0rrodrig@teknowledge-vaxc.ARPA (Russ Rodriguez) (10/19/88)
Hello Net-Landers:
Has anyone out there heard of "PC's Like New", an Atlanta, Georgia
based vendor of new & like-new IBM PC's? I've been considering purchasing
a machine from them, and found that their price ($1200) for a PC with an
amber monitor, monochrome graphics card, two floppies, 512k of RAM, and a
Citizen printer to be superior to that of clones, although the machine is
only 4.77 mhz.
I'm interested in hearing the good, the bad, and ugly about this
company.
Russell Rodriguez
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Disclaimer: The opinions of Russ Rodriguez are his own and couldn't possibly
reflect those of his employer: Teknowledge, Inc., of Palo Alto, CA
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internet: 0rrodrig@teknowledge-vaxc.arpa
usenet: {uunet|sun|ucbvax|decwrl|uw-beaver}!0rrodrig%teknowledge-vaxc.arpaccastgw@pyr.gatech.EDU (GREG WILLIAMS) (10/19/88)
In article <25511@teknowledge-vaxc.ARPA> 0rrodrig@teknowledge-vaxc.ARPA (Russ Rodriguez) writes: > Has anyone out there heard of "PC's Like New", an Atlanta, Georgia >based vendor of new & like-new IBM PC's? I've been considering purchasing >a machine from them, and found that their price ($1200) for a PC with an >amber monitor, monochrome graphics card, two floppies, 512k of RAM, and a >Citizen printer to be superior to that of clones, although the machine is >only 4.77 mhz. > > I'm interested in hearing the good, the bad, and ugly about this >company. I don't know a lot about this company, but there is a place here in Atlanta that you can get the same set-up for probably less than $1200. I think that you could get 640k and a turbo machine for about that price, possibly a little less. The company is named Software House. I don't have the number with me right now, but I will get it to you when I find out what it is. I can vouch for their reliability since I do all my computer shopping there. I got a 30mb Seagate hard disk for about $300, cheaper than the cheapest 20mb I could find. (Except for a 20mb from Software House, of course.) -- ccastgw@pyr.gatech.edu GREG WILLIAMS "Barbaric Penguin" Disclaimer: The usual stuff.
aw@romeo.cs.duke.edu (Angus Wang) (10/20/88)
In article <6609@pyr.gatech.EDU> ccastgw@pyr.UUCP (GREG WILLIAMS) writes: >you could get 640k and a turbo machine for about that price, possibly a little >less. I just had a friend order a set up similar to this (XT clone, 2 floppies, 640K, amber monitor, citizen printer) for about $900. I saw the ad in PC Mag for CompuAdd's "Career Starter Kit". For a 4.77/8 MHZ XT with printer it seems like a good deal. I can't vouch for their machine quality/performance, but I can for their prices on supplies and their 2400baud modem. Department of Computer Science, Duke University, Durham, NC 27706 UUCP : decvax!duke!aw CSNET: aw@duke ARPA : aw@cs.duke.edu
pjh@mccc.UUCP (Pete Holsberg) (10/21/88)
In article <6609@pyr.gatech.EDU> ccastgw@pyr.UUCP (GREG WILLIAMS) writes:
...for their reliability since I do all my computer shopping there. I got a
...30mb Seagate hard disk for about $300, cheaper than the cheapest 20mb I could
...find. (Except for a 20mb from Software House, of course.)
...--
...ccastgw@pyr.gatech.edu
...GREG WILLIAMS "Barbaric Penguin"
...Disclaimer: The usual stuff.
Be very careful with your new ST-238 drive. I understand that the
failure rate of these "not-meant-for-RLL-but-used-that-way-anyhow"
drives is around 50%.
--
Pete Holsberg UUCP: {...!rutgers!}princeton!mccc!pjh
Mercer College CompuServe: 70240,334
1200 Old Trenton Road GEnie: PJHOLSBERG
Trenton, NJ 08690 Voice: 1-609-586-4800ads4@tank.uchicago.edu (adam david sah) (10/23/88)
In article <12645@duke.cs.duke.edu> aw@romeo.UUCP (Angus Wang) writes: >In article <6609@pyr.gatech.EDU> ccastgw@pyr.UUCP (GREG WILLIAMS) writes: >>you could get 640k and a turbo machine for about that price, possibly a little >>less. > >I just had a friend order a set up similar to this (XT clone, 2 floppies, >640K, amber monitor, citizen printer) for about $900. I saw >the ad in PC Mag for CompuAdd's "Career Starter Kit. You also asked about CompuAdd as a company. It is GREAT. 1. They have a dedicated tech support staff that is now easier to reach (they had some problems getting through bec. of growth...) 2. Their products are ROCK solid. I have their 286/10 (mhz) and it is 100% compatible and that means both hardware AND software compatible. 3. Their prices are VERY reasonable. My entire system cost me about $1500 and it included the cpu, mono monitor, LX800 printer (that's epson- standard! compat. with FX series and MX series), 640K, 20 mb hard disk, some blank disks and paper, etc. very nice! My only complaint is one that seems to afflict the AT clone market as a whole. The machines (the ATs) are not THAT reliable. The old IbXTs ALWAYS booted and they didn't really crash-with-no-reason. But my machine and friends' machines don't always work 100% and we don't know why. It doesn't seem to be CompuAdd's fault- albeit they are the BEST of the lot. For example, when I try something new (i.e. something radical- like putting in some new TSR into the works or installing a RAM disk, etc ) sometimes it will just CRASH- and yet I know that the TSR was not at fault... This also is hardware related- things don't install easily or 100%. It took me about a day's labor just to install a new 40 meg hard disk, when it should have gone in within 4 hours. Now, you can blame this on me- but I doubt it. It just seems to fluky, that's all. My concern is not for hobbyists like myself, who get a perverted sort of thrill out of doing this- but for businesses who cannot afford ANY slippage. They would go nuts if the computer didn't boot today- or the configuration settings were lost and they had to boot floppy and re-configure the system. My machine is wonderful- but I'd be damned if I'd recommend it for an office. p.s. By a strange sort of irony, my old company (used to work for) - just before I left- switched to CompuAdd as their computer products supplier. I'm withholding their name, but suffice it to say that they're Fortune 500 (and well up there...). In fact, I know it for a fact that they're going to be ordering the same machine I have. I only hope they're microcomputer dept is very strong...