Different Computers, Same XP
The official release of Windows XP is next week, but major PC companies already are selling machines pre-configured with the new operating system. I borrowed three machines with Windows XP Home Edition from Gateway, Dell and Compaq just to see what it feels like to set up and run one of the new systems.
All three companies took advantage of Microsoft’s slightly liberalized licensing policy and put their own icons on the XP desktop and added options to the Windows XP start menu. Microsoft originally wanted vendors to keep the desktop clean and refrain from modifying the start menu but bowed under pressure from a federal appeals court and several states’ attorneys general.
Gateway and Compaq went a step further by replacing the Windows help and support menu with their own versions. All the options from Microsoft’s help system were there. Compaq added some options, but Gateway’s help menu had an entirely different look and feel.
It’s refreshing to see a vendor add value to the Windows interface, but it’s a bit of a double-edged sword. It won’t bother you if you’re new to Windows XP, but I’ve been using various pre-release versions of XP for several months and I found the changes slightly confusing. In most ways, however, all three companies’ XP implementations were pretty much the same.
Let’s face it: A few icons on the desktop, a slightly different set of bundled programs and their choices of cases, mice and keyboards are about all the leeway PC makers have to distinguish their machines from the competition. The PC’s innards are generic and interchangeable.
Compaq is the only major vendor still offering CPUs from AMD; the Presario 8000 is equipped with AMD’s new 1800+ Athlon XP processor with a clock speed of 1.53 gigahertz. I ran a speed test pitting the AMD-equipped Compaq against the Gateway 700 XL, equipped with Intel’s fastest 2-GHz Pentium 4 processor. The Compaq ran considerably faster on tests that measure performance with typical office applications, giving credence to AMD’s claims that a chip’s rated clock speed doesn’t tell the whole story.
Still, the imperceptibly “slower” mid-range (1.6-GHz) CPU on the Dell Dimension 4300 I tested was more than fast enough to run just about any software you’re likely to use. In fact, the performance difference between any of these machines and my 2-year-old 700-MHz Dell Pentium III is nothing to get excited about.
Far more important than the speed of the processor is the way the machines are equipped. For best performance, get 256 megabytes of RAM (XP needs at least 128 MB) and a fast (7200 RPM) hard drive.
I asked Compaq to send me a machine with a drive that can write to DVDs, so I wound up with the company’s top-of-the-line system that’s very well-equipped and very fast but is flawed in two ways. Its case is hard to take apart and its fans are very noisy.
The Dell 4300 was pretty quiet and has an innovative case that opens like a suitcase without any tools. The Gateway is virtually silent and the cover on its case can be removed with a thumbscrew. To be fair, Compaq’s mid-range 5000 series models have easy-to-open cases with quieter fans.
You can quibble about the relative merits of each machine, but there’s no question about which company has the best technical support. I made at least two calls to each company and only Gateway answered the phone promptly each time. Because of a conflict with a third-party hardware add-on (not Gateway’s fault), I wound up spending considerable time on the phone with several Gateway support representatives and was impressed with all but one of them.
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Technology reports by Lawrence J. Magid can be heard between 2 and 3 p.m. weekdays on the KNX-AM (1070) Technology Hour. He can be reached at larry.magid@latimes.com.
