January 25, 2005

View from Silicon Valley: PC-topia

© copyright View from Silicon Valley, 2005. All rights reserved.

Rushing through cyber-space as I write this is my new notebook. Due to the wonders of 30-day return policies and my inability to accept "good enough" three are actually on the way. Two will be returned while the third will be "free" for 90 days same as cash, assuming I do not become disappointed before the return window expires.

My Dell Pentium-III, 600MHz notebook (circa 1999) was never great and the always-limited battery life is now non-existent. It's performance held up even after firewall, anti-virus, pop-up blockers and Spyware sweepers were added. Unfortunately, it's getting close to the event horizon where crashes, restarts and housekeeping take away too much productive time. Skype is the program which proverbially broke this PC's back.

I went into the computer business instead of cars, in part, because you don't fix a computer, you buy a new one. I am by no means the world's expert but, having worked for both Intel and AMD and a few DRAM lines, buying a new notebook should be easy.

IMHO, you want PentiumM (aka Centrino). P-IV, P-IVM and Athlon64 all burn too much power. Celeron is too slow. Maybe AthlonM will be better, but it's not yet on the shelf. I have no interest in an Apple.

Once you're in the market, you quickly notice PC advertising is ubiquitous in Silicon Valley. The local chains stock a wide variety of models many with marked down prices to make room for new models, which are constantly rolling out. This should be PC-shopping utopia!

Unfortunately, the fatal flaw in my battle plan was PC salesmen. (Sorry, they were all men.) The salesman tended to wander off or suddenly engage another customer after I asked about L2 cache, front-side bus vs. memory speed, if USB ports were really 2.0-compliant or about the RPM on the disk drive. (And just forget finding out if the PC uses Dothan, Alviso or whatever chipset.)

One salesman said he was recently laid off from Compaq and took the $6/hour +commission job hoping to meet contacts for a higher-paying job. Even so, he couldn't explain the battery life on a couple models. The guy at BestBuy was my favorite. We spoke and then he disappeared for a good 10 minutes. I was about to assume he was ditching me when he came back to pitch a new newly-introduced PC for which he was sure a rebate would be offered before my 30-day return window expired. I had to blink a few times to make sure I was in an electronics store and not a used-car lot. After I regained my composure and started to re-explain my needs, he raised his voice to interrupt and insist this PC was the best deal I could find. (I suppose "yelling at customers" is part of the GeekSquad curriculum.)

Taking a break from cruising the retail outlets, I checked IBM's web site. They offer a mix of pre-configured systems with same-day shipping options which was tempting. However, a ThinkPad prices out at least $200 -$300+ extra for similar features. Hello, Lenovo?

OK, fine. I'll just settle for another Dell. I shopped hard in 1999 and found Dell was consistently ~$100 cheaper, on a $2,000 package, for the same features. I expected a similar experience in 2005.

Unfortunately, my experience suggests Dell is living off their reputation. (I'm sure they call it, "leveraging the brand.") When I finally found a couple systems with the "right" features, Dell would give zero CPU options, or maybe two speeds, $300 apart. In one case, a 30GB disk was the only option. In a couple cases, I had to go into a third screen to uncover a built-in a ~$275 service plan. Dell ship dates were generally 14 days out.

The final blow for Dell was their web site. (Can you believe it???) It wouldn't load even after I reset IE6 to accept all cookies and deleted temporary internet files. I could use it for awhile after deleting temporary internet files but it would soon freeze up again. I decided to call, but then had to sit on hold "due to the popularity of current promotions."  If they're really so busy booking orders, it probably really is just me...

Initially just for research, I checked HP. As you would expect, HP does it differently than Dell. Besides working fine with cookies blocked and without deleting files, HP offers a wider variety of component options to build your own system. I ordered one system, no payments due for 12 months, but the next day decided the 14" display was not enough to offset the joy of carrying only 5.2 pounds back and forth to work. No problem, just call us after you refuse it at the door and, by the way, you have enough credit line to order another PC right away, still no interest for 12 months. The second solution solved the display (15") and DRAM (2GB/ max) at the cost of 6.8 pounds.

Either way, the HP system is ~$70 lower than the comparable Dell. HP ship dates were only seven days out. This was "close enough" and I wrote up this piece.

Solely in the interest of writing a well-researched story, I checked Gateway. It turns out Gateway can meet my target spec for ~$22 below HP . Along with the $22 savings on the PC, it's:

In tribute to their cheap-printer /expensive-ink-cartridge business model, HP wants an extra $244! (Dell is about the same but hard to document. Dell's Salesman didn't have a couple of these prices even on his system and had to put me on hold while he went to find out.)

Bottom line: figure out what want before you start shopping. Don't settle for "good enough."

Dude, I'm getting' a Gateway!

* * * * *

To Dell, or not to Dell. That is the question.

Whether 'tis more productive in the cubicle to suffer the thrashed disk and long wait-times of outrageous mediocrity or take steps against a sea of slow PC response, and by opposing work faster.

To crash, to freeze no more, and by a crash to say we end the slow response and thousand unnatural spams and pop-ups that the old PC was heir to. 'Tis a consummation devoutly to be wished.

To crash, to freeze, to die. Perchance to go off and have a life. Ay, there's the rub. For in that blue screen of death what work may be finished when we have shuffled out of the cubicle, must give us pause.