jng@s.cs.uiuc.edu (02/02/89)
Hi folks, I am going to buy a 286 in the near future, and since there is so many AT compatible around, I would like to ask you experts to help me finding what I want. I have done a little bit of survey and the following is the Specifications: * 80286/12 processor at 12 or 6 MHz switchable system speed * 0 wait-states * 1 Mb RAM (expandable to maybe 2 Mb for later investment) * 1.2 Mb 5.25" drive * 1.44 Mb 3.5" drive (get it from CompuAdd for $89) * 40 Mb Hard drive * 1 parallel, 2 serial ports * 101 key keyboard * VGA board and adaptor * 2400 baud modem (internal prefered) get it from CompuAdd for $139 Of the above spec., CompuAdd 286/12 will almost do the job with $2307 (almost, because CompuAdd 286/12 only have 512K RAM expandable to 1 Mb, and I really want more room for expansion), Then the new CompuAdd 286/16 will perfectly fit the spec. with $500 more (ie. $2807), but with $2807, how would those Gateway 2000 16MHz EGA and Gateway 386SX, AST.... sound? So I would say $2800 should be my upper limits. I am looking for cost and reliability, so if you have any comment or recommend- ation, please post or email me, Thanks! I will post whatever I received maybe a week or two later, I think there might be people in need of this kind of advise, too. --Joseph Ng University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign-- ARPANET: jng@s.cs.uiuc.edu BITNET : jng%s.cs.uiuc.edu@uiucvmd.bitnet CSNET : jng@uiuc.csnet USENET : uiucdcs!uiucdcsm!jng
jng@m.cs.uiuc.edu (02/07/89)
This is Joseph Ng again, since I just found out that there have been mailing problem to my account, although now it is fixed, I think I may have missed all the responses emailing to me since last Thursday, so if any of you have send me some advise on the buying of the 286 machine, would you please send the comments again, also my email address is now: ARPA: jng@m.cs.uiuc.edu BITNET: jng%m.cs.uiuc.edu@uiucvmd.bitnet Sorry guys, and Thanks in advance!
ppa@hpldola.HP.COM (Paul P. Austgen) (02/10/89)
Buy a copy of Computer Shopper. There are numberless ads for these machines. I have done business with May Computers. They are cheap and their computers work. Advice after the sale from these places can be spotty due to low budgets and sometimes language barriers. Places like JDR are a little more expensive, but are very customer oriented, and have 800 numbers for technical advice, good return policies, etc. If you don't know just what you want, I would suggest a larger outfit. If you know, you can save a lot of money by picking carefully from the discount dealers.
mattp@oakhill.UUCP (Matt Pressly) (02/11/89)
The August 1988 issue of PC-World had a review of several '286 machines, each selling for under $2000, fully equipped. I don't remember all the machines reviewed, but they concluded the Blackship '286(12 MHz) was the best buy at ~$1700 (40 MB HD, monochrome, 1MB (80 ns) RAM, etc.). -- address: mattp@oakhill
caromero@phoenix.Princeton.EDU (C. Antonio Romero) (02/11/89)
In article <11250057@hpldola.HP.COM> ppa@hpldola.HP.COM (Paul P. Austgen) writes: >Buy a copy of Computer Shopper. There are numberless ads for >these machines. There were also reviews of a great many such machines in PC Magaszine in the last month or so... shouldn't be too hard to find. They had a few they liked. Also, InfoWorld just reviewed a bunch of 286/16 and 20 machines, some of which aren't THAT much more costly than the 12 MHz counterparts... -Antonio Romero romero@confidence.princeton.edu