Raible Designs

Friday July 25, 2003

Raible Designs Headquarters has moved I moved all Raible Designs' computer equipment to its new HQ tonight. Boy do I need to get a flat panel monitor - those 19" behemoths are ridiculous. The nice thing is, since we got our internet service hooked up last week, all I had to do was hook up my wireless network and turn on Mini-Me, and voila - connected. Smooth transitions are nice. Posted in General at Jul 25 2003, 09:21:14 PM MDT 2 Comments

The wait begins... Expected delivery date: August 8th

• 3.06GHz Intel Pentium 4 Processor w/ HT
• 512MB PC2700 333MHz DDR RAM SODIMM
• 512MB PC2700 333MHz DDR RAM SODIMM
• 60GB 7200rpm Ultra ATA Hard Disk Drive (Hitachi 7K60)
• Toshiba SD-R6012 1X DVD-R/W Drive w/ DVD Recording Software
• ATI Radeon 9000 Mobility 64MB (w/ TV Out)
• Built-in 3D Sound System w/ 5.1 Channel S/PDIF
• Integrated V.92 56K Fax/Data Modem
• Integrated Realtek RTL8139C Fast Ethernet Controller & 802.11b Wireless LAN
• Aviator ZX7 in Silver and Graphite
• 17" WXGA WIDESCREEN High Contrast Active Matrix LCD Display
• Internal Bluetooth Module
• Internal Subwoofer Speaker Module
• MS Windows XP Professional SP1 CD & Manual Pre-Installed & Configured
• 3Year 24/7 Toll-Free Tech Support Platinum Service & Lifetime Support
• Guaranteed shipment within 10 days of order

#1 reason to switch back? Speed, and lots of it. ;0) Posted in General at Jul 25 2003, 04:26:43 PM MDT 12 Comments

Hypersonic vs. Alienware As I mentioned a couple days ago, I'm looking to purchase a new laptop. Why? Because I might get a contract that requires me to provide my own machine. It's happened before, and on this contract my machine sucked when I started. Sure I could use my slow-as-molasses Powerbook (667 MHz, 1 GB RAM), but I'd rather buy a Windows laptop. Besides, it's not about the machine's productivity as much as my productivity on it. I'm faster on Windows, so I should buy a Windows machine to pack to client sites. Mini-Me (the Powerbook) will be adopted by Julie, where I'm sure it will be in good hands. I still plan on using it a fair amount, but she's been known to tell me "Keep your damn hands off my computer!" ;-)

So, to do some more research on the Alienware Area-51m and the Hibersonic Aviator ZX7, I sent each company an e-mail. The e-mail was pretty simple, and I just switched the order of things for each company:

I'm looking to purchase a new laptop and right now I'm down to making a 
decision between your 51m (http://alienware.com/system_pages/area-51m.aspx) 
and Hypersonic's ZX7 (http://hypersonic-pc.com/ZX7).  Can you tell me why 
I should buy your product over Hypersonic's?

About 10 hours later (a little slow, don't you think), I received the first reply - from Hypersonic.

Fair enough, Hypersonic has a Customer Satisfaction rating of 7.79, but less than 20 reviews in the last 6 months. Alienware, on the other hand, has a 7.78 Customer Satisfaction Rating. So they're very close there. However, on the lifetime rating, Alienware is 7.63 (275 reviews) and Hypersonic is 9.17 (48 reviews). When I first started this comparison, I liked the Alienware machine better because it has 802.11g and because I've heard of the company before. I'd never heard of Hypersonic, but the ZX7 did have built-in bluetooth, a 17" monitor and a (supposedly) kick ass sound system. I don't travel, and if I do, it's usually for pleasure and I can always take Mini-Me.

So I replied to the Hypersonic e-mail above.

And I recieved a reply 6 1/2 hours later:

All good answers to my questions. So I'm feeling pretty good about Hypersonic at this point, and still haven't heard from Alienware. And then I got a response from them, almost 30 hours after I sent my original e-mail. It took about 4 sentences for me to realize they were just sending me a standard form-letter, filled with arrogance.

In the end, both still sound good, but I like the Bluetooth, 17" screen and sound system on the Hypersonic. I decided last night that I should probably buy this now, instead of waiting for a new contract. I want one too bad to pass up the opportunity (and it's a business write-off). At the new house, Raible Designs' HQ will be in the basement, so we'll be relying on our 802.11b network to surf the web, check e-mail, etc. from upstairs. I moved to two computers years ago because Julie and I would fight over one. It's bound to happen again unless we have two wireless laptops. How's that for justification?! I'm saving our marriage! Posted in General at Jul 25 2003, 08:53:20 AM MDT 4 Comments