On Adapting

I have a new laptop! I've needed one for a couple years, even stretching a bit the usual turnover that corporations typically assume (technology gets outdated about every other year, but realistically one can keep using the same system for at least another year). I'd sunk some serious cash into my IBM ThinkPad X40, with extra battery, docking station and other extras, so I was reluctant to make the investment.

The new system is another ThinkPad: an x100e, which my friends at PC World dub a "netbook" but it has sufficient space to store local applications and data, so I won't be relying on the cloud in the way that I think one does with a netbook. Here's the PCW review but I didn't get the red model (kind of wish I had, in retrospect!). Specs for the geeks: 1.6GHz AMD Athlon; Windows 7, 4GB of RAM and 160GB hard drive, integrated Wi-Fi. I know, it's not a powerhouse and certainly not a gaming system, but it weighs three pounds and it's fast. PCW's only gripe was "anemic" battery life of about five hours, but that suits me fine in my current usage habits; it's sufficient for a cross-continental flight and I bought an extra battery anyway. The batteries for the X40 being replaced have aged to the point that they last little more than an hour, so five hours is awesome.

So I am in that strange transition period when I need to set up apps and subdirectories and settings on the new system, transfer all the necessary data and generally get used to the new system. The keyboard is a little different (still nice, a hallmark of ThinkPads) and so I am occasionally reaching for the wrong key; and the screen is great. It's much faster, which is the big change, and it has a much larger hard drive, which I needed. So I'm still working on some projects on my old laptop while using the new one as much as possible.

Yes, I back up my data files regularly (especially after a nasty episode last summer when the X40 suffered a software injury necessitating a reinstall; I did not lose data but I became even more diligent about backups, particularly any school-related files). But I'm also taking this opportunity to "reorganize" a bit, such as finally sorting out the content of that folder labeled "file me."

I ran into a few of the usual glitches finding and configuring software, but the hassles have been minimal and several can be chalked up to trying to do something when I am too tired.

Generally, though, everything went great, and I am wondering why I didn't order this new laptop sooner.