All Gadgets Aside...

So after my last post I started thinking about some things and realized that the Power Mac G5 tower that I had sitting at my desk at home was massively under utilized and frankly I no longer had a need for a machine of that size. The whole Power PC processor vs. Intel processor thing never popped into my line of thinking instead I realized that I could use a lot less power with a much smaller machine. Simply put, I sold my Power Mac to a co-worker and picked up an Intel based iMac to replace my G5 behemoth.

I figure now that I have an Intel mac maybe I should install some virtual version of windows because on occasion I do have a need for it, mainly being that I am in IT it would handy from time to time. But what do I choose to run this virtual machine? I certainly don't want to dual boot and run Boot Camp because that just isn't efficient especially if I don't ever in tend to solely run windows at any one time. The two options out there, Parallels and VMWare Fusion, are both supposed to be good options but it seems that every review I read can't determine which one they like better. Do any of you guys/gals out there have a preference? Are there any clear benefits to using one over the other?

I don't currently own either piece of virtual software but hopefully some of you can help determine which path to go down.

So today I am featuring a product that I recently had a chance to test out. If you are familiar with Matrox then you are aware of their dedication to throwing more displays at the issue of lack of desktop space. For years Matrox has been manufacturing video cards with dual heads and possibly even more. But this year they released a product to take a single head card and make it useful with two or even three more displays. The device I am talking about is the DualHead2Go, or in the case of three displays, the TripleHead2Go. Recently when I was at work I had a user express the need for a laptop but he wanted extra workspace so we ordered up a laptop as well as a DualHead2Go to essentially give him 3 displays(the laptop display plus 2 external). I have to admit, I was skeptical at first but frankly there was nothing to it. I plugged in the DualHead2GO, plugged 2 displays into it and then fired up the laptop. The only thing I had to do was mess with the display properties to display everything where I needed. Basically what the DualHead2Go does is trick the computer into seeing one display with a larger than normal resolution, in this case I set up the external displays to do 2048x768. You can add additional functionality to the device by installing a small software install that will make the two external displays act more independent. In this situation I would say it was a great deal because with a laptop you aren't left with many options. If you were thinking about using this on a desktop ou might want to just check out a new video card as you will save yourself some money, unless you plan on breaking out a dual head card into four displays, or perhaps six with the TripleHead2Go. All in all it's a great product that is very easy to use.

Although this next item isn't a gadget I would say it's a pretty good item for anyone that spends extended amounts of time on computers or staring at small screens(Nintendo DS maybe? Your mobile phone perhaps?). New to the US but a common product in Japan I bring you Rohto-V "Mint" Eyedrops, sounds like they hurt doesn't it? They aren't really mint persay, they do although incorporate a very nice eye expanding menthol concoction that gives your weary eyes a nice soothing feeling. Since I work in IT and spend day in and day out staring at a computer screen I figured to track some of these down(after reading about them years ago) and found out that CVS and Walgreens Pharmacies in the US now carry them. I won't lie, they do sting a bit upon hitting your eyes but in the end you feel suprisingly refreshed. It's hard to explain the whole feeling but I can tell you that it is definitely worth it to pick some of these up and keep them with you at all times for that oh so awake feeling.

I figured I had to post about this as I had been pondering this over the past few days. I know Microsoft has more or less invented a new category of computer, but the question is, Have they? I mean if you look back at the history of handheld portable gadgets you can see numerous amounts of devices that do much of what these "new" handheld computers do. Don't get me wrong here, I think a small, portable, easy to use computer is as good as the next guy imagines it is. The thing is that it begins to bug me when a company thinks they are on the tip of innovation with a device when what they are doing has allready been done.

I would say one of the first similar devices came in the form of the Apple Newton 2000 and 2100. They were fast, they were portable, they were small but not too small. If you wanted to add more space you could via the PCMCIA slot and heck even to this day people are still using them on a daily basis. Even beyond that though the more current PDA offerings are much more like full featured computers. Wifi, bluetooth, hordes of applications and programs and not to mention the fact that some even have hard drives in them now. Then we look at the OQO, a true ULTRA MOBILE Personal computer. This device was being worked on for so long before its release that the company may have signed the devices death warrant before release but in the end it is an incredible device that seems to be picking up speed. Then we move on to the Pepper Pad, a fabulous linux handheld that oddly enough sports a similar keyboard layout to the UMPC offerings that are coming out now, granted its not on the screen, but its there.

All in all there is history behind the concept and the idea of having something that is so simple it doesnt need to have a huge keyboard. Something that can be used in and out of the house and be carried with you everywhere.