[extropy-chat] TECH: Computer Upgrade Paths...

[Robert J. Bradbury]

I ran across the Specs/Prices for the HP Compaq Presario S6900NX recently
and it looks like you can pick up a really nice machine based on the AMD
Athlon 64 (I'll never buy an Intel again because they desupported the
YC72 video camera within months of its release).  The price from Radio
Shack or Walmart seem to bbe running in the ~$1100 range.

Now its only a 2GHz machine but its running a 64 bit processor/bus.

It looks like most of the stuff one would want is included in the
machine with the possible exception of a sound card.

Now if all of this is accurate -- why on earth would one want a
Dell Dimension XPS (@ ~$1900) or an Apple G5 (@ ~$2800+).

[One could buy ~2 Presario's for the price of an XPS or ~3 Presario's
for the price of a G5...]

Now, if one can find a vendor selling the Presario without the
preinstalled Windows XP the price should be even lower (if one
then installs Linux and perhaps WINE (to get windows compat.)).

Is the productivity on a Pentium 4 or a G5 *really* so much higher
than an Athlon that it justifies this kind of price differential?
[You have to remember that I'm typing this on a dual Pentium Pro
@ 200 MHz (~6 year old technology) and it usually meets my needs
just fine...]

Robert