GottaBeMobile.com
likes to ask questions. Today, they’re
asking
about our computer setups. My answer
started out long, but I (mercifully) gave them the short version. Here, then,
is the whole shebang.
The machine and its friends:
I've got all sorts of computers, and not all of them Wintel,
but my
V1250 (TPC) is the one that holds my attention. It's a convertible (1ghz /
768mb), but I rarely see the keyboard. Other than my iPod Shuffle and flash drives, I
rarely attach external devices to it. I
have a USB-to-IrDA adapter for those rare times I might want to sync my Nokia
PM-6225 phone with Outlook; I hope to have a Windows Mobile PDA phone
before this month is out.
The mobility:
Yeah, I work in multiple locations, at least ten sites
throughout the city.At the four sites
where I have access to wireless, I religiously use VPN during.
normal work hours. This makes me a
little different from the other techs in my group, who take care of only the
main site and almost always work within walking distance of their desktop
PCs.Those guys will only use VPN when
they are on call (nights and weekends) and trying to solve problems from home.
The challenges:
768 x 1024 res is exasperating, even when using the help
desk database , let alone Googling for problem fixes.
The failure to adopt wireless at the off-site clinics often sends me scrambling
for a spare Ethernet port;
however, active Ethernet ports cost money, and departments will rarely pay for
what they don't need immediately or in the foreseeable future (makes sense,
doesn’t it?). Even when I know where to
find a working, available network connection, it might be in someone’s office
or in a conference room that’s in use. There
is at least one site where locating an Ethernet port won’t help; everything IP is
done by DHCP,
and their addresses are not controlled by my organization. Double registration
is frowned upon, and my tablet’s MAC address is already
registered with my group. I need more battery life. There are days when I never
see my own desk, so charging the battery can be a PITA. Suspecting that my old
one may be losing some capacity, I recently purchased a brand new spare, but I’m
strangely hesitant to use it. Biggest problem: wandering away from a
completed job and leaving the tablet pen behind. I have lost four in my two
years of ownership. I always keep spares, but it’s time to give Wacom money again. Neither they nor ViewSonic sell my replacement pen, which means I will have to buy the wrong color; more importantly, though the available eraser pen fits perfectly into the storage slot under my keyboard, it does not have a clip, so sliding the pen back out is quite difficult. I have to dig my fingernail into the tiny groove in the pen and give a mighty tug; often my fingers just slide off ineffectually. Disclaimer: Wacom specifically instructs tablet users not to insert into the storage slots pens which are not advertised as replacements for our devices. I made the conscious decision to disobey after making a side-by-side comparison of an official replacement and a new non-replacement. I do not recommend that anyone else do as I did.