[net.micro.pc] PC Limited 286 Micros

burgin@ecsvax.UUCP (Robert Burgin) (09/12/86)

Has anyone had experience with either the PC Limited 286 12 or
the PC Limited 286 16?

Better yet, has anyone used either of them to run Auto-CAD?

Your comments, advice, help, etc., are always appreciated.

--Robert Burgin
  burgin@ecsvax.UUCP

james@osi3b2.UUCP (James R. Van Artsdalen) (09/21/86)

In article <2025@ecsvax.UUCP>, burgin@ecsvax.UUCP (Robert Burgin) writes:
> 
> Has anyone had experience with either the PC Limited 286 12 or
> the PC Limited 286 16?
> 
> Better yet, has anyone used either of them to run Auto-CAD?

Yes it runs Auto-CAD.  I have a friend with a 12MHz version.  They aren't
shipping the 16MHz version: I don't think it work yet.

PC's Limited designed their motherboard in-house.  Considering the rate
of personel turnover and Michael Dell's interest in quality control (read:
lack thereof), I don't think I would buy their fast ATs.  I just don't trust
them to really know what they're doing.  This is a mail-order company doing
motherboard design for a 16MHz machine!  More importantly, I don't know how
fast the peripheral bus is being run: there might be trouble with the 16MHz
machine if it runs the slots at 3/4 the system rate (as I seem to recall).
I can check into this.  I have the older Faraday motherboard model from them,
running at 8MHz, and am quite pleased.

A bigger question is simply dealing with PCs Ltd.  I live in Austin and have
bought from them regularly.  I have never known them to get an order right the
first try.  I've always had to go back and get a mounting rail, a screw or
something.  You can't do that by mail.  Last year CompuServe was full of people
complaining about repairs being return to customers unrepaired, or with missing
parts.  They have had several articles in InfoWorld on their quality problems
(which is impressive given the amount of advertsing Dell does) and have been
investigated for complaints by the state attorney general's office.  I no longer
buy anything there because they no longer let people talk to the techs or
anything.  Even in Austin you order by phone and ship it to you.  They have a
guard to be sure you don't get in even if there's something wrong with the
order.  The fact that they need a guard to keep unhappy people out should speak
for itself...
-- 
James R. Van Artsdalen    ...!ut-ngp!utastro!osi3b2!james    Live Free or Die