Hit the order button..........

[DanoInTx]

..........spent a fair bit of moolah today, but unfortunately I didn'y buy anything that shoots a pellet.  I have had the same computer since 1998.  Of course I have upgraded it with everything from a motherboad to hard drives, but I was finally tired of working on the dumb thing and my kids have got it all clogged up with video games....so off it went to their bedroom, and off I went to the electronics store.  Just thought I'd mention this on here since I do some emailing with you folks quite a bit and even some snail mailing, but it will be a little while before I can get everything off of my old machine and onto this one, that includes email addresses.  Oh yea, in case anyone is wondering.....I bought a Gateway:)

[Big_Bill]

Congratulations Dano,

Now your in the 21st. Century, I think

I had to do the same thing last year, only I can't keep my daughter off my new computer. I keep telling her it's off limits, but who listens to me.

Wish you the best of luck with her, and maybe you can teach her to shoot pellets ? Let me know...

Bill

[Gene_SC]

I would trust you with my life on any thing about air guns Dano, but not on computer brands to buy or use...lol

Gene

[DanoInTx]

Gene_SC - 2/17/2008  12:31 AM

I would trust you with my life on any thing about air guns Dano, but not on computer brands to buy or use...lol

Gene

It's a Gateway, aren't all things "Gateway" a good thing?

Side note, also picked up a 19" Samsung Flat Panel monitor....you wouldn't believe it, but I was still using my 10 year old 17" CRT!  When I was doing web development I mostly worked on my laptop.  When the laptop took a dump year before last I started using this antique desktop PC just to check mail and surf the web.  Since my web development days are over I never bothered getting a better computer until today.  Never owned a Gateway to be honest, don't even know a whole lot about them, but the price was right and the features were also....it's been on for 3 hours and is still working, can't be too bad:)

I bought my first PC in '98 too.  Within a few months I was changing out the mobo and overclocking the CPU.  Somewhere in the early 2000's I built two new PCs, one for me and one for my  son.  I totally understand about PCs getting clogged up with games and other apps kids want to use, that's why I built him his own and now why we all have our own PC, 6 or 7 all total.  As for brands, if I were to buy a new PC and was looking for one of the big name units at a cheaper price, I'd have to say Dell.  If money was no object, Alienware.  Needless to say I'm sure your new PC is going to be like the difference between a Red Rider and a RWS 48.  I'm sure you're going to love it's speed but probably hate Windows Vista if you had to buy it.

[DanoInTx]

Didn't get a choice between Vista and XP, if I had I would have gotten XP.  I actually get a discount through Dell from my employer, but when my wife said "we need a new computer" and then followed up with "Why don't you go to Fry's today and buy a new computer" I just took the money and ran with it.  I think I did pretty good all in all for under $900 monitor included.  I actually would have built my own, I am capable, just tired of messing with these things and would rather call tech support than bust out with a screwdriver.  Some people really enjoy tweaking and working on these things, I was a programmer, not a hardware guy, I just want a stable machine.  So next week I am hoping my wife will say "We need a new airgun" and follow up with "Why don't you go buy a new aiurgun today"....haha, fat chance!!!  I also bought a small little computer desk to go with the new machine, it's just the right size to fit between my entertainment center and my gun rack, with my recliner just behind for when I need rest....who could ask for anything more?

[DanoInTx]

Thanks Bill, yes I have moved into the 21st century.  It's amazing to me how much better this new machine works.  I guess I never noticed how slow I was moving because I had nothing to compare it to.  At work I use a fairly new machine, but IT has it so bogged down with software that it's not really the fastest machine in the world.  Besides that, at work I am mostly using SAP database software, checking emails and reading Catia models and drawings....most of that stuff is fairly dependant on how fast the network is running and not how fast my machine can open it up...most of my files are on a server "somewhere".  Also didn't realise how much I was missing in pictures until I got this new monitor, it's like I don't even need my glasses anymore!

[daved]

I gave up building my own too, it used to be cheaper but not anymore.  Bought a Dell laptop several years ago, then when my wifes desktop finally died, got her a Dell desktop, not top of the line but higher end at the time.  Somewhere along the line, we swapped, the desktop is now mine.  Still a good machine, but both our systems are starting to slow down, I think it's just the accumulation of electronic debris that seems to build up over time, no matter how meticulous you are with your housekeeping.  The only answer I've found is to wipe the drive and start all over, the downside is that no matter how good my back ups are, I always miss something.  But the dreaded "format c:" is hovering just around the corner, this is really starting to bug me.

I'll be interested to see what you think of Vista, I haven't heard anything good about it yet.  I'm still running XP and probably will until I have to upgrade.  Just downloaded a trial version of MS Office 2007, mostly because my wife insists on using Outlook for email, ours is acting up, and it's old enough (2002) that the support is pretty slim.  Of course, she hasn't deleted an email in 10 years, think that might have something to do with it :-)?  I spent most of the day yesterday fighting with it, finally got it to open again, but is molasses in January slow.  Man, I hate that program!  Any Outlook gurus out there, any time I have to deal with this costs me a whole day and a sharp rise in blood pressure!  Speaking of which, time to go mess with it some more.  Later.

Dave

[DanoInTx]

Hehe, I really like Outlook, I use it at work also and it's really slick on a network like that.  I can track appointments, meetings, where, who, when, how info, I really like it.  For home use Outlook isn't nearly as usefull, although that is what I had on my previous machine, Office XP.  Vista still to me just feels like an ugly new GUI on top of the same old Windows, I would be happier with a new Windows if they kept the GUI the same and just updated the engine, I hate looking for things everytime I upgrade.  My laptop was running XP, and I had gotten really used to it.  My former desktop that I am replacing runs Win2K, and yes, when you figure that came out in 1999 I had very little support available for it anymore.  Win2K imho was one of the best OS's MS ever came out with, rock solid for the most part and a software developers dream...I wrote tons of code on that machine!

I too would like to know your take on Vista once you've grown accustom to it and learned of it's pros & cons.  Despite my talk of building PCs I understand I no longer can build one as cheap as I can buy from Dell.  But even those come with issues such as cheaper components. All in all, I too was tired of worrying with new hardware configs and keeping abreast of how to build using the new technologies, so Xmas '06 I purchased two new mid-priced Dells.  One for the wife and one we use for an entertainment machine, mostly karaoke.  Back to Vista... these Dells I purchased came with a free upgrade option for Vista.  I never upgraded and from the horror stories I hear, it's a good thing I didn't.  Last time I heard, a lot of the software still won't jive with Vista and you can forget reading .pdf files I'm told.  Again, I'd love to know your take.

PS... GOOD LUCK WITH THAT, "HONEY, I THINK WE NEED A NEW AIR RIFLE.  JUST RUN WITH THE MONEY AND GET THE BEST AVAILABLE NOW!"  LOL

A guy can dream.... can't he?