[grawk]

I know people who like to build their own cars too, even when the car they build isn't as comfortable or maintenance free as one they could buy from bmw.

 

[ozz]

My feelings of modification if I have to do more than minor then for me I obviously bought the wrong one.

 

[Kirosia]

Different strokes, folks, yada.

I wouldn't have built my PCs if I didn't have to. I just want something with Windows that works, and shoddy bloatware-filled pre-builds don't satisfy that category.

 

[Fallen]

I have about four old PCs at my parent's house that I haven't used in years (since my Mac laptop became powerful enough to be my main machine).

I do NOT miss windows at all, am glad to be rid of it. But I do miss the tinkering about with the hardware.

Having recently tried different flavors of Linux on my netbook, I'm tempted to cull those old machines for parts and assemble a Linux desktop. I had a pretty good power supply and casing, as well as a not too shabby video card, and an workable cpu and mobo. Most Linux Apps seem to be low on CPU and GPU requirements anyway. Maybe I could make a decent media server somehow.

Having a machine and OS that 'just works' has been great and all, but seriously, I sometimes need to get my geek on.

I think I'm done with Windows for now though. I'm happy to pay for an OS, but that one is just not for me.

 

[ozz]

I can see where the gaming crowd would like to custom build a desktop but I like a lot
of people have retired my desktop to my inlaws and use mainly laptops.

 

[MD1032]

Stories like this are exactly why I always recommend IBM's Thinkpads (Lenovo now). I've never heard a single story like this about a Thinkpad before, ever. Lenovo's overall product quality and quality control is superb. My Thinkpad T60 functioned perfectly from the day I got it three years ago to now, and even though we received the 3 year warranty as part of the deal, I've literally had no use for it at all. The only thing I've done is put in an extra stick of RAM (upgrading to two gigs) and upgrade the hard drive to a new 7200RPM model, which brought up the speed of this laptop considerably (feels brand new still, just as fast as anything you'd buy today). Anyway, I must say, if you're looking for a seriously well-constructed business laptop with excellent options, you'll pay out the *** for the Lenovo, but it's totally worth it. I've watched all of my peers' Dells, Toshibas, HP's, Fujitsu's, and Macbooks die over time and be replaced or refurbished while my laptop is still pristine. And believe me, I use it plenty. It has a graphics card, and I usually run dual screens (laptop dock has DVI so I can use my DVI monitor, heck, I can even output 1920x1080 into our HDTV!) and play games like Half-Life 2 and Team Fortress 2 on it... games most laptops would either not be able to play or overheat with.

Besides, I rather like my 14" 1400x1050 4:3 screen, they don't make those anymore! What's with all this widescreen crap, anyway?

 

[MCC]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MD1032 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Besides, I rather like my 14" 1400x1050 4:3 screen, they don't make those anymore! What's with all this widescreen crap, anyway?

Widescreen media, of course! My dad's had a widescreen projection system since the mid 90s so 4:3 displays simply don't cut it with media for me. I'm happy with my W500 and its 1680x1050 display.

It's also nice for viewing documents side-by-side in Word or programming with reference open on one side of the display.

 

[Arainach]

Quote:

Besides, I rather like my 14" 1400x1050 4:3 screen, they don't make those anymore! What's with all this widescreen crap, anyway?

Widescreen allows a 12.1" laptop to have a full-size keyboard; I fully approve of this switch (that and 1280x800 is far more usable than 1024x768).

 

[nlaudio]

Macs have a few issues, but Windows has issues all the time, forever.

 

[Kirosia]

Quote:

Originally Posted by nlaudio /img/forum/go_quote.gif Macs have a few issues, but Windows has issues all the time, forever.

Only if you don't know how to use it. I'm on XP, and haven't really encountered anything a reboot didn't fix. (I leave my PC on for weeks at a time)

 

[wanderman]

Quote:

Originally Posted by nlaudio /img/forum/go_quote.gif Macs have a few issues, but Windows has issues all the time, forever.

windows, ubuntu, and osx daily... and it is safe to say that most computer issues are user caused. My computers are running without problems.

 

[Vayate]

Most Windows issues are caused by hardware, usually that pesky bit between the keyboard and chair.

 

[krmathis]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vayate /img/forum/go_quote.gif Most Windows issues are caused by hardware, usually that pesky bit between the keyboard and chair.

 

[bangraman]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vayate /img/forum/go_quote.gif Most Windows issues are caused by hardware, usually that pesky bit between the keyboard and chair.

So true.


Things do not go away or catch viruses by themselves for me, and I have to say that Vista has been very good to me. Since I switched from XP 18 months ago it's been better, from a hardware + OS combination aspect, than my constantly-updated Macs. Unlike what seems to be 90% of the supposedly savvy tech world I'll be holding off upgrading to W7, and just following a natural new-machine migration.

 

[LordZ]

As a gamer, I can only point and laugh at Mac users. I suppose that if I had zero interest in games, I might change my mind about Macs but they currently have zero to offer me. Not interested in the Mac tax and the fact that it is at the highest for gamers. Also, I'd still have to do my gaming in Windows since OSX has crap support for games. It's like Apple goes out of its way to **** on gamers so all I can say is back at ya.

That said, I setup an Acer laptop for my mom(which took little effort at all) and I haven't had any issues with it that were caused by the laptop itself. Personally, I consider their laptops a real bargain because they look nice(the screens) and work.

I stick with strictly XP. I have Vista installed on my HTPC but that's only because I haven't gotten the energy or time to replace it with XP again. I only put Vista on there as an experiment and the results have been one headache after another. Maybe Windows 7 will find it's way onto it after it has been out a while. Currently, I haven't found any software solution to the HTPC that satisfies me and I've tried everything in both Linux and Windows flavors. I'm not even going to bother with trying OSX.