U.S. Campus Life

My new laptop

By Masako Yamada

I've been on a roll as far as moving preparations are concerned.

筆者が購入したソニーVAIO シリーズのVX88P。

I found a new apartment, I've started to pack, and I've picked up some furniture at a yard sale. As part of these preparations, I bought a new computer this week, a sleek new Sony VAIO laptop.

Longtime readers of this column are surely well-acquainted with my computer stories: I'm the proud owner of a 9-year-old Mac Centris and a 6-year-old Dell laptop. Although they've served me well in the past, I've come to acknowledge their limitations.

For years, people have suggested that I get a new computer, but I don't particularly like shopping. I don't like evaluating endless options. Once I decide to get something, however, I don't waver. For instance, I accepted my new job immediately, even though it was the first and only company I interviewed for. I bought my car 10 minutes after I saw my first and only option. And a few hours after I decided that I should get a new computer, I had my VAIO in my hands, again from the first and only computer store I visited.

It seems hasty, but I have no regrets. I bought it at a good price at a reputable dealer and have a one-year warranty. Perhaps I could've gotten a slightly better deal had I spent time scouring bargain pages on the Internet or visiting more computer stores, but I figured mulling over boring details for weeks to save $100 (¥12,000) would not be a wise way to spend my time. My thesis defense date is only a month away.

Part of the reason I wanted to get a laptop is so that I can work on my dissertation even when I'm not at school. The laptop comes in handy even when I am at school, as it runs Windows software and my laboratory computers are all UNIX-based. I'm used to the UNIX operating system, but I have to admit that some of the Windows-based programs are more user-friendly.

The laptop will also come in handy when I actually give my thesis defense seminar, since I am presenting it using PowerPoint. Among some scientists, it's considered proper, and even chic, to scrawl lecture notes onto transparencies by hand. However, this camp is rapidly dwindling in favor of those who prefer a more polished presentation. Again, my having a good computer at home will enable me to work even when I'm not in the lab. In addition, I won't have to beg any of my labmates to let me borrow their laptops to give my talk. I can just hook up my own laptop to the projector.

I also was inspired to buy a new computer by my new environment: upstate New York. I don't know any people there except my future co-workers. In Boston, my evening schedule is just as busy as my daytime schedule, filled with music practice, concert-going and restaurant-hopping. I simply don't have time to surf the Web at home. Things will be different in Albany, especially at first. Let's face it, it's not as if entertainment will be readily available outside my doorstep: I'm going to have to work harder to engage myself. I feel that I can rely on the Internet to point me in the direction of interesting places.

My computer can also serve as entertainment at home, although I'd prefer not to be glued to a screen. I don't plan on buying a TV, but I do like watching movies once in a while, so I'm pleased that my computer can serve as my personal movie theater. It has a DVD player and a relatively large screen. I'm getting a high-speed cable Internet connection in my new apartment, so I can listen to Internet radio as well.

Now that I have a new computer, my old computers seem shabby indeed. I will be giving my old laptop to my roommates when I leave (I will keep my loyal Mac). A 6-year-old laptop might be considered a piece of junk by many, but I think it's a classic. My roommates and I have shared this computer to check our e-mail and do small jobs at home, and it has indeed done its job well. It's just that at this point in my life, my demands have changed. My old computers simply cannot keep up with these new demands.

Shukan ST: Aug. 16, 2002

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