[comp.sys.ibm.pc] cheap AT clones

wang@pilchuck.Data-IO.COM (Frank Wang) (03/19/87)

I am looking for experiences about PC-Sources' AT clone.  It seems much cheaper
than Club AT and PC's Limited etc.  Any comment about them?  

				Frank Wang

chapman@fornax.UUCP (03/21/87)

> 
>I am looking for experiences about PC-Sources' AT clone.  It seems much cheaper
>than Club AT and PC's Limited etc.  Any comment about them?  
> 
> 				Frank Wang


PC-Sources is really Compu-Add.  I found this out by calling Compu-Add using
a phone number from a 2 month old issue of PC Magazine.  When the guy answered
and said "pc sources..." I figured wrong number but he said that they were
one and the same company but advertised by different names in different
magazines. I don't know if this bothers me or not - I mean what is the point?
If they are interested in knowing what advertising produces the most orders
all they need is different phone numbers.

I posted a request for info on this company and Miniscribe drives and got
absolutley no responses off the net which was both dissappointing and
surprising.  Compu-Adds 8mhz AT clone was a PC magazine editors choice
a few (2-3) months back.  Some of the comments the reviewer made were
not confidence inspiring (in the editor that is) however, e.g. to paraphrase
<meta quote> the hercules mono board seemed a perfectly compatible board
but I didn't test it very thoroughly <end meta quote>.  I took his
recommendation with a grain of salt.  They will also not ship stuff out
of the continental US even if prepaid by credit card so I had to arrange
an address in the US.  Despite all this I ordered their 10mhz clone and
a 70mb miniscribe drive and am now waiting for it with some trepidation.
They said delivery (which is free by UPS ground) would be 2 weeks ARO.

Hope this helps you.

john chapman
...{watmath,uw-beaver,ihnp4}!ubc-vision!sfucmpt!sfulccr!chapman

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woo@acf4.UUCP (03/22/87)

I have purchased 3 CLUB AT machines primarily because of their
price and location.  Two of the three machines have had trouble
with the CMOS Clock/RAM chip which holds the system information.
This is quite a nuisance.  Another machine had a bad hard disk.
CLUB AT was very good about replacing the problem parts but we
had to bring the machine to Fremont for service.  It's clear that
CLUB AT can not do very extensive testing of their machines and
keep their costs and price low.   On the other hand, two of two
IBM AT's we have purchased have had many more problems.

Alex Woo

baller@cbnewsi.att.com (eric.h.baller) (06/27/90)

I've seen ads for complete AT systems for less than $1000.

I can go to the store (in NYCity) and the brands are familiar:
AST, NEC, Epson.

For $998, you get a 286 with 40MB disk, 640kRAM and mono graphics.
A basic entry-level system, which is what I need at the moment.

Has anyone heard (or experienced) anything with these brands or
some of the NYC stores like 47St Photo, Camera World, or 6th Ave Electronics?

Thanks for your help!

Eric Baller
AT&T Bell Laboratories (provides net access, but not opinions)
ehb@erebus.att.com

ctt31684@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (06/28/90)

This message is empty.

petrilli@walt.cc.utexas.edu (Chris Petrilli) (06/29/90)

In article <1990Jun27.155622.4621@cbnewsi.att.com> baller@cbnewsi.att.com (eric.h.baller) writes:
>I've seen ads for complete AT systems for less than $1000.
>I can go to the store (in NYCity) and the brands are familiar:
>AST, NEC, Epson.
>For $998, you get a 286 with 40MB disk, 640kRAM and mono graphics.
>A basic entry-level system, which is what I need at the moment.
>Has anyone heard (or experienced) anything with these brands or
>some of the NYC stores like 47St Photo, Camera World, or 6th Ave Electronics?

As a clone dealer (DTK/Micronics/Mylex), I can vouch that, although a 
majority of dealers are quite good (such as the ones mentioned), there are
quite a few who come and go VERY quickly.  Much of the time, the problem 
is not sales, but service and support.  The company I work for, we are an
exception it seems, everyone here has been using computers for at least 6
years, and we are programmers and hardware people.  The company was actually
started to cure or insatiable appetite for computers, at a lower cost.

The price you quoted seems pretty accuarate.  The questions you should ask
however is brands.  What hard drive? (We use Conners) Whose motherboard and
BIOS (we use DTK/DTK), and whose monitor (we use Packard Bell)? These
can have an big impact on the reliablity  and overall quality.



+ Chris Petrilli                                    "Opinons represented here
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