Recently in PCs Category

Well, it's been a rather disappointing couple of weeks in Vistaland, as it seems one disappointment (read "performance issue") after another rears it's ugly head.

I've been trolling the message boards to get a sense of Vista-related problems, and it seems most fall into the following categories:

1. Devices (printers, scanners, etc.) that won't work due to lack of updated drivers.

2. Applications that don't run because they haven't been upgraded (for example, I tried to run Second  Life, to no avail -- as of now, it won't run on Vista).

3. Big performance hits to PCs that have been upgraded from XP to Vista. Apparently installing Vista on top of XP produces extra processes or some such situation that causes new core 2 systems to crawl. It seems that this isn't a problem on virgin Vista systems. If I had  purchased an XP-based screamer, that ran  laps around older PCs, and then started behaving like an ancient 486 system after installing Vista, I'd probably be livid.
 
4. Trouble with all the application nesting -- many tools and apps that were right out in the open in XP are buried behind multiple screens in Vista. The reorg of the interface takes getting used to, to say the least. At least there's a way to set the interface to trusty XP mode -- but since the major guts of the upgrade was supposed to be in the GUI, that's definitely taking several steps back.

And here's a new one for the books  -- as I haven't seen it described anywhere yet. Internet Explorer has been crashing repeatedly and the problem has gotten so bad I now defer all browsing to Firefox, which works like a charm. Not only is Firefox noticeably faster than IE,  but it  hasn't crashed once (as opposed to dozens and dozens of times for IE).

At some point soon, when I have an afternoon to kill, I'm going to be calling MSoft to find out what might be the problem here, and how to fix it, but this situation is rather disconcerting, to say the least.

Due to all the issues above, there are numerous reports of people being forced to buy a Vista system, then after getting it into their hands proceed to wipe the OS off the hard drive and install XP instead. Microsoft should be ashamed and taken to task for releasing such a half-baked product into the marketplace.

A number of defenders have placed blame on device manufacturers and third-party app vendors for not working hard enough to make their products Vista-ready, but I believe that MS is equally to blame, if not more. In fact, there have been reports of MS withholding necessary code and support to developers as they were trying to update their products.

I smell a revolt brewing, as the frustration level of new Vista users builds to a breaking point.

My recommendation, if you have a fairly new PC or laptop that is up to date with the necessary XP  patches, DO NOT UPGRADE TO VISTA. If you're in the market for a new system, decide very carefully if you're willing to buy a system that probably won't run everything you need it to, and you're ok being a guinea pig for Vista debugging.

Much better to wait out the necessary patches and updates that hopefully will be forthcoming over the next year.

In dire need of a new laptop, I decided to make the plunge into Vistaland. I shopped around for "the best value for the buck" deal and after  much debate -- and after discovering a 20% off coupon on Dealcatcher.com -- I ordered a new Dell Inspiron E1505.

Actually, when I went looking for a new system, I was going to stick with Windows XP, since it's working for me and I saw no compelling reason to change. But when I placed the order for the E1505 about a week ago, Dell gave me a choice of Vista Premium or Vista Business -- no sign of XP on the configuration screen. I suppose if you call in your order and insist on XP, Dell might cave in. But on their Web site, XP has simply disappeared.

Being adventurous, I decided what the heck and went with the flow. I paid a tad over $1120 for a system with the following main components (a package that packs quite a big bang for the bucks in my opinion):

-- Core 2 Duo T5200 (2MB cache/1.6GHz/533MHz FSB)
-- 15.4 WXGA screen with Trulife (glossy finish) at 1280 x 800
-- 2 GB DDR2 533MHz RAM
-- 256MB ATI Radeob X1400
-- 120GB 5400RPM hard drive
-- 8X DVD+/-RW Optical Drive
-- Integrated 802.11 b/g card
-- 85 WHr 9-cell battery
-- Integrated Bluetooth module
-- 1 Year At Home Warranty

The laptop arrived yesterday, and I forged ahead with a little bit of trepidation mixed in with the excitement of setting up a virgin PC. Things went smoothly -- no glitches or hiccups during the initial setup, and the subtle Vista enhancements were compelling (more on these to come in Part 2 of my Vista Experience).

As soon as I connected to my WiFi network, a process that seems much improved over XP Media Center edition -- and gleefully noting no issues connecting to my security-laden router sporting a hidden SSID -- a big problem with the Zero Configuration utility in Media Center -- Vista wanted to perform a few updates.

That's when a little bit of fun started. Apparently, one of the patches caused one of the Sonic Solutions DLA drivers (an audio driver) in the system to suddenly become incompatible, and after a bit of research I discovered hundreds of posts about this issue. Apparently, the Vista updates render the driver unusable, and as of this post there is no update available from the device manufacturer. The only "fix" is to remove the Vista patch or live with this relatively minor issue until Sonic comes out with new code.

What I find interesting is that there are already driver incompatibility issues, and this on a brand new, virgin system! In fact, I'm starting to hear about numerous other driver issues as it seems that Microsoft rushed Vista to market before hardware vendors had a chance to catch up. I wonder how many other new Vista users are experiencing similar issues.

Otherwise, I must say I'm impressed overall by the performance of the new machine. I haven't noticed any perceptible Vista "lag" due to the OS overhead, and I'm having fun discovering all of the new features. I'll report on my favorites in the next installment of My Vista Experience. Stay tuned!

Windows Registry optimizer software seems to be in growing demand today. Junk Windows registry entries and a host of other registry errors appear to plague every Wintel-based PC --even brand new ones -- and if you clean them up, your machine will supposedly run faster, smoother, and more reliably -- i.e, with fewer crashes. (Yeh, I've already heard the  "Get a Mac, dummy" refrain -- multiple times)

Rich Tehrani recently wrote about his experience with Registry Mechanic, and how it helped speed up a crawling laptop. I've also given Registry Mechanic a try, and really like it's elegant interface and appreciate the rapid speed of the scan it performs. One relatively minor issue with the demo version of the program is that although it'll reveal all kinds of errors, it will only repair a subset of them (how they determine which ones to repair and which to leave alone is a mystery to me.) Anyway, you need to register and payup to be able to clean all the problems the program finds.

I used Registry Mechanic on a couple of old Windows 98 machines (I keep some old but functioning machines around to use as servers and special purpose units -- and to serve as emergency backups just in case.) The software found 896 errors on one desktop, and 643 on an old laptop -- and cleaned up about a third of what it found.

The laptop did behave a bit better afterwards -- a bit faster on bootup and a little more responsive with Web surfing -- but only slightly. The desktop fared worse: it now keeps running the Windows Registry Rebuild application before it'll boot -- adding a good ten minutes to its boot up time. Once it completes the rebuild, it loads fine and runs a bit better. But still, it's now basically junk if I can't find a way to fix this new problem -- aside from restoring the old, uncleaned registry file.

On the Windows XP machines I've tried it on, I couldn't really detect any noticeable improvements, although running it didn't create any new problems. Bottom line -- Registry Optimizer software can deliver some benefits, but it can also cause new problems, so before you jump in and start using them, first spend a little time learning how they work and how to distinguish between the different types of errors the programs find -- there may be some fixes you should in fact pass on.

BTW, there's another registry  optimizer product I was told about called WinASO that apparently performs similar scanning and removal functions as Registry Mechanic, but also includes a more comprehensive "System Mechanic" feature set that helps you delete temp files, clean caches, and perform housekeeping chores all from a single check-box screen. The program looks a little rough around the edges -- there are a bunch of typos throughout probably due to an "English as a Second Language" programming staff -- but the product still seems solid and capable.

Also, it's worth checking out as an alternative to Registry Mechanic since the eval copy will remove everything it finds (although in 10-error increments.) In order to have the program clean everything in one fell swoop, you have to register your copy.)

In an effort to compete with Wal-Mart and other retailers, electronics retailer Circuit City has announced that it is offering a $99 Compaq laptop for the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday. According to a copy of the Circuit City flyer posted on the bargain-hunting site Black Friday 2006, Circuit City is selling a Compaq notebook for $299 after instant and mail-in rebates, or $99 with rebates and a 12-month subscription to Vonage.

The laptop comes with an Intel Celeron processor, 512MB of memory, a 15.4-inch screen and a 60GB hard drive.

OK, I know what you're thinking: Doesn't Marc have anything better to do on a Saturday evening than post a blog entry? Well, yes...and no...

You see, I just bought a new PC today, and I felt I just had to share my experience b/4 details started to fade -- and to illustrate why I believe Dell is still a fearsome competitor and should not by any means be counted out of the game despite all the hubbub regarding exploding batteries, spotty customer service, and accounting irregularities.

I was initially looking for a mainstream system that had to incorporate the lastest technology like a Core 2 Duo processor, fast memory, 250 Gb hard drive and a number of other bells and whistles, like a flat panel monitor and a double-layer DVD burner. I didn't need the fastest screamer game system available -- just something relatively fast and capable of supporting Vista down the road. The system will be used mostly for business, but also sometimes for entertainment and various multimedia endeavors. And if it didn't have all the options I wanted out of the box, the system needed to be relatively expandable so I could perform upgrades.

I also wanted a real bargain. So I looked at the much touted Velocity Micro Vector GX Campus Edition, as well as HP. I also first counted Dell out since the XPS systems I read about seemed a bit too pricey. Anyway, I've been intrigued by Velocity Micro, and the system certainly belongs in  the Core 2 Duo bargain category with specs that looked like they fit the bill. So I placed an order.

Here's the specific configuration and price I decided on:

Vector™ GX Campus Edition
Price: 1219.00

• Case: GX Black - Velocity Micro Classic Case - Pure Aluminum, matching aluminum drive covers, 2 x 120mm fans
• Power Supply: 500 Watt Velocity Micro™ Power Supply with Dual Blue Lighted Fans
• Motherboard: Genuine Intel® 965X Chipset Motherboard with DDR2, PCI Express
• Processor: Intel® Core™ 2 Duo processor E6300, dual 1.86GHz cores
• CPU Cooling: Intel® Certified Oversized Heatsink/Fan with Arctic Silver™ 5 Thermal Compound, Thermal Controlled Variable Speed Fan
• DDR2 Memory: 1024MB Corsair™ DDR2 PC5300 DDR667 (1x1024)
• PCX Video: 256MB eVGA™ NVIDIA® GeForce™ 7600 GS, Dual Heads 
• Monitor: 17" LCD Display, 1280 x 1024 resolution - Black (+$100)
• Audio Creative Labs SoundBlaster® Audigy™ 4, high performance 7.1 channel sound (+$69)
• Speakers: Creative Labs SBS380 2.1 Channel Stereo Speaker System with Compact Subwoofer - Black
• Hard Drive: 250GB Western Digital WD2500JD 7200rpm SATA/150, 8MB Cache
• Optical Drive 1: 16x Lite On® DVD+/-RW/CD-RW Dual Layer, Black Bezel
• Optical Drive 2: 16x/48x Lite On® DVD-ROM, Black Bezel
• Floppy Drive & Media Reader: 8-in-1 Floppy Drive & Media Reader Combo, Black Bezel (+$25.00)
• Network Adapter:Integrated 10/100/1000MBps Gigabit Ethernet Network Adapter
• Network Adapter 2 or WiFi Adapter: NetGear® WG311 802.11 B+G WiFi Wireless Adapter with antenna, 11MBps/54MBps (+$59.00)
• Modem: None
• FireWire: 2 Integrated IEEE 1394 FireWire Ports, 1 front & 1 rear
• USB 2.0 Ports: 8 USB 2.0 Ports, 2 front & 6 rear
• Operating System: Microsoft® Windows® XP Home w/Service Pack 2, complete with original CD
• Productivity Software: None
• Software Bundle Nero Digital Creation Suite - Capture, Edit, and Author Video with immersive Dolby 5.1 Surround, plus Photo Editing Suite
• Security Software McAfee® VirusScan® 2006 Antivirus - Pre-installed, with full 12 month subscription
• Keyboard: Velocity Micro™ Deluxe Multimedia & Internet Keyboard with volume control, custom made by Creative Labs - Black
• Mouse: Genuine Microsoft® USB Optical Wheel Mouse - Black
• Warranty: 1 Yr Standard Parts & Labor Ltd Warranty, 1 Yr Regular Business Hours Support, and Depot Repair Service
• Shipping: $69

As you can see, the system is a good one -- with lots of great features -- at a great price.

After the order was placed, I then hit the Dell site out of curiousity.

And low and behold, the midrange Dell XPS 410 system hit me in the face: Here's the configuration I priced out:

Dell XPS 410
$1,365

Intel ® Core™2 Duo Processor E6600 (2.4GHz, 1066 FSB)
Windows® XP Media Center 2005 Edition with re-installation CD $1,260.00 1 $1,260.00
Memory: 1GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz - 2 DIMMs
Keyboard: Dell USB Keyboard
Monitor: 19 inch Ultrasharp™ 1907FP Digital Flat Panel
Video Card: 256MB nVidia Geforce 7300LE TurboCache
Hard Drive: 250GB Serial ATA 3Gb/s Hard Drive (7200RPM) w/DataBurst Cache™
Floppy Drive and Media Reader: 13 in 1 Media Card Reader
Mouse: Dell Optical USB Mouse
Modem: 56K PCI Data Fax Modem
USB 2.0 Ports: 10
Adobe Software Adobe® Acrobat® Reader 7.0
CD or DVD Drive Dual Drives: 48x Combo + 16x DVD+/-RW w/ dbl layer write capable
Sound Cards: Integrated 7.1 Channel Audio
Speakers: No speakers
Microsoft Works 8
Security Software PC-cillin Internet Security with AntiVirus and Spyware removal 15-months
Warranty and Service: 1Yr Ltd Warranty, 1Yr At-Home Service, and 1Yr HW Warranty Support
Dell Digital Entertainment Starter pack- Basic and trial products from Corel and Yahoo
Shipping: Free
Sales Tax: $105.55

For the additional $146, I got a much more powerful processor -- the E6600 vs the E6300, an award-winning digital 19" LCD monitor, XP Media Center, a modem (not bad to have as a little insurance in case broadband goes down), and a better warranty.  The system is much more powerful, and future proof.

And just to be sure I was doing the right thing, and to give Velocity Micro a second chance, I priced a similar configuration as Dell's, but it came in over $500 more.

Granted, I gave up speakers, the wireless adapter, enhanced keyboard, Creative Sound Card, floppy drive and a couple of Firewire ports. But the speakers and adapter I can "borrow" from an older system, I'll probably replace the keyboard and mouse with a Logitech MX 3000 combo, and Firewire (when and if I need it) is a $20 board. Who uses a floppy drive any more? And since the XPS 410 has built-in 7.1 sound, I didn't feel I needed to spring for a separate soundcard.

And to top it off, I also got no interest for 18 months on the system through Dell's Preferred Account offer -- a great deal if you're confident you can pay the system off in that timeframe.

So, I called Velocity Micro to cancel my order with them -- and was candid with the agent about why I was backing out. His response: "Remember: The one big difference between Dell and us is that we 'build' PCs and Dell 'manufactures' them."

Hmmmm...

The first forays by PC makers into the Core 2 Duo desktop market has mostly consisted of turbo-charged, latest component laden-gaming rigs -- with high price points to match.

However, a few forward-thinking vendors, namely Velocity Micro and HP (and to a lesser extent Dell) have announced new Core 2 Duo Desktops that sell for true budget-PC prices -- and pack impressive power and speed. Velocity Micro's Core 2 Duo-based Vector GX Campus Edition is a true industry pacesetter and currently the best bang for the buck system on the market.

My sense is that in the next couple of months, the budget and mainstream end of the PC market is going to be completely redefined by an onslaught of powerful new Core 2 Duo-equipped models -- power that will be undoubtedly become a requirement in order to handle Microsoft's upcoming Vista operating system and all the countless new apps that will run under it.

In a scant six months or so, it's going to get tough for vendors trying to unload older generation technology (I expect fire-sale pricing on older, Pentium-based systems towards the end of the Q1 2007)

It seems that as soon as I posted my "first take"on the eMachines T6532 PC, the company refreshed their product line and introduced a new "high-end" model, the T6536, and in keeping with their big bang value for the bucks strategy, this replacement is even a better value.

The main difference with the T6536 is the processor has been upgraded to the AMD Athlon 3800+ (from the T6532's 3500+ processor), and the hard drive has been upgraded to 250 GB (from the T6532's 200 GB drive). Looks like all the other components are the same, and the price is even $10 lower at $539 (after a $50 mail-in rebate.)

Lately, I've been on the hunt for a cheap, yet meaty, workhorse PC that could serve as a replacement for a couple of aging PCs at home and work -- a PC that has the chops to do everyday multitasking, can double as a media PC, and has some upgrade options in case I wanted to tinker (like add more graphics umph, etc.). I'm willing to reuse  monitors, possibly speakers and keyboards, so this would also keep the price down.

My research took me to all the likely suspects: Dell, Gateway, HP, etc., and to many other second tier vendors: then I stumbled on eMachines -- the in-store brand that CompuUSA, Circuit City and Best Buy stocks (and, fyi, that is also owned by Gateway), and I came away very impressed by the package:

The T6532 is currently on sale for $549 at CompUSA (with a $50 rebate), and includes what might be the best value out there for the money (if you know of a better deal, please -- I'm all ears!) Notable features include AMD Athlon 64 3500+processor, 1 Gb SDRAM, 200 Gb 7200 RPM HD, double Layer DVD+/-RW Drive, Windows XP Media Edition, nVidia® GeForce® 6100 graphics, and 9-in-1 Digital Media Card Reader (no floppy drive), and 5 USB 2.0 ports. For upgrades, there a freePCI Express x16 slot open for a graphics card, and 2 DIMM slots open for more memory.

Here are the PC's full specs:

Processor Brand: AMD
Processor Class: Athlon 64
Processor Number: 3500+
Processor Speed: 2.2 GHz
Bus Speed: 2.0 GHz
L2 Cache Size: 512 KB
Memory Speed: PC-3200 (400MHz)
Memory Technology: DDR-SDRAM
Installed Memory: 1 GB
Maximum Memory: 4 GB
Memory Slots Total: 4
Memory Slots Available: 2
Hard Drive Capacity: 200 GB
Drive Controllers: IDE (Ultra ATA/DMA)
Rotational Speed: 7200 RPM
Optical Drives: Double Layer DVD+/-RW Drive:
Create a Double Layer DVD+R at a maximum 4X Write speed
Create a DVD-R at a maximum 16X Write speed or a maximum 6X Rewrite speed
Create a DVD+R at a maximum 16X Write speed or a maximum 8X Rewrite speed
Play a DVD at a maximum 16X Read speed
Create a CD-Rom at a maximum 40X Write speed
Create a CD-RW at a maximum 24X Rewrite speed
Play a CD-Rom at a maximum 40X Read speed

Card Slots: 1 x CompactFlash Card
1 x MicroDrive
1 x Memory Stick
1 x Memory Stick Pro
1 x SmartMedia Card
1 x Secure Digital(SD)/MMC
1 x xD-Picture Card
Sound Support: 6 Channel Premium Audio
Video Chipset Brand: NVIDIA
Video Chipset: GeForce 6100
Video Bus: PCI Express x16
Video Integration: Motherboard
Shared Video RAM (Max): 128 MB
Monitor Included: No
Port Connectors: 5 x USB 2.0 (1 in Digital Media Reader, 4 in back)
1 x VGA External Connector
1 x Parallel
2 x PS/2 (Keyboard and Mouse)
1 x RJ-11 Modem
1 x RJ-45 Ethernet LAN
5 x Audio (2 in front, 3 in back)

PCI Slots: 2
PCI Express x1 Slots: 1
PCI Express x16 Slots: 1
Slots Notes: 1 PCI, 1 PCI Express x16 and 1 PCI Express x1 open

Additional Drives: DL DVD+/-RW
Expansion Bays: 4 x 3.5-inch and 2 x 5.25-inch total
2 x 3.5-inch and 1 x 5.25-inch available

Network Support: Ethernet (10/100 Mbps)
Modem Speed: 56 Kbps
Input Devices: Keyboard
2 Button Wheel Mouse
Installed Operating System: Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005
Microsoft Vista Capable: Yes
Included Software: Productivity Software:
Microsoft® Works 8.5
Microsoft® Money 2006
Microsoft® Encarta Online
Adobe® Acrobat® Reader 7
Digital Media Software:
CyberLink® PowerDVD™ (DVD Play)
CyberLink® Power2Go™ (DVD Burn)
Microsoft® Windows Media Player 10
RealNetworks RealPlayer®
Quicktime
eMachines Internet Security Bundle:
McAfee® Internet Security Suite™ (90-day complimentary subscription)
eMachines BigFix® –identifies and resolves problems that affect the system before they occur

In the Box: Hardware Items:
Premium Multimedia Keyboard
PS/2 2-Button Wheel Mouse
Amplified Stereo Speakers
Power Cord
Modem Cable
Operating System Recovery CD/DVD
Documentation:
Setup Poster
Getting Started Guide
Non-Microsoft EULA
Registration / Limited Warranty Card
COA Label for Microsoft® Installed Software
Online Documentation:
User’s Guide
eMachines Limited Warranty and EULA

Chassis Style: Tower (Mini)
Height: 14.3 in
Width: 7.3 in
Depth: 16.0 in
Weight: 22.5 lbs
Limited Warranty: 1 Year (12 Months)