jolly@ferrari.ece.cmu.edu (John Lee) (06/29/90)
I'm looking for people's experiences/gripes/praises with `Austin' computers. Their prices are attractive, and support/reputation _seem_ fine, but I would like to hear how other people have faired, before I put any money down. (There 386sx box interests me). Much thanks in advance! John.
kens@hplsla.HP.COM (Ken Snyder) (06/30/90)
> I'm looking for people's experiences/gripes/praises with `Austin' > computers. Their prices are attractive, and support/reputation _seem_ > fine, but I would like to hear how other people have faired, before I > put any money down. (There 386sx box interests me). About a year and a half ago I had a horrible experience which I posted here. To make a long story short, I had a 386/20Mhz machine that never worked correctly. It would randomly hang during a hard disc read. After 5 months of replacing this and that I got them to agree to take the machine back and refund my money. Their "full refund" did not include DOS or the service contract (which they split out on the invoice, NOT in their ads) or shipping and, all in all, cost me $340. They also took 3 more months to get me my refund check. I called them about twice a week and it was just one excuse after another. I wondered if all mail order places were like this. Then... I bought a Gateway 2000 386/25Mhz machine and have loved the company ever since the day I called them. It also had it's problems (a hard disk cold boot problem) but after shipping me new parts in 2 days (Austin always said they would but then they were always backordered for 2-3 weeks) that did not fix the problem, they shipped me an entire new machine. The Gateway folks actually called me back! Only once in the 10-15 times Austin promised to call me back did I actually get a call. One final note, I heard on the net that ATI had upgraded the VGA Wonder card to better handle the high res. modes. I called Gateway and they promptly sent me a new video card! (I'd had the unit about 6 months) One final note on comparing machines: both used well known name brand parts. Austin used Mylex motherboards, Gateway used Micronics. Austin used a Paradise video card, Gateway used ATI. Both used WD disc controllers and Micronics 3180E hard drives. Both used noname i/o cards. The major difference I could see between the two was the Austin case was chromed on the inside and the Gateway was painted. Oh yes, my 25Mhz 4Mb Gateway cost $100 less than my 20MHz 1Mb Austin machine. Just one data point, Ken