One more thing. Yes, there was a lot lost in translation between the two evaluations. We have changed our program up, adding several processes that were implemented before, including purchasing anonymously. Yes, Gateway sent us the FX400XL. We had to send it back. And yes, two different authors wrote these articles. However, I stand by my editorial at the end of the XPS 400. I personally experienced both machines, and when I say there was a stark contrast, there was. I realize now that it is not as apparent the way the two articles were written.
I will be adding a dated addendum to the Gateway article to explain a few things better. While we took note of the 'bloatware' and 'value add' on the Gateway, I'm telling you now that it in no way impeded our enjoyment of the system. In other words, our testing suite at the time had no issues with the preinstalled software.
You should look at our testing suite again. We don't run benchmarks at the same resolutions. All you looked at were the frames per second. We test 'maximum playable settings'. In other words, what's the highest resolution, highest settings, best level of AA, AF, we could play and still maintain acceptable frame rates? We've employed this method with our video card evaluations for nearly two years.
Hmmm...it's ok if a system you purchase fails to deliver the experience promised? When did it become status quo to have to reinstall the OS to get the system you paid for?
We have no vendetta. Our JOB is to evaluate OEM machine.
We told you what the system could actually do.
It could actually score 18% less than optimal with all the bloatware installed.
It could fail to install games because of the bloatware.
It could fail to initialize games because of the bloatware.
It could freeze up because of the bloatware.
We have systems that are near perfect out of the box. Why on earth would we score Dell higher than a 4/10 when you can get worlds apart in experience from another vendor?
That 375W PSU had two +12V rails rated at 18A each. More than enough. Also, though we didn't check (we should have), I thought the prevailing wisdom was that Dell no longer used proprietary PSUs??
When I review a PC, as part of the process I disable as many background programs as I can, to get a feel for the capabilities of the "pure" system. Maybe I shouldn't do that anymore . . .
I should probably be taking to task in my column manufacturers that overloard new systems with junkware.
Sure, if that was the product we wanted: a solid hardware platform to install our own OS on.
That's not how Dell markets their systems. I would surmise that 90% of their customers have no idea how to do a clean install. Even if they did, you can see the hard time we had getting an OS disk and we never even got the drivers disks!
However, we wanted the "XPS Experience". Dell hypes up the entire product - OS and all, and we wanted to put that to the test. Surely there are those people out there who expect exactly what Dell is pitching to them.
I have seen plenty of systems come through these offices that didn't need an OS wipe, and sadly many people have never heard of them. Take PC Club for instance. They do have 59 brick and mortar stores and provide a GREAT system that we didn't need to reinstall a clean OS on. It was clean, devoid of any bloatware, and had the latest drivers. Or Maingear, and upcoming article. They are a fantastic boutique builder that I would recommend to anyone. Overnight shipping on RMA's, extremely competent techs. Wonderful experience.
I think it's sad that the status quo is that you EXPECT your OEM system to show up "broken" and are ready to do an OS wipe as soon as you get it.
Would you rather not?
We don't review systems from the standpoint of an enthusiast tech head. We evaluate from the consumer's standpoint, which in this case, would be a Dell customer who 90% of the time has no idea how to do a clean install of an OS.
Besides, we have had many systems from other manufacturers that work perfectly out of the box without the need for an OS wipe.
Why would you settle (and pay) to do their job for them?
I believe it is perfectly responsible for us to evaluate their product how they send it to customers.
Slashdot Mirror
One more thing. Yes, there was a lot lost in translation between the two evaluations. We have changed our program up, adding several processes that were implemented before, including purchasing anonymously. Yes, Gateway sent us the FX400XL. We had to send it back. And yes, two different authors wrote these articles. However, I stand by my editorial at the end of the XPS 400. I personally experienced both machines, and when I say there was a stark contrast, there was. I realize now that it is not as apparent the way the two articles were written. I will be adding a dated addendum to the Gateway article to explain a few things better. While we took note of the 'bloatware' and 'value add' on the Gateway, I'm telling you now that it in no way impeded our enjoyment of the system. In other words, our testing suite at the time had no issues with the preinstalled software.
You should look at our testing suite again. We don't run benchmarks at the same resolutions. All you looked at were the frames per second. We test 'maximum playable settings'. In other words, what's the highest resolution, highest settings, best level of AA, AF, we could play and still maintain acceptable frame rates? We've employed this method with our video card evaluations for nearly two years.
Hmmm...it's ok if a system you purchase fails to deliver the experience promised? When did it become status quo to have to reinstall the OS to get the system you paid for? We have no vendetta. Our JOB is to evaluate OEM machine. We told you what the system could actually do. It could actually score 18% less than optimal with all the bloatware installed. It could fail to install games because of the bloatware. It could fail to initialize games because of the bloatware. It could freeze up because of the bloatware. We have systems that are near perfect out of the box. Why on earth would we score Dell higher than a 4/10 when you can get worlds apart in experience from another vendor?
That 375W PSU had two +12V rails rated at 18A each. More than enough. Also, though we didn't check (we should have), I thought the prevailing wisdom was that Dell no longer used proprietary PSUs??
Houston Chronical computer reviewer comments on our article.
When I review a PC, as part of the process I disable as many background programs as I can, to get a feel for the capabilities of the "pure" system. Maybe I shouldn't do that anymore . . .
I should probably be taking to task in my column manufacturers that overloard new systems with junkware.
Ah, my first resolution for the new year!
Sure, if that was the product we wanted: a solid hardware platform to install our own OS on. That's not how Dell markets their systems. I would surmise that 90% of their customers have no idea how to do a clean install. Even if they did, you can see the hard time we had getting an OS disk and we never even got the drivers disks! However, we wanted the "XPS Experience". Dell hypes up the entire product - OS and all, and we wanted to put that to the test. Surely there are those people out there who expect exactly what Dell is pitching to them. I have seen plenty of systems come through these offices that didn't need an OS wipe, and sadly many people have never heard of them. Take PC Club for instance. They do have 59 brick and mortar stores and provide a GREAT system that we didn't need to reinstall a clean OS on. It was clean, devoid of any bloatware, and had the latest drivers. Or Maingear, and upcoming article. They are a fantastic boutique builder that I would recommend to anyone. Overnight shipping on RMA's, extremely competent techs. Wonderful experience. I think it's sad that the status quo is that you EXPECT your OEM system to show up "broken" and are ready to do an OS wipe as soon as you get it. Would you rather not?
We don't review systems from the standpoint of an enthusiast tech head. We evaluate from the consumer's standpoint, which in this case, would be a Dell customer who 90% of the time has no idea how to do a clean install of an OS. Besides, we have had many systems from other manufacturers that work perfectly out of the box without the need for an OS wipe. Why would you settle (and pay) to do their job for them? I believe it is perfectly responsible for us to evaluate their product how they send it to customers.