Stupid $%#% Windows computers

Just got back from FutureShop so check this out for unreal...

I've got a 3 year extended warranty. The computer shuts down because of overheating and corrupts the Windows operating system. The recovery discs I made were no good because they didn't write properly.

The warranty doesn't cover software. So if the unit overheats and the Windows operating system dies and you don't have a working backup, it's $100 to re-install the system you've already paid for.

Basically, the guy (a typical hard ass type who wants to make things difficult for you and is just aching for an argument) says that I have to leave the computer there to have the hard drive tested.
If it fails the test, they're replace the hard drive and re-install the system software under warranty.
If it passes, I have to pay $100 to re-install Windows.
(one guess on which option is going to happen)

So my take on this:

Why are companies like this?
Ain't no way I'll ever buy a Compaq computer again. Ain't no way I'll ever get an extended warranty or buy any computer from FutureShop again. I'll bad mouth FutureShop and Compaq for the next 30 years because of the hassle they put me through and the attitude I just got from the guy.. costing both companies more money than if they'd just done the decent thing up front and re-installed the system I already bought. (from the spare copy of the operating system they probably have sitting in the back room.)

Vista is good for people who have no idea how to use comptuers, I find. I have an Acer notebook with Vista on it and it is a little tedious having to approve everything but ultimately I could not be happier with it. Plus my Acer has the 2.0G AMD processor, 120GB hard drive, 1G of RAM... an Apple Notebook I saw the other day had the same features but twice the price (and the usual MacOS drawbacks). Why would anybody want a Mac?

I hear the best version of Vista is Home Premium (and I couldn't argue that for thats what I have). Everythign that works with XP is compatible with Vista (through Windows Compatibility). Like I said its a little tedious to approve everything but thats the only downfall I can really think of (heck, I tried installing some bad software once and I was getting the blue-screen of death since the program was only meant for Windows 2000... and the computer automatically put itself on system restore after three startups. How awesome is that?)

My take on it is this... I started on a Windows computer running DOS and Windows 3.1 in about 1989. Dos was clunky looking and Windows was basically nothing but an address book in black and white.
The whole computer didn't do a thing cause there were no programs available for it, so you were either stuck trying to write your own program, or spend all your time typing Dir/ to see the list of stuff on your hard drive and the textual Star Trek game that somebody had loaded on there.

1991 comes along and I see a Mac SE computer. A little box with a 9" b&w screen. I boot it up and first thing that happens is there's no DOS.
My first reaction is "well.. this is stupid, how are you supposed to use it if you can't even list your files in DOS"?.

Then I start playing around with it... and realize, holy crap. DOS is totally unnecessary because the whole desktop is like working with a real desktop.
All your files go in folders. You buy programs or get shareware and it's compact and looks really cool.
I buy Opcode Vision midi software and in less than a week I have the computer running our entire band. Doing all the midi background parts from samplers and synths... basically filling up our 4 piece band so that it sounds like we have strings, synths, sampled bass runs, talking voices... you name it... I have the midi output hooked up to my ME-5 MultiEffects unit and program it to automatically change patches during songs. Now I never have to hit another pedal again. After rehearsal we take the computer upstairs and design our brochures and advertising materials. Then use a word processor to write letters.
I'm totally amazed... I go back and look at my Windows 3.1 computer and think..'what a piece of crap compared to a Mac'.

5 years later, Microsoft starts copying everything that a Mac has been doing all along. They steal the idea for the desktop but make everything opposite so that it isn't a direct ripoff and they can't get sued. Plus they add an extra step or two to everything and make everything 'user friendly'... or in other words 'dumbed down for stupid people'.

Now Vista comes along and hey..suprise, they've copied all the stuff that OSX has been doing for years, except everything's backwards again and they have so many virus problems that you can't do anything on it without getting warning messages.

To me Macs have been a constant feeling of pride in a company that actually goes out of their way to come up with new technology and new ways of doing things (look at the new iPhone for instance)
Microsoft is a rippoff company that does nothing but copy what Macs do, makes everything more difficult and more subseptible to failure... yet they have this unbelievable hold on people who will swear up and down that Windows is better than Mac, even though the people making the comments have never actually used a Mac except to glance at it or do some basic game playing.
Most users are basic users and don't know how to use a computer. So lots of pretty games and simple word processing programs is exactly what suits those types of people. Maybe they are well versed in one particular program like Quark or whatever.

Mac users know that the Apple company are at the forefront of technology and are responsible for everything that Windows is and it makes absolutely no sense that so may people buy them.

As Mac users, we've gotten to use this operating system for almost 2 decades and know it inside out. How simple it's laid out. How much care has gone into making it work.
We look at Windows machines and just think.... crappy rip off... stupid people buying them cause they don't know any better cause all they wanna do is play games and surf the web. And now they've bought their Windows computer and spent several hundred dollars on one or two programs that they really like. Not realizing that Mac has already been there and done that 5 years ago. Also not realizing that those great Windows programs they love so much are actually included for free with OSX and integrate completely so that each program works off each other.
Buy iLife or iWork and get a new iPhone and everything works smoothly.
Get a Windows computer, buy a dozen programs to do the same thing that aren't even integrated. Then spend an extra hundred bucks on virus software.

Like seriously, I bought a Windows computer mostly out of curiosity and just to satisfy myself that I was right all along.
My 1996 Mac outperforms a brand new Compaq computer running XP. And never has a problem with virus's. Never breaks down. The operating system is smoother and more intuitive and the whole idea of how the desktop runs native is just brilliant. (no ugly 20 year old graphics that look like DOS prompts... like... 'Safe Mode?' .... it's looks like my 1989 computer all over again..

10 years of dust running a Mac 24/7 and it's still running like new.

My 2 year old windows computer is sitting down at FutureShop waiting for me to pay $100 to re-install system software I've already paid for and will break down if I don't clean it out every month.

So where's the mystery?

well what timing...ive been working on my notes since 4pm until now 4 am and my laptop starts to slow down as always.....theprocessing led suddenly went nuts and it slowed EVRY ****ing thing down so bad and it went on for ages...i wasnt surfing dodgy **** btw ...im having an exam in a few hrs time and it had to decide to stuff up (which happens very often) at such a crucial time...i lost ALLLL MY DOCUMENTS cos i had to push the restart button...one would imagine the degree of anger i am at the moment

oh and that's in addition to the recording mechanism which suddenly decided not to function anymorejust a few days ago...now i cant record any new material or go on skype or anything like that

im not liking pcs very much..at least at the moment

ffs

Sorry to resurect an old thread yet again but you're not gonna believe this.

Last night the guy from FutureShop calls and says that the computer is ready for pickup.
He says the problem was the extra 256MB worth of memory that I installed into the computer. He took it out, and now it works fine.

um... excuse me??

"yes sir" (foreign accent by the way) "the extra memory that you had installed was at fault and causing the computer to keep shutting dow"

I kind of pause a little because...
I bought that computer..brand new from FutureShop, took it home, hooked it up and didn't touch it until it went wrong. Now I'm being told that there was an extra 256MB worth of memory installed in the computer that caused the problem?
I sure as hell didn't put it in there.

I start to call him on what he just told me.
"Wait a second..you're telling me that there was an extra 256MB worth of memory installed in the computer that was causing it to shut down?"
"Yes that's right. I took it out and now it works fine"
"Well, that computer was supposed to be brand new when we bought it.
So who put the extra RAM in the machine? Cause I sure as hell didn't.
I didn't even know how to open it until a couple of days ago."

Immediately, he starts to try and weasle his way out of what he said.
Three times I asked him to restate what he'd just told me and by the third time, he was basically faining ignorance and still avoiding my question of "who put the extra 256MB worth of memory into the computer"?

By this time, it's obvious he's not going to admit the obvious. That this was a used computer, previously owned by somebody else, that had been returned for probably the exact same problem.
So I figure, ok...drop it for now.

I just go 'yeah, ok'...
"so you can pick it up tomorrow because it's all fixed now"
'yeah..ok' (it's kinda obvious from my tone of voice that nothing is ok about this)

Anyway. Tomorrow is going to be really interesting when I go to pick it up.
First thing I'm going to do is open it up and see if the extra 256MB worth of memory has been removed because I know there were two cards in there when I cleaned it out.
If the second one ain't there I'm going to ask for it back.
If he doesn't have it, I'm going to charge the store $200 to replace it.
If he does have it, I'm going to continually keep asking him who put that extra memory into the computer. I wanna know where it came from, who installed it and why it was in there.
One way or another...and I don't give a crap if I have to stay there all day...somebody is going to explain to me how a supposedly brand new computer had extra RAM card installed in it that caused the computer to fail and destroyed the operating system...and then caused me to have to pay $100 to fix it.

...and if I walk out of there and still end up still paying $100... like Bugs Bunny says
"this means war"

That was a great story, well not really, considering your loss a a few hundred bucks, but I enjoyed hearing about that. Really, I did. Keep us posted. I must know what happens! :eek:

Oh boy... I'm going to regret this, but I have 45 minutes to kill at work before I head home for the weekend.

I've stayed out of this one because I'm pretty passionate about the Mac/Wintel wars.

I'll preface any comments by saying "These comments are based on my own personal observations".

My first computer was an Apple IIe. It had no hard drive, but I had two floppy drives... bad ass. First real exposure was Dr J vs Larry Bird. I was in love. Now, 20 years later, I'm an IT manager... and have very strong feelings against Apple. BTW I have two at my house and four at work, so I'm not just spouting off.

I'll try to debunk the popular statements made either in favor of Macs or in discredit to PCs:

Macs don't get viruses: While it's true that Macs get LESS virus attacks than PCs, it's for a good reason: less than 10% of the world uses Macs. Virus writers don't waste their time writing malware for Macs because it's not going to affect enough people. I promise you, if and when Macs become more accepted, you'll see a dramatic increase in viruses/malware.

Macs don't crash as much as PCs. I'm torn on this one, truthfully. Starting with Windows NT, Windows is really a fairly stable operating system. I'll also advise that I'm referring soley to the NTFS based systems and not the 9x/Me crap. A machine running strictly Windows will run just fine. It's not until you start adding all that software to it that it starts having problems.

Here's the double edged sword: Software is readily available and made by major corporations and 12 year olds alike for Windows. Mac software has to be certified by Apple to work with it's O/S. That's why there's a LOT more options for Windows based PCs. More options means more competition which means lower prices for you, the consumer. Unfortunately ANYONE can write a program for Windows so there's always that deep breath you take before pushing "next" to install the new piece of software you got.

My wife uses a Mac Powerbook about 12 hours a day. She's a graphic designer and is in love with Apple. She constantly complains about how slow her computer is, how it's always crashing on her and how she has to take it to the Mac store in the mall. She has to do that because I refuse to work on it. She reboots at least twice daily.
I use a Dell Latitude D600 here at work, that I've had for four years now. I haven't rebooted my notebook in weeks. I use suspend to get it off and back on the docking station. How do I do it you say? It's my work notebook, I don't have any crap software installed. I really just have Microsoft made software and utilities installed and you know what? It works beautifully. I have 4 PC based machines at home and all of them have memory leaks or need to be rebooted at least twice a week. Why? Because those are the machines that I'm running all sorts of different software on. Those are the ones with Guitar Port and Video capture devices, etc.

Back to the Mac. For years, artists and musicians hung their hat on Macs because of their superior processor, the PowerPC. In benchmark tests, the Mac beat the Wintel based platform hands down for graphics based programs. You can bet it was a sad day for most of them when Apple announced that they were switching to an Intel chip. Now all they can say is "yeah, but ours is prettier and we don't get viruses." Just wait. With Vista Aero, Microsoft has made the pretty argument null and when the masses move to the Macs, so will the viruses.

This is where I get into the "opinion" part of my speech:

Macs work great for some people. Just not me. I've found that most of the Volkswagon driving, Starbuck drinking, black turtleneck and jeans wearing Mac types will tell you that you have to "think different" and "think outside the box". I'm not buying it.

I wouldn't care if Apple said "Hey, every computer has problems, we have less, give us a try" but I get real tired of the smear campaign that Apple feels it has to go on. Don't tell me why PC sucks, tell me why you're sooo much better. The last few Mac commercials haven't even said anything about the Mac, just how much PCs suck. It's like a friggin election year here in the states. Mac users will tell you "it just works". Sometimes it does, and that's great, but don't tell me it ALWAYS just works because it doesn't. Firsthand knowledge here both at work and at home. I deal with pissy users at work who can't print to the plotters and then I deal with a pissy wife at home who can't get photoshop to work like she wants.

Bottom line (because I'm ready to go home now, but I have plenty more) PCs are just as stable if not more so than Macs until you start loading them up with applications.

Well, I could go on for ever about why Macs are better but it's just a few simple things that do it for me.

Copying and pasting is much more intuitive and a pleasure to use because the command button is closer to the C and V keys than the control button or whatever it is on the left side of a PC.

With a shareware application like CopyPaste I also get up to 11 copies done at once. cmmd-c, cmnd-c-1, cmnd-c-3 etc...
Not to mention the clip recorder which saves endless hours of work.
All copies are also kept in memory even after you shutdown or restart.

There's being able to eject a disc by hitting cmnd-E (or cmnd-y on OS9)
That's a time saver because I can eject a disk and open the tray without having to lift my finger from the keyboard until I'm finished typing.

The menu bar along the top of the screen is about 1000 times more user friendly than the START menu on a pc and it turns off when I let go instead of having to hit the mouse button twice. It's also better laid out, better looking and faster than on a PC. Even the XP running at over 1ghz can't beat my old G3, even when I had only 256 megabytes of RAM.

Restarting or shuttin down is a simple key command... no need to grab the mouse.

Placing locked icons on the desktop with no picture attached let's me keep about 25 of my most used applications within easy reach.

When you put a CD in the drive, it actually shows up on the desktop where I can immediately see that's it's been accepted and can open it up to see whats on it. If it's the wrong one, I hit cmnd-y and while it's ejecting I'm already up looking through my stack of discs again.

Speakable commands is installed on every Mac. All I have to do is speak certain words and can move through a browser, open/close windows, find out the time or date.. basically almost anything you can do with a keyboard and mouse you can do by speaking commands. (an absolute necessity on powerbooks) Hell, I can even have it tell me a random ''knock-knock" jokes or play chess.

Being able to use the Trash on OS9 to sort files. You can drag stuff to the trash all day long.. until you have 500 files in there. Then if you suddenly decide that 100 of them really shouldn't be permanently erased, you highlight them, press cmnd-y and all the files return to exactly where they came from.

The operating system up until 9.2.2 was so superior to PC it was almost laughable. Control Panels and Extensions. So easy to figure out how things worked.

All the startup screen of every application, the menus including key commands, the warning messages... any part of the visual display of any program could be customized however you wanted using ResEdit.
My browser is a "Schmange" browser by MacroSchmange and if I make a mistake it says "hey a**hole..remember that stupid thing you said you'd never do again... well DUH!!!"

CopyPaste, an application I can't do without cause it lets you copy text and assign them key commands.
If I want to copy an entire page of text and use it 2 years from now, I just hiight it, assign a 2 or 3 letter code and that's it. Next time I go to use it I just type the two letters, hit enter and boom, the text is there.

My signature is easy and works in any application, and pastes the date and time automatically..plus I've got several version depending on who I'm writing to..kinda like this

Kevin Taylor
Schmange Music U.K. / Canada
schmange(@)guitartricks.com

Friday, June 15, 2007
23:12:40

... which means I can copy hundreds of links to mp3's, assign them into groups or whatever and then if I'm writing to somebody, instantly paste all the links into the document or add a pics like this

Anyways, there's way more...but I got too much work to do an I gotta finish off with what happened at FutureShop.

Originally Posted by: WeslabaKeep us posted. I must know what happens! :eek:

Ok... went to FutureShop this afternoon. Took a small handheld video camera with me just in case and the recording of the guy on the phone with me yesterday. Asked for the computer and yup, sure enough he wanted to charge me $99.
(this was a different guy than last time.)

I say, why is there a charge? The RAM caused the machine to cycle on and off which corrupted the operating system, so it's a hardware failure that's covered by warranty.
He starts to argue a little but I repeat myself.

He says ''ok... here's your computer, and your new install CD's and the old RAM.. have a nice day"
"uh..thanks'. I pick up the computer and walk out.

What a bummer!!

I was aching to get into an argument all day...I got my friggin camera with me and my recordings...I got the warranty plan in my pocket.
I've been waiting all day so I could ask for the manager and make him explain how a brand new machine I bought, mysteriously got an extra RAM card put in it.

And now nuthin.

What kinda customer satisfaction is that?
I got robbed man...
I think I'm gonna boil a lobster tonight, just so I can torture it.

Originally Posted by: Scotttaylor72Bottom line (because I'm ready to go home now, but I have plenty more) PCs are just as stable if not more so than Macs until you start loading them up with applications.

What good is a computer to me if I can't actually USE it for something?

And don't get me started on the horrid PostScript that Windows generates.

RAM going bad... it happened to my Dell laptop before. However I didn't have to put up with any tech support because Dell computers have self-diagnostic systems built into BIOS and I used the work computer (since I was at work when this happened) to look up the error code and I just pulled the faulty RAM card and it worked fine. RAM does go out if it gets too hot too often (and playing MAME on your laptop for 12 hours straight at work can do that), I'm sure any why-notebook would do the same.

This is why I like Dell computers so much. If you have access to a 2nd computer, you don't NEED their tech support.

EDIT: ANd in additions to ScottTaylor's comment, PCs get loaded up with more applications because there are far more applications to choose from, not to mention games (Gaming is the #1 reason I stick with PC)

Originally Posted by: RaskolnikovWhat good is a computer to me if I can't actually USE it for something?

Indeed. I have a computer in my living room.

http://www.cnet.com/4520-10167_1-6216524-1.html

I also have one in my guitar room for recording and effects.

I have a server in my home office for my wife's business.

I have two laptops... one has XP, one has Vista. I use one for all my downloading and "questionable" surfing, the other is what I use as a work back up. Oh yeah, I forgot I have another laptop strictly for work.

Wanna get crazy? I have one in my SUV. I use it for GPS/MP3/.AVI,.MPG, etc.

Every one of them is Windows based... and I don't have any problems with any of them.

I said it above, and I'll say it again: Macs work great for some people.

Originally Posted by: Gargy
EDIT: ANd in additions to ScottTaylor's comment, PCs get loaded up with more applications because there are far more applications to choose from, not to mention games (Gaming is the #1 reason I stick with PC)

I dunno how ya play games on a computer. 10 minutes sitting in a chair staring at a computer screen and my back is killing me.
Gotta have my Nintendo so I can lie back and relax, then flick over to a movie when I get bored.

I disagree. There might be some downfalls to Windows but overall I like it better than Mac. Windows is better for games too :D

I don't exactly have a compac. I have a $3000 pimped out computer with 6Gb of RAM. Mine works really well.

My Mac is better for internet browsing and computer programming and word0-based applications.

They are definitely both good systems, just people have their opinions. They have their ups and downs, but when it really comes down to it. No appleQ for quit... Windows are you insane! That function is a freakin necessity. :eek:

Originally Posted by: WeslabaNo appleQ for quit... Windows are you insane! That function is a freakin necessity. :eek:

Ha. The good 'ol Alt-F4....

If i could afford it i would definatly go with mac, i think they are much prettier and smoother machines, since im not exactly a power user windows allways seems a bit jerky to me + i have allways like the quality of apple products.
Windows isn't bad though it does the job quite nicely ad iv never had any mojor problems with any of my 2 windows pcs and 2 windows laptops even though 2 of them are complety useless and out of date could be used easily as midi controlers etc, i have a 9 year old pc running xp very happily with no other upgrades, was origionally on win 98 so overall i think win is ok but i would prefer a mac.

Originally Posted by: Scotttaylor72Every one of them is Windows based... and I don't have any problems with any of them.

You're also an IT professional – just like everybody else I know who "has no problems with their Windows computer." All the "average Joe's" I know routinely direct a lot of 'tractor starting words' at their PCs.

Before I enlisted I was a typesetter. I can install RAM or a hard drive but I really have no idea how to service a system (especially now that OS 9 is a thing of the past) so how is it that all three of the Macs I've owned run like champs in spite of being loaded to the gills with fonts, music, gluts of photos and videos and software ranging from InDesign CS 2 to assorted freeware and shareware aps? Why did all of my Mac workstations consistently stay up while our XP boxes routinely crashed (and when they did work, the PostScript they sent to the direct to plate machine was usually rejected by the RIP)?


Maybe it's just the work environment I was in, but it seems to me that if you want to have a stable Windows computer, you have to spend almost as much as you'd spend on a Mac anyway and a degree in computer repair would still come in handy. On the other hand, if you give a Mac anything over a gig of RAM and it will handle almost anything you throw at it.

*feebly walks in

can anyone tell me why my itunes died on me and even after reinstalling it wont work? it says some parts of it is unable to initiate...i need itunes for my ipod help please...

sigh... I'm growing tired of repeating myself.

agree to disagree.