blair@hslrswi.UUCP (Hamish Blair) (11/11/85)
Keywords: PC compatible clone comparison
I had 6 replies: 2 users were mildly dissatisfied:
Sanyo MBC-555 - limited compatibility, but cheap ($1200 including
WordStar, SpellStar, MailMerge, Calcstar, DataStar,
ReportStar, EasyWriter, GW-Basic and MS-Dos utilities).
Eagle 1630 (XT with 8086) - limited compatibility and now limited support,
since Eagle is going for DEC compatibility now.
Two users were quite happy with their machines:
Columbia VP: After 2 years, no major problems. One more expansion
slot would be an advantage. A good thing is a
virtual front panel, allows you to display and change
registers and generate interrupts independent of MS-DOS.
The machine seems to be built like a tank.
Compaq Plus,
Compaq Deskpro model 4: Infant mortality problems:
Of the 3 Compaq Plus's, one failed power supply, one
failed hard disk.
Of the 2 Deskpro's, a connector problem on the hard
disk controller.
They have all worked flawlessly since.
The other two users were enthusiastic about their machines
Tandy 1000 and 1200: Gregg Thompson at "ncoast" thinks they are the
best compatibles (esp. at the price)
Compaq Deskpro: Erik Bailey in Arlington, MA *loves* his machine,
and is glad he did not choose an AT&T 6300.
Had the Compaq 286 version been available, he
would have chosen that, but does not consider it
worth changing.
You may have already seen Lerner's article on the net:
Compaq portable,
Compaq Plus: Power supplies: too many expansion cards can tax them.
Compaq Deskpro and both 286 machines have much larger power supplies.
Otherwise, Mr. Lerner knows of no other Compaq problems.
As for our site, we have found the following:
Ericsson PC: We have had 3 units for 5 months. One PC has had problems
both with its original hard disk and its replacement.
One resets itself for no apparent reason occasionally
(they all run under Venix). The screens are a bit fuzzy
on two of them, but this may be a problem only with older
models. Generally I find the keyboard and the screen
much easier to work with than those of the IBM PC.
The Ericsson PC runs Crosstalk and the IDEA 3278 terminal
emulator boards without problems.
IBM PC/XT We have one in house (5 months) and one at a colleague's
home (1-2 years). No problems reported, but I detest
the keyboard. We have also got an AT, but not for long
enough to see how reliable it is.
Many thanks to all of those who replied. None of them said they wished to
remain anonymous, but I thought their addresses would just clutter up this
summary. Mail me if you want the full texts.
None of these opinions necessarily reflect those of my employer,
and anyway I'm leaving at the end of the month.
Hamish Blair, Hasler AG, Belpstrasse 23, CH-3000 Bern 14, Switzerland
Tel.: +41 31 631 437 Telex: 911 299 HASA
Uucp: ... seismo!mcvax!cernvax!hslrswi!hslraxe!blair