New Computer Extras

Most of the crap that comes on new computers is a buch of junk. Trial programs that want you to buy the full version, programms that you would never purchase but you for some reason have them anyway. My new comp came with Microsoft Works, really... who the hell uses Works, just charge a couple extra bucks if you have to, and load it with Word, or better yet, charge less and load it with nothing.

BUT, I found something pretty cool on my new comp. As you can probably tell from my avatar (if you have seen the show), I am a HUGE Arrested Development fan. Well, my computer came loaded with all 3 seasons as the sample for some Internet TV crap that it came with. I already had the DVDs, but this is awesome, now every episode is just a click away. I usually just remove all the extras, but I think I will be holding on to this one.

This is why I prefer to just build my own. I have TOTAL control!

The OEMs are paid to put many of those trials and bloatware on there.

I enjoy building my own. It's not cheaper than a low end Dell/HP but it is better.

I have a copy of XP Pro Corp, just wipe whatever OS is on there and install something clean. Linux is good for that too. Although aside from laptops I just build my own anyways, so it is not usually an issue.

Nice that they are starting to ship with some real content though.

BarleyWater said:

or better yet, charge less and load it with nothing.

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Typically, those extras, especially the trials, are paid by the product manufacturer. Think of it as an advertisement. The presence of these packages makes the computer cheaper, not more expensive.

If You Build It They Shall Come!

I thought that Works now comes with Word included.

Also, the trialware is how you can buy a Dell, Etc. cheaper than building your own (low end of course), and not all of that is useless, but I'd certainly look for drivers and do a reload if possible. If not, spend a couple of relaxing hours "Cleaning House". You can generally get it back to basics in not much time.

If you do a reload, then please make sure you can get drivers for all of that. A name-brand will certainly have them available. Get them in advance, and store on a Mem Stick or CD for installation after OS reload.

The last couple of computers we've bought came with Ubuntu pre-loaded. None of that extra crap, no need for anti-virus and anti-spyware. Easy enough to use that two kids ages 9 and 12 can each run their own computer and play their games for windows without help, and I never have to come fix anything when they screwed it up by downloading some virus or trojan from the internet.

wait.. retail computers coming with linux?

Also, a lot of computers (I know specifically that HP does this) they come with a system restore disk and then an "application and drivers disk". After the system restore is done, you run this disk and you can choose what applications go on your machine. Sure, this takes a couple of hours, but for the price of the computer + a couple of hours of my time, it is still cheaper than building my own. I used to build my own computers years ago when desktops were still expensive, but these days it doesnt make sense. By the time you buy a processor, a motherboard, and a nice video card, you have pretty much reached the price of a new out of the box computer and you still have a bunch of stuff to buy and spend hours setting it up. And if you have to buy a new version of your operating system...fuhgetaboutit.

DeadDoc said:

wait.. retail computers coming with linux?

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http://www.dell.com/ubuntu

I bought 2 Inspiron 530Ns for the kids last Christmas, one each. Basically I think the 530Ns they are selling this year are the same except they come with Standard Intel Video instead of nVidia8300GTS like came with my kids computers. The CPU is faster this year though.

Got both of them delivered with 19in wide panel monitors for just under a thousand bucks. Ordered the first one on the phone and asked for free shipping, sales rep said sorry cannot do that. I said "Can you do that if I buy two of them ?", he said OK. Total including tax came to like $978 I think. They quoted me a delivery date two weeks out, but they arrived in 4 days.

They work great. Most of what my daughter wants to do online like neopets and webkinz and stuff like that works with Flash and the Flash for Linux is much better than it is for Windows. No problem with viruses and spyware at all. My son is more into gaming, and he plays Warcraft, StarCraft, SpiderMan, GTA, and all those kinds of games - plus if you like FPS type games Linux has a lot to choose from.

They work so good, that after a month or two my wife was even convinced to let me convert her Windows XP over to Ubuntu and now she is much happier as well. I'm happier too because I no longer have to "fix" her computer.

I have the only Windows computer left in our family, a Windows XP laptop that I'm required to use for work since I manage .NET development there is really no getting around having it since I need the usual .NET toolsets and Lotus Notes and some other things the businesses uses that are Windows only.