Hi,

Vista was designed to take advantage of the newer hardware, something XP
could no longer do. This has pretty much been the pattern for any OS
release, not just Windows. Hardware from 4-5 years ago got cheaper, so
selling XP systems with spec's from that time got cheaper. Newer high-end
hardware needed for a newer OS is, and should be, more expensive. Problem is
that people still want to buy cheap. They want Lamborghini performance from
their Ford Escort, and that's just not realistic.

Dell's selling model has been and always will be to advertise low and upsell
at the purchase, this is a common technique not isolated to them alone. They
rely on the person going through thier online ordering steps or over the
phone to select at least 2-3 upgrades for the "small additional cost". I've
seen someone with the intent of not spending over $900 come away with a
system running close to $1700 after taking all the offers.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP
[url]http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/[/url]
Windows help - [url]www.rickrogers.org[/url]

"Wrecklass" <wrecklass1******.com> wrote in message
news:ONwSnxebHHA.1216@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...[color=blue]
> Valid points. It seems to me that there is a lot of truth in the Rumors
> that Vista
> was designed to help sell more hardware. Totally flying in the face of the
> new
> lower priced PC's being made by the bigger hardware vendors. I suspect
> Dell
> is happily selling these cheap systems knowing full well that they will
> end up
> selling expensive upgrades on every one.
>
> I am sad, and a bit surprised by the number of people I see saying "But
> Vista
> is newer, so it should be faster, right?" I can only look at them in
> disbelief. MS
> really sold people on this idea, but they were banking on most people
> buying
> higher end systems, which would mask the performance problems in Vista.
>
> The only WOW I've heard from people is "Wow, this is really going to cost
> me
> a lot of money, isn't it?"
>
>
> "Gordon Keenan" <gordon@tasystems.org(removeme)> wrote in message
> news:E46E012E-B40C-4BD9-BF35-57F8402B899C@microsoft.com...[color=green]
>>I have (over the last three weeks) had the opportunity to work at
>>different places that have recently purchased new Dell Computer Equipment.
>>A few small business's and some home users, so it's been a combinations of
>>Vista Business and Home Edition.
>>
>> My experiences have left me extremely cold on what Dell considers to be
>> an acceptable platform for the Vista operating system.
>>
>> All of the equipment is way under powered for decent use, though I have
>> to say it would be fine for Windows XP.
>>
>> 512MB RAM - it's crippling the system!
>> On-board video - Aero - zero chance of that happening for these users and
>> certainly no WOW factor!
>>
>> The thing is, the people buying the equipment don't know any better but
>> they all said the same thing... Why is the new computer running so slow?
>> Surely it should be really fast with the new vista on it?
>>
>> As I run Vista Business on a dual-core Athlon 5600+ with 2GB of ram, and
>> I find it sluggish at times, all I could do is tell them that in future,
>> they should ask advice before just buying something cheap.
>>
>> As for Dell, a company that is trying to tell people that it KNOWS about
>> computers, they should hang their heads in shame.. but the good thing is
>> that independent computer builders now have a chance of making good spec
>> pc's that will work better for the end user!
>>
>>[/color]
>[/color]