Since computers are “all-important” to us Forum users, how about comparing notes on computers, and share our EXPERIENCES for the benefit of all. Do you have any good brand recommendations, or firsthand words of wisdom?
Here are my sad stories for your evaluation:
Hewlett Packard (HP) XE743 (1999): Came with Windows 98. Both troublesome. Didn’t they ever try their products themselves and test them? A classic finger pointing case: HP says Microsoft is at fault, and Microsoft says HP is the problem. The unit came with an HP printer, which broke down two years later and had to be replaced. The monitor failed recently. With a previous computer, I went through two troublesome HP printers. In my book, ALL HP produce offerings are now avoided, and by merger association, Compaq’s too. [Currently, a low cost Canon – NOT Compaq – S750 printer is used, and it has three separate inexpensive color cartridges (so running out of one color doesn’t cause a whole expensive single tri-color cartridge to be thrown away), and works fine and without trouble.]
IBM PS/1 2155 (1993): Came with OS/2 version 2.0, and ran DOS and Windows applications. Troublesome. Under warrantee, IBM sent OS/2 version 2.1, but I ended up buying its corrective facility for $40 that corrected 500 errors. 500? Yes. Amazing! Didn’t they ever try their product themselves and test it? Later, I purchased an IBM CD-ROM unit and installed it in the PS/1. After a year or two, the CD-ROM unit failed, and had to be discarded. (Incidentally, I finally replaced OS/2 with a PAID for DOS 5.0 and Windows 3.1 combination. For fun, months later I attempted to reinstall the original OS/2 2.0 in a totally separate partition to play chess, but the unintelligent operating system decided erroneously I was, I guess, a villain who had not paid, and wiped out everything on the complete hard disk. The computer then was totally unusable, and NO operating system could be installed. I had to pay IBM $35 to even talk with the