ChrunchGear's idea of a back to school shopping list



  • TechCrunch’s recent foray into a “Gadget-centered” blog known as CrunchGear is off to a wonderful start. John Biggs apparently knows best with the <FONT color=#3f7ec3>CrunchGear’s Back to School Cheat Sheet</FONT>. And by knows best, I meant recommending unrealistic and pricey solutions for college students on their way back to the dorms.

    I don't know about ye but with the time I spend in college I cant afford to work enough unsocial hours to save up for all this crap. WTF, who could afford to have a 55" HDTV as a college student without having Bill Gates as a father is beyond me.



  • The Real WTF is that they recommend an HDTV with a "4:3 contrast ratio."



  • I decided everything on that site is worthless after reading this sentance:


    Our top laptop pick is the Gateway NX100,
    ($1,624, shown) a super-thin laptop with a 12.1-inch display. The only
    problem: it doesn’t have an optical drive, but then again, with the
    ever increasing functionality of web-based information, CDs and DVDs
    are quickly becoming optional.


    I sure as HELL wouldn't want to have to reformat my hard dirve with that computer.



  • Ultralights often lack optical drives. One hopes it is capable of booting from an external one.

    Not that that makes the quoted part any less WTFey. He must be sanctioning wAr3z though, presumably that's how you get your software.



  • I'm a proud owner of a Toshiba Portege 3500, which doesn't have an optical drive.  Luckily, I am also the proud owner of about 7 other PCs - I just share out the optical drive from another computer to install software from (legally).  There are also lots of USB optical drives available - places like EBay sell them for as little as $50 - $100.

    I had to reinstall my Portege a while ago, and I found out that it only boots from Toshiba's overpriced CD-Rom only optical drive.  I bought a USB Floppy drive, and was able to boot from it.

     

    But I still think that recommending not having an optical drive to a non-technical person (IE someone who would actually read that blog) is incredibly stupid.  Definatly a WTF.



  • Another gadget to consider is the Sirius Stiletto 100, a portable media player that picks up Sirius satellite radio signals

    Now why does that remind me of the Sirius Cybernetics Corporation? "Thank you for making a media player very happy. Have you considered listening to Howard Stern for a while?"


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