Hmmm... a little hostility there? I am not sure what you're so upset about...

Anyway, taking your points in order...

"I had my rig put together and running within 4 hours so its doubtfull you're saving all that much time with Dell or e-machines setup."

Did that include selecting the pieces, picking or ordering the parts, the assembly and load out itself and some sort of burn in testing? If so your faster than I am and more power to you :)

"I would be interested in seeing a screen shot of your task manager displaying the 53 items that are running in the background."

I said processes. If you look at yours you will find a bunch there as well... there is a distinct difference between user programs and processes. But you knew that :) Usually I have 8-10 IE windows, Outlook, Photoshop and Max or Poser.

"Based on your render time, it seems that you would have been perfectly happy with the performance of a properly configured PIII 450."

I have a few of those, and I sure wasn't happy I promise. The render times on them aren't what I need for the work we do... our current project needs more than a  hundred thousand frames of animation. The most important thing this becnhmark pointed out was how invalid Poser seems to be as a benchmark - look at the variations in the results and you will see that raw CPU horsepower seems to be far from the only factor. I am sure if I shut everything else down it would be better - but I don't really have the time (in outlook alone I have 15 pending email replies in progress... if I close Outlook I have to save them all then remember to open 'em back up etc.).

"But then again, you would lose the certain satisfaction that comes from spending $2,500.00 on a new computer."

I don't have any. My personal satisfaction doesn't come from the box or how much I paid for it. My satisfaction comes from what the box does for me, and whether I get it all done on time and at a profit. The boxes I buy and recommend do that... that is satisfying I suppose. If I wanted to draw personal satisfaction from the things I own there are better options than my PC, I change it every 6 months or so anyway.

"You also mentioned e-machines. Aren't those throw-away boxes in that they can't be upgraded?"

Well that depends on how you mean. We sure don't throw them away - they see service as web servers, file servers and render farm boxes. Some run broadcasters for streaming video and audio and so on. One is a dedicated SQL server box.

The thing I like about eMachines is that they use standard parts in fairly standard boxes. I haven't needed an upgrade I couldn't; put in. Video card swaps, adding HD, adding CD-ROM, upgrading sound and so on. If I wanted to replace the MB I could probably do it, worst case is I have to buy a new case and transfer the parts.

Then again, we don't upgrade like that. When a machine is too slow for front line production we put it in service on the second line as a server and so on. That's one of the reasons we have 5 systems in service now without having a huge budget. Not everything needs a front line box.

"You recommend them?"

Yup, when they are appropriate. I have clients, friends and relatives with them. I own them myself. it's a good inexpensive box from a good company. Why wouldn't I recommend them?

I would not recommend a brand I have had trouble with. Compaq comes to mind. Proprietary components, no OS upgrade path and missing drivers for newer OS's... bad tech support and odd configurations. Not me buddy.

"I noticed that Dell and e-machines are underscored and highlighted in your post"

The term is "link".

"Are those direct links to their advertising pages?"

No, those are direct links to the home pages of the companies I mentioned. Yes, those pages have advertising... they also have technical information and forums where you can see what other people say about them. The beauty of the web is that when you mention something you can link in other sources of information so the people reading your text can do some checking on their own :)

"To be fair, you should post a link there to take them here to see the results of our tests."

I suppose I could, except I am not sure what the point would be and I am not active in those forums. Why don't you go do it if it upsets you so much?

"I just clicked on them....they ARE links!"

Glad to hear it! I went to all the trouble to make them links so it's good to see that it all works the way it is supposed to. I hope you weren't too surprised.

"How much are they paying you?"

    Millions. in fact I don't have a regular job... Dell pays me millions of dollars so that I can sell a few more machines for them by posting good things bout them. It's all a plot to trap you. Curses, you foiled the plan!

Seriously, I am not sure what you seem so torqued about. I just posted my experiences with the tools I use. Yeah, I said good things about a vendor I like - I do that with anything I think deserves my support. If it is good I let folks know when it is relevant. Ah well, not worth fighting about.