(no subject)

[vicarz]

Geeks - good deal on a new computer? $500 for what appear to be reasonable specs, but it is an acer. clicky.

Comments

[pictsy.livejournal.com]

I've heard nothing but awesome about Acer lately.

[kelowna.livejournal.com]

Windows Vista. Barf.

I avoid Windows as best I can. Cheaper but how much you waste in time dealing with the crap of windows is not worth it IMHO.

--kelowna

[vicar.livejournal.com]

100% compatible with work and I don't want to support a monopolistic venture like apple. Honestly, MS seems less "evil" to me.

[vjnightshade.livejournal.com]

All corporations are evil. Some are just more overt about it than others, but that's a whole other discussion I suppose. :P
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For 500 bux that's a pretty solid machine all around. Good ram and processor, lots of space, and I don't know how into PC games you are, but it's graphics card is pretty good too.

I say go for it man. It's a good deal.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_blackjack_/]

The price is about right, I think. It isn't amazing, but it isn't bad either. The thing is that if you went up to $750-800 you could find a lot more computer for your money.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_blackjack_/]

Vista does indeed appear to be crap, but the latest release of XP is really damn stable and well-put-together. He can always just wipe the hard drive and install XP. Or Linux. Or OSX if he wants to hack a bit.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_blackjack_/]

The differentiation between Macs and PCs has essentially evaporated since Macs became Intel-based systems running a Unix-based OS. I'm with you; I find the blind worshipful loyalty of Mac people a little creepy. PC people HATE Intel, Microsoft, Oracle, ATI, whomever. It's more like a dysfunctional democracy and less like a dictatorship.

[kelowna.livejournal.com]

Do a bit more research on Microsoft and Apple before tossing such statements out there dude. It isn't quite accurate. Your opinion is one thing... if your prefer MS, then cool - but don't bury it under your idea that its not "monopolistic" nor that Apple _is_.

--k

[kelowna.livejournal.com]

Yup. I have XP Pro on my Dell laptop as I'm futzing around with Coldfusion on it and I use it for testing purposes. I will be putting Linux on my desktop PC. As far as Vista goes - not going to try it and I try and steer as far from Windoze machines as possible, they simply aren't reliably functional if you spend a great deal of time on that there Internet. I don't want to jump through 17 firewalls and security devices and endure a billion IE popup windows to do shit and constantly be clearing out nasties from various tmp files.

--k

[vicar.livejournal.com]

I think you're right - and I lose the advantages of learning to upgrade etc if I buy my own

[vicar.livejournal.com]

I have no problems whatsoever with windows - not sure what the complaints are about. I have a computer that is over 5 years old with xp that never crashes, or hardly ever.

[ex-dasboot.livejournal.com]

Very nice machine, and most stores like Best Buy offer xp install downgrades for free on all pre-builts.

That's a very, very solid system for the price. I wouldn't worry about the Acer name unless it's a laptop.

[ex-dasboot.livejournal.com]

Apple is one of the more pro-proprietary, anti-open source companies around. Monopolistic may have been the wrong word, but Apple is far more fierce about maintaining control of how users use their products than MS is, which I believe was the point.

[vjnightshade.livejournal.com]

As far as hardware goes you're right. Unless you buy a Mac Pro, there's not much you can upgrade except for RAM and MAYBE the HDD.

Software-wise though, I would say that Apple is pretty neutral on it. There are pretty huge communities that do Mac Hacks and such, but I will concede that a bare bones OSX is less tweakable than a bare bones XP/Vista.

[ex-dasboot.livejournal.com]

How they handled 3rd party iphone apps throws their sense of software neutrality out the window.

[kelowna.livejournal.com]

Monopolistic was the wrong word. Apple's level of control ensures a consistent user experience and enables them to finely tune their technical support as compared with the required technical support of a MS/PC. I think their decision to hold back on 3rd party applications for the iPhone upon launch was a very wise one.

It was immediately debated whether or not the iPhone would be a success given its lofty layout and unique UI. Keeping it simple, to start off with, was a wise choice and minimized resulting user issues with their product that could have occured with the input of 3rd party applications which could cause conflict and failure.

The rollout of their SDK has been slow, but it IS coming. They ARE opening up. They are just opening it up on their terms.

I don't find this to be a negative. I find this to be damn smart business.

Inevitably, they will have to open their doors a bit more and make some friends out there.

As for a desktop my choice is made on what it is I need and what it is I like. Too many years with the blue screen of death made me finally try the Mac, despite the pricepoint, and after being a steady, daily user of Mac products for the last 4 years I can't imagine going back.

--kelowna

[kelowna.livejournal.com]

That is not the norm from my years of experience.

Why are you getting another computer? You have a miracle in your home!

--k

[vicar.livejournal.com]

I am thinking of merging media with teh computer, and it does bog down sometimes when running 8 applications at once. It's just the little pauses that annoy me.