ehowton ◾ ◾ Mobile Office v2.0

When I got my new work laptop, I simply swapped out the docking station and started using the new one right where the old one sat. When I temporarily relocated my office to Pawnee Rock this past work week, it marked the first time I'd used the laptop standalone - without external mouse, keyboard, or monitor.

This new laptop replaces my aging Core Duo chip with a nice i5 and doubles the RAM to 8GB. Its also backlit and weighs a fraction what the other did. No, seriously. It is far lighter and makes all the difference in the world in my backpack. The downside to all this lightness is the unusually small keyboard, which I found especially frustrating during a particularly frantic evening prior to a big application install in preparation for go-live.

That night, I ordered the above mouse from my Amazon wishlist (while this does indeed mark my third Cyborg R.A.T³ mouse, at $40 it was considerably less expensive than my other two - and the coloring reminded me of the rebel forces on Star Wars: The Old Republic). Knowing the shipment would take a day of transit, and preparing for the go-live, I figured I could pick up a decent keyboard at Wal-Mart (while they now carry the Razer BlackWidow, I was hoping for something far less expensive for my second office). I initially settled on a nice, ergonomic Logitech, but was shocked to find a surprisingly well-built, backlit gaming keyboard form a manufacture I wasn't familiar with - and for $20 less!

I am more than pleased. While its not mechanical, the keys are freaking enormous! And it comes with all the bells and whistles I look for in an appropriate unix input device - solid construction, heavy keys, and a braided cable.

BOOM!