function over form

I sold out.

I chose function over form, replaced the aesthetic with features.

Instead of the O, i went for the E and substituted the 2 for a TEN.

In short, i bought the ETEN instead of the O2.

It didn't take me long to decide. I pondered and fussed over the aesthetics for a while. But 80MB of stroage, together with a WiFi card thrown in pulls its weight against a 7Mb storage capacity with no WiFi. Plus, the ETEN package was cheaper coming in at an overall RM2488 as compared to O2 Mini's RM2688 sans WiFi.

The look and feel of the ETEN bothered me somewhat in the beginning. Taiwanese, unrefined and rough as compared to the sleek, sexy look and feel of the continental O2. The ETEN doesn't even come remotely close to the O2 Mini in terms of aesthetics. It's like comparing Urkel with Elijah Wood (I'm not sure if that's a fair comparison, but...). After weighing the pros and cons and taking in the probability of accidents (like me dropping the O2 because of its too-smooth shell vs. the firm rough hold i had on the ETEN because of its rougher and rawer finish), and also taking Merv's views into consideration (I hold his opinion in high esteem when it comes to all matters IT and technical, and in this instance, he was saying, go for the ETEN because of its features if I could live with the lack of aesthetics, and also it was not worth getting the O2 now because there would be a revision on specs pretty soon), the bulkier Taiwanese gadget won me over. Besides, I figured, if I dropped it or anything happened to it, I wouldn't feel so bad, I think. But let's not even go there. We are trying to avoid any mishaps or accidents that could result in me dropping the ETEN.

So, Merv took the opportunity to regale the store people about my past experience with buying my T41 while I pondered my choice. My prowess with kitchen utensils is so good that on the day I bought my T41, I christened it with a scratch on the casing when I dropped a heavy as steel fork at Starbucks trying to juggle a cheesecake onto the table where my T41 was comfortably residing. I put my mark on it alright. On the very day I bought it. Not even an hour into it's journey into life with me.

The decision made, the credit card swiped, and not for the last time, I wondered if I'd made the right decision. For every technical gadget that I've bought, I've always felt a tinge of regret. I don't know why but there is so much variety out there that I find myself thinking, "maybe I should have gotten the other one..." or "I wonder if I really needed this".

After the splurge, we headed to Sg. Wang so I could collect my altered clothes from Lester (they'd been there since after my wedding, sometime early last year). On the way there, I got confused about the floor Lester was on. So we were on the escalator up to what I thought was the right floor, but Merv decided at the last second we could be on the wrong floor and scampered down the up escalator. I went, "Oi!" and hopped the last 6 or so steps down to follow him. Better than taking the escalator all the way up and then coming all the way down again. I think I've never gone down in the up escalator in my entire adult life. Well, now I have. Thanks to Merv.

It's a good thing the ETEN box was on his side of the table during dinner. I almost dropped my Korean chopsticks onto the floor right where I would have placed the ETEN if I'd had it with me, managed to redeem myself by catching the chopsticks on time. And again, looked like a clumsy buffoon trying to grab hold of said chopstick. "Never a dull moment," mutters Merv amidst his guffaws of laughter.

Up at Cycom, our friend spotted a gaming mouse (what is a gaming mouse??) for RM195. I'd decided to boost the storage on the ETEN with a 1Gb SD memory card for RM220 (it was RM280 at the store I bought the ETEN). He was already caressing and hugging the packaging the mouse came in.

He turned to me and asked, "Should I get it? RM195 orrr..."

"OK what, RM195."

He gives me a look.

"Oh yeah orrr. It's just a mouse."

Then it hits me.

Damn!! 200 ringgit for a MOUSE???

"200 ringgit for a mouse??!! You sure?"

I look at him.

"Aaaarrrggghhh, OKlah, I'll get it!"

So much for refraining himself from splurging. It was supposed to be my shopping spree, not his. Well, we both made our journey into KL worthwhile, despite the traffic jam (in my case anyway). I think that about takes care of my shopping for the rest of August...so much for heading out to the Mega Sale.

Starbucks, here I come!! Watch out for me and my ETEN!!