The thing about Alienware is that while their website is pretty, it's really tough to navigate. A month ago (before buying my Ti Powerbook at steep NYU student discount), I seriously considered getting an Alienware laptop.
The thing is heavy as hell to begin with... (like 10lbs!) and has no battery life. It's like a portable computer (popularized in the late 1980s--- remember the Atari STacey?).
The fact that they don't have an "budget" models anymore (they had some configs well under 2k a few weeks ago) really bugged the hell out of me.
I've gotta say, I'm a left handed person, but I've been a right handed mouse user ever since I started using mice back with the atari ST.
I'm often confused about how some lefties use mice on PCs and pretty much any computer system. Some just use the left hand w/ the default button assignments. Others go all out reconfiguring buttons. That kind of baffles me.
Since the atari ST I've gone on to PCs and now am primarily a Mac user, having been a tech support, etc, etc. I'd consider myself an expert user.
I think people can get into ugly situations when they customize the way they work so much that they can't get on a new computer and function. Some people absolutely insist on using graphic tablets, others track balls.
I think people just need to adapt and become a little more ambidextrous. Take this video game analogy. People who grew up w/ the Atari 2600 became somewhat right handed dominant. The original NES and subsequent japanese game systems (and arcade machines) tend to be left "thumb" dominant for controls--- while flight simulation joysticks are made for right hand play. I'm sure I'm not the only one who has had mentally adjust a little bit depending on what genre of pc game I'm playing!
That apple uses a 1-button mouse (by default) isn't that big a deal, imho. Yeah, hitting control-key combos is a tad more difficult if you control the mouse w/ the left hand. However, Macs, just like PCs, support 2-button mice and can activate 2nd mouse functionality by holding down the Control button and clicking.
I think people simply need to understand to operate a computer with maximum efficiency, you 1) need to be able to type w/o looking at the keyboard and 2) need to realize that you'll need to be ambidextrous to some extent (or certainly need to have developed coordination with both hands!)
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The thing about Alienware is that while their website is pretty, it's really tough to navigate. A month ago (before buying my Ti Powerbook at steep NYU student discount), I seriously considered getting an Alienware laptop.
The thing is heavy as hell to begin with... (like 10lbs!) and has no battery life. It's like a portable computer (popularized in the late 1980s--- remember the Atari STacey?).
The fact that they don't have an "budget" models anymore (they had some configs well under 2k a few weeks ago) really bugged the hell out of me.
I've gotta say, I'm a left handed person, but I've been a right handed mouse user ever since I started using mice back with the atari ST. I'm often confused about how some lefties use mice on PCs and pretty much any computer system. Some just use the left hand w/ the default button assignments. Others go all out reconfiguring buttons. That kind of baffles me. Since the atari ST I've gone on to PCs and now am primarily a Mac user, having been a tech support, etc, etc. I'd consider myself an expert user. I think people can get into ugly situations when they customize the way they work so much that they can't get on a new computer and function. Some people absolutely insist on using graphic tablets, others track balls. I think people just need to adapt and become a little more ambidextrous. Take this video game analogy. People who grew up w/ the Atari 2600 became somewhat right handed dominant. The original NES and subsequent japanese game systems (and arcade machines) tend to be left "thumb" dominant for controls--- while flight simulation joysticks are made for right hand play. I'm sure I'm not the only one who has had mentally adjust a little bit depending on what genre of pc game I'm playing! That apple uses a 1-button mouse (by default) isn't that big a deal, imho. Yeah, hitting control-key combos is a tad more difficult if you control the mouse w/ the left hand. However, Macs, just like PCs, support 2-button mice and can activate 2nd mouse functionality by holding down the Control button and clicking. I think people simply need to understand to operate a computer with maximum efficiency, you 1) need to be able to type w/o looking at the keyboard and 2) need to realize that you'll need to be ambidextrous to some extent (or certainly need to have developed coordination with both hands!)