Computer has been sunk!

[Deimos01]

Some of you may be familiar with my ongoing computer woes. Well, yesterday it finally went belly up. :damn:
6 month old Dell XPS 720 system that has been plagued by the nvidia display error for the last 4 months and a couple other issues like hanging on restart. Yesterday while trying to re-install my videa drivers for about the umpteenth freakin time, I tried to start it back up and got ... NOTHING! Comp turns on but does not even try to boot up. So, on the phone with Dell tech for the 8th time to tell them I didnt pay 3k to become a computer mechanic and I want a new machine that works. "Well, we cant do that until we've followed all our proceedures" say the tech. :nope: So, they are going to send a guy out to replace my mobo.

I'll tell ya, Ive owned a few Dells in my time and always had a good experience until now. Im pretty sure this will be my last Dell:down:

No real point to this thread other than Im sad that I cant play SH4, Im pissed cause I cant play games on my gaming rig and Im dissapointed that the level of customer service of this once fine company has gone straight down the toilet and I thought you guys would understand. :up:

[Quillan]

[Heavily Indian accented english]"Tank you for calling Dell customer support. My name is Bob. May I be helping you?"

Did you speak to someone in the USA? I'd be shocked if so.

[Khourieat]

I feel for ya, my 3 year old Dell (also a $3k machine) went the way of the dodo a few weeks ago, I decided to instead invest $1600 on parts and put it together myself, much happier then whatever Dell provides these days.

If you need a computer for web browsing, they are great, spend $400 and get tech support and whatnot, for gaming, no more Dell for me.

I started with tremendous nvidia driver/blue screen of death crashes, which culminated in a completely corrupt registry.

So I swapped a brand new HD into the system and tried to install win XP Pro, Home and win2k, and none of it could boot into windows, blue screen every time. With no way to extract my old data (this was the only SATA system we had) my wife and I just figured it was eaiser on my sanity to build a new system then to try and figure out this one for the next 3 months...

I THINK it's possible Dells cruddy RAM gave out under me, but I don't know for sure, and don't have any extra RAM to test it. The only thing I miss with my Dell XPS is the sweet case, I'm gonna miss that front LED, used to change it's color once a month at least :cry:

[Deimos01]

Amazingly enough I did actually speak to a guy in the US. Although I have spoken to "Bob" a couple times too.

I built my last system but it was getting a tad long in the tooth and I just didnt have to time to get into building a new one. Next time Im gonna make the time though. Im thinking the RAM may be part of my ongoing issues and I asked the tech if they could send a couple new sticks along with the service guy and new mobo, just in case. Answer... "No, we have to follow our proceedures. If you are still having problems we will send you new sticks then." :damn: So that means another several days of testing and likely another session on the phone with Dell on a day off when I should be playing and having fun. :damn: :damn: :damn:

I wonder if dynamite is covered under the warranty. :hmm:

[Wilcke]

Sad, to hear! We use Dell at work and they are truly rubbish. I talked to our IT guy and his take is "yeah they are", but "we get a huge discount", plus "I buy the full blown warranty" that way when something goes wrong "they have to come out and fix it".

Its a corporate account so its onsite only, no telephone techies to deal with....if its doing something funny he just calls and they come out....amazing.

I would not have one in the house if I had to deal with "fix it over the phone". I will continue to build my own.

[walrusbomb]

problem is DELL doesn't test under "hardcore gaming" loads enough to know you're gonna overheat that badboy.

I've taken quite a few dead DELLs apart and was never impressed with their airflow.

[FIREWALL]

Iheard a rumor somewhere that DELL mobo,ram and other hardware won't work or is not interchangeable with other computers.

I guess what i'm trying to say is DELL stuff only works with DELL and nothing else and costs more.

Any truth to that ?

[Quillan]

Not always true, but I don't have any personal experience with Dell so I can't say for certain. One common thing I've seen with Dell computers is they sell you a motherboard that has no AGP or PCI-E x16 slot, so all you can use is the integrated graphics chip, but they claim it's got advanced graphics. Gateway used to have proprietary motherboards that required special memory or special power supplies, but I don't know if Dell goes that far.

[Skullmosher]

The trick they most often use is to have proprietary mobos made that switch the positions of their power connections or require weird interlocks from the power supply, virtually guaranteeing that you can't swap out your motherboard. That's one of the reasons I always build my own systems. Not only is tech support more friendly, but it's available 24/7.

[magicsub]

mines a dell 2 years old and it plays sh3 fine but usually lags!!

i dont know about sh4 though..........

WHAT AM I DOING HERE ANYWAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:o

[kylesplanet]

I bought an Alienware the last time (which has been purchased by Dell) and have had great luck out of it and the support team has been awesome, but my sister bought an XPS and it has been about like you guys have described, trouble all the way.

The tech guy at Alienware said they were owned by Dell but were really still a completely different entity. With the cost of the Alienware products though I'll probably build my next one, I've learned a little about them since I last ordered but this one should do me a while.

I think I will keep this cool case though, that is one big mother!:yep:

[skwasjer]

Alienware sucks as well. I owned an Area-51 (laptop, 4K+ euro, luckily the boss payed), and it was rubbish. Worst purchase ever. Personally I wouldn't do it because I build my systems myself, but I'd trust that small pc store around the corner that builds pc's more than any large system builder.

[FIREWALL]

I bought an Alienware the last time (which has been purchased by Dell) and have had great luck out of it and the support team has been awesome, but my sister bought an XPS and it has been about like you guys have described, trouble all the way.

The tech guy at Alienware said they were owned by Dell but were really still a completely different entity. With the cost of the Alienware products though I'll probably build my next one, I've learned a little about them since I last ordered but this one should do me a while.

I think I will keep this cool case though, that is one big mother!:yep:


You think your case is a big motha ?

My Ultra XG Quantum is 35lbs empty and size wise I could sublet out half of it. :rotfl: Hell even the metal Quantum name plate is held on by 4 allen screws.:p

[Monica Lewinsky]

I think your problem starts with Dell.

After all, you were talking to this guy:

http://learnabit.homeserver.com/lab/MSTechsupport.jpg

Well, after your done with that Dell phone call, you can next call this country with your possible Spyware infection in your PC:

http://learnabit.homeserver.com/lab/conan.wmv

There is a reason why Dell is a 4-letter word.

[JoeCorrado]

Running a 4 year old Dell 4550 that I have upgraded with more memory, second hard drive, NVidea 7600 AGP, and a new power supply. Still chugging along nicely and no issues at all.

It will be time for a completely new machine soon and I plan to build one myself- haven't done that in a long while because the prices had dropped so far that it was a wash to buy an out of box rig... this Dell was top notch a few years back, but that was a long while back. I think that for the same $3,000 that I can do a little better these days building from scratch but I'm not doing it because I have any issues w/ dell.

I bought a dell 521 a year or so ago for my daughter, added more memory and have had no problems with that machine either.

Soumds like you got the bad apple.

[kylesplanet]

Alienware sucks as well. I owned an Area-51 (laptop, 4K+ euro, luckily the boss payed), and it was rubbish. Worst purchase ever. Personally I wouldn't do it because I build my systems myself, but I'd trust that small pc store around the corner that builds pc's more than any large system builder.

Mine is a Area 51 desktop which I have loved :up: but I've been planning on a new laptop maybe sometime this year. Had been looking at the new Alienware but would you have a suggestion? My old Sony is getting long in the tooth. It's been a really good machine, done a lot of work on it but I would like to pick up something that I could get some work done on and still be able to game on though probably only SH4 and maybe FS9 when I'm traveling. The justification is a workstation though so that has to come first.

I live in a small town and the one computer store around the corner is ,well, lacking to say the best.

[kylesplanet]

I bought an Alienware the last time (which has been purchased by Dell) and have had great luck out of it and the support team has been awesome, but my sister bought an XPS and it has been about like you guys have described, trouble all the way.

The tech guy at Alienware said they were owned by Dell but were really still a completely different entity. With the cost of the Alienware products though I'll probably build my next one, I've learned a little about them since I last ordered but this one should do me a while.

I think I will keep this cool case though, that is one big mother!:yep:


You think your case is a big motha ?

My Ultra XG Quantum is 35lbs empty and size wise I could sublet out half of it. :rotfl: Hell even the metal Quantum name plate is held on by 4 allen screws.:p

Well the dimensions would say different.
(DXWXH)
XG 588x219x477
area 51 635x253x482

So yeah, it's pretty big but I don't have allen screws.:rotfl:

Alienware Link (http://alienware.com/product_detail_pages/Area-51_7500/area-51_specs.aspx?SysCode=PC-AREA51-7500-R5&SubCode=SKU-PREMIER#pdp-nav)

XG Quantum (http://www.mgecompany.com/xg/products_cases_quantum_chassis.php)

[FIREWALL]

That is a big ,sweet rig. :up:

[kylesplanet]

That is a big ,sweet rig. :up:

Were both probably shooting ourselves in the foot, thats a lot more area to keep cool. :hmm: Ah hell; we have a bigger and better place to sit our beer!!!
:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

[FIREWALL]

That is a big ,sweet rig. :up:

Were both probably shooting ourselves in the foot, thats a lot more area to keep cool. :hmm: Ah hell; we have a bigger and better place to sit our beer!!!
:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:


:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

[Dmsdmullins]

Ive been looking into liquid cooling. If you do the proper research and compare different manufactures it looks to be easily done and the cost is definately coming down on these systems.

[skwasjer]

I live in a small town and the one computer store around the corner is ,well, lacking to say the best.
I know, I was actually trying to say I like that small store better than the big one, but I already dislike the small one, don't even mention the big one :ping:

As you may be aware of, the biggest problem with laptops is that if a part breaks down, you're pretty much screwed. With desktops you can at least do your own troubleshooting/replacement of parts to a certain level. My sister has had to send in her laptop a couple of times, having no pc for a few weeks each time, and one time it came back with an empty hard drive... Nice support :dead: And oh yea, it was a Dell...

So heh, you won't be hearing any advice on manufacturer from me :rotfl:

[Etienne]

I got an XPS M1730 laptop in February; so far so good. I haven't really had any issues.

From what I've seen of Dell, it seems that either everything's A-Ok out of the box and you're fine for a while, or it's crap out of the box and you're screwed until you get a new one.

I'm crossing my fingers. I wouldn't want the Deathstar to go Belly-up while I'm at sea.

[Geno_Mariner]

I have a Dell, bought it off a chinese couple for 400 buxs (AUD that is and off ebay). Was fine for a good 5 months until it all got laggy (and still is!)
It gets really laggy when I tried to play CSI: Miami. Unfortunately I don't have any subsim games to try on my computer :-? AND it gets laggy when I only have Firefox up! Which barely uses 10% of my CPU. Lags when I use Photoshop for my digital arts.

Other than nuking spywares and viruses, it still lags. (I've used Spybot then AVG Anti-spyware THEN HijackThis which I caught a few remaining spywares, so far no problems other than several FirewallPort opening spywares which is repeatedly nuked).

Bottom line: Dell SUCKS :down:

Anywho! I'm off to watch HMAS Sydney documentary :hmm:

[CaptainHaplo]

Dell used to be top of the line. They have slipped in their service and quality primarily when it comes to the general public. They still are fine for their corporate customers.

However, when looking at a new desktop, you will always be better off getting a custom built or doing it yourself. For those looking to build from here on out, I would strongly suggest looking into liquid cooling. A top of the line kit for your CPU, GPU, Memory and NorthBridge can be purchased for around 400 - 500 bucks. Obviously, go with kink resistant, reinforced hoses. Granted its more expensive than air cooling, but remember - done right it will keep your box super cool AND its less noisy, plus you don't have to sweat dust eating the fan bearings or clogging heatsinks. And always put it together OUTSIDE the box and test it.....

As for laptops - unless you have a really good warranty with the local pc shop, go with a major manufacturere simply because its going to be warrantied decently. Yes you may have to send it in - but at least it wont be sitting on your desk collecting dust because you have no way of getting it fixed.

[EnsignCrow]

I have an M-Tech laptop: Their best is claimed to be the highest performing gaming laptop available, somewhat less expensive compared to Dell/Alienware, XP is their recommended OS.

Downside: The top model weighs an anchor like 12 lbs.

They are also more widely available Compal branded (same model numbers as M-Tech).

M-tech offers optional multicoat repaints using any customer supplied hi res graphic on new or used laptops (any brand).

No problems with mine so far, it replaced my old Dell lemon.

[Deimos01]

Well, It had been a while since Ive bought a Dell. Last one was about 7 years ago. I built my last rig and it was rock solid but it was old enough that it didnt support any of the new hardware like PCI-e and DDR2. Its sad that Dell used to be top of the line with great customer service and now they just... suck. Guess they got too big for their britches.

What really sticks in my craw is now I get to listen to my Wife hack on me about spending all this money on a computer that doesnt work when we had (in her opinion) a computer that worked just fine. She just doesnt understand the whole gaming thing. :nope:

Me- "Ill be on the phone with Dell for a bit Honey"
Wife - "AGAIN???"
Me - "Yes, the damn thing is still screwed up and I need to get it fixed before the warranty runs out"
Wife - "You just HAD to buy a new computer didnt you?"
Me - "Well, the old one doesnt run any of the new games"
Wife - "So you gotta spend 3k to play a stupid video game?"
Me - "Yep"
Wife - "I wish I could get you to spend this much time fixing stuff around the house"
Me - "sigh"

Guess there are 2 things most women will never understand... The 3 Stooges and video gaming. :roll:

[peabody]

Iheard a rumor somewhere that DELL mobo,ram and other hardware won't work or is not interchangeable with other computers.

I guess what i'm trying to say is DELL stuff only works with DELL and nothing else and costs more.

Any truth to that ? What a coincidence, I just put down my new copy or Maximum PC mag and there was a small maybe 1/3 page article on Dell

DELL EJECTS PROPRIETARY PARTS. Dell is abandoning it much-critized practice of using propietary parts in its PCs. The company's next update to its XPS gaming PCs will use standard ATX parts through and through; according to Dell, the XPS lineup will do away with the proprietary motherboard, power supplies, and power cables the had previously been used.
Now comes the funny part:

The company had long argued that iits proprietart parts were better engineered than parts that followed the ATX standard.
Then why do you need 500,000 tech support people if they work so good?

Sorry about your problems but I do understand, I've had some friends and family with Dells and they are so frustrated with the support! Most complain they can't understand them. I have made several comments to Dell that if you are going ask me to "buy American" and then you farm out your support to India then maybe I should buy my computer in India. Why should I support "American" companies, you don't!!! They never have an answer. But we all know it's the money.

But for what its worth, from the sound of how many times you have had to call them. I would take it up the ladder! Go over the tech and explain all the headaches and your time is valuable too, you don't have time to sit on the phone 8 times and then wait for the "handyman" to come and fix it, and be told he isn't going to bring anything except the mobo, which means you may need to take another day to sit around and wait for him to bring other parts. That you expect him to bring all parts that may be necessary to fix it. And if he walks out and it still doesn't work, you will send them a bill for your time if they have to come back. Then BBB and Internet and even a letter to Maximum Pc's Watch dog column. If you get the right person on the phone, it will make a difference. They don't like bad press. They don't give a hoot if it's just you, but don't tell anybody. That's why they are changing away from propietary parts, which is Dell code for "we buy the cheapest junk we can and have the manufacturer fix it so they have to get a new one from us." They even change standard printers so they need to use Dell ink. The company is going downhill and they know people are sick of it.

Peabody

[DrBeast]

You just need to push the right buttons, Deimos. When our motherboard showed signs of disintegration (well, it wasn't the motherboard in the end, but that's a whole other story!), I began compiling a list of components we needed to buy. This was my g/f's computer, so she'd be paying for it, so the deal was to get parts for under 350 Euro, tops. When I finally compiled the list, she began nagging about "why we need such an expensive CPU and/or motherboard" etc etc etc. I simply told her: "Honey, you do want to play the new Unreal Tournament, don't you?". She didn't complain again :rotfl:

[WernerSobe]

argh.

never buy hardware from dell. To expensive - bad quality.

Your best choice is making your own rig. Its easy. Go around in internet and read reports on certain hardware components, decide what you want and then find a cheap vendor. That way you will save in up to 50% and you always know what is inside your rig.

[Khourieat]

My wife has a Dell laptop and we've literally had 0 issues with it, she plays WoW, old games, watches movies, listens to music, drops it, it's great, really, no complaints there.

Desktops though, specially gaming desktops, build your own, it's not hard (I was sure I'd screw up my first build since I had never done it before), everything has a logical place to go, you can get some good top to bottom lists on eggxpert, and I like I said earlier, I spent literally $1600 on it, and that included the software (vista 64 and some office software), forgot to do the mail in rebates (about $150 worth), and when I priced the EXACT system on alienware and dell, it cost twice as much!!

Just upgrading from their base CPUs to the CPU I bought cost more then the CPU itself!! It's nonsensical. Buying Alienware is just money down the drain, they may be good quality parts but the prices are just insane.

I'll take 50%-75% off any day...

Plus I actually was having issues upgrading my old Dell XPS, it had the PCI-E slots, but the power supply didn't have a rail for upgrading the GPU, I wanted to get a GeForce 8800GT but couldn't, it sucked :down:

And the RAM was just god awful, I can't believe they charged me good money for it, slowest RAM ever.

I'd go back to Dell for a new laptop, but I'll be building my desktops from now on, it's much cheaper, easier to ugprade (I can SLI in 3-4 years and keep the system current for another several years after that) and if needed I can just swap whatever parts I need out of it, which will be easy, I'll probably never need to buy a case again unless this one breaks. Can't say that about my Dell (sadly, really liked that case :cry: )

[peabody]

argh.

never buy hardware from dell. To expensive - bad quality.

Your best choice is making your own rig. Its easy. Go around in internet and read reports on certain hardware components, decide what you want and then find a cheap vendor. That way you will save in up to 50% and you always know what is inside your rig.

Good advice, I would just add one thing. It you deal with a good company, check their prices. A lot of people I know buy OEM thinking they are saving money. I have noticed that with a lot of internet companies (I only deal with one) the difference between OEM and Retail is sometimes not a big difference and you get a full warranty and all the parts you are suppose to. OEM doesn't always give you everything that comes with Retail. For example the Intel CPU OEM doesn't include the Heatsink, I don't use it anyway but the one I bought was only $5 more than OEM so I got heatsink, directions (for those who need it) and full warranty. Some video cards don't come with adaptors on OEM, and if the part is $10 more but you need to go out and buy an adaptor or cable for svideo for $25 it doesn't make sense.

And info for beginners, if you go water cooled make sure you do some research, all Cooling packages don't cool everything that needs cooling so you still need fans. Just make sure you do your homework before you build.

Peabody

[stillalearnin]

You just need to push the right buttons, Deimos. When our motherboard showed signs of disintegration (well, it wasn't the motherboard in the end, but that's a whole other story!), I began compiling a list of components we needed to buy. This was my g/f's computer, so she'd be paying for it, so the deal was to get parts for under 350 Euro, tops. When I finally compiled the list, she began nagging about "why we need such an expensive CPU and/or motherboard" etc etc etc. I simply told her: "Honey, you do want to play the new Unreal Tournament, don't you?". She didn't complain again :rotfl:
Just do what I did. My wife does graphic design for a living, and I mean she is a magician with it, allthough I can't get her to understand 3d modeling, which I think is so much easier. Anyways, she decided that because she does work from home sometimes, and when she has to take me to the V.A., she needed a laptop that could handle most of CS3 running all together. Umm, she ordered the laptop, a D830 with a Nvidia Quadro NVS 140M card, and I had made sure it would run SH4 before she ordered it, and to this day i can run the SH4 full tilt boogey and can run up TC to around 8k and no lag, jaggies, nothing. and thats with everything runnin in the background. I still have yet frappsed anything with it, but I cant complain for a puter under 2k. And the best thing of all, its a tax deductible gaming laptop that my wife bought of her own accord :)

Derrek

[FIREWALL]

You just need to push the right buttons, Deimos. When our motherboard showed signs of disintegration (well, it wasn't the motherboard in the end, but that's a whole other story!), I began compiling a list of components we needed to buy. This was my g/f's computer, so she'd be paying for it, so the deal was to get parts for under 350 Euro, tops. When I finally compiled the list, she began nagging about "why we need such an expensive CPU and/or motherboard" etc etc etc. I simply told her: "Honey, you do want to play the new Unreal Tournament, don't you?". She didn't complain again :rotfl:
Just do what I did. My wife does graphic design for a living, and I mean she is a magician with it, allthough I can't get her to understand 3d modeling, which I think is so much easier. Anyways, she decided that because she does work from home sometimes, and when she has to take me to the V.A., she needed a laptop that could handle most of CS3 running all together. Umm, she ordered the laptop, a D830 with a Nvidia Quadro NVS 140M card, and I had made sure it would run SH4 before she ordered it, and to this day i can run the SH4 full tilt boogey and can run up TC to around 8k and no lag, jaggies, nothing. and thats with everything runnin in the background. I still have yet frappsed anything with it, but I cant complain for a puter under 2k. And the best thing of all, its a tax deductible gaming laptop that my wife bought of her own accord :)

Derrek


I love a read with a happy ending :up:

[Deimos01]

See, I can understand if things dont work right. It happens. Alls I ask is that if it aint right then you make it right. I work in a Harley-Davidson dealer and we go out of our way to "Make it right" when folks have problems. Man, if we treated our customers like this we be out of buisness quicker than you can say HOG. Ya know, one perk about where I work is we get pre-paid legal services. Hmmmm, I think all this has caused me some mental anguish:hmm:

It may be time to let slip the dogs....:ping:

[stillalearnin]

That is so true. I cant really think of any other customer service like the mass marketed computer industry. Well, I take that back, the IRS is just about as bad :damn:

[kylesplanet]

Well, I take that back, the IRS is just about as bad :damn:

Well being that i just sent those bastards a check that I really didn't want to send, let call them the worse ever.:mad:

[stillalearnin]

Well, I take that back, the IRS is just about as bad :damn:
Well being that i just sent those bastards a check that I really didn't want to send, let call them the worse ever.:mad:


Whats even worse is when I have to pay as a disabled veteran. That one really blows my mind.

[Deimos01]

MAN! If this was happening to someone else I'd think it was funny. :damn:

So the I finally get hold of the service guy to schedule an appointment. He shows up to replace my mobo and GUESS WHAT????

The damn mobo they sent to him from Dell IS BAD!!!!!! :damn: :damn: :damn:

I kinda feel bad for the poor tech now. He almost didnt make it out the door after telling me that. :arrgh!:


This is what I feel like... :lost:

[stillalearnin]

You mean the "stock parts" they have are bad? That is scary!

[kylesplanet]

Well, I take that back, the IRS is just about as bad :damn:
Well being that i just sent those bastards a check that I really didn't want to send, let call them the worse ever.:mad:


Whats even worse is when I have to pay as a disabled veteran. That one really blows my mind.
I know it is off topic but I'm as fiscally conservative as one could get and I think it's a damn shame that a disabled vet has to give them a single cent. I abhor the idea of government healthcare but I have a solution. In kylesplanet's administration, disabled vets get vouchers and choose where they get they're healthcare and no taxes levied on your pension/benefits package or any other money you earned serving your country.

If it wasn't for you and the thousands and thousands like you, we would live in a very different world and it's not one I care to envision.

Now that my rant is over, lets resume debate about the rate of fire of the deck gun and just how much I love my Alienware!:lol:

[Deimos01]

You mean the "stock parts" they have are bad? That is scary!

Ya, the guy tears down my comp, puts in the new mobo, hooks everything up, plugs it in and all the lights came on, fans went to 100% and stayed there and the comp couldnt be shut off without pulling the power cord. He said the proprietary command chip was fried or something like that. That is the new mobo. He figured out that my old one had a bad Dimm slot. :damn:

Poor guy told me that and I about lost my mind.:hulk: Then I got on the phone to Dell tech support and lit some guy up and then his supervisor in turn. The next visit they are sending another mobo, new RAM and anything the tech might need Plus the supervisors promise that he is taking personal ownership of this case. We shall see.....

[peabody]

Whats even worse is when I have to pay as a disabled veteran. That one really blows my mind. I know it is off topic but I'm as fiscally conservative as one could get and I think it's a damn shame that a disabled vet has to give them a single cent. I abhor the idea of government healthcare but I have a solution. In kylesplanet's administration, disabled vets get vouchers and choose where they get they're healthcare and no taxes levied on your pension/benefits package or any other money you earned serving your country.

If it wasn't for you and the thousands and thousands like you, we would live in a very different world and it's not one I care to envision.
[/quote]

100% agreement here. He is paid in full! I mean it's your employer saying he is going to give you a retirement but "I'm going to keep part of it". No other employer would get away with it. I worked 25 yrs in New York State Prisons and I don't have to pay NYS taxes. Why should he pay after serving his country and then have to give back the money he earned.
The worst part even though his efforts were greatly appreciated, you don't know how much!!!! The "very different world" is on the way. Look at the people who are starting businessess and putting billions in their pockets so there isn't enough money left to run the company, so they go out of business and Backruptcy can't touch their 'personal' money. So all the employees lost their job, pensions, and most of what they own, and Mr. money pockets start a new business under a different name and does the same thing over again.
And look how the government is protecting us. My mother lives on Social Security to the tune of $1200 a month and the heating oil company takes about 600-800 of it each month (in the winter). Heating oil here is $4.19 a gallon. Gas is almost $1 less. I can remember when gas was $1 heating oil was .50 because it didn't need to be refined as much. (Well, actually I can remember when I filled an 11 gallon tank for $2.58, but that's another story) What they found some new way to process crude that costs twice as much? And the government sits back and loves it because they are the ones with the stock in the company and we can't do anything about it.

What happened to all oil rich contries our service men died to protect? They helping us out? NO!! We should go back and set Kuwaits oil fields back on fire. What about Iraq, we got Sadam out of power, they helping us? NO!! And Saudi Arabia, you know they were next on Sadaams list, they helping? NO!! Thanks guys, we're gonna leave now, you're on your own, protect yourself!!!! And what amazes me, the government won't do anything to get some help with oil prices but they allow companies to sell them some of our best war technology so they can use it against us. Of course they get striped down versions, but can you image going into a dogfight against an F16 that WE sold to them!!

And you think Dell is bad, my whole family is boycotting Sears. I'll make a very long story shot. Called to get a refrigerator fixed. 6 weeks!!! And we had remodelled and bought a 'good' one. I wait the 6 wks,take the day off from work, they call at 9PM the night before (after all the bosses go home) to say we can't make it you'll have to reschedule. We can't possibly make it without incurring overtime. I don't give a **** if you incur overtime, you set this date, I didn't pick it. who is going to pay for my days work because you come anytime between 9am and 7pm? When I called about it they tried to sell an insurance policy for $250 that would fix anything they find wrong and would be good for 1yr. Apparently people fell for it so they went in front of me on the list. (I did some experimenting and found the bad part and fixed it myself for $40.)
My daughter bought a new washer and dryer, included delivery and installation....they forgot to bring thier tools. Used my son-in-laws cheapo $4 pliers, put them in his pocket out of habit and drove away. My daughter is very persistant!! They refused to just give her a pair off the shelf, they were $4.29, they had 'procedures' like Dell. After six months of climbing the ladder she finally got satisfaction....STUPID Sears send her a check for $36 and the phone calls were toll free. And there are many more Sears stories, but that's my ranting for this month.
I think I'll go blow something up. And of those Merchant ships carry sears parts?

Peabody

[Khourieat]

Ah if only taxes were as easy as black & white.

[peabody]

Ah if only taxes were as easy as black & white.

Taxes are easy:
1 How much did you make?
2, How much do you have left?
3. Send it to us!

Don't forget to sign the form


Peabody

[Khourieat]

Ah if only taxes were as easy as black & white.

Taxes are easy:
1 How much did you make?
2, How much do you have left?
3. Send it to us!

Don't forget to sign the form


Peabody

I meant getting rid of them for people who deserve it, as you suggest. Check our gov't spending, more money goes to the military then to our education system.

When you cut income, that money has to come from somewhere else. Tax businesses more? Sure, but when they move to cheaper grounds we (the people) are the only ones hurting. Businesses are only concerned with their bottom line, if a government doesn't cater to that enough, they'll just get the same bottom line elsewhere. It's a real pickle.

Heck, you can just look at our airline business to see what I mean, or rather how quickly they are going out of it :p If they're not making money, they aren't going to keep doing their thing.

[stillalearnin]

I dont expect sympathy from anyone. I just think its wrong to take what little money I do get from disability, and then take it back. Something else I dont care for is the atrocious service at the VA. It takes months to get an apointment, hours to get seen, and hours to get your medications. Something that if it was normal doctors visit with insurance, it would take maybey two hours to do all of that.

And I know this isnt quite on the topic of the of topic discussion, but it just about had me arrested when I saw some ***** waving a sign saying "IEDs are good". I know they have a right to free speech, but damn all that is attrocious. I was trying to get him to wear the sign up his a*s. Cant understand it at all. Sickens me. :down:

[Deimos01]

I dont expect sympathy from anyone. I just think its wrong to take what little money I do get from disability, and then take it back. Something else I dont care for is the atrocious service at the VA. It takes months to get an apointment, hours to get seen, and hours to get your medications. Something that if it was normal doctors visit with insurance, it would take maybey two hours to do all of that.

And I know this isnt quite on the topic of the of topic discussion, but it just about had me arrested when I saw some ***** waving a sign saying "IEDs are good". I know they have a right to free speech, but damn all that is attrocious. I was trying to get him to wear the sign up his a*s. Cant understand it at all. Sickens me. :down:

I hear ya brother. Im a 20 year vet meself. Retired last year. They really get us on our so called "benifits". And those ******* protesters can really get you wound up but that is the price we pay for free speach. Not all of it is something we want to hear. But it is what we fought for. I just wish the laws were a tad more relaxed about having a nice "debate" with one of those guys. :arrgh!:

On a positive note for myself. My comp is back up and running and so far it is error free. Looks like this 6 month long nightmare was caused by a bad mobo or bad RAM or a combination of both. I can finally use this gaming rig for gaming now. :rock:

[stillalearnin]

Glad to hear it Deimos! I know it drives you crazy when you have something crap out on you, and then CS has their head up their ass, not really wanting to fix the problem. I bet the "overseas" help centers are paid by the hour.

[Deimos01]

The one thing that still has me mad is that I had to pitch such a fit to finally get something done. However, alls well that ends well and the supervisor I lit into was very nice and helpfull. I actually gave him a call and thanked him.

[tennozan]

Hey, Deimos. If you may be referring to the ongoing Nvidia/Vista driver woes, I have bled through that over the last few weeks. Dozens of driver un/re-installs. Many, many BSD / full system crashes due to "device driver" issues.

Today that changed. I found the 174.93 drivers that came out today (leaked I presume) for Nvidia 8800 and 9800 series cards/Vista.

Installed. They ROCK. No more crashes and SH4 looks simpy amazing. I cranked everything up at 1600X1200 and the clarity and difference is stunning.

Once you are back up you may want to steer around the previous drivers and see what they might do for you.

[Deimos01]

Well, It looks that in my particular case it wasnt a driver issue. I am using the 169.25 drivers. Im almost afraid to start messing around now that I am running stable. If it aint broke, dont fix it. :)

But ya, I'll probably try out the newer versions once Im certain that this vampire is dead forever.

And yes, I was getting various instances of the nvlddmkm error.