HP/Compaq Presario and Linux

[Dan Jenkins]

Jason Stephenson wrote:
> Jerry Feldman wrote:
>> In general, I would probably buy a Dell or HP/Compaq depending on the
>> price and features, although I might also buy a system with Linux
>> preinstalled. 
> 
> I don't think Dell does the above, at least not on the Optiplex and 
> PowerEdge lines.

I was recently pleasantly surprised when ordering a system (eServer) 
from IBM. They asked me what operating system I wanted: Linux, Windows 
or none. No prompting on my part. And that was the order they presented 
them. I've grown to be be very happy with IBM. Though we build all our 
own systems usually, we do have a few clients who demand brand name.

> I haven't dealt with Dell's tech support in over three years, and when I 
> did I found it acceptable. Compaq, I've never called them. Gateway, I've 
> heard is abysmal, but judging from the overall quality of their 
> machines, it's not surprising. ;)

We had a client who purchased some Dell systems from a company which was 
going out of business. The Dell systems were only three months old. One 
failed (a motherboard failure) immediately. When we called Dell, we were 
informed that any warranty only applied to the original purchaser - and 
we'd have to provide a credit card to continue the conversation. It took 
  a threat of legal action by my client to get them to honor their 
warranty.

> Now, I have dealt with tech support from a couple of motherboard 
> manufacturers recently and got a satisfactory response every time.

YMMV, I have an Intel motherboard sitting on the shelf under warranty. 
Intel refuses to accept it until we run their diagnostic on it. Of 
course, that is impossible since it blows power supplies within minutes 
of being turned on. Intel doesn't consider that an acceptable reason to 
not run the diagnostic. I don't have the patience for another 40 minute 
phone call to get to someone more sensible. Anyways, my Hindi isn't very 
good.

I'm also not surprised over the Presario response to Linux. I got a 
similar response when a school was donated one and we needed to install 
Windows NT on it (the application required it), instead of the XP Home 
it came with. (Albeit that WinNT is an old OS.) HP/Compaq said the only 
configuration which worked was the one it was shipped as. We got it to 
work anyways, of course, though we had to install a network card.

-- 
Dan Jenkins (dan at rastech.com)
Rastech Inc., Bedford, NH, USA --- 1-603-206-9951
*** Technical Support for over a Quarter Century