Hey CPTrader.. just wanted to let you know that Dell small business has some really decent deals going on for the dimension 9200 which is basically the same thing as the xps 410.. Just configured a relatively powerful computer for under $600 shipped.
I actually thought it was a neat idea. What's wrong with that? Yes, total disk failure and you lose it all, but it seems to me it's very practical.
Neat idea? They should have never gotten away from it. Only totally lame thinking could ever conclude that a computer user could get by without having the disks.
I use the disks as a very last resort, if there's a shortcut I'll take it. Like I said, it seemed practical to me. Guess I'm lame...or lazy...or both. I suppose the best would be having both.
Anyone who installs Vista or any Microsoft OS within a year of it being released is an IDIOT to begin with. You dig your own grave if you do that. Stick with XP Pro.
In fact I found Vista not that bad, after you spend some time removing sidebar, UAC, aero and other crap. Its memory management is noticeably smarter, meaning less paging, less lockups, faster boot, more applications running with the same RAM etc
It has definitely got to be a Dell. I don't think the model matters much but Dell is easily the most reliable desktop..