Computers

[Patrick Sweeney]

I hate computers. I've been plugging along on an admittedly old system. It's had OS upgrades, a bigger hard drive, more ram.

I finally decide "I've had enough" and tell the computer tech who handles my wife's business system to build me a new box. No sooner do I put down the phone than this one acts up. It freezes, locks, fails to run programs. I archive a bunch of files to CD to get more hard drive room (getting crowded in there) and get enough. I re-start to get it running again, and when it comes up the hard drive free space is smaller by over 50 megs.

What the f88k!?

I'm convinced Bill Gates is the antichrist, and that the whole personal computer industry is in cahoots, working as minions of the devil and on commission to boot.

I want a stable system. The definition of stable? How about my old Amiga 2000. Sure, it runs on kerosene, but if I pull it out of the closet and plug it in it will start up like its still 1992. No viruses, no crankiness, fast start-up, simple to run.

I don't play games, I don't edit video, I don't do all the "cool" things computer geeks seem to think the personal computer was invented for. Save me from the latest uber-cool gizmos and give me a plain, simple, virus-proof box that is ready to go in less time than it takes to brew a pot of frakkin' coffe!

I'm tempted to tell the tech when he arives (in like, 15 minutes) that I want the old box back so I can shoot it. But my club has very strict rules about allowable targets and messes left behind. (I should know, I wrote them.)

If you read about me going up on the roof with a rifle in the next month or two, you'll know the new system proved cranky.

[XRe]

I'm convinced Bill Gates is the antichrist

You are correct, sir!

I want a stable system.

I hate to say it, cause I wish I could afford one myself, but... you want a Mac

[BritinUSA]

+1

Apple is reliable though expensive, the look good too. It's time to turn away from the Dark Side...

[lynn jones]

i wonder if a 1 oz slug would fix that problem?

lynn

[wlktheduk]

Perhaps you should use your current system as a test target for that Smith & Wesson M-22 you mentioned earlier?

[SiG Lady]

Patrick--

Your well-written rant deserves some exposure in the Friday Flamer. How about a copy-and-paste...? Assuming your box will still DO stuff like that.......

[schmitz]

+2 on the Mac

[AustinMike]

Speaking as someone who makes a living testing high end computer systems and network components, I'm consistently appalled at what is shipping these days. First to market is all that matters. Testing and development has gotten very slack. There are not many manufacturers I trust any more. Ain't all Bill's fault on the OS front. Stuff I see in the gazillion flavors of Linux makes me ill. People that say its perfect and odor free need to come spend an afternoon in my lab. And sorry Mac people, but Apple poop stinks too. Computers have been commoditized to death and the faster they crank them out, the crappier they generally get.

Hell with computers, let's go shoot! Better yet, let's shoot computers! How 'bout a Steel Challenge with hard drive platters?

[iainmcphersn]

Speaking as someone who makes a living testing high end computer systems and network components, I'm consistently appalled at what is shipping these days. First to market is all that matters. Testing and development has gotten very slack. There are not many manufacturers I trust any more. Ain't all Bill's fault on the OS front. Stuff I see in the gazillion flavors of Linux makes me ill. People that say its perfect and odor free need to come spend an afternoon in my lab. And sorry Mac people, but Apple poop stinks too. Computers have been commoditized to death and the faster they crank them out, the crappier they generally get.

Hell with computers, let's go shoot! Better yet, let's shoot computers! How 'bout a Steel Challenge with hard drive platters?

There was a bit on Shooting USA about an annual computer shoot somewhere in Tennessee. Anybody know where and when?

[Scooter]

If it wasn't for Bill Gates, all you IT people would be unemployed.

[Putty]

Patrick,

I build custom computers, they are reliable, fast and all of my customers LOVE their boxes. We sit down and discuss, at length, what their needs are, what my perspective is on the build in terms of longevity vs. cost until they are comfortable and satisfied. This means alot of educating, and can sometimes take months. All my builds are warrantied with free lifetime customer service. I help them to operate spreadsheets and various programs free of charge. I send email notices that their machines are ready for upgrades. I put top end hardware manufactured by the best in the industry. I research all the hardware prior to building to make sure that their are no conflicts with firmware, software, drivers and the like. I spend a week burning in, testing and tweaking the OS to insure that customers have a pleasureable experience.

So what does that mean to you? You should expect no less, or a service that comes close to making you feel good and secure about a big dollar investment.

Your garden variety local computer store is putting together crap hardware from lame-o tawainese knock off chipset makers (like Dell and the like) and charging you high end prices or seemingly good deals, just to make a buck off you....knowing that the real money is in FIXING YOUR POS! There really is no money in the build, its the return repair/troubleshooting that makes them money....always has always will.

People like Geoff Linder who is a MAC guy can give you great advice, and if your of the other bent I can help you as well, or at least point you in the right direction. Just send me a list of components, who is building it, and the cost and I will help you make an informed decision.

Go ahead use me, i dont mind, so many here have given me free advice it feels good to have the chance to give back.

Anders

[SiG Lady]

I build custom computers, they are reliable, fast and all of my customers LOVE their boxes. We sit down and discuss, at length, what their needs are, what my perspective is on the build in terms of longevity vs. cost until they are comfortable and satisfied.

This is pretty much how I have my systems built/upgraded, as humble as they might be. I will NEVER buy a Dell or an HP or one of those cheap-o 'consumer' boxes for any reason. I like sitting down with a techhie and going thru a component list, one item at a time, and discussing both exact personal needs (the software I might be using) AND the issue of relative longevity. It really pays in the long run to do it this way.

I also don't use any 'commercial' ISPs. I use a very local company who's been in business for over 20 years and they're just down the street and I can call them anytime about anything. I even used to work there, so I know who's at the helm and who the chief technician is. I know where the servers are and where the bodies are buried.

I may pay a couple of dollars more for both these personal services, but it's been worth it. Totally.

[Mistral404]

My first computer was built from the ground up by a good company. It lasted a long time. I did almost all the upgrades myself. The most it was ever down was for 5 days while I installed a new hard drive and keeping my older one.

Since then I have purchase 2 Dells; Desk and Laptop. The are strong running champs. Not a single problem. I have had companies buy a computer for their work; mostly Dell and Sony. Again not a single problem.

I never buy the fastest chip out there. I always go down a speed lmit or two. The cost of having the fastest machine at that time is a waste of money for me.

I have had excellent luck from Dell and would buy my next one from them. BUT I HATE DELL PREFERRED financing. What a p@^$&*$^ss poor customer service.

It is hard to bet the price of a Dell right now with all the rebates going on.

[George]

I agree with Sandoz completely. If you want a PC, talk to him, not the idiots at Best Buy, or CompUSA. If you want a Mac, talk to me, not the idiots at the Apple store, or MacMall.

--

Regards,

[benos]

Patrick,

+1 for Geoff on the Mac.

I can't remember the last time I had s system crash (required a restart). Months and months go by, with the worst thing happening is maybe an Excel (always a Microsoft app) crash - then you just do a force quit and relaunch the app, and in seconds you're back up and running. (Actually I can't remember the last time Excel crashed, and I often have 10+ spreadsheets open at the same time.) I do a shut down once a week, just for fun. ; The rest of the time she just sleeps, with all the apps running in the background.) Run a couple maintenance operations once a month... and it's truly unbelievable how reliable an off-the-shelf computer can be. I never thought a "home user' could have such a reliable machine. Besides the hardware, I'd guess most of the reliability is from the basic Unix operating system. Geoff could tell you more on that - all I know is that it works, day-in, day-out, month after month after month...

be

[Viggen]

+1 on the Mac

Like Benos mentions, the stability of the Mac comes from the basix UNIX system.

Go with the Mac or check into the various versions of Linux if you want a reliable box.

[AustinMike]

An advantage Mac has is that is a pairing of an OS with specific hardware platforms that have a much smaller variance than what Windows and Linux contend with in the PC world. It's going to be easier to develop and test when you control the OS and the hardware. Windows/Linux are expected to run on every rattle trap piece of hardware that some chip monkey slaps together. Windows gets a real bad rap being on the fore front (much of it deservedly so), but throwing Linux down on a system ain't necessarily going to be any better. I'm not "pro" any OS really, but I gotta tell you, it's rarely a good day when I have to do Linux testing.

I still can't stand being at a Mac very long (can't get past the annoying "cute" factor.) I may be doing some software ports soon, so I guess I'll have to learn to be more toleralant. I got along with a Mac OK for some recording work early in the year. It was not harmed in the process.

Yeah, I'm rather jaded by my daily experiences of seeing systems at their worst while subjected to our abuse at work.

[George]

Agreed. Linux is not for the faint of heart, nor for those who like cheap hardware, but don't know the basix of hardware really well. Nuff said!

Much like a JP CTR-02 rifle, the full featured Mac is a fully integrated system and just like Mike says, it performs very well at the tasks it is optimized for. That those tasks are better than 95% of the typical individual computer users needs is another point in their favor.

[cautery]

You actually let your system HEAR you planning its replacement? Bad Ju-ju man... Never talk about your system IN FRONT of your system unless it is 100% praise.

The VERY first computer I ever bought was a "Packard-Bell"... Needless to say, I have personally built every computer I have owned since that experience.

There is NO SUBSTITUTE for a system that is properly researched, integrated, and tested prior to use.

I've "consisdered" buying systems from several builders, but every time it comes back down to the fact that I build a much better system for the money than anyone else can... period.

No one else could/would spend the time to make the system EXACTLY what I want... (need... yeah right. )

[mcoliver]

Last night I wanted to capture vids but for some reason my 3-day old firewire card refused to get detected. Unplugged, replugged, reboot, power down, etc...no dice. Gave the box a good kick, restarted and all is well again.

Once in a while you need to show it who's boss.

[George]

Any sufficiently advanced technology is "quite often" indistinguishable from magic ;-)