Oh wow... how a laptop like this would change my life. Let's start with a bit of backstory.
I'm number two out of four siblings living in our home here in Topeka, Kansas with my single mother and eleven pets. (We adopted one cat, found another outside of a bank, a cat dashed into our house on thanksgiving, adopted three from an elderly couple who couldn't afford them, three we got from a pet store, one we got when she was just a kitten when someone was giving her away, and our dog wandered into our back yard on new years. Yay pet rescue! Booo giant vet bills.) She's going for disability pay because she's been developing some pretty severe health problems lately. I'll be starting college this fall, Majoring in Asian Languages and Minoring in some form of Comp Sci. The dragon would be very useful for that second one! This is the first generation of my family to go to college. My sister is already attending.
Anyway, with a single, unemployed parent, money is pretty tight. I've loved computers since I was very little but we couldn't afford to get one until a just a few years ago. (P1/64MB/1.18GBHDD) We've upgraded here and there since then, but the few systems we have around the house are all getting on in years and are very, very, frustrating sometimes.
I have *never* owned a new computer or television. The desktop that I'm typing this on was a budget model from a local computer store. My TV is from 1977. (I can't play games on it because the picture bounces when the signal is coming through A/V cables, and it only gets 21 channels! That DVD player you see in the picture that I'm putting in with my post belongs to my little brother. The VCR/DVD combo is completely broken.) I'm trying to get a new laptop for college, but at this point it looks like I'll have to use student loans or something along those lines to pay for it. (Planning to study abroad at some point. This is going to be so expensive. ><)
Also it's *very* hard to get a job here. At least, one that pays more than minimum wage with any sort of benefits! (Since I can't afford health insurance.) I've been looking forever![/backstory]
I would love a new computer like this so much, you don't even know. It would be so nice to be able to watch HD video on it or play games. All of our current systems have integrated video only, so that's pretty much impossible. I would never in a million years be able to afford this. XD;
Various ways this thing is really, really spiffy:
The Screen + Blu-Ray drive + speakers-- Wow that's a humongous screen, which is nice. I have something like 20/1400 (Pretty sure that's considered legally blind, folks.) vision without my glasses and even with them I still have poor vision. All that room is a definite plus. The Blu-Ray player looks so awesome! We don't have one, and I can just picture my TV playing HD stuff. The speakers look really nice, too! I might just have to recycle my TV if I get this and use it as my primary TV. XDD
I also like to doodle a lot and that screen + my wacom tablet (4x5 graphire I think?) = <3
Games – I've never really been able to play computer games outside of solitaire, and there are more than just a few that my brothers and I would love to try. (This can play Crysis! That looks so shiny...) I've had the chance to fiddle around with a computer with a video card somewhat similar (If a bit slower than) the one on this when I spent the summer of 05' volunteering at a computer store to get some experience there. The owner of the store let me try out a few games and things on it. That was so spiffy. D=
The processor – Holy cow that looks fast. *_*; ::drools all over himself::
The hard drive – 500GB! That's more than all of the working ones in the house put together and doubled! Having space like that would be nice. =D
All of that software + the movies – Whoo pirates! I went to see the third one right after I got my hard contacts and had them switched by accident. I missed a lot of the movie because of that. XDD
It would be nice to see it again~ Also, that software looks nice~
Sorry that I was so long winded. Here are some pictures! Sorry if they're blurry.
http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h2...yAncientTV.jpg http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h2...Comparison.jpg <-- My current laptop and my old one that died. Current = IBM ThinkPad A22M, 1GHz PIII, 512 Ram, 30GB HDD, Video card of dooooooom. (No full screen youtube videos D=)
http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h2...mputerarea.png <-- My desktop
Thanks for considering me, and sorry again that my entry was so long. I would really love to win this!
--Joseph