The Computer Buzz

February 15th, 2007

Nome and Paul Van Middlesworth - owners - The Computer Factory
 

Potpourri

This week's column is devoted to miscellany. A compilation of completely unrelated facts that may or may not be of interest to anyone. Here goes:

"You should always leave your PC running."

Only if you want to pay $100 a year for kilowatts you don't need, take a few years off your PCs lifespan and speed up global warming. Otherwise turn your PC off anytime you aren't going to be using it for a few hours.

"Windows Vista cannot be licensed to any PC except the one it was sold with"

Unfortunately we helped to spread this false rumor. While it's true that Bill Gates would love to make you to buy a new license every time you turn on your computer and while it is also true that Microsoft originally planned to restrict the Vista license to the original PC, Microsoft was forced to back off when their market research focus groups discovered that a strong consumer backlash would have crippled Vista's sales. While a Vista license is only valid for one computer at a time, just like XP, it can be transferred from one PC to another as long as it is uninstalled on the previous PC.

"Dell computers are the worst PCs on the market these days"

Not true. Fry's "Great Quality" house brand PCs was the worst we've ever seen. Dell is no better or worse than the other major brands. PC quality and service have deteriorated as the great American computer companies like Dell, Compaq, HP and Gateway have outsourced their sales, manufacturing and service. Because Dell for many years was the quality and service leader among American PC companies, Dell's customers came to expect more and as a result are simply more disappointed and more vocal than the others. Dell has suffered more because it fell from a greater height. As a consequence, HP passed long time leader Dell in PC sales last fall.

"Vista is so bad that it has caused a world wide slump in PC sales?"

Yes, Vista has caused a slump in PC sales but not because it's so bad. For home and small business users there are few benefits and significant risks associated with implementing a brand new operating system. It's simply not worth the bother until Vista has been debugged. Since nearly all-major brand PC sellers have switched to Vista, sales are very slow. One of the nice things about the "Vista PC slump" is that the reduced demand is causing PC component prices to fall. A one Gigabyte stick of high quality, lifetime warranty, Kingston DDR RAM that sold for $125 only six weeks ago is $85 today. It is a great time to think about upgrading your old PC or buying a new "open architecture" PC with Windows XP. All new Windows XP licenses now come with a free Vista upgrade certificate.