First of all, I'm an average gamer, not great but not horrible either. In multiplayer games I usually rest somewhere in the middle of the stats boards, but still have fun. In single player campaigns it usually takes me a bit longer to win the game then it does most of my friends.

I love Gears of War! It's simply one of my all-time favorite video games. It probably ranks only below the Halo franchise. The end boss, General Raam, is a real challenge to defeat. My first time through the game I played on the Hardcore difficultly level (there is Casual, Hardcore and Insane) and it took 30 plus tries for me to finally beat the boss. Second time my son and I played coop and it took us 3 times to defeat him, but this was on the easiest difficulty setting. I've spent weeks and weeks working my way through the campaign on Insane difficulty. It's brutal!

Temptation got the best of me, and just getting out of the opening of Spiderman 3 didn't help matters. Venom was absolutely amazing - The Amazing Venom (ok, that was cheesy)! A symbiote has taken control of me causing massive damage - on my bank account. Medicom's Spiderman 3 Venom has been added to the collection!

I got home last night around 5:30 and didn't have time to open the new Dell box containing my Inspiron E1705 until after a conference call with work. After the call I figured I better eat dinner first because I knew I'd be on the new computer for awhile. Finally, around 7-ish I got to unpack the new system. It is bigger then my old Inspiron 8600 (15.4" screen vs. 17" screen). The case has a weird white paint along the edges. Looks kind of cool and, I think, adds extra protection since it is a bit rubber-like. It has the same keyboard as my other laptop which is fine. I'd prefer one with a number keypad, however. There is easy access to media playback controls even if the lid is closed which is a nice touch. About the only things I don't like about the design is the Intel Due Core 2 sticker is on a bit skewed, there is no middle mouse dial button on the touch pad (my old one didn't have one either) and the slots where the monitor lid snaps into when closed are pretty big and deep when operational. This is a "crumb magnate" as my wife called it. "No food by the new 'puter" was my immediate demand ;-)

I finally gave up on our current laptop (or craptop as I like to call it). It was a great system while it last, but, as most computers do, it’s getting old and unreliable. Simple tasks like burning a DVD was becoming an issue. Not to mention weak battery life and constant overheating. Even after multiple reformats consistent issues are still present which tells me they are hardware related.

After an afternoon of unsuccessfully backing up family photos to a DVD, my anger got the best of me resulting in my youngest son echoing my inappropriate comments directed towards the failing task. After a bit of cool-down time and the guilt of letting my emotional state of outrage get the best of me started sinking in, I decided the frustration was no longer worth it and started researching new laptops.