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The 10 Worst Tech Products of 2010

Barence writes "PC Pro has a count down of the ten worst tech gadgets of the year. Included in its hall of shame are: iPad Made Simple, 'a book containing 704 pages of advice on how to use a device that's universally acknowledged as being ridiculously easy to use'; the Dell Inspiron Duo, 'a tablet that leaves you longing to return to a keyboard and a touchpad'; and the £99 Next Tablet, the highlight of which was the 'eight-page Quick Start Guide.'"

31 of 203 comments (clear)

  1. i hereby nominate by smash · · Score: 5, Interesting

    the Dell E6xxx series laptops. In my 16 years in the computing industry, i have never seen such a high failure/random wierd issue rate - before the machines even leave the bench (takes 25 minutes to network build with SOE) in many cases.

    cheers Dell, for convincing me to move to HP Elitebooks.

    --
    I run: Windows, OS X, Linux, FreeBSD. Just because you have a hammer, doesn't mean everything is a nail.
    1. Re:i hereby nominate by acoustix · · Score: 2

      I actually loved my D620 and D630 Latitudes. They were very solid and I loved the keyboard - especially with the 9-cell battery that acts as a palm rest. Plus they had a serial port - which I use quite a bit for initial router and switch configurations.

      My new E6510, while loaded to the gills, has a keyboard that's more difficult for me to use. Although I love the screen. I also had issues with some of the Dell provided drivers. Specifically the video driver for my nVidia NVS 3100M which would cause one of my cores to run at 100% under Win XP. Using the manufacturer's driver fixed that issue.

      --
      "A plan fiendishly clever in its intricacies"- Homer Simpson
    2. Re:i hereby nominate by fuzzyfuzzyfungus · · Score: 4, Funny

      I'm not sure how you could be so mean...

      Expecting a company to make what is damn near an Intel reference design work properly after only 27 BIOS updates(and counting, it was 24 only weeks ago) is cruel and unrealistic. Some people just aren't satisfied with anything(or, like our network manager, satisfied with anything related to his E6400, which he deep-sixed for his prior laptop, despite the significant spec bump...)

    3. Re:i hereby nominate by ArhcAngel · · Score: 4, Funny

      If an AC endorsing a product doesn't give you pause then you are a brave soul indeed.

      --
      "A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky dangerous animals and you know it." - K
    4. Re:i hereby nominate by mcgrew · · Score: 5, Interesting

      I nominate "3D" TV.

    5. Re:i hereby nominate by smash · · Score: 2

      All ours were rebuilt with an E series based Win7 SOE build (pretty simple SOE - Win7 + Dell drivers + office 2007). Troublesome machines were re-imaged if necessary, but generally it wasn't random software unreliability. We had one machine go through 3 motherboards, failed displays, chronic overheating problems (google throttlegate), etc. The E6500s got better just before the E6510 came out as there was a motherboard rev that seemed to cure a lot of the issues. E6510 has been better but still have had a disturbing number of DOAs out of the box.

      --
      I run: Windows, OS X, Linux, FreeBSD. Just because you have a hammer, doesn't mean everything is a nail.
    6. Re:i hereby nominate by Stenchwarrior · · Score: 2

      Now that you mention it, we did have one machine come out of sleep mode whilst in someone's backpack. It burned up the screen and left a 1cm-squared white spot in the middle of the LCD. The tech came out to replace it and insisted that it was due to crush damage because of the burn being the same size of a keyboard button. We had to pay Dell for the new screen because our IT manager felt it was in the company's best interest not to get the accidental coverage. A decision that I'm sure he's regretting (but won't admit).

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  2. Time to put PC Pro on a list like this... by jedidiah · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I'm not inclined to cut Apple any slack and even I would not have put the Mini on that list.

    Overall, this list seems pretty lame and mostly filled with stuff that doesn't really belong there.

    --
    A Pirate and a Puritan look the same on a balance sheet.
    1. Re:Time to put PC Pro on a list like this... by Patch86 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      TFA agrees with you, and points out that they're being a little unfair. But what they really wanted to do was bitch and moan about £650 for something specced the same as an Acer Aspire Revo; and worse, ripping you off on "optional upgrades" by charging "triple the price difference".

      All of which, if true, is pretty shitty. They could probably have found better "worst products of 2010" if they'd wanted to, but their criticisms of the Mac Mini seem valid enough.

    2. Re:Time to put PC Pro on a list like this... by smash · · Score: 2

      Spec wise the mini isn't impressive. But lack of noise, lack of heat, and OS X makes it a pretty nifty little box. I've got a 2007 spec mini and it has been the machine to convert me.

      --
      I run: Windows, OS X, Linux, FreeBSD. Just because you have a hammer, doesn't mean everything is a nail.
    3. Re:Time to put PC Pro on a list like this... by jedidiah · · Score: 2

      Apple products being overpriced is hardly news or noteworthy.

      If they are going to whine about this sort of thing then they should target the Mac Pro. It's a much more expensive proposition for basic expandability features that you can get in a $300 PC. It's the perfect example of "in for a penny,in for a pound".

      --
      A Pirate and a Puritan look the same on a balance sheet.
    4. Re:Time to put PC Pro on a list like this... by mark72005 · · Score: 2

      It wasn't just that it was underpowered, it's that it was so underpowered that it was unfit for its intended use. Loading a news website in 55 seconds while on wifi is not reasonable.

    5. Re:Time to put PC Pro on a list like this... by jasonditz · · Score: 2

      If we're just talking about things being overpriced they could have given the spot to those bladeless fans from Dyson. £650 is too expensive, but the US price ($650-$700) is actually a pretty good deal, and the new aluminum unibody system is easier to self-upgrade than the old "stick a pizza slicer in the back until it pops" ones were.

    6. Re:Time to put PC Pro on a list like this... by Delusion_ · · Score: 3, Interesting

      I've played with the Apple store Mac configuration tool any number of times, and the upgrade prices are preposterous. They are utterly divorced from reality, and it makes them look very bad - if you're charging five times the cost differential between hard drive A and hard drive B, you get the sneaking suspicion—probably accurate—that their initial prices for peripherals are similarly rapacious.

      Take the $700 Mac mini. Set aside that it is overpriced, for the moment, since some people will pay more for the fact that it is designed well, and that they want to use MacOS.

      Processor
      Included: 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
      Upgrade: 2.66GHz Intel Core 2 Duo [Add $150.00]

      Newegg: Difficult to give a precise comparison, but consider that the price difference between the 2.4GHz (P8600) and 2.8GHz Core 2 Duo (P9600) is $120. This is retail pricing, and not what an OEM like Apple would be paying.

      -----

      RAM:
      Included: 2GB 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2x1GB
      Upgrade: 4GB 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2x2GB [Add $100.00]
      Upgrade: 8GB 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2x4GB [Add $500.00]

      Newegg:
      2x 1GB DDR3 1066MHz SDRAM: Starting at $27.98
      2x 2GB DDR3 1066MHz SDRAM: Starting at $49.98 [Add $22]
      2x 4GB DDR3 1066MHz SDRAM: Starting at $139.98 [Add $112]

      -----

      Hard drive:
      Included: 320GB Serial ATA Drive
      Upgrade: 500GB Serial ATA Drive [Add $100.00]

      Newegg:
      HITACHI Travelstar 7K500 HTE725032A9A364 320GB 7200 RPM 2.5" SATA 3.0Gb/s Internal Notebook Hard Drive -Bare Drive $59.99 (this is the exact drive in the default setup, which I feel is the fairest way to go as I don't want to compare it to a drive whose vertical clearance might be slightly different)
      HITACHI Travelstar 5K500.B HTS545050B9A300 (0A57915) 500GB 5400 RPM 8MB Cache 2.5" SATA 3.0Gb/s Internal Notebook Hard Drive -Bare Drive $59.99 [Add $0.00]

      I'm told this faster drive also works:
      Seagate Momentus 7200.4 ST9500420AS 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache 2.5" SATA 3.0Gb/s Internal Notebook Hard Drive -Bare Drive $64.99 [Add $5.00]

      As well as this larger, faster drive:
      Seagate Momentus ST9750420AS 750GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache 2.5" SATA 3.0Gb/s Internal Notebook Hard Drive -Bare Drive $109.99 [Add $50]

      -----

      I don't mean to be "that guy", because I appreciate why some people prefer Apple, and they make some hardware that, if prices were less insane, I would be interested in, but their prices on upgrades is punitive to say the least.

    7. Re:Time to put PC Pro on a list like this... by Delusion_ · · Score: 2

      Neither of your points are valid. Since Apple is doing the configuration outlays that Apple is offering, whether a third party would have to take it apart and put it together right isn't relevant.

      The cost for Apple to upgrade a given component should be equal or less than the cost difference between the base and upgraded product if the consumer were to buy it at retail, as the OEM is getting better prices. Yes, there's a need to build in a profit for upgrades, but a $500 upgrade price for a component upgrade whose street price difference is $112? That's offensive.

      Unless of course you're suggesting that Apple is making all the mac minis exactly alike, and then disassembling the ones that customers get upgraded options on.

  3. 10 worst slashdot articles of 2010 by anonymousNR · · Score: 2

    aah forget it.

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    -- It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it. -- Aristotle
    1. Re:10 worst slashdot articles of 2010 by Monkeedude1212 · · Score: 2

      Too many to choose from?

  4. I nominate the Platystation Move by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Good job ripping off Nintendo. Who the hell came up the glowing ping-pong ball idea?

    I would nominate Kinect, but at least there are other uses for it.

  5. Give them some credit though by alvinrod · · Score: 2

    It's a lame list designed to be click-bait, so if they put something disagreeable on it it'll get linked to be people crying foul, but at least it's not spread across ten different pages.

  6. The list was lamer than the products by Dr_Ken · · Score: 2

    A lame article really. The products may not be your cup of tea but they ain't all half bad either. Except for the "iPad made simple" one. That choice was more funny than lame.

    --
    "If you want to know what happens to you when you die, go look at some dead stuff."
    1. Re:The list was lamer than the products by Belial6 · · Score: 3, Interesting

      The funny part is how everyone just accepts the Apple PR. I'm not saying that an iPad is rocket science, but there are configuration setting in the thing that many people just wouldn't know what they mean. In fact, there are just as many setting to configure to use an iPad as there are to use a new Windows PC. And speaking of a PC, you have to have one and use it to get full use of the iPad. So, if a Windows/OSX mand simple book makes any sense at all, so does an iPad made simple book.

    2. Re:The list was lamer than the products by Gadget_Guy · · Score: 4, Insightful

      People overestimate how easy the iPad is to use. My first introduction to the iAnything was watching other people struggling to use their new devices. Without watching the screen, I could tell it was not the intuitive interface that everybody claimed.

      When I finally got an iPhone I discovered the problem for myself. The interface is littered with hidden features that have no visual indication that they exist, let alone how to use them. Then there is the problem of the inconsistent user interface.

      The great example that I always use is to ask how you delete things in iOS. It seems that every app has its own way to do it. Some of them rely on the user just having to know that they have to strike through an item or click and holding on an icon until a little red X appears. The only way to find out how to do it is to try out all the possibilities. I still can't say for sure that you can't delete a song from the iPod app, because maybe there is some method that I haven't tried. Either way it is a rubbish interface.

      So I think that there is definitely a use for an iPad how-to book.

    3. Re:The list was lamer than the products by MichaelSmith · · Score: 2

      I think the Android UI is better because it has a physical Menu button. Usually functions like delete are in there.

    4. Re:The list was lamer than the products by TClevenger · · Score: 2

      For most people, all they do is turn the damn iPad on, tyoe in their wifi password, and they are off and away.

      Don't forget buying, installing and configuring a computer, then installing iTunes so you can actually plug in, activate and use the iPad.

    5. Re:The list was lamer than the products by Gadget_Guy · · Score: 2

      But nobody was calling Windows XP ridiculously easy like they were with iOS. There is still a need for 3rd party books on that platform, especially because they keep changing the user interface of the printer setup with each version of Windows.

      All I ask is that you take off the rose coloured glasses when looking at Apple's user interface.

  7. BlackBerry Torch? by Anonymous+Brave+Guy · · Score: 2

    I'm surprised the BlackBerry Torch didn't make it onto a list like this. It should have been their latest and greatest, but their first large touchscreen device offered a resolution at least a generation behind the competition from Apple, HTC, and friends and poor touch responsiveness as well.

    Also, when I asked the Orange store about it and they told me the price, my immediate reaction was that I would be getting it with a 24-month plan, not just off the shelf. They told me the price they were quoting was with the 24-month lock-in. I actually laughed out loud.

    --
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  8. Windows XP drivers basically broken by swb · · Score: 2

    I have an E6500 and several customers have E65xx models.

    I've had mine for 18 months and it's been flawless with Windows 7 x64 as have the others running Windows 7 x86.

    Two people are running XP on them and have had all manor of problems and what I've tracked down is that Dell's "official" Windows 7 wifi and network drivers are broken -- the devices don't work well with these drivers, cause odd problems unrelated to the drivers (ie, domain logins away from the domain basically hang forever).

    I replaced the drivers with Intel-supplied drivers from Intel's web site and they work perfectly. My guess is Dell just didn't care about XP support.

  9. So sad to see Norton Utilities here by snookums · · Score: 2

    Doesn't anyone else remember when a boot floppy with Norton Utilities and XTreeGold was the ultimate PC repair tool?

    It's sad to see the name associated with a set of snake-oil "optimizers".

    --
    Be careful. People in masks cannot be trusted.
  10. No no no.. the iPad itself! by RenHoek · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I say the iPad itself stands as king on Mount Crapmore for 2010. So far, all the people who bought one of those tablets can _not_ tell me what they are using it for. I can think of very few people who'd actually have a legitimate use for it. Others would be better off with a Blackberry or a cheap netbook.

    I've witnessed a conversation that illustrates my anger. I do sysadmin work and one of the systems is an immersive 3D Cave system to examine medical images. When two ladies heard an iPad was going to be purchased for the Cave so you can take notes, they exclaimed "How modern!". Right.. A visual system that runs on 6 servers, a number of beamers and camera's costing up to half a million euros isn't modern until we add a fucking iPad! You know what even works better then an iPad to take notes with? A pen and goddamn clipboard!

    So because the whole world has been brainwashed that it's oh so useful, this is the most horribly useless product of 2010.

    If you disagree, (and I expect many will), please, PLEASE tell me what you actually use it for. And if you say something that can be solved better by a cheaper product, (like ebook reading, for which a kindle is better and cheaper), I'm going to hit you on the head with a wiffle bat until you're free of your Apple worship affliction. I wouldn't accept an iPad if they offered it to me for free.

    1. Re:No no no.. the iPad itself! by RapmasterT · · Score: 2
      Anti-fanboy-ism is a game I can definitely get in on. But frankly you sound like an idiot.

      I can think of very few people who'd actually have a legitimate use for it.

      Since when do you get to decide what's "legitimate" and what isn't? If some people have a use for it that you don't, is that less legitimate than if you have a use for it that they don't?

      The only Apple product I own is an iPad and I use it every day. So often that I need a second one because my girlfriend is constantly bogarting it. It's hands down the most useful format for couch computing of anything out there. and if you suggest using a laptop while sitting on a couch or walking around, then I suggest you beat yourself with your own wiffle bat.

      So I use it for Web browsing mostly, some games, and I have a pretty good RDP client on it for remote controlling my media PC when the remote interface goes wonky, or if I don't want to stop what it's doing on the main screen. It's also a damned useful Sonos remote, and the movie collection app that I have my DVD's cataloged in is MUCH more useful in a portable iPad than on a PC. Then there's things like watching Netflix streaming movies in bed while girlfriend sleeps, and yes...even the iPad kindle app is good. Not as good as the hardware kindle for use in bright sunlight...but it excels in the DARK, where the kindle is useless.

      Any of those strike you as "legitimate"? Because I'll let you define that word for yourself, for me however, I find those things "useful".

      I wouldn't accept an iPad if they offered it to me for free.

      and that's the part that makes you sound like an idiot.

    2. Re:No no no.. the iPad itself! by Palmsie · · Score: 3, Insightful

      THANK YOU GOOD SIR.

      I wholeheartedly agree. The iPad is one of the most ridiculously overpriced pieces of garbage out there. You're paying 450 dollars for what? An app store and a browser on a touchscreen. Sweet mother of baby jesus. Buy a laptop or a netbook. You get so much more for what you pay for. I have to hand it to Apple though, if they can brainwash their lemming customers to buy this useless piece of plastic, they can do anything, especially when you have full OS tablets out.

      And that is what worries me. Users don't care and aren't interested in the backend of computers. They never were. That is why the app store idea is so popular. Google with their Chrominium OS and Apple's appstore idea are driving the next gen computer user-experience. No one cares what goes where, how things are installed, or how the backend is functioning. All they care about is that they can press a button and download Angry Birds or Bejeweled then press another button and play. Who cares where it went as long as I can find it. This is exactly the same kind of nonsense that spawned from iTunes users where they think their music is magically "inside" iTunes rather than being parsed as a library from a location on the hd. Common users don't care about understanding these core components of the computer experience. They want simple, dumbed down, minimalistic experiences, which provide lean options but also minimal options to fuck up their system.

      --
      Carl Sagan quotes get you an automatic +5 on all posts.