Is Dell REALLY this stupid? (or is it just me?)

rodney_ws

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So I received a catalog from Dell today touting a Intel Core Duo laptop... 17 inch display, Centrino technology, 1 GB RAM, CDRW/DVD, etc etc etc for $999... a definite steal by my standards...

BUT... it comes with Windows XP Home.

Someone PLEASE correct me if I'm wrong, but Windows XP Home will not utilize both cores of this laptop's CPU... am I missing something?
 

rodney_ws

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I want a 2nd opinion on this... I know XP Home supports Intel's with HT technology... but everything I've ever read says that to support a true dual-core processor you must run Win2000 Pro or XP Professional.
 

linux_0

Splendid
Linux and *BSD provide a tru 100% legally free and open source alternative with full SMP support for any number of CPUs as well as multi-core support :D

http://mirrors.kernel.org/

Semper Fi Linux on!
 

pcrig

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Feb 3, 2006
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Why the hell did I bother with XP Professional then?!?

Well, I learned something new today.


No you didn't!

Why one would ever waste money on Windows XP Home?
That is castrated Windows XP PRO (networking!)
 

CallumN

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Yes, but laptops are, in my eyes, only for when you are out of the house, ect, when you cant get to your powerful workstation. Hense why i have an Emachines laptop, cheap.
 

pcrig

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you look as though youve been on these forums for a wee while now and your telling me you havent read any of the multiple posts in which this very same thing is said. if it isnt true then there are alot of stupid people using only 1 core of X2 and opteron's.

Well SMART people will NOT buy DELL word processors!

They chose real laptops either IBM/LENOVO (brand) or ASUS laptops.
And yes they would look for TURION 64 (I want one with dual core!)
 

pcrig

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Bringing this back down to reality, when would you ever need dual cores on a laptop?

Say What?

Specially on laptop dual core (AMD Turion 64 x2!) has plenty advantages (with Vista 64) !

Have you ever heard of DESKTOP replacement?
 

michaelahess

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Also from what I've seen, the due isn't 64bit capable, so why get a new machine that won't even run newer software that's just over the horizon?

XP Pro allows more simultanios network connections, domain logon, and rdp access. All of which I use so home is useless to me. Some one mentioned "more security features" this is only insofar as domain level security, the OS has no additional features over home that work without a domain (as far as I'm aware.) By the way, XP media center is Pro with domain disabled, which can be enabled with a simple hack.
 

michaelahess

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My company uses IBM's exclusively, mine and a couple of my friends have died numerous times a year, though Lenova will overnight a box, fix it in one day and ship it back overnight which is nice. I prefer ASUS, Acer, Toshiba. I have a 5 year old dell 4000 that still runs, but I've seen many newer ones, 600m, 6000, x1's, that have issues within a year or less.
 

pcrig

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My company uses IBM's exclusively, mine and a couple of my friends have died numerous times a year, though Lenova will overnight a box, fix it in one day and ship it back overnight which is nice. I prefer ASUS, Acer, Toshiba. I have a 5 year old dell 4000 that still runs, but I've seen many newer ones, 600m, 6000, x1's, that have issues within a year or less.

Company made right choice.
IIf IBM/Lenovo dies it is mainly the problem with the user!

Acer, Toshiba.. This time I say NEVER!
..
 

michaelahess

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My laptop died twice in two months from a small shock I felt when touching the touchpad (power supply plugged in no less!) Had to replace MB both times. I've shocked the heck out of my dell and acer and they never flinche.
 

linux_0

Splendid
Also from what I've seen, the due isn't 64bit capable, so why get a new machine that won't even run newer software that's just over the horizon?



Absolutely true!!!! I would buy an AMD64 laptop and run Linux x86_64 instead :D :D



XP Pro allows more simultanios network connections, domain logon, and rdp access. All of which I use so home is useless to me. Some one mentioned "more security features" this is only insofar as domain level security, the OS has no additional features over home that work without a domain (as far as I'm aware.) By the way, XP media center is Pro with domain disabled, which can be enabled with a simple hack.
 

ratherrapid

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did i miss something. will someone please answer the original question.
will windows XP home utilize both cpus in a dual cpu computer. newbie q. txs.
 

endyen

Splendid
Read carefully. No, xp home will not support two cpu setups. The original poster was not talking about a 2 cpu setup. He was talking about a single cpu, that has 2 cores. XP home will work with dual core, whether they are virtual or real. It looks to see how many sockets are present.
In simple terms, XP home will use all of the parts in a single socket setup. In a dual socket setup, xp will only recognize the chip in one of the sockets.
 

michaelahess

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My 5 year old dell PIII 700 was faster than a dell 600m with a 1.2g Pentium M, and the HD in that unit died 3 times, the keyboard died once and the serial port didn't work when I first got it (and the machine never left my desk.) Oh by the way, for 3 years all I did was contract out to IBM, Dell, HP/Compaq, Gateway, and Emachines for repair work. I worked on 10 times more dells than any other brand, even Emachines! Sure they sell more, but the odds are still against them. And their prices are terrible for what you get, try to get a 1.8g processor, 100gb hd, 1gig of ram and a radeon700x in a dell for under 2 grand, oh wait you can't.
 

Fox_granit

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OK REALLY, XP home is desigened for a single CHIP, it will still use the dual core, but not as effecently as XP Pro or 2kPro becuase Home does not handle multi-threading as well. XP home also does not have the Networking capabilites either, i think one pc can connect to 5 max on one lan using home. here is the actual differences from Microsoft
Windows XP Comparison Guide.

Hopefully this will finally clear up any confusion............