a girl who loves to shop: the notebook

Before anything else, a note: Pardon my borrowing of your book title, Mr. Nicholas Sparks. This is a happy ending though.
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I broke my New Year's Resolution today. I bought a notebook.

I must admit that I'm not a very techy person. I own a few gadgets and love them. I don't usually upgrade my devices unless I feel it's time with the exception of mobile phones prior to my getting a Blackberry. There was a time when I changed phones every quarter. I've tried Nokia, Motorola, LG, and Samsung prior to getting a BB. Whenever I think about that time, I feel a pang of regret for having spent quite a lot on upgrading phones every so often but then again, I consider it as a necessary part of the quest of finding the perfect phone. Just between you and me, if I would ever have to quit BB, I'd go with Samsung. I love their phones too!

I try to know as much as an average non-techie person can take about the gadgets that I have. I know just enough to operate them but not too much that I can speak computer language. I spaced out when the technician today talked about 64-bit and how when I finally get a Windows 7 OS, I should use 64-bit so that I end up seeing 8gb DDR3 memory instead of just 2gb (because he just used 32-bit since I'm just on 30-day trial of Windows 7). I still don't get, it mind you, but at least it's clear to me that the 64-bit - or is it 64-bits - is not something that I have to physically install. FYI, I had to clear that one up with the technician. Haha. The most important thing though is that I always know what I want out of every gadget that I get. I wanted a touch phone, I got one. I wanted an mp3 player that can also allow me to play games, I got an iPod touch. I wanted a camera with idiot-friendly settings, I asked for a Canon point-and-shoot as a gift. So when I decided last Christmas that I wanted to buy a notebook in December 2011, I know what I wanted - I wanted something that's thin, lightweight, with a huge screen (comparatively bigger than my 10" netbook), high memory, and big hard disk drive.

But based on those specs, how did I end up with an MSI FX400?

I was initially looking at the thin notebooks from Apple, Sony, Lenovo, and msi. But then I had to drop Apple from the list because when I tried the MacBook Air, I just got lost. I'm not too keen on learning my way around a different OS plus MacBook Air is just a far way away from my budget. I find Sony's selection of S and Y series really attractive however, they're just a bit more pricey compared to the ones from Lenovo and msi. At the end, I chose msi because of familiarity. I know nothing about Lenovo.

I have an MSI wind netbook which was a gift from my ex back when we were still together. I just love that pink netbook. Sentimental reasons aside, it's really functional plus it has a really good cooling system - that's the thing I like best about it, honestly. And thinking about it now, I remember my ex-boyfriend telling me that he chose that brand for that reason. I wouldn't have bought a notebook though if I didn't need a bigger memory for all the software that I'm using now. I don't use much, to be honest. I just use Photoshop, Microsoft Office (for when there's work I need to bring home), Gom Player (I watch a lot of movies and TV series on my netbook), the BB software and iTunes. The thing is, iTunes just takes a lot of space especially everytime I sync my iPod and it automatically saves a back-up. It's just too much for a pretty little pink netbook to take. I had to do something before the pretty thing crashes.

My want for a notebook justified, I didn't have regrets when I got to the msi store this afternoon and felt that it was about time I got myself one.

I was initially looking at the X370, which is part of msi's slim series. It was on sale for not more than Php 22,000. I've been eyeing it for months on the Internet but somehow it failed to make my heart skip a beat when I saw it on flesh. Right next to it though was the FX400, also on sale for not more than Php 30,000, and the 8gb DDR3 memory and 500gb hard disk drive just caught my eye and wouldn't allow me to look away. It was like love at first sight. We had a connection and there was a spark, figuratively. As it turns out, love at first sight is not necessarily based on the design alone; you can also fall in love with the technical specifications - and it may mean more to you. It was just those two (the 8gb DDR3 memory and 500gb hard disk drive) really because if it were just based on the looks, I'd choose X370 without thinking twice.

Weight was a consideration though. I've always wanted something lightweight, just like my msi Wind. Because I'm petite, I don't really want to carry something that's heavy and bulky. But the memory and hard disk drive were more important considerations so after a few minutes of thought, I was already sure I'd take home the FX400. I figured I still have the pink Wind for when I need to take a netbook with me outside of the house. Plus that really made me feel a lot less impractical for getting a notebook.

So now I'm writing this entry from Damon, my FX400 notebook. I've acquired the habit of naming my gadgets after my favorite TV/movie characters from my roommate, who I think is really infectious when it comes to these things. It may come across as silly and I admit it felt a bit weird to me at first but it's like kimchi, it's an acquired taste - or thing, if you may. My pink netbook is Alice, after Alice Cullen of the Twilight series. My pink portable EHDD is Mary, still after Alice of Twilight because her full name is Mary Alice Cullen. My iPod is Queen B, after Blair Waldorf of Gossip Girl. My camera is Lily, after Lily van der Woodsen of Gossip Girl (because she's just so classy and pretty), and my x-mini speaker is Sookie, from True Blood. And because I'm very girly, without a doubt, I tend to pick stuff that are cute and girly - save for this notebook. It's just so masculine so I had to name it Damon, after Damon Salvatore of The Vampire Diaries because I really just love him especially after Season 2's Episode 8.

By the way, I think I got a really good deal. With this notebook came a free Buffalo optical mouse in the cutest pink shade. I also got a free laptop bag which only came in blue. With each passing moment, I'm loving this notebook more and more.