Columns Functionality not included

Moral of the story: don't be an early adopter, and only buy stuff that you know will do exactly what you need.

I invested in a dual CPU system because it gave me the creamy smoothness that I wanted. People thought I was nuts. Now they're all upgrading to dual core. My PC can still beat the pants of most.

I have had a Radeon 9800 Pro for years. It gave the all the power that I needed. I only upgraded to a XT1650 recently to support the resolution of my new 30" TFT. Again: people think I'm nuts. But the screen estate is exactly that I want (I know, only one DVI port, but I only need the one -- it is a PC monitor, and that is how I use it), and the card again delivers exactly the power I need.

When I bought a Tablet PC people again thought I was weird; why eschew the functionality of a full keyboard on a laptop? Why not buy a convertible? But laptops and convertibles are heavy, and they do not have eight hours of battery life. When other people are hunched over their laptop keyboards in the train, or looking for sockets to plug in to, I am happily browsing my tablet like a magazine, or jotting notes like on a notepad. Functionality, as I want it, how I want it. the key is to consider how you want to use your technology, and how this informs your choices.

 

The good thing is, if you are limited by the amount of money you can spend, you have to buy last years model which "just works", but isn't that better than the latest thing which barely "just works"?

H.B.

 

True. In fact, last year's model often works just great. It has matured, and is capable of running all the current releases. And it is half the price of the latest model. What more do you want?

 

Great article with very valid points. Every now and then I get the God I need that new cool shiny thing-itch, but luckily logic kicks in (combined with my bank balance). I use my computer for standard stuff (for which it is more than adequate) and to play Guildwars, which I can do at 1600x1280 with all the eye candy on max with no problem. This is where logic kicks in and tell me that why should I buy a new GFX or CPU or... when my system can do everything I need it to do.
I guess some people just have more money than sense

The interesting question is really, how many here have systems that are waaay overkill for what they use it for. and "yeah but it CAN run so and so game at max res and detail" if you don't play that game why bother. How many here upgrade without actually needing it, but just because they all of sudden have the urge or cash to do so?

 

In the corporate environment we try to stay a bit off the curve. For most of my users, a $450 - $650 Intel based XP PC is more than sufficient for anything they are doing. MS Office, a few Citrix based apps and surfing are essentially all most users need. It makes it a lot easier to upgrade users when the budget is showing $600 for a new PC as opposed to $2000 or more per box. True we don't have full Vista compatible video boards but at 2.8ghz+ with 1gb of ram it is enough for most business needs and unless we do a major software change (no plans for at least 3 years) then the machine should outlast it's expected lifecycle (apprx 3-4 year technology refresh plan).

The last thing I need is a bunch of the newest components in a box that's not going to be stable. It's bad enough when it's your machine... now try supporting that for 100's of users. Give me stable and functional and I'm happy.

 

You used a TI calculator? Sheeesh Brett, I kinda have to think less of you now... I might have to ship you a HP with RPN and let you use a real calculator with your tea

 

Very nice read

Although i do have the say - the TI-89 is a fantastic calculator (the 92+ is even better, but its just an upgraded 89), If you want one calculator for life, the 89 is a fantastic buy (I'm starting to sound like a promotion on feet)

Well this is assuming your older then 18 - because the British exam boards ban them - sigh
Its quite worrying, countries like France insist on a TI class calculator - but here in blighty we are forced into some Casio crap - /rant

But of course, it can be very daunting, and not very novice friendly - hell it doesn't even have a sqrt button

Back on topic:
I have to agree, early adopters will always get screwed over, and there's no point going bleeding edge, because in a month or 2 you're no longer bleeding edge, and in 6-8 months your out of date
Look at people who bought into BD/HDVD - they are already onto the 3rd revision of HDMI, the initial players were ridiculously overpriced and now you can buy something for 1/2 the price