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How Small a PC Is Too Small?

Banner~! recommends an article in IBTimes on the search for the ideal size for an ultraportable computer. One device mentioned is Paul Allen's FlipStart, discussed here recently. After watching early users fumble and nearly drop an early version of the FlipStart while trying to perform a three-finger salute, designers ended up including a single key labeled "CtrlAltDel" in the version that will be shipping soon. From the article: "Each device maker... has a different sense of how small an ultra-mobile can get before it becomes impossible to use. For instance, Microsoft thinks the tiniest screen possible measures 7 inches diagonally, but FlipStart Labs settled on 5.6 inches."

15 of 324 comments (clear)

  1. You know your PCs too small when... by bluemonq · · Score: 4, Funny

    * You need a million-dollar electron microscope to see the screen
    * Sneezing anywhere near it wipes out the RAID array
    * You confuse it with a prophylactic
    * Ants use it to jumpstart their own nuclear weapon program for their holy war against the termites

    1. Re:You know your PCs too small when... by Whiney+Mac+Fanboy · · Score: 4, Funny

      * You confuse it with a prophylactic

      Zouch! I feel really sorry for your girlfriend* if you thought small & the first thing that sprang into your mind was a prophylactic.

      * Yes, yes. This is slashdot, what am I thinking?

      --
      There are shills on slashdot. Apparently, I'm one of them.
  2. Control Alt by Tablizer · · Score: 4, Funny

    designers ended up including a single key labeled "CtrlAltDel" in the version that will be shipping soon.

    I bet that key will get worn out first ;-)

    I've found a similar shortcut; just click the Internet Explorer 7 icon, and the resulting crash reboots for me.

  3. Re:These are not PC issues, but Windows issues. by Jartan · · Score: 4, Funny

    To those who don't use windows anymore it's only fair to point out that you can't reboot a computer anymore by pressing ctrl-alt-delete. It's only a hotkey to open the task manager.

    Of course one could argue though that microsoft finally broke the only known fix for windows when they implemented this "feature".

  4. FlipOff by dotslashdot · · Score: 5, Funny

    Since they reduced the 3 finger salute (ctrl-alt-delete) to a 1 finger salute, they should rename it "FlipOff".

  5. Re:These are not PC issues, but Windows issues. by Jartan · · Score: 4, Funny

    Ctrl - Shift - Esc is a shortcut to open the task manager.


    This is windows. They prolly did a study and found that having multiple shortcuts to open task manager increased productivity so you can end task faster.
  6. Middle finger salute by flyingfsck · · Score: 3, Funny

    I guess having a single button is more appropriate after all.

    --
    Excuse me, but please get off my Pennisetum Clandestinum, eh!
  7. I'd hate to be their tech support. by Romicron · · Score: 2, Funny
    Putting the Ctrl+Alt+Del function on a single key? With the average intelligence of today's computer user? I sure as hell wouldn't want to be that tech support guy.

    Tech: "What seems to be the problem?"
    User: "Every time I hit the Ctrl button, my computer restarts!"
    Tech: "*sigh* Is there anything else on the button?"
    User: "Yeah, it says CtrlAl-"
    Tech: "Look... just... just don't hit that button. There should be another button that says Ctr- hold on I'm getting another call. *switch* This is tech support, what seems to be the problem?"
    User2: "Every time I hit the Ctrl button, my computer restarts!"
    Tech: *click* *BANG* *dialtone*
    User2: "Hello? Hello?"

    Hey, on the plus side, maybe we can remap the key to open up the browser and display the comic. One way to make mornings 4 days a week easier.

  8. Re:Sticky qualifiers! by normuser · · Score: 5, Funny

    The keyboard on my pc has a similar feature. When you push a qualifier key once it stays depressed. To release the sticky keys you lift one side of the keyboard three inches above the desk and drop it.

    --
    09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0
    XXX#######
  9. How big should a computer be? by Profane+MuthaFucka · · Score: 2, Funny

    Small enough to fit into my urethra, large enough for me to feel it.

    --
    Fascism trolls keeping me up every night. When I starts a preachin', he HITS ME WITH HIS REICH!
  10. I'm not entirely sure how... by TheBlunderbuss · · Score: 4, Funny

    ...but I think this is related: http://imdb.com/title/tt0374020/

  11. Re:These are not PC issues, but Windows issues. by iminplaya · · Score: 3, Funny

    ...a dedicated key marked "Ctrl Alt Del

    It also has a dedicated "any" key.

    --
    What?
  12. Re:These are not PC issues, but Windows issues. by Bastard+of+Subhumani · · Score: 5, Funny

    This "menu" is known as the "Task Manager" in XP and above.
    That's illogical. If one of the things the menu leads to is task manager, how can it be task manager? Task manager manager would make more sense. Or senior VP of tasks.
    --
    Only three things are certain; death, taxes, and apocryphal quotations - Ben Franklin.
  13. Re:Notebooks = too small by Paulrothrock · · Score: 3, Funny

    Just wait till you get married. Having a dedicated place for entertainment just means your wife knows where to go to bug you. At least with my laptop I get 15 extra minutes of solitude while she looks around the house for me.

    Not to mention the corner pub has free wifi.

    --
    I'm in the hole of the broadband donut.
  14. One-handed Ctrl+Alt+Del by tepples · · Score: 2, Funny

    OS X uses Command-Option-Escape, which can be activated easily with a thumb and middle finger of the same hand. So can Ctrl+Alt+Del.