gittel@island.uu.net (Mike Gittelsohn) (05/31/90)
THE PROBLEM: One and a half years ago I bought an $1100 Micronet 90 megabyte disk drive for my Mac II. Last week the controller card in the drive broke and the manufacturer (Micronet) wants to charge almost $500 to repair the drive! They say that to repair it they return the entire drive to Imprimis (owned by CDC). This is a flat repair fee regardless of the problem. We know that the drive mechanism works fine because CJS Systems in Berkeley swapped another Micronet controller card into the drive and found that it works. THE ANGER: $500 is too much money to repair a disk controller board!! THE WARNING: Before you buy anything expensive, ask how much it costs to repair. THE QUESTIONS: Where else can I get this drive repaired? Should I repair the drive or just buy another drive, like an 80 megabyte Quantum? Please respond by email to sun!island!gittel. Mike Gittelsohn 415-491-1000
rob@uokmax.uucp (Bolo) (05/31/90)
In article <1632@island.uu.net> gittel@island.uu.net (Mike Gittelsohn) writes: >THE PROBLEM: >One and a half years ago I bought an $1100 Micronet 90 megabyte disk drive >for my Mac II. Last week the controller card in the drive broke and the >manufacturer (Micronet) wants to charge almost $500 to repair the drive! >They say that to repair it they return the entire drive to Imprimis (owned by CDC). >This is a flat repair fee regardless of the problem. We know that the drive >mechanism works fine because CJS Systems in Berkeley swapped another Micronet >controller card into the drive and found that it works. I was under the impression that most of the Imprimis (actually owned by Seagate, now) drives are embedded SCSI, which would mean that the controller is NOT Micronet's. Their agreement with Imprimis probably forbids them from doing component level repairs to Imprimis drives (assuming they want to). >THE ANGER: >$500 is too much money to repair a disk controller board!! I have a 100 meg Rodime from CMS Enhancements. I paid $1150 for it (2-3 years back). Repair cost is $1250. I think everyone knows what a new Quantum 105 costs now. >THE WARNING: >Before you buy anything expensive, ask how much it costs to repair. You might be able to cut down on repair cost if you buy a drive that uses a non-SCSI drive with an add-on SCSI controller. But I doubt it's a good trade-off. >THE QUESTIONS: >Where else can I get this drive repaired? Should I repair the drive >or just buy another drive, like an 80 megabyte Quantum? I don't think you'll do much better on repair cost. You might try contacting Imprimis directly. They might fix it for you, assuming they'll deal with end users. Your best bet might be to find a dealer who offers a 5 year warranty, even if it costs more. >Mike Gittelsohn -- Robert K. Shull rob@uokmax.ecn.uoknor.edu chinet!uokmax!rob