At first, since we used those Optiplex-style workstations, I figured it was the mid to low-end CPUs and mobos they used to keep the costs down. But then, I upgraded to a full-fledged Dimension with a dual core CPU and all the usual fixin’s.

It turns out, it’s something related to the disks. Whenever I’m doing something that involves heavy disk use (installing software, uninstalling software, lots of file copies, whatever), the Windows just slows down like a snail moving through molasses. CPU is below 10% and network isn’t even an issue (we’ve got GB of bandwidth…we’re talking 10 T-1′s worth). Click a link and the browser slowly churns away. Open an app, wait for a minute for it to show up. Switch apps, wait for the screen to redraw (no, it’s not the GPU either…nVidia 7900 GS…not a powerhouse but more than adequate for standard business apps).

As soon as the install or whatever is done, bam, everything snaps and moves like normal.

I built my own computer at home and it never has a problem doing anything like this. Granted, I installed SATA drives with 3Gb interfaces. Even so, it’s not like I paid a premium for that. My mobo was less than $200 for a board that was high mid range at the time (2 years ago).

I find it hard to believe that Dell can’t spend an extra $10 to get boards that use a nice and speedy SATA interface to access the high commoditized SATA HDs out there (I bought a 750GB drive for $300…c’mon $0.40/GB…I STILL haven’t filled that drive up!) so that productivity isn’t hampered by some white collar cog trying to copy a bunch of files to a network share or uninstall his Avril Lavigne killing a hamster screensaver?

Welcome to public company cost savings…yeah, that always works in the long run.

You can’t suck enough, Dell.