Yesterday, I was at my friend's house and he was asked to configure a brand new laptop for his friend's daughter. By configure, he meant taking off all the trial crap and give it some software.
It was a Compaq, 1.73GHz Celeron M (yes, that's right, the CELERY chip), with 512mb RAM.
Doing some research, I found that this version of the Celeron was the poor man's version of Yonah (Core Solo).
Now, I have gotten into minor arguments with people before that there is NO value in a Celeron chip. I still think people who buy it have been duped... and should have just given me their money. NO computer at all has about the same performance. My G3 600MHz iBook used to beat most 2.4 Celery machines and my PB 12" G4 used to PWN most Celerons at double the speed (*ahem* MHz).
Anyway, this laptop was $500. For $500, one can buy a CHEAP laptop that can barely perform, thanks to Vista. In XP, a Celeron was barely good, but in Vista..... even Windows rates the experience a 2.0.
Yes, I am now educated in a NEW scheme by MS to confuse customers even further. Windows Vista will give you a "Windows Experience Index" rating, which tells you how good your hardware is (for Vista). For years, MS + Intel played the MHz/GHz game to "educate" people. However, now people are going to be confused by this new system. MS recommends that people only buy software that has the same base score or lower. So, someone may think their machine is great because it is 1.73GHz (yes, WE know better) and will not understand why they can only buy software rated 2 or lower.
Finally, it seems that my friend may be going Mac.
1) He HATES Windows Vista. Admittedly, he really does like XP.
2) Configuring a Dell with MacBook specs, the Dell came out to be about $100 cheaper. That's it. For the extra $100, he gets the remote, the camera, a stable OS, AND the ability to install Windows with it. Yes, he will do that (even I have Windows, just for the fun of it). For an extra hundred dollars, he gets TWO OS's.
I think Vista really is the end of MS as an important company. MY 2 cents.
It was a Compaq, 1.73GHz Celeron M (yes, that's right, the CELERY chip), with 512mb RAM.
Doing some research, I found that this version of the Celeron was the poor man's version of Yonah (Core Solo).
Now, I have gotten into minor arguments with people before that there is NO value in a Celeron chip. I still think people who buy it have been duped... and should have just given me their money. NO computer at all has about the same performance. My G3 600MHz iBook used to beat most 2.4 Celery machines and my PB 12" G4 used to PWN most Celerons at double the speed (*ahem* MHz).
Anyway, this laptop was $500. For $500, one can buy a CHEAP laptop that can barely perform, thanks to Vista. In XP, a Celeron was barely good, but in Vista..... even Windows rates the experience a 2.0.
Yes, I am now educated in a NEW scheme by MS to confuse customers even further. Windows Vista will give you a "Windows Experience Index" rating, which tells you how good your hardware is (for Vista). For years, MS + Intel played the MHz/GHz game to "educate" people. However, now people are going to be confused by this new system. MS recommends that people only buy software that has the same base score or lower. So, someone may think their machine is great because it is 1.73GHz (yes, WE know better) and will not understand why they can only buy software rated 2 or lower.
Finally, it seems that my friend may be going Mac.
1) He HATES Windows Vista. Admittedly, he really does like XP.
2) Configuring a Dell with MacBook specs, the Dell came out to be about $100 cheaper. That's it. For the extra $100, he gets the remote, the camera, a stable OS, AND the ability to install Windows with it. Yes, he will do that (even I have Windows, just for the fun of it). For an extra hundred dollars, he gets TWO OS's.
I think Vista really is the end of MS as an important company. MY 2 cents.
