Of Lumps And Vistas
The Social Security Administration finally decided that I am gimpy enough to qualify for disability benefits. It took less than 9 months which is, from what I’ve heard, some kind of speed record. Just in time though; it wasn’t going to be too long before I dropped off the edge of the world.
So, in the fullness of time, the SSA (which seems to be ASS spelled backwards, but I’m reserving judgment on their performance for now) has sent me the lump sum for all the payments I would have been due if they had been able to process my application within the 5-month waiting period. Not an enormous sum, but it is enough to do something I’ve wanted to do for several years now:
Upgrade my computer.
Well, actually, replace my computer entirely. Poor ol’ Nellie ain’t got the giddiup to handle my favorite programs, particularly the latest and greatest versions. More bloatware, but the images they produce may actually be worth the overhead.
So, I did the research, and got on the phone to Dell. It’s been almost 7 years since I’ve had to buy a computer, and the selection of options are mind-boggling. I’m very easily boggled these days. Dell’s award-winning website just made matters worse; I had a very specific list of requirements that had to be met in order to run Bryce 6 and Poser 7, and looking at the choices of processors left me scratching my head. It doesn’t say 1 gHz anywhere. Fast clock speeds are wicked important for 3D rendering. I had to talk to a person, preferable someone with the specs in front of them.
After wending my way through Dell’s phone menus, I finally hooked up with a nice, young man who guided me through the purchase. Dell declined my line of credit, which I sort assumed they would, but I had other options for payment. I’ve waited quite a while to be able to make such a purchase, another two weeks (give or take) is no big deal. It’s going to be cash up front.
By the time we actually made it all the way through the ordering process, I was hyped out of my head. He pushed the button and the order (or, in my case, the quote) was in the pipe.
Five seconds after I’d hung up the phone, maybe less, I realized that the rep hadn’t given me the total amount. How the heck was I supposed to write a check? I dialed again, only to be informed that I had reached Dell after business hours. Huh? Dialed again, navigated through the menus pushed “0″ a couple of times and got a customer service rep. She couldn’t find the quote on her system, because it hadn’t gone through yet.
Uh… OK, I’ll give that it might take a bit for the order data to become available for viewing, but it took me at least 15 minutes to get to the rep. Surely, Dell-Corps computers aren’t that pokey. I suspect my rep was somewhere off-shore, but I wasn’t rude enough (or interested enough) to ask. She opened a trouble ticket and sent me an email. (Odd — the guy who took my order didn’t ask for my email address. Rookies!)
Hung up. Went through Dell Menu Hell again. Got a different rep and the same story. However, this girl spent some time poking keys and conferring with her manager, and eventually she transferred me back to sales. The girl in sales was able to pull up my order, we went over all of it again, got addresses, yada yada, and finally I got the grand total of my order so I could, at last, after 45 minutes of farting around, write the damned check! I also got a new quotation# and a new rep ID; sales person #2 will get credit for the sale. Sorry, bubba, Ya gotta pay attention.
Now I get to say: “The check is in the mail!” And, this time I really mean it.
Oh, yeah… I wanted to get Windows XP installed on my new computer, as it seemed to be a requirement to run my programs. Nope. Can’t get it. Gotta settle for Windows Vista. I’m leery about anything new coming out of Micro$oft (Who isn’t?), but allegedly the Big M has repaired all the leaks.
I guess I’m going to be a guinea pig. Light a candle (or tease a neo-con) for me.
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Update: Apparently, no one had a clue about my order after all. Called Dell yet again on Wednesday, and after the usual run-around, got to the sales dept. The Sales Rep found the quote; we both came to the conclusion that the best thing to do was to put a stop payment on the check, and re-do the order, this time paying for it through my debit card. No one mentioned that that was a possiblity the first time around. Furthermore, Sales Rep #3 found me a promotion that saved me a few bucks.
Now my order appears in my account on the Dell website, and I can track its progress. As of this morning. it’s in production with an estimated shipping date of 2/8. O.M.Gs 
January 29th, 2007 at 8:57pm
You left the configuration out of the post, so there is no way of harassing you over bad choices.
You’ll get Vista and a number of other things you probably don’t want with any new machine. I spent a day deleting “review” versions of software from my last machine to get the space back.
I think 1.5 Ghz is the slowest machine you can order these days, and graphics software really hogs memory as does Vista.
Congratulations on making your way through the maze of Social Security. You are going to get some of your money back, but I am not certain I will see any of it, the way these people are messing around.
January 30th, 2007 at 5:53am
If they had published the clock speeds on their website, I probably could have ordered it online instead of messing around on the phone. As for the configuration, I maxed out whatever I could and still keep it under $1K. I already have lots of peripherals, so I saved some money there. The only goofy thing I bought was a floppy drive; I still have some much-beloved legacy software which reside only in that format, and CD burners are not yet standard equipment on new machines…. No, don’t go there….
Bryce, in general, has a peculiarity that I would have thought they’d have done away with by this time: it swaps out the open data file to disk when you change functions. It uses little RAM, relatively speaking, when it’s running — until you hit the render button. Then, your machine stops whatever else it’s doing to devote all resources to the render. They have included a helper program to allow you to spread your render over your network, even the internet, if you’re crazy enough. Even so, Bryce 6 requires a big, honking machine to run; if you have a gig of RAM, why do you need to swap stuff out?
I saw a review of Vista on CNN last night (Yes, I got the cable hooked up again), and they did mention it’s resource hunger. It does have a spiffy interface, but why does it need to be animated? Must be that all the SciFi fen want to have real Star Trek interfaces on their 21st Century boxes. I wonder if one has the option of shutting the animations off for static windows. Personally, I have never quite gotten over only being able to run a single program at a time, so I rarely run more than, say, three programs at a time, especially the aforementioned 3D bad boys. Navigation of open programs has never been much of a problem.
I remember spending a lot of time playing with, and then weeding out, all the reviews when I bought my current machine (which is also a Dell). I wish that I could have skipped the AOL membership on the new one; Verizon treated me to a free MSN membership with my DSL that I never use — mostly because the MSN interface requires Win2000 or higher to run properly.
I also wish that I could have talked Dell out of including MS Works, which contains Outlook whether you want it or not. My current “Productivity Software” works fine for me, and I really don’t have a pressing need to upgrade it. Hate Outlook, anyway. Love Thunderbird. I suppose new users want to get on the internet right away, and it’s easier for Dell to just load up a standard starter package rather than monkey around with custom software configurations. Still, I’m a big girl now…
As for Social Security, I’m just as glad to get my bite of the apple before it gets “reformed.” Re-formed like reconstituted chicken patties, more like. My case worker has been filling my head full of things that could go wrong with my claim, so I can just imagine what will happen once they start tinkering with it.
However, the SS Disability benefit is a different program from retirement benefits. It remains to be seen if the government reformers can keep their hands off it. And, then there’s the IRS. Did you know that one has to pay taxes on one’s disability benefits, and on any gov’t. housing assistance one might receive? Let’s give tax cuts to the Rich and balance the budget on the backs of the poor and the lame.
But, that’s a rant for another time — ’cause the sun is coming up.
February 4th, 2007 at 12:04pm
It costs money to put a stop on a check, $25 down here, so I hope they gave you a great price. I bought my first mail order machine from Gateway because Dell messed up my order and then put a hold on my credit card for a week through their bungling.
They make good boxes, but they really need to start paying their people some real money to hold on to them long enough to provide knowledgeable customer service.
February 4th, 2007 at 1:10pm
So, if the arrival date is likely to be the 8th (a Wednesday) - we may be able to predict that you won’t want to leave the house on the 9th for Thursday night knitting at Panera?
February 4th, 2007 at 4:45pm
Bryan: Yeah, it costs to stop a check up here, too, but they did give me a good deal; good enough to cover the expense, anyway. My debit card is still working OK; they took the money out over three days to avoid having the bank turn the card off for being over the daily spending limit.
Jen: The 8th is a Thursday on my calendar, but it’s the day Dell plans to ship the unit. I won’t see it for another week or so, depending on when it actually goes out and how busy UPS is. No fear: even if it arrives on a Thursday, I’ll probably be ready to go out and knit by the time I’ve driven myself crazy trying to set it up and start loading software.
February 4th, 2007 at 6:48pm
Oops - you’re right on the dates. That’s what I get for referring to my Betty Boop calendar, which I haven’t changed over from January yet, and trying to tell Feb.’s days by counting the space-filler hearts at the bottom…