Office Depot's Exclusive, One-of-a-Kind Promotion!

[questio verum]

Unbelievable! What are the odds this would happen?!? I stopped by Office Depot this afternoon to pick up some report binders. A quick stroll through the furniture section and I find myself walking to the front counter with a pull slip for a store-brand Aeron knock-off. I get the the thing home, cut the box open and instead of an executive chair with assembly instructions, I'm greeted by an HP 6310 multi-function printer, an Ativa high-volume paper shredder, and a floor model HP TouchSmart PC (you may know it as "The Kitchen PC"), and 30 kilos of bubble wrap.

After getting my hysterical laughter under control, I thought 'Well, as long as it's sitting in my den, I might as well see what this Kitchen PC's all about. (Too late to reach anyone at Office Depot, anyway) After working through a handful of Vista error screens I reached the login screen. Some bright clerk or manager has actually used their password as the prompt word, so I'm in. Eventually. This Vista is slower than frozen dirt. After about 5-6 minutes my latest reboot produces a desktop screen. Just as I find something I want to investigate, the keyboard locks up. USB controller is fine as frog hair, BIOS is finding and initiating everything perfectly, including my keyboard. So I'm left with the conclusion that Vista is the culprit. 20 minutes later and I've overcome most of the obstacles and find myself immersed in a whiz-bang version of that time-honored productivity killer... Solitaire.

The one thing Vista has, at least with Aero turned on, is eye-candy. But nothing that Compiz-Fusion couldn't do better. What it suffers from are performance drawbacks that are legion. I mean this nightmare takes forever to boot, and even longer to shut down. And when it's running, it will suck up every available resource. This was a unique opportunity for me to see just how bad Vista really is. I would never let it near one of my own pc's, so this was like a free ticket. Anyway... everything's back in the box now. I thought about installing linux, but I'm too tired to jack with it. As soon as O.D. opens in the morning, they can have their PC back. I want my chair. And this time I'm checking the box contents before I leave the store!

qv

[jayd512]

Awesome, qv! That's just perfect!!!
You get

[MikeTbob]

That's just retarded. I bet someone had that certain box set aside for an "Employee Purchase" but you beat them to it. heh
I would consider keeping the stuff and sell it later, if the cost of the "Chair" doesn't make it a loss.
I could use a High Volume shredder and a new Printer.

[questio verum]

That's just retarded. I bet someone had that certain box set aside for an "Employee Purchase" but you beat them to it. heh
I would consider keeping the stuff and sell it later, if the cost of the "Chair" doesn't make it a loss.
I could use a High Volume shredder and a new Printer.

Well, I returned the "chair" yesterday. Turns out the contents were return items logged as 'in transit' to the regional warehouse. How they got packaged in that box and returned to stock is something I'm sure they'll be discussing on Tuesday. The chair I wanted is now home, and assembled. They comp'ed me a few bucks for my troubles and I got to satisfy any morbid curiousity I may have had about Vista. Not bad, on the whole. Coulda been worse.

btw... I did consider keeping the original box contents for all of about 3 milliseconds. It wouldn't have been a good decision. For one thing, I'm a strong believer in karma. For another, I never really would have been happy with that kitchen pc thingy. And my present rig is far better suited to me anyway.

qv

[danbuter]

I'm betting that system only had 512 MB RAM. Vista was on those computers when it first changed over, and it just doesn't work with them. My main has 2.4 GB, and Vista flies on it.

[questio verum]

I'm betting that system only had 512 MB RAM. Vista was on those computers when it first changed over, and it just doesn't work with them. My main has 2.4 GB, and Vista flies on it.

No, it had 2GB of pc4200. No IGP either, but a discrete GeForce 7600. Oddly, it had an X2 Turion in it, instead of an X2 Athlon64. But the real boat anchor was the OS.

I've heard that the service pack is a mixed bag, but I wouldn't know. Aside from my brief experience with the kitchen pc, my only calls to work with Vista come from helping the illiterate set up wireless on their lappies. The picture I'm getting of SP1 is that ms is backpedaling from some of the draconian policies instituted in the initial release. But I still wouldn't have it, even with the service pack. Unless they force it on us at work, my intention is to give it a wide berth.

qv