Do you get disk with Vista? if buy new system?

[XS11E]

Bought new computre system from a computre shop and they claim
vista does not come whith a cd/dvd if buy new computre is that
true??

Yes, you have to demand it at the time of purchase, some places will
provide the dvd if you tell them you will not buy w/o it.

Once you buy, you can only ask them if they can provide you with a dvd
for a reasonable fee.

 

[XS11E]

no no, no CD at all. When I made the "Restore CD", it took 2 DVDs,
but you can also choose to make 8 CDs..

Same here. On my HP (it's really a Compaq) I also have the option to
buy the restore CDs from HP or, better yet(!) the option to buy a
restore CD that would restore ONLY the OS and necessary drivers.

FWIW, my previous laptop was a HP XT5366WM. The "WM" at the end means
it was made specifically for Walmart to Walmart's specifications. It
came with XP Home, it came with the restore CDs and, believe it or not,
it also included the XP Home CD seperately!

I've never found out if that was to meet Walmart's requirments or if HP
did that with other laptops but either way, I like it!

 

[Julian]

Yes, you have to demand it at the time of purchase, some places will
provide the dvd if you tell them you will not buy w/o it.

Once you buy, you can only ask them if they can provide you with a dvd
for a reasonable fee.

In the UK, at least, customers have far more clout than they realise.
For some strange reason it is not usually the done thing to haggle
but it certainly works in the cut throat PC market.

In march, friend of mine was just about to but a top of the range
Sony Laptop at the retail price when he suddenly surprised himself
by demanding a deal. He got £200 off, and a XP to Vista Ultimate
upgrade voucher, and leather carrying case and other bits and
pieces in seconds.

 

[cquirke (MVP Windows shell/user)]

cquirke (MVP Windows shell/user) wrote:

Perhaps, but then we'd hear cries of "Microsoft's a big, nasty monopoly
trying to tell me, poor little HP (eMachines, Dell, ad infinitum), how
to run my business." Either way, Microsoft will get blamed.

The last time that happened it was when MS threatened to deny a large
OEM access to product because that OEM had removed IE icon from the
desktop and substituted a Netscape icon instead.

MS's defense was: "Users expect the full Windows experience, and IE is
part of that experience".

Well, the ability to maintain Windows without having to "just wipe" it
is a crucial part of that experience, as is being able to control how
it is installed, After all, these are key areas where Vista has been
improved over XP. Yet MS does nothing to defend us when OEMs rip out
these facilities (rather than merely take away an obvious desktop UI
to them) and have not replaced them with anything similar.

So no; I don't see that explanation as appropriate.

There may well be some middle ground where microsoft and the OEMs
reached some sort of pro-profit decision and compromise here. But how
to determine if it's so?

Exactly - it's a "closed shop". The words "cartel" and "monopoly"
spring to mind, don't they? I dunno about your experience, but in
mine, I've found the section of MS that deals with OEMs to be as
off-limits and inaccessible as an MVP as it was as a user, and as it
as a small OEM system builder.

I did so, on the rare occasion when I must purchase a pre-built system.
(Notebooks only, I always custom build my own desktops.)

My situation exactly - I build desktops, but laptops have to be bought
from large OEMs, and getting straight answers - either directly, or
via the clients who are buying - is next to impossible.

You've a point. Sales personnel seem to be universally poorly trained
in this respect. That's why I insist on inspecting everything that
comes in the box *before* making a purchasing decision. I've walked out
of more than one store without buying anything, as a result.

I did apply the "never attribute to malice..." logic, but there's just
too much for that to stick. It smells like a deliberate cover-up.

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