Okay, I admit it

The iPad, despite its insanely stupid name, is pretty nifty. Even if it is an overblown iPod Touch. I’m going to call it the iTab, because it was my boyfriends’ really good idea, & I think I might have to start cutting myself if I have to keep referring to it by its feminine products’ name.

I will not be getting an iTab for probably quite some time. Years, I’m sure. There are very specific reasons for this, that I plan to outline in the next few paragraphs. Follow along with me…

1 – There is no multitasking – This is big for me, since I prefer to swap between several things at once, to either copy/paste from one thing to another, verify information, or entertain myself while I’m waiting for a response from an IM or whatever.

2 – No expandable media – Its another big one for me, I like to keep either SD cards or USB drives around for transferring files or just storage. If this option came available, I’d totally snap one up.

3 – No USB ports – not so terrible when it has bluetooth available, you can get an earpiece/mic combo. But I’d also like to connect it to a flash drive or maybe even my USB condenser mic for super-quiet audio recording.

4 – Attached battery – This is far-flung into the future, I’m sure, but what happens if the battery craps out? I have to buy a whole new machine, or send it away for a replacement, that’s what. Also, they’re probably planning on all the Apple fanboys to throw down their Vers 1 iTabs in favor of whatever they bring out for Vers 2, totally making the worry of a battery wearing out or dying a moot point.

5 – No camera – This was a major fail on Apple’s part. I mean, even iPod Nanos have cameras now! Major fail.

6 – Flash support is iffy in iTab’s browser. I’ve read things that say “yea, it works” and other places say, “no, Flash fail.” So I don’t know which is true.

7 – Unless there’s a pop-up touch pad built in to the apps/programs you use, you need an external keyboard. I hate this. I either want to write ON it, which I CAN’T, or I wanna tap buttons to write. Unless I learn that this is available, this is another X in the No Wai category.

These are my gripes about the iTab so far. If you think my info is totally incorrect, please feel free to comment. Just post links in your comment of where you found your information

Sucked into Trek

Yes, I was.

Star Trek Online. It’s got me hook, line, and sinker, and I have no regrets.

I have pre-ordered the MMO, and have already purchased a Lifetime Subscription. That essentially means I get two more character slots and have to ability to create a “Freed” Borg Drone. I also get to start playing earlier (nyah nyah!) than people who are simply waiting for the game’s launch on February 2nd. There was a promotion being run by a restaurant chain called Del Taco – which doesn’t have any locations in my area – that would give you a code for a small shuttle craft ‘pet’ to follow you around when you fly through space. I had cried on Twitter for someone to get a code for me, and I found out they were being offered on Ebay for about 10 dollars, but I got a friend of a friend to get me a code free.

I don’t plan on going into complaints about Cryptic’s infrastructure, because others more technically minded about those things will do enough complaining for me. I have faith that Cryptic will iron out all the wrinkles and the server disconnects will cease as their full-blown systems are brought online during the official launch.

I am completely blown away by the extensive list of variables for customizing your characters and (to a lesser extent) the ships your characters pilot. I can adjust everything from the size of their eyebrows to the size of their shoes (that variable I’m not particularly sure of, I was initially overwhelmed at the list of variables to adjust and just stopped in favor of diving straight into the game). I can make a character that will most likely never look like any other character in the game.

I am absolutely thrilled to have this game. I’ve been hoping that something Star Trek related would come out as an MMO.

Mind you, I still plan to continue to play World of Warcraft. I’ll talk some about that in a future post, perhaps.

Temporary Hiatus

Yea, that’s right. I’m on a temporary hiatus from reviewing DS games. Why? Because ROMs don’t work anymore. They’re being developed for the DSi now, and the DS-R4 isn’t compatible anymore.

So until I get a DSi and an R4i, I’m out of the reviewing circle.

I’ll still try and post stuff about other non-DS tech, I swear.

I’m mulling a post around in my head as I type this, actually. Keep an eye out.

Yours in Tech,

Jett