Why I don't like the bleeding edge

Cutting edge technology is great. I love to see the newest trends in technology.

Cutting edge is one thing, bleeding edge is a totally different story. Bleeding edge is a term used for techno test pilots, those who adopt a new technology before it is ever around long enough to be considered a new trend or standard.

For example, cutting edge people are just now adopting HD TVs, hybrid cars and websites like YouTube. Bleeding edge people are buying BluRay DVD players, computers with two dual core processors and buy their groceries on the Internet.

Some technology that I consider bleeding edge has been around for a long time.

I have had a client's computer at my house for almost three weeks. Typically I can get a computer completely overhauled in about three days working on it in the evenings after I get home.

However, this particular computer has two SATA hard drives setup in a RAID. Don't worry about what that means, it's not important.

The problem is that Windows is corrupt on it and you can't read the data from either drive. The FAT on each drive has also become corrupt. This means that even if you put the drives into a computer that can read SATA drives - you can't read the drives.

Since the drives were setup in a RAID, the corruption spread from one drive to another - again, what this means is not important. The end result is that the computer is all messed up.

This computer is an almost new DELL. SATA drives are a new type of hard drive that supposedly runs faster but is not natively recognized by Windows. RAID is essentially two hard drives that work as a single hard drive by making exact duplicates of the information on either drive.

RAID and SATA are used together in very fast video gaming machines, but there is little or no reason to setup a system like this in a home computer. But, Dell is happy to sell you such a configuration if you call and order the best and/or most expensive home computer they have to offer.

The problem with this type of system is that DELL and others who sell machines like this assume that if you order such a system, you must know enough about how to fix it. Don't even expect the support people in India to be able to help you through an issue like this.

Since the heart of the problem is software related, it is not covered under Dell's warranty. This means that they have to pay a computer guy like me to work on the system.

The reason I have had the system for three weeks is because I have had to order one special cable and wait for two special disks in order to fix the problem.

Now all parts are in place but I am still not sure the fix will work. Not because I don't know how to fix it, but because I don't know if the computer or drives will cooperate.

I am very anxious to get this problem fixed.

A word of advice: It's never a bad idea to spend a little more on a computer for a little better performance, but don't go overboard. Once you cross over into technology that is not standard for the way you use the system, you are getting into dangerous geek-infested waters.

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