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Raw Bytes Computer News KPBX FM 91.1 Radio National Public Radio Network Frank Delaney Producer Broadcast on Thursday Morning 7:35 AM During Morning Edition Support Public Radio ! The Theater Of the Mind |
In computer news this week 11/29/2006 |
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Buying that Christmas computer
– The window is still open Earlier
this year I talked about the 2 new big events in the pc world, Intel’s
introduction of its new dual core processor, and Microsoft’s
introduction of its new Vista operating system. Intel and Microsoft and
sometimes bed partners, and the plan was that the 2 would be introduced
together in a nice neat product introduction, and all of the new computers
would come with the new Intel processor and the new Microsoft operating
system. That created a buying window, meaning you didn’t want to buy until the window closed and
everything had happened. A cardinal rule of the pc industry is never buy
behind the technology curve. Well, the
relationship today is a little more like the Pamela Anderson/Kid Rock thing,
not exactly smooth. Because of pressure from competitors like Advanced Micro
Devices, Intel went ahead and introduced their new processor, while Microsoft
was still blowing their horn about how great Vista is going to be, Problem
is, Vista still isn’t here and they keep pushing the date back for its
release. I had gone to Seattle a few weeks ago anticipating the Vista
kickoff, and it never happened. So what
does this mean for you wanting to buy someone that new Christmas computer, or
possibly a new one for your business so you can take that Section 179
deduction. The
caveat I will give you is this – you can get some really good deals on
computers right now – but it would be best to buy a new computer with
Vista already installed on it, instead of buying one that’s
Vista-capable. That term means
that you will have to buy it when it’s finally out, but some vendors are even offering free
upgrades. Here’s
the problem with that. Usually
you’re going to copy programs and data off your old computer, and with
today’s huge hard disks, you might be copying tens of gigabytes of data
over. Then usually people want to get rid of their old computer as they
don’t have room for it anywhere. So now
all your critical personal or business data is on your new computer, and
you’re facing an immediate upgrade to Vista. No matter
what Microsoft or anyone says, upgrading an operating system is a potentially
dangerous procedure, and you notice the first thing in the instructions is to
back up your existing data. Imagine
being in your doctors office and he comes back and says “Bad new and
good news.... mri’s show there’s might be a problem, but
don’t worry – it’s just a little brain surgery
..................” This could
be the big problem. Say you have 20 gigs of programs and data, how are you
going to back it all up ? That’s a lot of cd-rom
disks, even several dvd- disks, or a few dozen flash drives, and several
hours of creating backup media, labeling each thing carefully, and hopefully
testing that the backup data is good. And then
of course you have to install Vista yourself – not as neat as having it
pre-installed . Or you
can just buy a computer for Christmas, and then later buy and install Vista,
and maybe just cross your fingers that the installation is going to be
trouble free. And you what – it probably will be. But to
avoid that uncertainty, I’d wait and buy a computer with the new Intel
processor and Windows Vista installed on it. And remember - prices keep going
down. For Raw Bytes This is Frank Delaney (C) 2006 MTA Micro
Technology Associates http://www.mtamicro.com/kpbx.html PO Box 31522 Spokane, Wa 99223-1522 (509)624-7230 |
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