Good and Bad Computers

[Mookie]

Where I work, we consistantly buy Dell. We do data entry all day long and they hold up really well.

Jen

[wallywalkabout]

I have a Dell. I'd get another "in a heart beat". I DO NOT have a Dell monitor. I have a Princeton 17", EO17, that is about 10 years old and still working great. I have not heard many good things about the Dell monitors. I had two a good experiences ordering computers over the internet. The 1st one was a Quantex. Best computer and company around. They went broke suppling top notch equipment at a very fair price.

[croteaudd]

What do good and bad computers have to do with railroading? Simply put, YOUR ability to communicate at this forum site. I detest companies that chronically sell junk, but admire those that always sell outstanding products. Trains.com and Kalmbach Publishing are reputable, trustworthy outfits. However, if they were not, but unscrupulous, would you look down on forum contributors that attempted to warn you of it because warnings were not “railroad” subjects? I believe chronically malfunctioning computers hinder communication at this forum. I also believe, while off subject per se, forum users could find helpful any information that assists them in their ability to use this forum website. So, since I am in the market for a new computer, WHO produces good, reliable, and trouble free computers? Does such a thing exist?

[Modelcar]

...I believe computers relate to almost anything now.

QM

[JoeKoh]

i guess if the sd 90 mac blows a sensor the computer goes bad and your stuck .
stay safe
joe

[Anonymous]

please tell me how that all relates to an EMD SD90MAC

kev.

[JoeKoh]

this is about trains please.
stay safe
joe

[croteaudd]

Since computers are “all-important” to us Forum users, how about comparing notes on computers, and share our EXPERIENCES for the benefit of all. Do you have any good brand recommendations, or firsthand words of wisdom?

Here are my sad stories for your evaluation:

Hewlett Packard (HP) XE743 (1999): Came with Windows 98. Both troublesome. Didn’t they ever try their products themselves and test them? A classic finger pointing case: HP says Microsoft is at fault, and Microsoft says HP is the problem. The unit came with an HP printer, which broke down two years later and had to be replaced. The monitor failed recently. With a previous computer, I went through two troublesome HP printers. In my book, ALL HP produce offerings are now avoided, and by merger association, Compaq’s too. [Currently, a low cost Canon – NOT Compaq -- S750 printer is used, and it has three separate inexpensive color cartridges (so running out of one color doesn’t cause a whole expensive single tri-color cartridge to be thrown away), and works fine and without trouble.]

IBM PS/1 2155 (1993): Came with OS/2 version 2.0, and ran DOS and Windows applications. Troublesome. Under warrantee, IBM sent OS/2 version 2.1, but I ended up buying its corrective facility for $40 that corrected 500 errors. 500? Yes. Amazing! Didn’t they ever try their product themselves and test it? Later, I purchased an IBM CD-ROM unit and installed it in the PS/1. After a year or two, the CD-ROM unit failed, and had to be discarded. (Incidentally, I finally replaced OS/2 with a PAID for DOS 5.0 and Windows 3.1 combination. For fun, months later I attempted to reinstall the original OS/2 2.0 in a totally separate partition to play chess, but the unintelligent operating system decided erroneously I was, I guess, a villain who had not paid, and wiped out everything on the complete hard disk. The computer then was totally unusable, and NO operating system could be installed. I had to pay IBM $35 to even talk with them for technical assistance in getting the computer even functional again.) In my book, all IBM products are now avoided like the plague.