Business Software Responses

[ETomlinCF3@AOL.COM]

With all due respect Jory, The Pianotech mailing list is a forum for
professional piano tehnicians.  As stated by others... there are other lists
for the piano enthusiast.

I have not been posting much for three to four months now and have watched
very well meaning piano lovers come on the list and start threads that
distract and take away from the true intent of the list.  Or answer questions
intended for technicians.  I know all mean well but I would like to come on
the list now and again and not feel I am adding to the already full list of
half techs half who knows what.  I have enjoyed the list in the past and hope
to not have this continue.

Ed Tomlinson


<< Dave, I think you're comparing the Dell consumer line to the Gateway
professional line.  If you're buying a 400 or 450 MHz machine, both Gateway
and Dell will have what you're calling non-integrated solutions.
 
 About a year ago I purchased a new Dell D300 for $3500 (128 Meg RAM, 8.4
Gbyte hard disk, Internal ZIP drive, graphics acceleration, etc).  This same
system is now on sale at Dell for $1995.  With the high-technology industry in
decline, Christmas coming, recent price reductions announced by Intel, it is
an excellent time to purchase a new computer if you happen to need one.  This
past week Intel announced a price reduction on some PII chips from $270 to
$190.  Gateway and Dell, due to their "build-to-order" philosophy will be the
first to be able to take advantage of this price reduction.
 
 One thing I would warn everybody about.  Gateway systems, and their monitors
in particular are not as reliable as Dell, Compaq, HP, etc.  My employer
purchases Gateway systems.  I've been through no less than 4 monitors in the
past 5 years.  One went up in flames!  I would avoid Gateway Crystal Scan
monitors with a vengeance.  The Vivitron (Trinitron) Gateway monitors are
better, but not great.  I would also avoid Gateway machines with the Western
Digital disk drives.  In the electrical engineering department we had 6 out of
17 new systems crash with hard disk failures.  Admittedly, engineering CAD
programs can be hard on the disk drive, but this is ridiculous.  See
Consumer's Report latest computer ratings before you buy.  Their ratings
mirror my experience closely.
 
 I could have got a Gateway system through my employer and they would have
given me $500 to offset the cost.  I bought a Dell instead, because of the
problems I've seen with the Gateway machines.  Another thing I dislike about
Gateway's is the Soundscape sound card.  Few of my video games work well with
this card, and my MIDI keyboard doesn't like it much either.  My Dell system
came with a Soundblaster sound card.  If you're using the soundcard for
something other than beeps, and .WAV files, I suggest you consider an upgrade
from the Soundscape card.
 
 I have no money invested in either company.  I work in the industry.  I
personally bought a Dell and have been happy.  
 
 The best "tip" I can give new computer buyer's is to buy more RAM than you
think you'll need.  RAM is cheap and can partially offset slowness in the
processor and disk drive.  If there's enough space to keep information in RAM
then the computer doesn't have to go and get it off the disk drive.  Since
most programs a piano technicians uses are not computationally intensive, the
biggest time savings comes from not having to go to disk for new information.
More memory also allows you to leave a bunch of programs up and running all
the time so you can quickly switch between email, the web, word processing,
and the football game.  I suggest 64 Mbytes as a minimum for a new system.  I
also believe the new Universal Serial Bus (USB) is a must on a system to
intend to keep for 2-5 years.  In a few years the serial port, mouse port,
parallel port, and such will be gone. 
 
 One more tip....The new 400 and 450 machines have a 100 MHz internal bus.
Older machines, regardless of the processor speed, had a 66 MHz internal bus.
This will make a HUGH difference (1/3 increase) in speed.  The PII machines of
300 MHz or more have the new Accelerated Graphics Port (AGP) interface for
your video card.  If you enjoy video games you need AGP.
 
 Jory >>