Foo - I got another new laptop

I got a Dell Inspiron 1721 (laptop) in August.
It came with Windows Vista. :crash:

Vista crashed 3 times this past week and I had to start the computer in "Safe Mode". What a crock!!
Anyway, after struggling with that piece of crap WAY TOO LONG I decided to get a computer with an operating system that works (because Dell would not uninstall Vista and install XP - they say that's downgrading the computer).
Plus the touchpad never did work to my satisfaction. Not sure if that was a Dell problem or a Vista problem.
So the wife and I went to the Apple store today and after a first rate explanation and demo that lasted for almost an hour, we got a MacBook Pro. I'm VERY pleased so far. :D
The Dell (and Windows Vista) are being returned on Monday. Good riddance!!

Did I make a good choice?

You made a superb choice!

Welcome to the brotherhood! :)

BTW: I seriously considered getting the MacBook before I bought the Dell but the lower price of the Dell swayed me over to the dark side (http://homepage.eircom.net/~starwars/sounds/darkside.wav). :eek:

Oh boy here we go again.

You made a great choice. That's what I got. Not trying to provoke the A vs. B argument, but I really do enjoy having an Apple. They're fun. But above all, they're very functional, once you figure out most of their tricks. Congrats.

Bal

Oh, I should share this (http://davespicks.com/writing/programming/mackeys.html) with you. It's fun!

I got a Dell Inspiron 1721 in August.
It came with Windows Vista. :crash:

Vista crashed 3 times this past week and I had to start the computer in "Safe Mode". What a crock!!
Anyway, after struggling with that piece of crap WAY TOO LONG I decided to get a computer with an operating system that works (because Dell would not uninstall Vista and install XP - they say that's downgrading the computer).
Plus the touchpad never did work to my satisfaction. Not sure if that was a Dell problem or a Vista problem.
So the wife and I went to the Apple store today and after a first rate explanation and demo that lasted for almost an hour, we got a MacBook Pro. I'm VERY pleased so far. :D
The Dell (and Windows Vista) are being returned on Monday. Good riddance!!

Did I make a good choice?

You can return a computer after 3 months?

Why didn't you just install XP on it yourself?

So the operating system on your $900 Dell doesn't work so hot and your solution is to replace it with a $1900 mac??

Here are two things to consider:

1. There are plenty of free software options that the average user can install to protect windows from malware. It would only cost you a few hours of reading, reading you should do anyway no matter what hardware/software you are using. You could easily reinstall the system and lock it down.

2. Second, if you hate windows (there are certainly reasons to hate Vista) instead of buying a new computer, you can run a free linux distribution like ubuntu or pclinuxos. With a little work, you can get these free operating systems up and running in no time. Right now Linux has desktop features that shame both Mac and Windows:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82ZTV82OmKo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_qddueXkD8E

At the end of the day, I'd rather self-educate than shell out $1000 to solve my problems. If you never take the initiative to figure these things out, you'll forever be caught between the scylla of Micro$oft's badly designed products and the charybdis of Apple's "It just works (for an extra $1000)!" marketing scams.

So the operating system on your $900 Dell doesn't work so hot and your solution is to replace it with a $1900 mac??

Here are two things to consider:

1. There are plenty of free software options that the average user can install to protect windows from malware. It would only cost you a few hours of reading, reading you should do anyway no matter what hardware/software you are using. You could easily reinstall the system and lock it down.

2. Second, if you hate windows (there are certainly reasons to hate Vista) instead of buying a new computer, you can run a free linux distribution like ubuntu or pclinuxos. With a little work, you can get these free operating systems up and running in no time. Right now Linux has desktop features that shame both Mac and Windows:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82ZTV82OmKo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_qddueXkD8E

At the end of the day, I'd rather self-educate than shell out $1000 to solve my problems. If you never take the initiative to figure these things out, you'll forever be caught between the scylla of Micro$oft's badly designed products and the charybdis of Apple's "It just works (for an extra $1000)!" marketing scams.
+1
Although os/x is a well-designed operating system, it's not enough for me to overcome my
unease with Apple's corporate hype machine.
Before I bought a mac I'd look into a Dell laptop with pre-loaded Linux...especially with
Gutsy Gibbon available.

+1
Although os/x is a well-designed operating system, it's not enough for me to overcome my
unease with Apple's corporate hype machine.
Before I bought a mac I'd look into a Dell laptop with pre-loaded Linux...especially with
Gutsy Gibbon available.

Yeah, even though Apple's OS is light years better than windows (what isn't?), there's no way that you're going to convince me that it's worth my while to spend an extra $1000 to have Apple install it on what is basically another intel laptop manufactured by ASUS.

Just send your Dell back, buy an ASUS (dual boot Windows / Ubuntu Linux) and pocket the extra $700 you would have spent on a macbook pro.

I would like a MacBook Pro, but I'm too cheap and settled for a MacBook. Congratulations! I love this thing haha.

From what I understand, you can still get Dells ( or any other computer for that matter) preloaded with XP. We have received a couple of dell laptops in the last few weeks that had XP preloaded.

Maybe you needed to talk to someone a little higher up ( e.g. supervisor) at Dell.

You can order Dells right off their site with XP installed.

This is all I hear about lately since the girlfriend's kid is trying to be subtle in her desire for a laptop by mentioning it every five minutes.

I just bought the new Macbook yesterday and it will arrive next week. We'll see how it works.

HP, Dell, Lenovo and Toshiba all offer XP on certain models if you look around a bit. The problem is that it might not be the model you are looking for.

I think HP even offers a no OS option on a few of its business laptops that saves you $100. Dell, as mentioned, offers a few computers with Ubuntu pre-installed.

I just ordered two dells on Friday.

One will be XP-Pro and the other XP-Home.

Coming from a Unix background, I do like the idea of least-user-permissions (or whatever MS thinks it ought to be called), I'm just not convinced Vista is ready for prime time.

Vista is still a couple years away from real usability, I have XP beaten into submission just the way I like so I see no reason to switch anytime soon.

My bugdet Toshiba just gave up. I was never very impressed with it. It was very noisy and overheated if you left it on a flat surface.

So I got an end of line/demonstrator/returned Sony Vaio with Vista at a very reduced rate. It works fine but I would have preferred to have gone Microsoft-free with a Dell/Ubuntu-Linux combination but unfortunately I need Powerpoint for work.

My bugdet Toshiba just gave up. I was never very impressed with it. It was very noisy and overheated if you left it on a flat surface.

So I got an end of line/demonstrator/returned Sony Vaio with Vista at a very reduced rate. It works fine but I would have preferred to have gone Microsoft-free with a Dell/Ubuntu-Linux combination but unfortunately I need Powerpoint for work.

The situation that works well for me is dual booting so I can jump back into windows if I need something.

You can return a computer after 3 months?
I have connections. :)


Why didn't you just install XP on it yourself?
Why should I pay for a new copy of XP when the crap that came on the computer didn't work? Dell should do it!!!


So the operating system on your $900 Dell doesn't work so hot and your solution is to replace it with a $1900 mac??
$900?? Try $1500.


XP wasn't available on any of the Dell "specials" that I saw (loaded with lots of extras).

Why should I pay for a new copy of XP when the crap that came on the computer didn't work? Dell should do it!!!

Pay for XP, now that's funny. :D;)

I can't say anything about Mac's since I have no experience with them. But Dell is the devil himself as far as I'm concerned. So yes, returning that POS is the right thing to do IMO.

I would like a MacBook Pro, but I'm too cheap and settled for a MacBook. Congratulations! I love this thing haha.

Talk about cheap. I'm working on a Mac mini here, but I love this damn thing so much it hurts. :)

Talk about cheap. I'm working on a Mac mini here, but I love this damn thing so much it hurts. :)

Then you're doing it wrong.

Dell works fine for me. I had a dell pc when I entered college in 2002 and only replaced it because my parents got me one that was a thin tower. I couldn't upgrade video cards, and other drivers easily. Now I have a Dell 4700 that I love. It was $600 for a 2.73 ghz, 512 mb ram, 160 gb, running XP, and a 19" LCD. Hard to beat that.

It's still going strong. I love it because the OS is so simple to manage and operate. The computers are super easy to upgrade. I just bought another 2 gb of ram to make this thing fly. It only cost me $30 shipped too. Can't wait to get it.

Dell is great. Right now you can get a similar deal. http://www.dell.com/content/topics/topic.aspx/us/segments/bsd/odg/bflp_affil?c=us&l=en&s=bsd&dgc=BF&cid=25952&lid=594502

2.2 ghz, 1 gig ram, 160 gb, 20" Widescreen LCD for $600. It says Vista, but you can get XP instead. Dell always offers this. If you say they don't, you're wrong.

If you don't need 160 gb and 2.2 ghz then for $349 there is the 1.6 ghz with 08 gb and a 19" LCD. That's a great basic system that can easily be upgraded.

Dell is great.

How far from our star system is your home planet?

$900?? Try $1500.


XP wasn't available on any of the Dell "specials" that I saw (loaded with lots of extras).

They're selling them for $899-999. You must have upgraded yours?

Congrats and enjoy the computer. :)

In canada, dell, on cheaper models, will not sell a pc with XP. It is part of their agreement with microsoft. If you are willing to dish out the coin for the higher end pc, you get options for xp. If you are willing to spend even more, you can get options for linux...

If I ever buy another computer, it will be a mac. My fiance could use the "usability" factor of it. I have proven to myself, that linux still isn't ready for prime time, and windows is still not a "perfect" solution works. But when something breaks, and it does, I get a call to fix it.

Funny story (sorry ron, this is a hijak and has nothing really to do with your purchase) my fiance that has family that lives up the street. Normal enough family, father, mom, daughter, son and a year round exchange student (they switch out every 3 months). When they had a computer it was always infected, always sick and I was always getting phones calls asking "how do i", "what do I need to buy to", "where's the beef"...3 months ago, it finally died and I convinced them to get a mac....

I haven't had a call since except to go over for dinner.

I have said it before and will say it again. Every os has a place. I am an os agnostic and love them all for what they are good at. I don't use xp as a firewall, and I don't use *nix for a desktop. Life is good.

I'm thinking of uninstalling my Vista too.

Is Vista a dead end?

Is Vista a dead end?

Right now, I can tell you I have an open license to install office 2007 and vista on all pc's in my enterprise....

I have installed office 2007.

Yeah but you can run 2007 on XP.

Yeah but you can run 2007 on XP.

ya I know, my point was a simple one, Vista is not worth it. I was just drawing a comparrison between the two new products and what I thought of them individually ;)

Vista has troublems sometimes. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oiG7KFDYkLI&feature=related

How far from our star system is your home planet?I bought a Dell (Dimension 8200) in 2002, and have had no problems at all with it. I kinda wish it'd get sick and die so I could justify buying something newer and fancier, but it just keeps on working fine.

ya I know, my point was a simple one, Vista is not worth it. I was just drawing a comparrison between the two new products and what I thought of them individually ;)

I like office 2007 too, but nowadays I can read my students' .docx files in open office anyway. One less reason to boot into XP.

Incidentally, I'm thinking I might pull the trigger on a new ASUS.

I like office 2007 too, but nowadays I can read my students' .docx files in open office anyway. One less reason to boot into XP.

Open office is excellent, but you can't beat the intergration between office 2007 and other microsoft products. I love how perfectly it works with sharepoint services etc.

On a laptop where resources are limited, I don't blame people for installing XP, or even what I did on one laptop I have, Windows Server 2003 [1].

Vista is decent, but I do recommend trying to max a machine's RAM capacity out when running it, and kill the search service. I don't know why, but that thing is always accessing the hard disk, and few things will kill a machine's performance worse than blocking I/O.

I don't think a Macbook is a bad choice. The 13" with 4GB of RAM (wish it were expandable to 8) with two partitions (one for MacOS, one for XP that is normally in parallels mode, but can be booted natively for max game playing performance) looks pretty good as a daily workhorse box.