You've seen the ads - FREE PRINTER OR WEB CAM (with the purchase of a computer), or how about where one retailer is selling their computer for just $999 with a $500 mail-in rebate (that you may or may not ever get) if you sign up for 3-year Internet access. How about the dude that advertises the $599 machine, but when you visit the website, you discover that you have to be a rocket scientist to find that same offer. Or what about the $499 computer - that's a great one. It doesn't have a floppy drive, nor does it come with a network card. To make matters even worse, you can't even add those features. But the one that gets my goat the most are those darn blue guys - you know the guys I'm talking about. Intel has spent millions of dollars trying to convince you that "you can do more" if you have the latest and greatest cazillion speed computer with one of their processors inside.
The truth of the matter is that there are very few software programs that actually do take advantage of the performance gains that make the Pentium 4 processor the technological marvel that it is. So few, in fact, that Intel actually tracks those 62 programs on their website. Granted, there are a few areas where a computer with a Pentium 4 really does "shine" -- gaming, photography, video and music come to mind. In other words, if the main reason you have your computer is to play Warcraft III Reign of Chaos, or if you are looking to burn downloaded Internet music to a cd-rom, then you may just be the perfect candidate for a computer with a Pentium 4 processor in it. For the rest us, though, spending that unnecessary money can only be considered a luxury.
Consider this -- If Microsoft's latest version of Office Professional runs flawlessly on a $239 Pentium 2-400MHz computer, does it really surprise you that Intel finds the need to spend so much money trying to convince you to the contrary? Well . now you know better.
Sean Dion
PCs4Schools.com
(877)778-5668
www.PCs4Schools.com About the Author
Sean Dion is the Director of Sales for Hargadon Computer, Inc. The company started the
www.PCs4Schools.com project in July of '99 as a catalyst to get high quality, low-cost, and fully warranted computer equipment into the school market. Last year, the company sold nearly 10,000 of their refurbished Dell Optiplex computers to schools across the country. Contact sales TOLL FREE, at (877)778-5668 or by e-mail at sales@hargadon.com if you have any questions or comments.
