Well, as I stated in my column, Jesse is widely considered to be one of the most influential "voices" on the Internet.  So it should be interesting to take a look 19 months later to see who was right, and who was WRONG!

Last week I visited several computer stores to see what is currently available.  Well, the first thing I noticed was that there are still plenty of PCs in the $1500.00 to $3000.00 price range.  And most of these machines are virtually identical to the machines that were in this same price range 19 months ago.  In other words, most of these machines feature the latest Intel processors, the latest PC improvements, plenty of expansion room, and the usual set of personal productivity software.  (I might mention at this point that of all the deals I've seen anywhere, The Linux Store has the best values I've seen on "real" PCs with quality video cards, sound cards and modems.)  As I went down the isles of Best Buy, CompUSA, and others, I noticed that they also had several new machines priced at $899.00, $799.00, and even $599.00 (without monitors).  Hmm.  On the surface, it would appear that Jesse was right.

Well, I decided I should take one of these machines home and see how it compares to the $1799.00 (with monitor) Packard Bell Pentium 100 I bought in January 1996.  So I loaded an E-machines 366i onto my cart at my last stop, Office Depot, ($599.00 without monitor, less a $75.00 mail-in rebate), paid for it, and took it home.  When I got it home, I unpacked it, connected everything, and turned it on.  Nothing!  The power light came on, but would not boot up.  I turned the power off, and back on several times.  Still nothing.  Hmm, is this a trick to make me break the seal on the Microsoft Windows '98 CD that came in the box?

Well, I have a couple of Win98 "Startup" disks lying around so I put one in, and turned it on again.  Suddenly it sprang to life!  I don't remember exactly what I did after that but I DID finally get it load Windows 98.  I put in a music CD and it played fine, though the soundcard and speakers leave much to be desired.  In fact,  I believe I've heard $6.00 transistor radios that sounded better!  I clicked the "Start" button and scrolled up to "Programs".  Microsoft Works.  That is IT.  That is all the software you get.  Well, so far, my three year old Packard Bell that sounds great and came with 20 CD-based programs featuring everything from Mindscape's "Complete Reference Library" to Sport's Illustrated Almanac to Mayo Family Health, has this $599.00 "bargain machine" beat all to hell!

Hmm.  Lets try installing Linux (which also runs great on my old Packard Bell)!

I pulled out Caldera's latest Linux release; OpenLinux 2.2, and put it in the CD player.  Well, it worked fine in Windows, and OpenLinux's Partition-Magic software set up a nice new Linux partition with a couple of simple mouse clicks.  But when I shut the computer down and restarted it to run the Linux installation it would not run.  Hmm.  I guess OpenLinux doesn't do "Samsung" CD players yet.  No problem.  I've got a brand new Digital Research 44x CD-ROM installed in my old Packard Bell.  So I pull the cover off of the "E-machine", install the new CD-ROM, and away we go!

Well, this latest OpenLinux version is VERY impressive from a "Windows user" point of view.  Everything is graphical, and very similar to installing, or upgrading Windows.  EXCEPT.  In THIS CASE, NO GRAPHICS!  WHAT?  Apparently OpenLinux doesn't do "Rage IIc AGP" graphics cards yet either.  Oh well.  No problem!  I've got a brand new "All-in-Wonder Pro PCI" card in the old Packard Bell.  So, I pull the A-I-W out of the Packard Bell, plug it into the ONLY available PCI slot in the 366i, and VOILA, the OpenLinux installation runs fine!  This installation program runs about twenty minutes or so (depending on the speed of your machine) and then it's ready to boot into the new desktop!  I boot up the new OpenLinux/KDE desktop, and everythng looks great!  32-bit graphics!  Hmm.  Lets try a CD!  Well, MY CD player appears to work fine, but there is no sound.  Hey!  This is getting a little ridiculous!  Apparently OpenLinux doesn't do Crystal CS 4280 PCI soundcards yet.  Well, ok, lets skip sound for now and try to set up a dial-up connection!  Can't!  Can't?  Why not?  Because the E-machines 366i uses a "Windows only" software modem.  So now we've got NO SOUND and  NO MODEM for Linux and only ONE (ISA) slot left.  NO FREAKING PROBLEM!  I pull the Packard Bell 28.8 AM/SP soundcard/modem out of the OLD PACKARD BELL, plug it in to the ONLY available ISA slot, AND AWAY WE GO!  Sound quality is great!  Dial-up works great!  From this point on, the E-machines 366i performance is about what you'd expect from a Celeron 366 (in other words, just slightly faster than a three year old Pentium 100).  The only problem now is that it took half of my other machine to get this damn thing to run Linux!

My conclusion?  Jesse was completely WRONG!  There are no cheap PCs.  And there is no cheap PC revolution!  What there ARE is cheap "Windows only" machines, with horrible sound, no software, and virtually no upgradeability that seem to be deliberatly designed to prevent you from installing other operating systems.  And these cheap machines are being MISREPRESENTED AS PCs (perhaps a couple of lawsuits would put an end to this misrepresentation).

I believe, as I stated in my previous column,  that the most important part of any settlement between the Department of Justice, and Microsoft, SHOULD BE to give consumers the opportunity to CHOOSE their OS.  In other words, I believe that consumers who HAD NO CHOICE, should be able to return Windows for a refund.  My basis for this conclusion is that I cannot think of ONE other thing in America, besides Windows, that cannot be returned.  IN FACT, in these days of 44x (and faster) "autostart" CD-ROMs and 20 minute OS installs, I really DO NOT believe the operating system should even come pre-installed.  In MY OPINION, I believe the consumer should be able to buy his PC, choose an OS CD, and within twenty minutes it should be up and running.

Well, the anti-trust trial is almost over!  So we'll soon see what the Judge concludes.  In the meantime, I suggest that you don't buy into Jesse's "cheap PC revolution"!  Otherwise,  you may find yourself stuck with a cheap Windows computer that nobody wants while the rest of us are either running the latest, greatest version of Linux, or a free NC with a high-speed connection!
 

Have an opinion you'd like to share? Send it to me!

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