Tuesday, June 24, 2008

New Computer

OK, so I have a new computer, a Dell XPS 630I. It came on Saturday and it's been sitting in its box all weekend because it's been too friggin' hot to do anything, so Jim pulled it out tonight. Although technically I still haven't taken possession -- it's over on Jim's desk, where he was working on it to get everything set up and transferred over, using this cool utility called PC Mover, which apparently works beautifully.

It looks like something out of a science fiction movie, seriously, LOL! It's a "gaming rig" and is pimped up with enough lights to bring in a 747 for a landing. And it comes with its own wiping cloth so you can keep the ultra-shiny plastic parts ultra-shiny. [facepalm]

Dell XPS

This is basically it, although my lights are blue instead of red.

Mind you, I wasn't really asking for a new computer. The old one works fine and I like it perfectly well. And besides, I enjoy switching computers about as much as I enjoy moving house, which is to say I'd rather have the flu or sunburn or food poisoning. But Dell recently announced that after a certain date (which I think was some time last week) they'd no longer ship their high-end systems loaded with XP. :( They're perfectly willing to sell you a piece of crap made of Lincoln Logs with XP on it, since Vista (among its many flaws and sins) is a massive system hog and simply won't run on those, but any computer which can run Vista will be shipped with Vista, period. Microsoft's been leaning on them or something. [sigh]

My old computer's about five years old and would need replacing in another year or two anyway, so Jim figured it'd be better to get one now, with XP, than to wait and be forced to go with Vista. I had to agree, so here we are. The new box has a four-year warrantee, so hopefully it'll get me through the years of darkness until Microsoft pulls its head out of its corporate ass and comes up with an OS that actually, like, sorta works. [crossed fingers]

Anyway, the new baby's still over on Jim's desk. I've been dinking with it for a bit and everything looks good, although the next question is how much of my software (read: commercial games) are going to detect the new system as soon as I fire 'em up and squawk at me, requiring reinstalls. Not much, I hope. [crossed fingers] If everything's okay, though, we'll swap it for my old one over on my desk in the next day or two, and that'll be that. Keep a set of virtual fingers crossed for me. [wry smile]

Angie

5 comments:

Charles Gramlich said...

I bought a Vista machine about 6 months ago and have generally been happy with it so far. My main problem is the new microsoft word for Vista, which can't be read by machines running XP. I have to change all my word for vista files into 97-2003 word to email them. A pain but I can generally deal with it.

Travis Erwin said...

I need a new desktop myself, but I hate Vista so I've been hesitating.

Angie said...

Charles -- well, you're the first person I've talked to who's sorta happy with it. Maybe I should start keeping score. [grin]

Travis -- if you want XP, start looking now. Seriously, Microsoft is cracking down. It's too late to get a new Dell with XP, but there might be some other vendors still shipping it for a while. Definitely don't wait, though, if you've got the money. :/

The window is closing (no pun intended) and if you miss it, you'll be stuck with either getting Vista or waiting it out till the next new OS on whatever you've got now.

Angie

Spy Scribbler said...

That is SO cool! I've been lusting after that particular computer for awhile. Although, I want laptop version.

Congratulations on the new baby computer!

Angie said...

SS -- thanks! It is pretty cool, moreso than I ever thought about getting, but it's growing on me. :D

Angie