The digital saga...

I have known about this trip to Europe for quite a while. One of the little things bothering me in the back of my head has been that our cell phones will be useless there. This bugs me because... my DH disappears. He'll be beside me, and will then be gone. So I pretty much use my cell phone as an electronic leash.

So I'll be with my toddler in a country where I have a modest handle on the language (I can ask for a bathroom or a coffee, and can declare my hunger or thirst). My husband is not fluent, but has a good handle on the language, and once again-- he disappears.

Therefore, I wanted a Europe-friendly electronic leash. We looked at cell phones. I can't really justify switching cell carriers for an iphone. (Cool, yes. Practical for me, no.) I thought about buying a low-end GSM phone, but why should the phone that I will carry for the next two years be decided by an 11-day trip?

I then thought about a touch for wi-fi capability. After all, DH had just sent my 10-month-old-last-year's-birthday-present nano through the wash cycle. (It's not dead yet, but the end of that story is pretty inevitable.)

Then I really put things together and thought-- since I've been lusting after a new laptop for roughly 18 months or so, isn't it time to get a new one? After all, the touch I considered buying was $399, and new laptops could be had for the $650 range. I looked at a Vaio after school today, which I liked. DH and I returned to look at it more closely (with the tasmanian toddler) and we looked at other models.

And then it was shown to me. And I really lusted. It was the HP TouchSmart tx2 notebook, or tablet pc. (Follow the link and click on the pictures to see how cool it looks.) I thought these things were $3-$4K. But this one was $900. (My mental justification was, I can play with a touch for $400, or pay $900 for something that I can use at work.) I looked and liked, and played and fell in love. The case was stylin', the touch screen was practical, and the rotating screen and folding capability made my mouth water.

I. wanted. that. laptop.

DH made it clear that he would not hand over the store credit card (with the 18 month free financing) until we went home and researched it online. Grudgingly, poutingly, snottily, snappily, and snarkily, I went home.

And discovered that people fall in love with it in the store and then hate it. They have to send it back multiple times, they have to exchange it for a new one that will then also quit working, the fan whirrs so loudly that it becomes unpleasant to listen to music. I wanted to cry as I read the reviews.

I'm now hoping that I can find a cheap pay-as-you-go cell phone in Germany. That I can activate in English. I'm not holding my breath.