New Notebook, Part 2

When my shiny new Dell Studio 17 finally arrived in the mail a few days ago, I was like a kid in a candy store. So shiny! Alas, reality is slowly setting in and the candy's melting.

I've no real complaints about the core of the notebook itself. The screen is gorgeous although I've some concerns on how well the new hinge will hold up after extended use.

What's driving me batty right now is the new keyboard and touch pad. I've only seen positive comments about the new keyboard in reviews floating around the net, so I have to wonder if those reviewers actually do much typing on their notebooks. The problem is that they've added a dedicated number pad on the right, just like a standard standalone keyboard. Sounds good, right? Not for me:

• The center of the home keys are now shifted to the left, which means that when your hands are on the home row, you're effectively off center of the screen, which is not an ideal situation. This is compounded by the fact until I get used to this, my hands start out shifted, so my instead of having my left hand on a-s-d-f, it's on s-d-f-g instead.
• While this shift is something I'll probably get used to, the fact that they moved the Page Up/Down and Home/End keys to the top of the keypad is not. Those keys are so far away that reaching them now requires me to move my entire right hand to reach them instead of just angling it a little. Very frustrating for a touch typist.
• Finally, the track pad edges are now so smooth that when I'm not paying attention, I don't even notice I've moved past its edges. Another thing that I'll probably get used to, but right now, it's a little hard to find the edge to scroll around.
• I'm not even going to mention the silly media buttons.

And don't get me started on the software. It came with Windows Vista installed, and it is my first real experience with the new "improved" OS. What a load of crock. I now totally understand everyone's complaints with it. It seems hell bent on making it twice as hard to accomplish anything other than starting up applications. I'll try and live with it for a couple of weeks, but I haven't really encountered any redeeming qualities so far.

In both cases, my complaints are against the UI. I've come to expect certain modes of interaction, and I'm easily annoyed when those expectations aren't met. While in the back of my mind I'm wondering if it's because I'm getting old and set in my ways, I can't see too many good reasons for the changes that have been made, other than perhaps "it looks cooler," which is not a good reason in my book when you sacrifice functionality.