ppd491@leah.Albany.Edu (Peter P. Donohue) (02/20/90)
I'm looking to purchase a new computer (upgrading from my XT) and was wondering if someone could recommend a reputable mail order firm (or what firms to avoid)? I've looked through the 'Computer Shopper' and am overwhelmed by the amount of ads and different claims. Any help would be appreciated. Pete
usenet@cps3xx.UUCP (Usenet file owner) (02/20/90)
I bought my AT compatible from Continental Technology -- Micro Generation, and I've been happy with them. You might also want to try Northgate, Austin, and Gateway, all of which I have heard very good things about. Hope this helps. Patrick Draper - Michigan State University
eddjp@althea.UUCP (Dewey Paciaffi) (02/21/90)
In article <2565@leah.Albany.Edu> ppd491@leah.Albany.Edu (Peter P. Donohue) writes: > > I'm looking to purchase a new computer (upgrading from my XT) and was >wondering if someone could recommend a reputable mail order firm (or >what firms to avoid)? Bought my 386 SX from PC Brand in Chicago. It came quickly, runs nicely and was priced nicely. Dewey Paciaffi eddjp@althea.UUCP -- Dewey Paciaffi eddjp@althea.UUCP
dave@walt.cc.utexas.edu (David McKallip) (02/27/90)
CompuAdd in Austin Texas is another one. An advantage with them is that they have about 90 retail stores in the Eastern half of the US. Their retail stores have the same prices as their mail order catalog. Dave McKallip My employer doesn't know I exist, so how Internet: dave@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu could I have an opinion?
mjt@nagshead.ncsc.org (Mike Tighe) (02/28/90)
In article <25181@ut-emx.UUCP> dave@walt.cc.utexas.edu (David McKallip) writes: >CompuAdd in Austin Texas is another one. An advantage with them is >that they have about 90 retail stores in the Eastern half of the US. >Their retail stores have the same prices as their mail order catalog. Actually, this is a disadvantage. If they didn't have a retail location in my state, I could avoid paying the 5% sales tax. As a result, I try to avoid mail order firms that have retail stores in my state, especially on big purchases such as computers and equipment where the tax could be significant $$$. -- --- Michael Tighe, mjt@ncsc.org
du4@mace.cc.purdue.edu (Ted Goldstein) (02/28/90)
In article <25181@ut-emx.UUCP> dave@walt.cc.utexas.edu (David McKallip) writes: >CompuAdd in Austin Texas is another one. An advantage with them is >that they have about 90 retail stores in the Eastern half of the US. >Their retail stores have the same prices as their mail order catalog. > > >Dave McKallip My employer doesn't know I exist, so how >Internet: dave@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu could I have an opinion? Although I have heard that CompuAdd does have a pretty good reputation, I recently have had a lot of bad luck with them and I thought I would relate the experience. One of our departments recently bought 9 10Mhz AT clones from CompuAdd. The first problem I had concerned installing a LAN adapter in one of them. After several unhelpful phone calls to their tech support line (minimum 25-20 minutes on hold) one tech finnaly admitted that one type of EGA card they regulary used took more ROM address space than it should and would conflict with LAN adapters. They at least were willing to replace it no charge. While working on this machine was when I first noticed the low quality construction of these computers. Instead of a lithium battery mounted on the motherboard, it had 4 AA cells taped to the side of the power supply. It also had a number of jumper wires soldered onto chips pins on the motherboard. These solder joints were messy, often 'cold' joints that had obviously been done by hand by a less than expert solderer. Within the first 6 months of ownership, 8 out the 9 machines died with faulty mother boards. Later several of the power supply fans began making LOTS of noise. With some persuading, all of these problems were fixed for free, but not without wasting a number hours (total) on hold waiting to talk to tech support people. Well, despite these problems, this department went ahead and ordered some hard drives from them. They got a 30 meg drive card, and a "RLL 60 meg drive kit" with a Miniscribe 3650 drive and WD1004-27 controller. After spending quite a bit of time trying to get these working, and several phone calls to tech support (20 min on hold minimum) they finnaly decided that the 60 meg drive was bad, and sent a replacement. I still could not get it to lew level format, so they decided the controller card was also bad, and agreed to replace it. I finally got a good drive and controller and got everything formatted. I then tried to use Spinrite II to verify my choice of interleave value. Spinrite reported many surface defects right at the beginning of the where the FAT was, so I once again called CompuAdd tech support and settled down for my 20 minutes of muzak on hold (at least it is toll a free number). After first trying to convince me that Spinrite II did not handle RLL drives correctly (it does) they said " oh yeah, that kit gets errors with SpinRite, don't worry about it". Well I decided to do some investigation and called and western digital and Miniscribe who both told me that the Miniscribe 3650 is not certified for RLL use. Well, I had asked the Compuadd tech that, and he had said it was. So now we have a sort of working, probably unreliable drive setup courtesy of CompuAdd. We are now in the process of trying to get them to rectify the situation. So although their prices are good, and their reputation is not bad (yet), I would recommend staying away from CompuAdd.
williams@cs.umass.edu (03/07/90)
In article <25181@ut-emx.UUCP>, dave@walt.cc.utexas.edu (David McKallip) writes... >CompuAdd in Austin Texas is another one. An advantage with them is >that they have about 90 retail stores in the Eastern half of the US. >Their retail stores have the same prices as their mail order catalog. Well Dave, YOU may consider an advantage, but I consider it a BIG disadvantage! It means I have to pay the state sales tax, increasing the price by over 5%, even if I buy the system mailorder from Texas! Most people buy mail order to get the lowest possible price. If the outfit has a retail store in your state, you're stuck paying the tax. Sharper Image has a store in MA too... >Dave McKallip My employer doesn't know I exist, so how >Internet: dave@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu could I have an opinion? Leo Pinard c/o williams@cs.umass.edu leo@aai.uu.net
consp06@bingsund.cc.binghamton.edu (Robert Konigsberg) (03/07/90)
>CompuAdd in Austin Texas is another one. An advantage with them is >that they have about 90 retail stores in the Eastern half of the US. >Their retail stores have the same prices as their mail order catalog. Yes, that is where i got my 286/12 from. I must admit, though, I have had a couple of problems with hardware. The 1.2 meg drive I purchased had a life from august till now, but they were completely helpful in replacing it. Also, if you are looking for a hard drive, as far as I can remember, the cheapest place for a Seagate 40m28ns drive is Lyco Computing. Cost me $333+shipping and nobody else came close to that price.