started, just wanted everyone to know good old Moy is keeping the spending tradition alive as I just bought tickets to go to Vegas at the end of the month. Really random other than the fact a few of my friends are going as well, but are arriving a few days earlier while I can only go on the weekend. Insane? Yes. Why did I decide to do it? No frickin’ clue. Will it be a blast? God I hope so!

Leaving my mental (and financial) sanity aside, today was the day I finally got my Acer Aspire One netbook! Had the thing on preorder for a month on Amazon but took forever to ship due to waiting for more of the 6-cell battery version to be available (standard is 3-cell which gives 2-3 hours versus 6-cell which gives 5-6 hours). More about the netbook after the jump, but I can definitely say it was worth the wait!

Other than the new netbook, also got my CDJapan shipment of Nana Mizuki’s “Trickster”, Minori Chihara’s “Zutto Issho”, and Aquaplus Festa 2007 In Yokohama Bluray. Once again, more on them after the jump…

… so go after the jump already

Nana Mizuki’s “Trickster” First Press edition which basically has a nice slipcover to keep the CD case safe. Nothing too special but still a nice CD case overall.

On the tracks, well I think they’ve been talked about by many many people already; most of which I’ve left my comments on their blogs as well. To put it simply, to rate the tracks from most to least favorite it would be Trickster, Trinity Cross, and DISCOTHEQUE. I will admit, however, that I have been enjoying both PVs out for the single thoroughly and can only hope they’ll do one for Trinity Cross as well.

Not much in terms of Nana-chan shots on the CD or inserts but the back cover is pretty cool. Need to find a good scan of this! Also if one did not notice, the CD case is rounded off which I found pretty cool and different from the norm. Maybe someone poked their eye on a corner and they didn’t want this to happen again?

Minori Chihara’s “Zutto Issho” which finally completes my collection of Minorin related CD releases minus the 20+ character related CDs out. I haven’t had a chance to listen to “Zutto Issho” yet but I do remember “Makenai” from Tenjo Tenge which was okay-ish at best.

BTW, really just took the photo to show what Minori looked like back in the day. Took me awhile to realize that was her given the haircut and general look. Thank god for change!

And what everyone really wants to know about, the Acer Aspire One netbook. Funny how I just got this and it seems another blogger got it as well. Small world or just strange coincidence?

Anyway as you can tell, the Aspire One is small! It’s twice the length of my HTC Touch Dual and weighs under 3lbs! Also loving the blue and general design itself (nice and simple yet still stylish) although it being a fingerprint magnet is a little annoying.

On the actual netbook itself, it’s running Windows XP Home SP3 with 1GIG of RAM, 160GIG HDD (no solid state since reviews for the Acer ones haven’t been great), Intel Atom N270 1.60GIG CPU, etc. Definitely not a desktop killer, plan to use the netbook for day-to-day stuff if I go outside of work or travel and need to kill a few hours. Already uninstalled the crap pre-loaded and have most of my stuff up and running (at least a Nana-chan wallpaper ^^). Tried playing a few videos which ran okay as long as they weren’t mkv or any HQ stuff (i.e. general raws, US TV rips, LQ-MQ fansub were fine). The built in audio is horrible however, due to the fact the speaker is on the bottom of the netbook; definitely get yourself some headphones/buds if you want to listen to any decent audio!

The keyboard isn’t too bad and one gets use to it pretty quickly however the touchpad is a mixed bag. The touchpad itself is fine but the button placement on the sides take awhile to get used to. Not a big deal since I have a laptop mouse but also plan to get this when its released next year. Screen isn’t too bad although I wish more of the screen lid was taken up by the actual screen and not the frame; but can’t expect much given the size.

Usual assortment of plugs which for the road warrior or traveler will be more than enough. Really only missing a DVD/CD drive but nothing a external can’t fix right? Plus with netbooks, you really shouldn’t be using discs given their purpose for portability.

And I like said earlier, the thing is light even with the 6-cell battery! You can easily throw this in any bag and not worry about the weight at all (although having a case cover for it for some protection would be highly advised). Haven’t tested how much actual battery life I’ll get but I’ll let everyone know after my Vegas trip at the end of the month

Overall an excellent netbook for the price ($400) and a great addition for those that travel a lot but want to get some work done or enjoy a quick movie or two on the road. The Aspire One is also great for those students that would like a light laptop to travel from class to class without worrying too much about charging the thing (if you get the 6-cell version) every hour. Don’t, however, expect to be able to play the latest or greatest on this little baby but some classics like Starcraft or Melty Blood should be fine.

Expect this Acer (currently named Sheryl after a certain Galaxy Fairy) to be traveling with me a lot at future cons. It should make checking out photos, live blogging, or watching a quick anime episode a lot more convenient plus earn me the envy(?) of people passing by O_o

HTC Touch Dual cell phone, which I actually had for a few months already but totally forgot to mention. Also my ball-and-chain to work since I need to have my work account linked to it so I can get any emails/updates going on during a given workday. Pretty cool phone which thanks to its touchscreen, wants me to never go back to a non-touchscreen phone ever again! And of course, having a Nana-chan wallpaper on it doesn’t hurt either