Computer companies are stupid

[dralarms]

Well Dell anyway.Here is the lowdown:

My wife has this "dell perferred" account. Today I contact Dell since I need a new laptop for a business application. Here is all I asked from them, "a laptop with XP and a serial port", well the "home department" can't even sell me one and transferred me to the business department. They have it, no problem, but her "perferred account" is no good on the business side.

She told the :poop:heads to cancel the account. Dell has got the last of my money it ever will.

On a side note, if anyone knows where to buy a laptop W/ serial (not the stupid adapter) and comes with XP on it I know someone who is looking for one.

[willis68]

Good Luck,

I wasn't sure they still made them with serial ports, a few months ago my company searched for one to no avail for me to test some expensive equipment, I ended up having to use a USB adapter. Sadly It seems the good ole serial port is a dying breed

[Currently]

If cost is not an issue, look at the Panasonic Toughbooks ...

Don't get Vista, stick with XP.

[Metalhead]

It's nigh impossible to buy a pre-built PC nowadays with XP, most manufacturers switched over to ****ty Vista long ago - if you can hold out a little while Windows 7 will be out soon. Win7 is actually very good and is what Vista should have been in the first place, it's a true successor to XP. Think of Vista as the modern day Windows ME, and stay away from it like the plague.

Optionally, you could build your own and install XP on it. It's not difficult, as long as you either follow the directions or have a decent technical knowledge, you'll more than likely breeze through it.

[nightrunner]

Don't know if it matters to you, but I was told the owners of Dell or Dell Co. itself are supporter of gay rights. Honestly it doesnt matter to me as I am buying a product not investing in a company.

[56FordGuy]

Don't know if it matters to you, but I was told the owners of Dell or Dell Co. itself are supporter of gay rights. Honestly it doesnt matter to me as I am buying a product not investing in a company.

Dell is a very liberal company, from Michael Dell down to the employees. Before the election, it seems like 4 out of 5 Dell employees were wearing Obama shirts. Now, it's down to about 2 in 5. Seriously. Not to mention their multitude of 'green' activities.

[oldogy]

There are some great buys in used laptops out there. I just bought a Dell with 1 gig memory, 150 gig HD, with XP Pro on Ebay for less than $250 delivered. I forget what processor speed is but it is not slow. It looks like new, good battery. I am very pleased with it. It does have a serial port.

oldogy

[Guest mustangdave]

Don't know if this can help...call my son at COMPUTER ROCKS in M-boro 615-216-5537...tell him what you're looking for. Ask for John.

[dralarms]

Don't know if it matters to you, but I was told the owners of Dell or Dell Co. itself are supporter of gay rights. Honestly it doesnt matter to me as I am buying a product not investing in a company.

It does matter to me, I won't buy pepsi products or fords for the very same reason, I'll just add dell to my personal ban list.

Don't know if this can help...call my son at COMPUTER ROCKS in M-boro 615-216-5537...tell him what you're looking for. Ask for John.

I'll do that, is he open tomorrow?

[Guest mustangdave]

Yep...they'll be open....

[dralarms]

Thanks

[Guest c.a.s.]

Serial ports are dieing, and quickly. Everything is moving on towards USB and other digital interfaces. I haven't even had a desktop with serial in ages. I don't expect to ever see them on a laptop, other than the Toughbooks ACEMA had.

I don't get why everyone calls Vista sh*t. I'm using it right now, and it's perfectly stable and usable to me. My only gripe is that everything was moved around from what I had gotten used to on XP. It's actually a bit more accessible, with a search function right in the start bar, the side bar is EXTREMELY useful to my applications, and I can keep performance high by simply disabling all the "flashy" bits to it like Glass (or was it Aero?). I haven't run into any programs, even ones designed for 95, that haven't worked because I was using Vista.

[dralarms]

Serial ports are dieing, and quickly. Everything is moving on towards USB and other digital interfaces. I haven't even had a desktop with serial in ages. I don't expect to ever see them on a laptop, other than the Toughbooks ACEMA had.

I don't get why everyone calls Vista sh*t. I'm using it right now, and it's perfectly stable and usable to me. My only gripe is that everything was moved around from what I had gotten used to on XP. It's actually a bit more accessible, with a search function right in the start bar, the side bar is EXTREMELY useful to my applications, and I can keep performance high by simply disabling all the "flashy" bits to it like Glass (or was it Aero?). I haven't run into any programs, even ones designed for 95, that haven't worked because I was using Vista.

I don't mind using an adapter for serial but one program I use minds. It won't work period.

As far as Vista, I also am using it on my desktops, and 2 laptops,I do not have problems with Vista, but then again the programs I am using were designed around 95, 98, me, and XP, I am even still using some (Gulp) Dos programs:rolleyes: (these are the one's causing themost problems).

[Guest c.a.s.]

I can understand DOS programs causing issues. I've never had to use one, so I have no clue whether they work in CMD or not, or if there are even DOS emulators available that actually work.

What's your price range? If it's HIGH, you could go for a Toughbook, as long as you won;t go insane from the chicklet keyboard.

[dralarms]

I can understand DOS programs causing issues. I've never had to use one, so I have no clue whether they work in CMD or not, or if there are even DOS emulators available that actually work.

What's your price range? If it's HIGH, you could go for a Toughbook, as long as you won;t go insane from the chicklet keyboard.

Oh the programs work in XP Cmd prompt, but won't work with the usb serial adapter.

Now you gotta explain the chicklet keyborad.

[Guest mosinon]

I always liked vista but since I mainly use Macs I figured I was the only one. Windows 7 is really nice btw.

I wonder if the DOS programs are the ones causing the most programs why not a have a computer dedicated to those programs? Transferring data from the dedicated compy to a more modern one wouldn't be hard and the computers would be cheap. Cheap as in free likely.

I think this guy lives in Knoxville and likes to think of interesting workarounds. He probably can't fix your problem but I bet he knows someone who can.

[nightrunner]

im assuming by chicklet keyboard, he means very small keys, but i may be mistaken

[Guest GimpyLeg]

Wow. Microsoft quit supporting full DOS around 2000. I've had to support DOS apps and serial ports in this day and age and it gets tricky. I know .NET at one time didn't support serial ports for Visual Studio (VB, C#). I had to write an app in VB6 to communicate with serial device because of the lack of support in .NET.

I do like Dell and I do like Vista.

Sorry if I hijacked your rant with no suggestions or help what so ever.

[Guest mosinon]

In the olden days chiclet keyboards were these cheap low key, flat jobs. They sucked almost as much as membrane keyboards (if you had a timex sinclair, you'll remember)

Now Apple uses them and they hae become much better. Though not as good as the old IBM keyboards which ruled!

[Guest c.a.s.]

Chicklet keyboard as in small keys, that are part of a single rubber pad that has NO tactile feedback. It's squishy, and barely at that. It's a ruggedized laptop, so I guess it was the best option. They could have at least made the keys bigger. I hated working with them, but I was stuck configuring them for wireless, DVDs, esoteric video formats, and such so that they could meet the use requirements of everything from playing training videos to fieldwork. What little there is.

Think about it this way.

Flat piece of rubber with sensors under it.

Glue some chicklet-sized pieces of rubber.

THERE. The keyboard. No feedback. Tiny keys. Not a pleasure at all to use.

[Guest 3pugguy]

Well Dell anyway.Here is the lowdown:

My wife has this "dell perferred" account. Today I contact Dell since I need a new laptop for a business application. Here is all I asked from them, "a laptop with XP and a serial port", well the "home department" can't even sell me one and transferred me to the business department. They have it, no problem, but her "perferred account" is no good on the business side.

She told the :poop:heads to cancel the account. Dell has got the last of my money it ever will.

On a side note, if anyone knows where to buy a laptop W/ serial (not the stupid adapter) and comes with XP on it I know someone who is looking for one.

The Toshiba I am typing this on has a serial port; look at Toshiba's (this one is several years old, though).

Toshiba's are also very rugged, imo.

Never been a Dell fan, anyway, and am thinking when the time comes to replace this and my desktop, might go the Mac route.

[Currently]

If you have to run DOS software, you can download VMWare or Virtual PC and install a virtual machine in your computer.

I have tested this quite successfully with legacy DOS automation software. It will even go out the USB to Serial converter as if it was a COM port.

If I had to choose between the two, I would get the VMWare. Both are free for single users, VMWare will cost you if you are a company.

You will need the original DOS installation disks and actually install DOS or Win98 on a virtual machine. Keep the virtual hard drive under 100 megs because some of these old DOS programs get a little flaky as they were never meant to be installed on gigabyte and fractional terabyte hard disks.

If you need more info or assistance, shoot me a PM and I can steer you through some of the tricky spots.

[~Emily~]

On a side note, if anyone knows where to buy a laptop W/ serial (not the stupid adapter) and comes with XP on it I know someone who is looking for one.

I purchase machines for my company and recently had a request for a laptop/notebook with a serial port. My vendor sales rep works with all brands and he, nor I could not find any brand with a serial port. Not a new one at any rate. If your device won't work with a usb-to-serial adapter the only other option is to use a port replicator or docking station that has a serial port.

And so far most brands have XP available on their "business" notebooks. That could have changed but my company uses XP sp3 on 99% of our machines, desktops and laptops. Vista is a version we will skip (like 98). But Win 7 looks promising.

[Guest tonybon]

Well Dell anyway.Here is the lowdown:

My wife has this "dell perferred" account. Today I contact Dell since I need a new laptop for a business application. Here is all I asked from them, "a laptop with XP and a serial port", well the "home department" can't even sell me one and transferred me to the business department. They have it, no problem, but her "perferred account" is no good on the business side.

She told the :poop:heads to cancel the account. Dell has got the last of my money it ever will.

On a side note, if anyone knows where to buy a laptop W/ serial (not the stupid adapter) and comes with XP on it I know someone who is looking for one.

my ALIENWARE does but its costly. I got it mostly for gaming ( Im a WOW head) Its got almost every hook up out their

[Photoguy67]

Alienware is a division of Dell.