With ChromeOS, Google is also covering a server-side focused solution to a consumer’s needs.  We see Blackberry trying out a similar solution with WebOS, ASUS however, is focusing on hardware, as usual and doing an impressive job, as usual.

They don’t completely shy away from Windows either, with the Eee Slate running the most impressive hardware, it should be interesting to see how Microsoft holds onto their market being a direct competitor of the iPad.

ASUS doesn’t forget it’s stake in the software portion of this emerging market, no. They’ve invested in a “cloud” for consumers information to be separate from their phones and separate from their carrier. Their information is stored and accessible via their device(s) as an app or access.asus.com. Now all they need to do is invest in a short domain name, ax.as.us.

Other Points, these are cool:

A few other things I disliked:

- when it starts dying it exhibits random behavior that initial begs the question “what’s wrong with my computer?” — oh the keyboard’s just dying.. duh!
- the keyboard just started to randomly scroll documents when I was typing (not fun when trying to write final papers)
- KVM compatibility? HAHAHHAHAHA… AHAHAHAHAHA. no.
- You plug a big AC adapter that covers 2 plugs on a power strip, then an additional USB connection (st00p1d)
- don’t press the logout button by mistake!

Things I liked:

- wheel for volume, god yes
- simple, (arguably) helpful media buttons
- the insert, home, page up, delete, end and page down buttons are layed out the classic way

As a programmer, I prefer the classic:

Which my Dell Quiet Key I’ve been using to bridge the gap after I made the decision to abolish the evil MX Duo and receive thy bounty from Trust has :).

Anywho, the mainstream keyboards couldn’t seem to meet my expectations. Logitech came close but I don’t think I’ll ever buy Logitech again. I’m happy with my DiamondBack Razer mouse (the copperhead was a joke and broke rather quickly).

After some careful research, I found a brand that fit my picky needs, the Trust Multimedia Scroll KB-2200 which I was able to pick up for a mere $33.50 on Amazon. I’ve been using it for a little over a day now and I’m very pleased.

It feels like a very solid keyboard, I like the way it types. My only complaint is the backspace button. It’s the size of a letter key, that’s going to take some getting used to.

I’ve been quite busy the past few days as I was switching from computer to computer. I just built a new computer to condense/protect my data a little better but I had to sell my old one to have enough funds for the new one. In the middle of the switch, I was on my laptop… which died because the AC input seems to be peeling off the motherboard and I have yet to have someone aide me in soldering it.

Here’s a little list of what I’ve slapped together for those interested:

- Lian-Li PC-61 Case
- OCZ GameXStream 600W Power Supply
- EVGA 122-CK-NF67-T1 Motherboard
- Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Conroe 2.4GHz
- Crucial Ballistix 1GBx2 DDR2 PC2 6400 RAM
- XFX GeForce 7900GS Extreme
- WD 36gb Raptor HDD
- 4 Samsung Spintpoint T Series 500gb SATA 3Gb/s HDDs
- Samsung 18x DVD+-R DVD Burner with LightScribe
- Koutech Media Card Reader

After some debate I placed a second order for a separate RAID card and decided to go with the HighPoint RocketRAID 2300. So far, so good.

Anyhow, I love reformatting. There is something so refreshing about a clean install. I usually make myself a 10-15gb partition for windows so that I’ll be forced to put my personal files on another drive. This method worked for a while… but as applications increased in size, do did my partition. I decided to use all ~30 gigs of the Raptor for this install but I digress.