Linked by Thom Holwerda on Thu 27th Sep 2012 19:36 UTC
I bought a brand new iMac on Tuesday. I'm pretty sure this will come as a surprise to some, so I figured I might as well offer some background information about this choice - maybe it'll help other people who are also pondering what to buy as their next computer.
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RE[5]: Support and warranty
by steve119 on Fri 28th Sep 2012 14:48
in reply to "RE[4]: Support and warranty"
Member since:2012-09-27
I know of friends that have had faulty PC equipment and apple UK stores have gone through to the back and swapped equipment no questions asked, and yet I have went into dixons(currys) and asked for a replacement and they look at you as if you had just demanded the till money.
I Need to ask this, but how many stores in the US sit you down and make sure you are comfortable with your purchase before letting you leave with it free? I've never seen that level in any PC shop over here(although I believe pcworld do something similar now), maybe the US are spoilt over there with their electronics/PC stores?
This level of support is probably the reason why people go back to apple, at least in the UK.
Edited 2012-09-28 14:50 UTC
RE[5]: Support and warranty
by BushLin on Fri 28th Sep 2012 20:38
in reply to "RE[4]: Support and warranty"
Member since:2011-01-26
You may have noticed I mention Optiplex and Latitude systems which come as standard with a 3 year on-site warranty (i.e. they don't take your kit away).
I have no experience with their consumer support, maybe your experience is typical but my experience of Dell's business support has been exemplary over a long period.
This is in the UK BTW, I have less impressive things to say about their account management but the focus seems to be on support.
RE[6]: Support and warranty
by henderson101 on Tue 2nd Oct 2012 14:32
in reply to "RE[5]: Support and warranty"
Member since:2006-05-30
News
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/20/13 6:17 UTC, submitted by MOS6510
"In the first episode of Microsoft's new film series 'On the Whiteboard', Editor Pamela Woon chats with two-time Oscar winner Randy Thom about the (often underestimated) importance of sound in human-technology interactions. Thom, the lead sound designer at Skywalker Ranch who worked on films such as The Incredibles, Castaway and Forrest Gump, says that people rarely consider the significance of those signature sounds that come from their trusty devices, whether it be a cell phone, a computer or a tablet."
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/19/13 23:02 UTC, submitted by M.Onty
"Microsoft has sensationally abandoned its controversial plans to restrict the sharing of XBox One games, and has also removed daily online authentication requirements for its forthcoming console", reports The Guardian. They had no choice. Still a good move.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/19/13 22:28 UTC
"A snippet of code in the Steam digital distribution platform has revealed that Valve may be planning to let users easily share their games with friends in the future. The Verge has verified the code's authenticity, which was originally spotted by a member of the NeoGAF gaming forum; the code references a 'shared game library' and a notification that would alert a user when their games are currently in use by a borrower." This would change the, uh, game.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/18/13 22:33 UTC
Official Apple statement on PRISM and privacy: "Regardless of the circumstances, our Legal team conducts an evaluation of each request and, only if appropriate, we retrieve and deliver the narrowest possible set of information to the authorities. In fact, from time to time when we see inconsistencies or inaccuracies in a request, we will refuse to fulfill it." This is basically Apple re-publishing their earlier statement in a more official manner. You either believe it, or you don't.
Linked by Anonymous on 06/18/13 22:26 UTC
The open source Contiki operating system and its commercial Thingsquare distribution are making strides towards the connected home. According to a Computerworld article, a new LED light bulb manufacturer is putting small computers into their light bulbs. Each computer runs the Contiki OS, which gives each bulb an IP address and allows them to be controlled with a smartphone application. To connect the bulbs to the application, the bulbs use both Wi-Fi and the much lower power IEEE 802.15.4 mesh technology.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/18/13 22:25 UTC
"Google asked the secretive Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court on Tuesday to ease long-standing gag orders over data requests it makes, arguing that the company has a constitutional right to speak about information it's forced to give the government. The legal filing, which cites the First Amendment's guarantee of free speech, is the latest move by the California-based tech giant to protect its reputation in the aftermath of news reports about sweeping National Security Agency surveillance of Internet traffic." Draining the ditch after the cow has drowned in it.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/18/13 17:45 UTC
"I can't find one person who has been using the Nexus 7 for an extended period of time, and hasn't seen a massive downgrade in performance. Just what kind of downgrade are we talking here? I cannot pick up my Nexus 7 without experiencing problems like a lag of ten seconds, or more, just to rotate the display; touches refusing to acknowledged; stuttering notification panel actions; and unresponsive apps." Fully and utterly agreed. My Nexus 7 was blazing-fast and awesome for a few months, and at some point, it just started sucking. Just like that. I've tried loads of ROMs, and nothing helps.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/18/13 17:32 UTC, submitted by poundsmack
A new release of the hobby operating system MenuetOS! The release notes are a bit non-descript, but you'll have to take what you can get: "updates and improvements (picview, httpc, ehci, ...)".
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/17/13 17:58 UTC
"The Internet is one of the most transformative technologies of our lifetimes. But for 2 out of every 3 people on earth, a fast, affordable Internet connection is still out of reach. And this is far from being a solved problem. There are many terrestrial challenges to Internet connectivity - jungles, archipelagos, mountains. There are also major cost challenges. Right now, for example, in most of the countries in the southern hemisphere, the cost of an Internet connection is more than a month's income. Solving these problems isn't simply a question of time: it requires looking at the problem of access from new angles. So today we're unveiling our latest moonshot from Google[x]: balloon-powered Internet access." Insane.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/17/13 17:52 UTC
"MineAssemble is a tiny bootable Minecraft clone written partly in x86 assembly. I made it first and foremost because a university assignment required me to implement a game in assembly for a computer systems course. Because I had never implemented anything more complex than a 'Hello World' bootloader before, I decided I wanted to learn about writing my own kernel code at the same time. Note that the goal of this project was not to write highly efficient hand-optimized assembly code, but rather to have fun and write code that balances readability and speed. This is primarily accomplished by proper commenting and consistent code structuring." Just cool.More News »
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Member since:
2006-05-30
Where are you located though? We were in the UK, first line support at the time was based in the ROI (Republic or Ireland, which would be "Canada" to a US analogue) and the support was subcontracted to a service centre somewhere in the UK.
If sending a laptop in for the same easily viewable issue (half of the LCD stopped refreshing and gradually degraded to a greyish block) and it being sent back 3 times as "fixed", only to *still* exhibit the same issue with in an hour of use - if that is good service, I can live without Dell support, Dell hardware and be a much happier and well balanced individual.
At the time, my job involved presenting to delegates on training courses that averaged to 4 working days in length (Mon - Thurs, 9:30 - 4:30pm, half day of Friday.) Having an unreliable laptop was simply *not* an option. That the MD of my company had to even get involved, threaten the main contact we had at Dell was just pathetic.
My experience with Apple is 100% the polar opposite. My iPhone 3G had a few hairline cracks around the dock connector - they replaced it out of warranty, no questions, no hassle, no pain. Later, my 3GS digitizer failed - fixed whilst I waited (yes, it was in Apple care, but that is not the point.) They didn't need to go out of their way to be courteous and efficient, but they were.
My brother-in-law had an even better experience - his G4 PSU blew, taking the logic board. He had extended Apple Care and they gave him a new Intel based Mac Pro as a replacement.