I Hate Computers

[Bird]

Harv & glennmac, back when I was gainfully employed, and had a couple of real computer experts working for me, they, too, thought the MacIntosh was the best. Unfortunately, I never touched the ones we had in the office. And of course I was a bit concerned about capability with other computers (comes from knowing so little about computers, I guess).

And Mikim, I didn't check with Consumer Reports (got disgusted with them and cancelled my subscription years ago), but I did find that PC magazine and ZDNet seemed to favor the Dell. And then I have a nephew up in Washington state who's employed in the computer field, was building his own (and my brother's) even when he was in college quite a few years ago, and several months ago my brother asked him about building him another one and the boy told him he'd be better off to just buy a Dell - and he did.

Bird

 

[MarkV]

Bird,

<font color=blue>I Hate Computers</font color=blue>

I hear you loud and clear when it comes to computers. After reading all the posts I think I understand about 1/3 of what our computer friends are saying./w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif We bought a Dell 4 years ago, after several large (for us) expenditures for other computers. The Dell was great until two weeks ago. When it would not let me get to TBN I told the wife "We have a problem." She calls a friend who is in the bussiness of setting up systems for small companies and he says Win95 is the problem. OK, sounds good to me. He wants to change to Win2000 Pro. OK, sounds good to me. He spends a bunch of time saving our data files to his network, burning a CD of the files, installing the new OS, adding memory and a bunch of stuff I don't understand. Turns out that one of my wifes main programs that lets her into her companies network (Delta Airlines) will not work on Win2000. OK, doesn't sound good to me. We dump all the work that has been done and load Win98 and I am now back to having about 1/2 of the things I use to, have about 1/2 the error messages I had and have spent about 1/2 as much as I would have to buy a new computer. Now this is a sharp guy that does this for a living, has a masters from MIT and is a good friend. What does a guy like me do? On top of that, he is about to start a redo on part of his house so I will end up paying him back by doing things I would normally charge a fair amount for. OK, this is starting to stink. I do think about taking the tractor and putting the computer in a big hole at times./w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

After all my venting, I will say we were happy with the way Dell worked with us and the support they offered when we bought the machine.

MarkV

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Mark,

The Dell hardware didn't fail you... the software did.../w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif

The majority of all computer problems are software related...not hardware...

Windows NT/2000/2kPro are extremely stable operating systems, the 2kPro is about 20-30% faster throughput speed, geared 100 % toward business. A number of older/poorly written windows 95/98 programs will not run at all/erratically under the business environment op system.

 

[Bird]

Mark, sometimes I wish they'd quit changing and "improving" some things; especially the software. I went from Windows 3.1 on my last computer to Windows 98 on this one (skipped Windows 95), but then Microsoft had more updates and "critical updates" than I could count that I downloaded. Then I bought the upgrade to Windows 98 Second Edition and I think I've downloaded more "critical updates" to it than I did the original version. So now I'll have to see whether I can learn Windows ME (and already the new computer is supposed to come with a coupon to upgrade to Windows XP/w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif) if you want it.

I really liked the first versions of Microsoft Works and Quicken when I first used them years ago, and I've certainly lost count of the number of new versions I've gone to over the years. You reckon it'll ever end?

Bird

 

[StoneHeartFarm]

Glueguy,

I've got a discount computer store where I've been buying parts. So, I have access to brown box stuff. I have to admit, there's a certain fun factor to putting something like this together. (Consider if you could get a tractor in a box.) /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif Wouldn't you want to at least try to put it together? My main concern is getting everything to work together, which means watching the IO and interrupt requests carefully. I know windows is supposed to handle all that for me, but it doesn't do a very good job.

For more info on the Rambus vs the World ram debate, I've found Geek.com helpful: http://www.geek.com. They usually have the latest and greatest. If I'm reading their reviews correctly, it looks like Intel may be dropping Rambus in favor of DDR on their P4 2 ghz chips.

SHF

 

[GlueGuy]

<font color=blue>which means watching the IO and interrupt requests</font color=blue>

If you "just say no" to old-style I/O cards (IDE), you never have to worry about that. It truly is plug-and-play if you stick with PCI, USB, 1394 (firewire), etc.

Also, the days of Windows 9x are coming to an end (finally). Windows ME is the last of that breed. I use Win2K at work, and would at home too, except that it won't support the wizzy graphics card I use there. I expect that to be a thing of the past when XP finally hits the streets. We'll see. The only thing I don't like about XP is the new OS-rental scheme that M$ has cooked up.

Five years ago, I thought that Rambus would take over the world. It took them too long to get it working. Intel and Dell bought the hype hook line and sinker, but everybody else said "whoa, that's expensive". I think it won't last long. Things like DDR will kill it off for sure.

Also read that the new 2GHz chips are mostly a marketing ploy. Intel learned last year that consumers mostly pay attention to the clock speed, so Intel is obliging. We are going to have to get smarter about how we compare these things... /w3tcompact/icons/crazy.gif

The GlueGuy

 

[Bird]

<font color=blue>The only thing I don't like about XP is the new OS-rental scheme that M$ has cooked up.</font color=blue>

GlueGuy, needless to say, I have no idea what you're talking about; never heard of this OS-rental scheme. And naturally, since I'm buying a computer with Windows ME, I figured it'd be obsolete very soon./w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif And of course, I know nothing about XP except that the new computer is supposed to come with kind of a coupon for upgrading. The more I learn, the more confused I become./w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

And then I guess the next step is satellite Internet service, since I don't expect any decent phone line upgrade in this area in my lifetime. I don't know much yet about the satellite service, but have been told Starband currently has the two-way wireless service available (about $960 to set up and then $70 a month) and that DirecPC now has the two-way wireless (about $600 to set up and $70 a month). Wonder how long it'll take for the prices to come down enough for us poor folks?

Bird

 

[TWINKLE_TOES]

Bird,

<font color=blue>Wonder how long it'll take for the prices to come down enough for us poor folks?</font color=blue>

It's like having an older brother Bird, we will get the hand me downs when no one wants them anymore because something new and zippy is available, and the more you want it the longer it will take./w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif

Al

 

[Wingnut]

Unlike all the Mac-lovers and Intel-haters out there ... I like most of them (computers). I've had more problems trying to repair Macs than anything else ... and have never seen why they draw such adoration .... but then I still have my Amiga 1000, 200 and 3000's alive and multi-tasking the way a true computer should.
I'm not a fan of Gates or any of his bug-ware ... but I gotta use it at work so I live with it.
I used to always have the biggest baddest machine on the block ... because I built them myself and enjoyed it ... but it stopped being fun when they started putting out a new CPU every 12-1/2 seconds ... so now I'm several gereations back. My current menagerie in the computer room consists of a P-133, P-166, P400 and P-450 ... although I did buy the wife a PIII-700 Gateway a while agho (it's still in the box after 6 months)

too bad that common sense ain't

 

[GlueGuy]

<font color=blue>never heard of this OS-rental scheme</font color=blue>

Bird,

The "new" plan according to Bill Gates is to "rent" software instead of selling an indeterminate time-frame license. If anyone has gotten the latest version of MS Office XP, they know what I'm talking about.

Here's the way it works: You buy XP (office or the OS), and the $$$ you pay lasts for 3 year, or until you want to "move" the software to another machine (or even, according to some, if you change "too much" of the hardware on your machine /w3tcompact/icons/shocked.gif). When any of these things happen, you pony up another $$$ for another 3 years, or hardware change.

Seems that M$ wasn't getting enough money from us cheapskates that want to keep the same S/W for a while. They thought they would force it into a a time-scale they could live (and profit) with.

The GlueGuy