I still have the copy of Vista, of course, but it would actually cost me more to get this Gateway without an OS.
So, as soon as Fry's finishes crediting my account with the funds from the returned hardware, guess where it will go?
Dell doesn't have anything as nice for the price. It's a pity, because I could get a discount on the Dell through work...if they had something I wanted. Naturally the discount isn't big enough to pay for the features I want, nor is it big enough to convince me that I don't really need those features. I think it's like 10% on "selected models", which is about as useful to me as a kick in the tailbone.
And, in fact, Target Corporation has already slapped me in the face. This week was open enrollment for benefits, and due to the way I was scheduled in January, I got utterly fucking screwed on my health and dental insurance. Basically they started treating me like a part-timer; and the alleged health "insurance" they have for part-timers pays approximately dick even for inpatient hospital stays. (Yeah: annual maximum for that? $4000. That's not even one night in the freaking hospital for Christ's sake.)
So, I'm starting to seriously consider a change of venue....