Dell rant 1586
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Whups. I read somewhere that the 'tone' of an email (or post) is misread in about 50% of cases. Let's revisit. I'm...
I haven't convinced myself that that applies to fast paced gaming and all FPs. A FP doesn't have phosphors that need refreshing, so there is no need to...
You're right -- CNET calls them "capacious but slow". One thing I've noticed is that especially for external hard drives people are more compelled to write...
1. I agree with both of you. I picked the system, and I got what I paid for. Software aside, I knew what I was paying (or not paying) for....although it would be nice to see some more detailed specs of certain components (monitor, hard drive, etc.) before purchase.
Notan, with respect to dedicated graphics, it may be my fault for choosing, but it is Dell who decides which systems to market. My comment-question was regarding how much it *should* cost to have a PCI-E slot available for graphics. Given the cost of basic retail motherboards today, I can't imagine it would be much, particularly when spread across the thousands of PC's they sell. Given the demands of today's (and tomorrow's) applications, I think it is shameful that a vendor doesn't spend the extra $10 to provide the option of dedicated graphics. The 3100 would be a *very* capable machine with this functionality. I suppose that's why Dell hasn't added PCI-E....as a method to spur sales of the 5100 series. It's probably a smart business decision on Dell's part in terms of the bottom line...but that doesn't mean I have to like it.
2. Yes, add-remove programs does work...to an extent. You are still left with hundreds of artifacts (whether it be registry entries, shortcuts, so-called 'shared' dll's, program settings, etc.). While these remnants *shouldn't* affect operation of the computer, it can and does happen.
In addition, some of the installed programs appear on the start menu, but cannot be uninstalled via add-remove. The reverse is also true...there are some add-remove items that don't appear to have any executables-shortcuts buttociated with them. It is unclear to me which items are ok to remove and which might be essential to other software.
The option to purchase from the 'Home' or 'Business' is nice in hind-sight. The software bloat that Dell installs is not exactly well-published on their purchasing website, and the business PC website doesn't clearly indicate "no shareware installed"...in fact, it lists several pieces of software that automatically come with the system. Why would I choose a 'Business' PC?....I'm not a business! Dell doesn't make much effort to distinguish the two, anyway.
Regards, Dave