Biting the Bullet, Forkin' Over the Cash

[BlueMonday]

As good as this computer system has been to me in the two and half years that I've been running it non-stop, it's finally time to reach down into my pockets and pull out a big wad of sweaty money for a new computer. I'm gonna get a whole new system and take this one and turn it into a Linux box. I think I've got the new one all picked out:

CasEdge Mid-Tower Case / 300 Watt ATX Power Supply
ASUS A7N266-C Motherboard AGP 4x / 266 Mhz bus
AMD Athlon XP 2200+ (clock speed 1.8 Ghz)
256 MB DDR SDRAM (PC 2100 266 Mhz) [1.5 GB max capacity]
80 GB Western Digital 7200 RPM Ultra ATA/100 Hard Drive
Plextor 40x10x40x CDRW Drive with Nero Burning ROM
64MB GeForce 4 Titanium-4200 Video Card
Dolby Digital 5.1 (6 channel) Surround Sound
56K US Robotics V.90 Modem
3Com 10/100 Ethernet Card
17" NEC FE700+ .25mm ag pitch Flat CRT Monitor
Cyber Acoustics Flat Panel Stereo Speakers and Subwoofer
Logitech Internet Keyboard / Logitech Optical Mouse
Windows XP Home Edition
3 yrs Parts & Hardware Warranty / Free Lifetime Service.

Price: $1500

That's the base system my boys offer. But I'm gonna have them remove the speakers from the system (I've got two spare sets lying around) and have 'em install a DVD ROM. Meanwhile, I'm gonna strip out my existing 80 Gig harddrive from this computer and throw it into the new one as a secondary HD (maybe even put a RAID configuration on it); leaving the old 10 GB harddrive in this one to run Red Hat. Run the Cable modem into the Linux box, and network all the computers in this apartment together. The only thing I don't want is XP, but to downgrade to 2000 would cost me about $150, DAMMIT!!!

All in all, it's got lots of room to upgrade, but a pretty solid system in my opinion. Comments, welcome...

[damunzy]

Sounds like a good system.
comment:
You can get Win2K for like 95 bucks, legally, from www.newegg.com .

[starlifter]

The only thing I don't want is XP, but to downgrade to 2000 would cost me about $150, DAMMIT!!!

THAT is part of what MS does that is so illegal! And why they have been in court, and why Federal Judge Stanley Sporkin convicted them in 1996 (subsequently set aside by the Clinton Administration, though... and later, the CA started a whole NEW prosecution of MS on a different techinical issue!)!

You new machine does sound great .


PS, What if you just insist you wan NO OS at all? Or RedHat? What will they differential in cost be for those 2 options??

[damunzy]

How is it illegal for MS or even the company that is selling the product, to charge more for Windows 2000?

Your anti-MS rants are getting weirder and weirder.....

[BlueMonday]

Well when I was talking to the guy, its not that Windows 2K is more expensive, it's that they're getting incentives from their suppliers to push XP and that by going with 2K I'm in a different tech support section.

In truth, when I asked the salesman the question of whether I could downgrade to 2000 it was merely a formality. I've got the disc already and just need to re-format the drive and install, but I figured if they'd install 2000 for me...let 'em. But since I'm gonna pay extra for them to put 2k on instead of XP, f*** it...I'll just format the drive right when I get home and install 2000.

Of course, maybe I'll give XP a week or two to see if it's worth it. It's just that damn spyware and registration thing that I hate.

PS, What if you just insist you wan NO OS at all? Or RedHat? What will they differential in cost be for those 2 options??

I never thought to ask them that, but I suppose it would mean a discount. In any case I don't want my new machine to be a Linux box, that would negate the massive gaming power of the beast. Instead let the old workhorse handle Red Hat, it's got more than enough umph to handle it.

[Perfection]

Put Win 98 instead of xp. Its much better

Or better yet put on linux.

I love Linux

[starlifter]

How is it illegal for MS or even the company that is selling the product, to charge more for Windows 2000?

Your anti-MS rants are getting weirder and weirder....

The illegality is not my opinion... it is a matter of judicial record. There is also a case pending in Utah's Federal Court on this very issue.

I know it may not seem real obvious, but there is an entire body of US law that restricts trade practices. Companies are not free to do whatever they want, even domestically. It is not a rant.

MS has supposedly agreed to correct their trade practices of OS on new systems, which is why I asked the specific questions of Blue Monday.

At this point, you are supposed to be able to buy the PC without the MS OS if you want. One illegal aspect is to tie hands of the vendor, as to the choice of OS. MS used to do this by making vendors sign an agreement that did not let them provide other OSs if they wanted to provide the MS OSs. MS, as part of their ongoing court battles, has agreed to stop this and certain other illegal practices.

Another is dumping. I won't get into it in detail, but product dumping is also illegal, MS or not. And from Blue Monday's description of the pricing structure, it sounds exactly like it could be dumping.

If you have not read it, MS has already announced the end of life-cycle and termination of Win2000 support. Rather odd that they want people out of Win2000, and charge them more for a completed, but "obsolete", OS.


BTW, I do not always criticise MS. They get credit when they earn it, like with good hardware (e.g., the Intellimouse). I am certainly not going to praise them (or point out their problems, as the world's most powerful computer/software company) just because others do or do not.

[damunzy]

Pardon me while I point out that a lot of your posts looks like Zouave's. You might not know who he is, since he resides in the Civ3 forum, but I can explain what he does. He will post in a thread with the purpose of complaining about Civ3. He will also post something to sound on topic....that is what your first post in this thread sounded like, and a lot of your posts, not just in Computer Talk but in other fora also (Site Feedback comes to mind). I think most people here know that you do not like MS, I could careless if you do or don't, I just don't want to see you bashing them in every other thread you post here.

Sorry for thread jacking Blue, I am just tired of reading this from starlifter, constantly.

star, BTW, I like your avatar a lot.

[Chieftess]

Yes, Win98 is MUCH better.

[BlueMonday]

Originally posted by Chieftess
Yes, Win98 is MUCH better.

BAH!!! NONSENSE. I'm sick of this piece of sh!t...it's daily crashes, it's gaping security holes, it's constant self destruction. I'm tired of restarting the computer. I'm tired of IE crashing the whole thing. I'm tired of re-formatting every month. Win98se may be better than 95, 95b, 98, NT, or ME, but experience has shown me that 2000 is the best Windows platform to date. I'll give XP it's chance, but I know that Iolo and ZoneAlarm and Visnetic are going to be putting in a lot of hours to kill it's spyware.

The only reason I don't use 2000 now is because my NIC is entirely incompatible with it. Without my NIC, no Internet for me.

Sorry for thread jacking Blue, I am just tired of reading this from starlifter, constantly.

Forgiven, I believe that all opinions should be stated somehow. And if you were to make a whole thread complaining about this, I'd be a little worried. And for the record, I'm not taking anyone's side here. You're both right.

[Perfection]

He said its better than xp not 2000