Pixmas in the Dell
April 5th 2010 07:42
Some time back I wrote a couple of posts on the problems I was having with Dell and the computer I'd ordered from them.
Ultimately everything got resolved - even to the extent of the original missing monitor turning up and sitting in its box in my office for about three weeks until Dell managed to organise themselves to have it picked up again. Heaven alone knows where it is now.
Anyway, I did have one other major hassle when I switched to a Windows 7 system. My Sibelius music programme refused to work; or rather, it worked, but the sound was diabolical. The local NZ guy couldn't figure it, and Sibelius in the UK said flatly: Sibelius 4 (which I had) is not compatible with Windows 7. Bully for them.
So in the end, after much frustration, I had to upgrade to Sibelius 6, at a cost of NZ$500. The programme is probably worth that much, except that I, along with a lot of other average users, probably don't get to take advantage of its huge range of possibilities, because I don't need to. Sibelius 4 actually worked fine for me. Anyway, water under the bridge (and increases on the credit card.)
There's now been another problem, not with the computer itself, thankfully. It's working fine. However, Dell supplied a printer with its package deal, and that was good (in fact they upgraded that during the course of all the kerfuffle that went on, because they were out of stock of the one advertised). But
when I rang them to find out how much the replacement cartridges would be, I was told: NZ$150 for the two. Crikey! The printer was basically free, and obviously this is where they make their money. But worse than that, the cartridges aren't even available from Dell NZ yet.
So I thought, I'll revert to my previous printer; at least I know that the cartridges for that aren't excessively priced (although again I've probably paid for the printer several times over since I bought it, particuarly when my son was printing out umpteen colour CVs while applying for jobs).
So I brought my older printer back downstairs, hooked it up, inserted the disk for the drivers and discovered that those drivers weren't compatible with Windows 7. Wouldn't you know it? Thought my idea might have been down the Kohler toilet, but no - a message box came up telling me that I could go online and Canon would help me find the right driver.
Online I went. And Canon's site is certainly pretty well organised (apart from when you find yourself going back to where you started because you misunderstood what they were trying to tell you). And there was the driver: Pixma MP110 for Windows 7.
Clicked on download. The usual whizzing by of little horizontal lines. And then: This driver is only for 32 bit. Goodbye.
My computer is 64 bit. (My son has explained to me what this means, but it went into the neurons and slipped off a synapse.) So I've written to Canon in NZ to see if there's a 64 bit version. I'm not feeling hopeful, but we'll see.
I tried Googling the 64 bit version, and did find some supposed sites that claimed to have it. However, when I tried downloading from one it told me it was going to take 29 minutes to download. That sounded suspiciously long for a driver, so I didn't pursue that option - which looked like it came from somewhere in Asia anyway.
I've learned some caution in my years on the Net!
Ultimately everything got resolved - even to the extent of the original missing monitor turning up and sitting in its box in my office for about three weeks until Dell managed to organise themselves to have it picked up again. Heaven alone knows where it is now.
Anyway, I did have one other major hassle when I switched to a Windows 7 system. My Sibelius music programme refused to work; or rather, it worked, but the sound was diabolical. The local NZ guy couldn't figure it, and Sibelius in the UK said flatly: Sibelius 4 (which I had) is not compatible with Windows 7. Bully for them.
So in the end, after much frustration, I had to upgrade to Sibelius 6, at a cost of NZ$500. The programme is probably worth that much, except that I, along with a lot of other average users, probably don't get to take advantage of its huge range of possibilities, because I don't need to. Sibelius 4 actually worked fine for me. Anyway, water under the bridge (and increases on the credit card.)
There's now been another problem, not with the computer itself, thankfully. It's working fine. However, Dell supplied a printer with its package deal, and that was good (in fact they upgraded that during the course of all the kerfuffle that went on, because they were out of stock of the one advertised). But
So I thought, I'll revert to my previous printer; at least I know that the cartridges for that aren't excessively priced (although again I've probably paid for the printer several times over since I bought it, particuarly when my son was printing out umpteen colour CVs while applying for jobs).
So I brought my older printer back downstairs, hooked it up, inserted the disk for the drivers and discovered that those drivers weren't compatible with Windows 7. Wouldn't you know it? Thought my idea might have been down the Kohler toilet, but no - a message box came up telling me that I could go online and Canon would help me find the right driver.
Online I went. And Canon's site is certainly pretty well organised (apart from when you find yourself going back to where you started because you misunderstood what they were trying to tell you). And there was the driver: Pixma MP110 for Windows 7.
Clicked on download. The usual whizzing by of little horizontal lines. And then: This driver is only for 32 bit. Goodbye.
My computer is 64 bit. (My son has explained to me what this means, but it went into the neurons and slipped off a synapse.) So I've written to Canon in NZ to see if there's a 64 bit version. I'm not feeling hopeful, but we'll see.
I tried Googling the 64 bit version, and did find some supposed sites that claimed to have it. However, when I tried downloading from one it told me it was going to take 29 minutes to download. That sounded suspiciously long for a driver, so I didn't pursue that option - which looked like it came from somewhere in Asia anyway.
I've learned some caution in my years on the Net!
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