[Leica] Computer help!!!

[spencer at aotera.org (Spencer Cheng)]

Frank,

I agree Tina's problem is probably not purely H/W related. Dell  
probably still do burning in their machines before it leaves the  
factory but with the declining quality, cheaper parts who knows what  
one really get?

<rant>
Putting on my neo-Luddite persona, why should Tina, or any computer  
user, be worry about whether the BIOS is compatible or not with a  
hard drive? Why should Tina have to call Dell to ask about BIOS  
versions?

In photographic terms, it's like worrying whether a Lexar compact  
flash card would work in my G6 [Thanks for the advice folks] compared  
to a SanDisk compact flash card. We wouldn't put up with it as  
photographers with our cameras (or in our daily lives), why do we put  
up with it in computers?

After 20+ years of writing S/W for a living, I am truly embarrassed  
by the sorry state of "personal" computers out there and bottom-of- 
the-barrel expectations people have from their computer-assisted  
tools. It is really, truly embarrassing. M$ maybe pervasive and have  
$B in the bank but their products sucks!!! [Yes, I can't blame MS and  
BillG for all the failings of PCs but they sure set some really bad  
examples.]

It also seems that the cheaper the digital Instanmatic, the more  
complicated and awkward the bloody interface becomes. Nested menus  
are modern torture instruments.
</rant>

There I feel better now. Please return to your regularly scheduled  
disagreements. :-)

Regards,
Spencer

PS. Tina, consider switching to a Mac. Mac's have problems too but  
the number of variables one have to deal with are smaller.

On Jul 26, 2005, at 22:43, Frank Filippone wrote:

> I know this sounds pretty undocumented, but I would bet it is not he
> physical drive that is bad.  I would bet on a SW ( OS)  or Bios
> problem......  The symptoms are not consistent with what happens  
> when a
> drive goes belly up.  And 4 drives of the same type are a direct  
> indicator
> of some form of Bios problem
>
> The real problem is that most techs are not astute enough to figure  
> out he
> right solution, so they sell you another drive and go merrily on their
> way.....it works for a while, then they sell you another.. etc.....
>
> Tina... ask Dell about the Bios and whether it is compatible with  
> the drives
> you purchased......
>
> About the burn in issue... almost all drives get a 24 hour Burn in....
> usually by demand of the buyer.  Dell used to brag that all their  
> PC's get a
> B/I before shipping.... 24 hours.....
>
> No one asked, but does your computer have a long term warranty  
> still in
> effect?
>