Comments on: If I had to buy an off-the-shelf PC, what would it be? https://dfarq.homeip.net/if-i-had-to-buy-an-off-the-shelf-pc-what-would-it-be/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=if-i-had-to-buy-an-off-the-shelf-pc-what-would-it-be David L. Farquhar on technology old and new, computer security, and more Fri, 09 May 2025 13:58:04 +0000 hourly 1 By: Dave Farquhar https://dfarq.homeip.net/if-i-had-to-buy-an-off-the-shelf-pc-what-would-it-be/#comment-6295 Fri, 14 Jan 2011 22:06:08 +0000 https://dfarq.homeip.net/?p=2914#comment-6295 During a tense moment a couple of years ago, I said I was headed to the Packard Bell Outlet, and I was going to dig around in the dumpster, grab the first computer I found, and it would be a better computer than a particular server that was giving us trouble. But you’re right. It’s extremely difficult to find someone who was into computers in the 1990s who didn’t have a bad experience with a Packard Bell.

Heat seems to be the biggest problem with HP desktops of any type. Catch it on time, and it’s the easiest problem to correct, fortunately.

]]> By: Steve Aubrey https://dfarq.homeip.net/if-i-had-to-buy-an-off-the-shelf-pc-what-would-it-be/#comment-6293 Fri, 14 Jan 2011 03:37:17 +0000 https://dfarq.homeip.net/?p=2914#comment-6293 Packard Bell’s computers have kept me from buying anything else sold under that brand name. It wasn’t just a bad taste in my mouth, it was a pervasive, permeating stench.

I helped someone set up a new consumer HP recently, and I agree about the shovelware that gets loaded on. It was still better than the box it replaced, a small form-factor HP that couldn’t get rid of heat well enough and blew up two motherboards. And then went out of warranty.

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