Technology has evolved beyond the edges of the functional. The days of squat PC toads lurking beneath desks and catching unwary toes have started to fade and some believe we may even be moving into a post-PC world where the light and beautiful rule the world.
No matter what the future holds, today there are devices that deserve a moment of our time, just to appreciate the thought that’s gone into their looks, their specs and their intended use. Here are my top eight devices that I think deserve their place. Agree? Disagree? Let me know below.
1. The ultrabook
Sneer all you like about how it’s just a really thin laptop. The moment the Zenbook sits on your lap and purrs at you with its hi-res screen, powerful features and ridiculously fast boot times, you will fall in love. Guaranted.
2. The Nexus 7
It’s a world first. A seven inch tablet with Nvidia’s Tegra 3 quad core processor. And it runs Jelly Bean. And it’s cheap. Developed by Google and ASUS, this is a joy to play with.
3. The Padfone
A tablet, a notebook and a smartphone all rolled into one simple device that cuts down on clutter and keeps your entire workload in one simple place. If you’re developing strangely muscular shoulders thanks to the strain of carrying too many devices in your satchel, perhaps this is your look-in.
4. The Transformer Pad Infinity
This tablet from ASUS takes all that’s good with the original design and the Transformer Prime and makes it even better. The light weight, the fantastic screen, the speed and the features are excellent. Use it and see.
5. EeeBox PC
This is just beautiful and simple and plain and understated. Why try it? Because you get a full HD entertainment centre in your lounge that’s purely about connectivity, speed and ease of use. Proper ease of use, not the one where you take it out the box and then spend six hours troubleshooting.
6. The All-In-One PC
Honestly, giving this back to ASUS was the hardest thing I have ever done. Where do I start – the gigantic touchscreen, the extra features, the power, the boot time, the looks. In spite of the specs, I’m afraid this one was, for me, pure eye candy.
7. ASUS Tablet 600
Oh go on, it looks amazing and the specs are ridiculously exciting. I’m all about the NFC, of course, but the rest of it is worth waiting for.
8. ASUS MARS Graphics cards
I could make a terrible pun about curiosity and Mars, I won’t, instead I will say that whether you’re a gamer or just a casual tech user, just the look of these components should be enough to make you sigh, just a little. Designed to tap into the gamer’s psyche with tight specs and features, MARS is beautiful.
Mrs Mario
Mrs.Mario is a freelance journalist who loves to write about anything and everything. She accidentally fell into the cauldron of technology about eight years ago and has been slowly simmering in there ever since. She’s a geek but still has tons to learn about the wonderful world of technology. She also suffers from a rare disease known as “need to game” that demands it’s sufferers play at least one videogame a week. So far, she’s been coping with her ailment admirably.