what's a good computer maker to buy off of?

[Divine Discontent]

I see that Dell is from Texas and a huge Republican donor. Any Democratic leaning companies to buy off of?






"See, in my line of work you got to keep repeating things over and over and over again for the truth to sink in, to kind of catapult the propaganda." —George W. Bush, Greece, N.Y., May 24, 2005

[evlbstrd]

1. Apple.

[Divine Discontent]

2. thanks, any probs

being non windows, or has that become a thing of the past... I believe it probably has, but I'd like your opinion.

[evlbstrd]

6. MS Office, Adobe apps, built-in apps.

Great OS, based on Unix. And you can get a good machine used.

[Systematic Chaos]

9. I come from the standpoint of a gamer

so, both Apple and Linux are generally out for me, for now.

If they ever release EverQuest II in a Linux version, I'll probably switch almost immediately. But I like my odds of being struck by lightning in the 4th level sub-basement of a skyscraper on a clear day somewhat better.

[evlbstrd]

12. Guess it all depends on why you use a computer.

I make mine work for me.

[Divine Discontent]

18. hey evlbstrd....

what's that painting of???? it's beautiful!

[evlbstrd]

20. That's a view of the river and bridges where I live.

I'm very glad you like it.

[Divine Discontent]

21. I'm mesmerized by it! lol... I love good art! N/T

[evlbstrd]

26. You are very kind.

I'm a sucker for bridges, too.

[Divine Discontent]

28. me too!!

[evlbstrd]

30. Those are great shots, and unusual bridges!

I have more paintings, drawings and even a relief sculptre of bridges. They're not digital yet, though.

[sysoprock]

22. If you can hold out for a while longer...

you can get an Apple that will run Windows XP also.

(without emulation)

[Divine Discontent]

24. can I get an apple laptop & get xp version at not 2 much cost later? N/T

[Tesha]

52. Nobody actually knows yet.

Apple seems to be implying that their Intel-based Macintoshes
won't "dual boot" between MacOS/X and XP, but hackers are very
creative and it's quite likely that it *WILL* happen, whether
or not Apple wants to officially support it.

Meanwhile, it is *EXTREMELY LIKELY* that the performance of
"Virtual PC", the PC emulator that runs on the Macintoshes,
will be nearly the same as the native performance of a PC,
a big improvement over the current state of affairs with
Virtual PC.

Tesha

[Melodybe]

10. Apple definitely, Al Gore is on the Board of Directors

You just don't get bluer than that.

[evlbstrd]

13. Great machines, too.

OS X doesn't hurt.

[Melodybe]

15. Using it now

I am in the cult of mac, even though I know dick about computers.

[evlbstrd]

17. Then you know all you need to know.

I've been hooked from day one.

[Divine Discontent]

23. No, you don't get more blue than Gore! Thanks N/T

[I_Make_Mistakes]

3. My next computer will be an Apple. They are the only innovative

mfg., left. It is not just the function of the computer, but the space required to house it (like zero).

Yes, I understand there will be a learning curve, but that it is way ok, with me!

[Divine Discontent]

5. Thank you for answering so quick, also

God bless...

[Melodybe]

14. Once you go mac, you never go back

unless you are a gmaer, in which case, you'll have to wait until they switch chips.

[Deja Q]

48. Innovative, or inventive?

"Innovative" means to take someone else's creation and embellish it.

Inventive is to create.

Apple and Microsoft both innovate. (Apple's "OS X" being an innovation off of FreeBSD, no less. I wonder how many FreeBSD developers get royalties? Apart from none of them, that is...)

Others create.

[Systematic Chaos]

4. Looks like Sony from this list.

Found at http://www.2005blue.com/?a=do&template=directory&p=Q29tcHV0ZXJz&cl=Q21wdHJzRWxlY3Ryb25pY3M=&a=do&k=

Moderately liberal to liberal:

# harman multimedia (all/part owner: Harman International Industries, Inc.) corporate profile: 2005Blue Score: 92 / 100 +Outsourcing
# Niagara encoders (all/part owner: Real Networks) corporate profile: 2005Blue Score: 71 / 100
# Novell products (all/part owner: Novell, Inc.) corporate profile: 2005Blue Score: 88 / 100
# Osprey capture cards (all/part owner: Real Networks) corporate profile: 2005Blue Score: 71 / 100
# Real Media Servers (all/part owner: Real Networks) corporate profile: 2005Blue Score: 71 / 100
# Red Hat Linux (all/part owner: Red Hat, Inc.) corporate profile: 2005Blue Score: 71 / 100
# Sony products (all/part owner: Sony Corporation of America) corporate profile: 2005Blue Score: 70 / 100
# SuSE Linux (all/part owner: Novell, Inc.) corporate profile: 2005Blue Score: 88 / 100

[Divine Discontent]

7. so blue2005.com is like a search site for these questions? N/T

[KitchenWitch]

8. Another site to check out is

http://buyblue.org

Sony is good, but expensive.

[high density]

11. I've had bad luck with some Sony products

Blue or not, I've stopped buying their crap. The stuff used to be so good, too, but it seems they no longer stand behind their products.

[Divine Discontent]

16. I've heard that about sony

and I appreciate Gentle Giant for posting that, but I probably have to go with evlbstrd's opinion on Apple... I just hope I can get one cheap, I know Apple isn't much cheaper than Sony. Sony used to be so reliable, I wonder what happened, it's like their focus went all into ps2 creation/management, because they're hurting everywhere else I think I've heard (media, sound, etc)

God bless.

[Tesha]

43. By comparison, our Sony Vaio laptop just runs and runs and runs...

(Well, except for Windows 98/SE crashing, but it's no more and
no less reliable on this Sony than on any other system; someday
when it really bugs us, we'll upgrade.)

This five-year-old Sony is on its second battery, and had to be
taken apart once and cleaned because a food spill jammed its "lid
closed" switch, but its hardware has generally been as good as any
of our (several) Apple laptops.

Tesha

[LeftyMom]

38. I like my Vaio

I've had no problems with it.

[Carolab]

39. I like my VAIO too. n/t

[Uroboros]

19. If you're even the slightest technically inclined..

Just build your own...it's not that hard. Though I admit, as a first time purchase it would cost you more to build your own, (no parts for you to recycle from an older machine.)

There are still other sources though; Gateway for example. (though I;m unaware of their political leanings). Or pick up few PC magazines; including gaming magazines. There you'll find other sources where you can purchase package deals.

As for a Macintosh based system; having used both I don't see the gain from purchasing such a system (unless you already own one and are upgrading). Though Mac fanatics will disagree..it's just my opinion.

[Divine Discontent]

I don't own mac

I need a laptop for travel, and I just was a little concerned about Mac's ability to not give me trouble doing the wifi thing, or connectivity issues. I'm pretty certain that using a mac is just like using a wintel computer, just the software choices, but I don't buy or use much software, and if I did anything on a computer it would be record my own singing, so I guess mac, unless anyone's got further info... thanks everbody, again.






"See, in my line of work you got to keep repeating things over and over and over again for the truth to sink in, to kind of catapult the propaganda." —George W. Bush, Greece, N.Y., May 24, 2005

[evlbstrd]

31. If you want connectivity and WiFi, Macs are great.

Very simple to configure and get online.

[Divine Discontent]

33. that's what I wanted to hear!!!!! thanks so much! N/T

[evlbstrd]

37. No problem.

[kma3346]

36. The iBook laptops are great

I have an older one and I love it. And they just went down in price a couple hundred dollars recently. Plus, if you have an Apple Store near you, they have classes on wireless networking and other stuff, plus a genius bar where you can take your computer if you have any questions or problems with it. AND if you buy one, you can get a free printer (or $100 toward a higher end printer) with it right now (the reason I know all this is because I just helped my niece get an iBook for college).

[Divine Discontent]

27. *DUPE*

[longship]

34. Agreed.

Build your own. Especially if you can run Linux, that it absolutely the best way. I've not bought a prebuilt computer in 20 years. Even if you have to have Winblows on it, building it yourself is still the best buy, the best value, and the most bang for the buck.

Reliability is not an issue. Of all the machines I've built I only have had one that gave me any trouble. A new motherboard fixed it for little cost. The unit is still in use after 15 years of hard use.

[Divine Discontent]

35. that's awesome! I'm not going desktop, but if I were, I'd consider it N/T

[Tesha]

44. Couldn't resist the insult, could you?

> Mac fanatics

Couldn't resist the insult, could you?

Tesha

[CBGLuthier]

45. Why would that be an insult

That is what most Mac users are. They are fanatical about their machines. Just look at the way all of you guys swoop in, like Moonies sensing a convert, whenever anyone asks a computer question.

Even when someone asks how to fix a problem with a Wintel machine there will always be "Buy a Mac" post. Kind of like a friend of mine who, whenever he saw a broke down non-chevrolet car would lean out the window and yell, "Next time, get a Chevy!!"

I have worked with computers for years. ALL platforms, Mac, Vax, Amiga, Solaris, Wintel, IBM 360....

They are tools. I love them no more than my garbage disposal.

But Mac users have a special relationship with their computers. A certain look in their eyes. :-)

OK, to be fair. I did love my Amiga, so I know where you folks come from. :-)

[Tesha]

49. That's funny! Up above, I was discussing my Vaio!

> Just look at the way all of you guys swoop in, like Moonies
> sensing a convert, whenever anyone asks a computer question.

That's funny! Up above, I was discussing (in a very positive light)
my Sony Vaio PC!

Projection ain't a pathology confined to Republicans, dude!

Tesha

[DS1]

47. Fanatics is an insult? It's the long form of fans

Now, if he'd said Hooligans you might have had a case, but for now I think you're just being another oversensitive mac user


:hide:

[Tesha]

50. Ahh. Now I'm not a "fanatic", just "oversensitive".

How typical.

Maybe in the next post you can suggest that I'm writing
this because "it's that time of month"?

Tesha

[DS1]

51. It was a joke

:-)

the oversensitive part, anyway

[Dont_Bogart_the_Pretzel]

57. recycle ?

It's been 4 years since I built mine. I'm going to rebuild but I can't recycle because nothing will work with new hardware. B-)

[kma3346]

25. Apple without a doubt!

Here's all you need to know from the BuyBlue site (http://www.buyblue.org/node/251/view/summary):

Contributions:

$78,250 to Democrats
$0 to Republicans
$500 to Others
$78,750 in Total Contributions

And they have the Mac mini, which is very inexpensive and allow you to use your existing monitor, keyboard, and mouse. Check it out at their web site.

[Divine Discontent]

29. mac mini is amazing indeed! N/T

[blue agave]

32. Gateway servive is realy good if you can get a corporate account

[nonconformist]

40. Gateway is blue. nt

[Divine Discontent]

41. THANK YOU N/T

[CBGLuthier]

54. One caveat about Gateway though

They sometimes like to use special memory that costs more than twice as much as standard memory.

If you consider one of theirs, make sure it uses standard DIMM or SODIMM memory or be sure to go ahead and get as much as you need. I suggest a minimum of 512MB for XP. More if you are into graphics, higher end gaming, or music production.

If you aren't sure, get their model number and go to crucial.com and use their memory locator to find out what it uses.

Actually, do this no matter who you buy from. I have seen Dell computers do this too.

[Swamp Rat]

42. This was made on my Apple iMac G5 today:

I have been using Apple computers since 1981. Not ONE has ever broken down! I've NEVER had a virus/Trojan Horse. I've NEVER lost data (except when I reformatted a hard drive once by accident when I was a newbie). I compose music, art, books, edit film, etc. with complete ease.

My dad had a wireless keyboard crap out on him, but Apple sent him a new one within 24 hours. :)

[DS1]

53. wow, those macs are really fuckin fast

I mean, it posted it last night before you even made it today! :D

[LynneSin]

46. Sony is a blue company

:D

[Mizmoon]

55. Screw Apple - buy from Gateway

And stay away from Dell printers! You can only get the cartridges from Dell and they are waaaaaaaay expensive!

[Nye Bevan]

56. Gateway SUCKS

I bought a PC (Profile) from them a couple of years ago. It didn't work so I sent it back to them and they sent me a replacement. The replacement didn't work either. At this point I decided to give up and get a refund. They then told me that there was a 2 week limit for refunds, and the refund "clock" started when I bought the *first* PC! After much complaining I was eventually able to get my money back but it was a horrible experience.