Whats a Good Computer brand?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Guest
  • Start date Start date
Thanks for the info Bruce. I guess I'll have to trash
my HP Brio 600 (purchased in 1998) and my HP
Pavilion 761n (purchased in 2001) and my HP Pavilion
F1903 19" LCD monitor (purchased in 2004), and my
HP DVD 640i DVD Writer w/LightScribe (purchased
in 2005), all of which have performed flawlessly over
the years!

BTW, I should also mention my Dell Inspiron 8100
notebook (purchased in 2002) which experienced
a video adapter and cooling fan failures right after
the Dell warranty expired....

<smile>

--
Carey Frisch
Microsoft MVP
Windows - Shell/User
Microsoft Community Newsgroups
news://msnews.microsoft.com/

---------------------------------------------------------------------------­----------------

:

| Carey Frisch [MVP] wrote:
| > HP and Compaq PCs are very good and reliable.
|
|
| Carey, if that's your honest opinion, I'd have to doubt that you've
| ever had to support any significant number of either. One of the oldest
| sayings in the IT industry is "Friends don't let friends buy Compaqs."
| While both HP and Compaq offer some reasonably decent business-class
| machines, their consumer-class models are invariably comprised of the
| lowest grade components available.
|
|
|
|
|
| --
|
| Bruce Chambers
|
| Help us help you:
|
|
|
| They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
| safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. -Benjamin Franklin
 
Uncle said:
Bruce Chambers wrote:




Gateway has gone the way of CHEAP.

If you look into the matter, you'll find that Gateway and eMachines are
now one and the same.
Click to expand...

Don't sell Gateway short...at least for the moment. Gateway is
supposed to be the better half of eMachines and it might recover
OK if the new business model is followed.
 
A few companies today are installing games on the computer based upon Wild
Tangent. What a load of garbage (along with the adware and spyware that
comes down the pipe when playing these games on-line.

When cleaning a brand new computer for my customers (yes, I have people drop
off boxed/unopened computers for me to setup) I always remove these games
and the Wild Tangent program/service. They are much better off without it
all.

--
Regards,

Richard Urban
Microsoft MVP Windows Shell/User

Quote from George Ankner:
If you knew as much as you think you know,
You would realize that you don't know what you thought you knew!
 
First PC I bought was a Compaq, after nothing but trouble took it to small
claims court and got my money back.
Then took the plunge, did a CompTIA A+ course, ( I already have
electrical/electronic training), and built my own.
Haven't looked back since, have built quite a few, and have even made a bit
of money out of it.
 
Anything you read from this nutter should be taken to be wrong in every
which way you care to think of. He hasn't got a clue of computers and
all he knows is coping and pasting somebody's work and publishing as his
own. He got an MVP (Most Valuable Pig) for the same reasons!
 
Anything you read from this nutter should be taken to be wrong in every
which way you care to think of. He hasn't got a clue of computers and
all he knows is coping and pasting somebody's work and publishing as his
own. He got an MVP (Most Valuable Pig) for the same reasons!
 
Carey said:
Thanks for the info Bruce. I guess I'll have to trash
my HP Brio 600 (purchased in 1998) and my HP
Pavilion 761n (purchased in 2001) and my HP Pavilion
F1903 19" LCD monitor (purchased in 2004), and my
HP DVD 640i DVD Writer w/LightScribe (purchased
in 2005), all of which have performed flawlessly over
the years!

BTW, I should also mention my Dell Inspiron 8100
notebook (purchased in 2002) which experienced
a video adapter and cooling fan failures right after
the Dell warranty expired....

<smile>
Click to expand...

Yes, HP systems have sunk a long way over the past 5 or so years.
Acquiring Compaq was not one of its better moves when there were
better targets waiting to be acquired, such as Silicon Graphics.
Unless HP shores up its quality, its other product lines are also
endangered and I do not even want to think of an alternative to
the HP LaserJets at this time.

Reputations of branded computer systems are at an all-time low.
It is a proven fact that "cheap" does not necessarily result in
quality and this is the current marketplace. Even Dell suffers
accordingly and it shows in the quality of their products over
the same time span.

Get used to it. This is the age of the throw-away society and
you should take note that 2 full OEM versions of Windows XP
equals the price 1 full retail verstion of Windows XP, on the
street, and the life of an OS is about the same as that of a
computer system --- 3 years.
 
Anything you read from Carey the nutter should be taken to be wrong in
every
which way you care to think of. He hasn't got a clue of computers and
all he knows is coping and pasting somebody's work and publishing as his
own. He got an MVP (Most Valuable Pig) for the same reasons!
 
If you can't build your own PC then go and buy a cheap DELL PC and
upgrade it yourself as and when you can in your own time. DELL gives
you the original backup OS CDs for a small fee. The OS is OEM but it
works very well.
 
As a matter of fact, I build computers all the time.
My current computer was built with the following:

MSI 865PE Neo-2 LS motherboard
Pentium 4 3e GHz Processor w/800MHz SystemBus & 1MB L2 Cache
1GB Crucial DDR PC3200 RAM
GeForce 6600GT Video Card
24-bit SoundBlaster Live! soundcard
Netgear GA311 Gigabyte NIC
Generic 1394 Firewire PCI
Antec SmartPower 480 Watt Power Supply
Liteon CR-RW recorder/DVD player
HP 16X DVD + - doublelayer LightScribe Drive
Lian Lin aluminum case (very lightweight & excellent cooling)
Microsoft Wireless Keyboard w/ Wireless Laser Mouse 6000
120GB Western Digital SE 8MB Cache hard drive
Microsoft Windows Professional - Retail
Microsoft Office Professional 2003 - Retail
 
nick said:
Ok someone stated compaq sucks that they have spyware and offer no retail
windows cd with there systems, im looking at bestbuy cause thats where i
got
giftcards from all they have is mainly gateway emachine compaqs and hp

sp what the heck is good?
Click to expand...


I've been a service engineer for over 30 years...
and though I repair industrial electronic for a living...
over the past 5 years I've repaired *hundreds* of computer and have to say
that
brand names don't mean a heck of a lot.

For the most part I've not found a huge difference between one brand and the
next...
however I think I can make a few generalizations:

1) avoid any machine that uses a PC Chips motherboard

2) stay away from Emachines ...though I've heard they have made some
improvements in quality...
most of the machines I have gotten in for repair that ended up being not
worth fixing...
were the Emachines


For anyone familair with the old IBM ps/2's...
they just don't build 'em like they used to!


One more point. Most computer stores sell machines loaded with tons of apps
you will probably never use...
and worst still...they put them all in startup.

No matter what machine you get...
the first thing I'd do is run msconfig and take most of the apps out of
startup.
Chances are all you really need there is your Virus checker and firewall
 
nick said:
Ok someone stated compaq sucks that they have spyware and offer no retail
windows cd with there systems, im looking at bestbuy cause thats where i
got
giftcards from all they have is mainly gateway emachine compaqs and hp

sp what the heck is good?
Click to expand...
 
Your very worst decision will be if you buy a computer from Best Buy.
Have you not yet figured out they are not consumer-friendly ??

Buy a computer there and then try to get service or return it if it is a
lemon............. good luck ...
 
nick said:
Ok someone stated compaq sucks that they have spyware and offer no retail
windows cd with there systems, im looking at bestbuy cause thats where i
got
giftcards from all they have is mainly gateway emachine compaqs and hp

sp what the heck is good?
Click to expand...


Whoever gave you the information is wrong. Do not listen to them in the
future.

All manufacturers are required to provide a method to restore your computer
to a like new state. In the vast majority of computers, Compaq included,
that means a hidden partition on the hard drive with an restore image.
During boot, an option to restore from this image is available. You also
have the option of making a set of CDs or DVDs from this partition.

As for brands, all the recognizable name brands are "good". You get what
you pay for. Sony and Toshiba are overpriced for what they offer (and also
have the downside of only offering Intel processors). Compaq and HP are
aimed at the "average user", and are acceptable for the market they are
targeting. HP and Compaq merged a couple of years a go. Gateway acquired
eMachines.

I also concur that the best route to go is to build your own. You get what
you want, and if you build wisely, you will always have a graceful upgrade
path.

Bobby
 
I spend several hours each day removing spyware from computers. I'm getting
quite good at it if I say so myself. With a brand new Compaq it takes longer
to remove the crapware that was installed from the factory image than to
remove most spyware infections I see. If you need to restore the factory
image for some reason all the crapware is back and another 1/2 day is lost.
Strangely enough if you buy HP business class machines almost none of this
crapware comes installed. It's only the cheap consumer level machines. Makes
one wonder how much the crapware companies pay HP/Compaq.
 
The cheap new Dell's are not upgradeable other than a different hard drive
or replacing the RAM. They have no floppy drive, room for one optical drive,
one hard drive, 4 USB ports, and jacks for speakers and a microphone. There
are no PS/2 ports, serial ports, parallel port, room for a floppy drive etc.
The PSU is very weak and would not support a better video card if one could
be added. Not exactly what I would call upgradeable. Their mid-range
machines are very slightly better. Their business machines are well built
and worth the money. I would go with a cheap Compaq before a cheap Dell.
Once you get into their better machines Dell and HP/Compaq are about equal.
 
Uncle said:
Gateway has gone the way of CHEAP.
Click to expand...


Well, that is what most consumers want; cheap rather than quality.

If you look into the matter, you'll find that Gateway and eMachines are
now one and the same.
Click to expand...


I know that Gateway purchased eMachines so they'd get an "in" to the
chain store market, but there's still a readily apparent difference in
the quality of the two product lines.


--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:



They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. -Benjamin Franklin
 
Carey said:
Thanks for the info Bruce. I guess I'll have to trash
my HP Brio 600 (purchased in 1998) and my HP
Pavilion 761n (purchased in 2001) and my HP Pavilion
F1903 19" LCD monitor (purchased in 2004), and my
HP DVD 640i DVD Writer w/LightScribe (purchased
in 2005), all of which have performed flawlessly over
the years!

BTW, I should also mention my Dell Inspiron 8100
notebook (purchased in 2002) which experienced
a video adapter and cooling fan failures right after
the Dell warranty expired....

<smile>
Click to expand...


So you've only ever had experience with two HP computers? No wonder
you think they're a good product. ;-} While I've seen some HPs and
Compaqs stand up to the "test of time," I've seen a lot more fail. As
for the single Dell that failed you, every manufacturer has some lemons,
including Dell. Overall, though...

You're entitled to your opinion, of course, but be aware that it will
put you in the minority. Not that you've ever minded that, either. ;-}



--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:



They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. -Benjamin Franklin
 
Richard said:
A few companies today are installing games on the computer based upon Wild
Tangent. What a load of garbage (along with the adware and spyware that
comes down the pipe when playing these games on-line.

When cleaning a brand new computer for my customers (yes, I have people drop
off boxed/unopened computers for me to setup) I always remove these games
and the Wild Tangent program/service. They are much better off without it
all.
Click to expand...


Ah....! Wild Tangent! That was the name of the scumware HP wants it's
users to install (for the bundled games). I couldn't remember it.
Thanks for the reminder.


--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:



They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. -Benjamin Franklin
 
It is a long time I have witnessed the three buddies belonging to the same evil secret group clashing with each other. The three buddies are: Richard Urban, Bruce Chambers, and Carey Frish.

I wish this sort of things occured more often on these public newsgroup to have a healthy debate on issues such as licensing, the evil corporation in Redmond Washington, its activation policies, security and patching issues.

One is accusing the other of talking complete garbage while another accusing third of not having supported enough HP/Compaq systems. Long Live Freedom Speech!!
 
Back
Top