rkh@mtune.ATT.COM (Robert Halloran) (11/15/89)
There were recent reports that Tulin Corp had gone under. They supply disk drives and cases for same. I have seen ads for their packages in the most recent BYTE and InCider/A+ magazines, and they were answering their phone as of 11/14. What's the story? Bob Halloran ========================================================================= UUCP: att!mtune!rkh Internet: rkh@mtune.ATT.COM Disclaimer: If you think AT&T would have ME as a spokesman, you're crazed. Quote: "Remember, kids, if some weirdo in a blue suit offers you some DOS, JUST SAY NO!!!"
carlp@frigg.iscs.com (Carl Paukstis) (11/23/89)
In article <8143@mtune.ATT.COM> rkh@mtune.ATT.COM (Robert Halloran) writes: >There were recent reports that Tulin Corp had gone under. >They supply disk drives and cases for same. I have seen >ads for their packages in the most recent BYTE and InCider/A+ >magazines, and they were answering their phone as of 11/14. >What's the story? When I tried to order a case from them, our purchasing department reported they were out of business. That's about as much as I know on that score, I didn't try to follow up, since if Purchasing thinks they're out of business, I can't buy from them anyway. This occurred about October 25. Last week I got a phone message to call someone at Tulin; I assumed they had heard I was spreading rumors on the net and wanted to reassure me that they WERE in business. However, the number I got on the message was of the "Your call cannot be completed as dialed..." variety. I don't take this to be a good sign, although it is possible that my secretary transcribed the number incorrectly. I'd say the jury's still out on whether Tulin is indeed a functioning, viable business entity. I have no serious complaint about their products; we have several cases (we supply our own drives) in use in house with no significant problems. I bought the case I wanted from: Westcom Computer Systems 715 Washington Ave. P.O. Box 154 Ayden, NC 28513 (919) 746-4961 (800) 422-8591 Fax: (919) 746-4597 My invoice does not show a part number. The item is a case suitable for one half-height SCSI drive (either 3.5 or 5.25) and seems to be the same size as a HD20 case. It has a Taiwanese power supply and a tiny cooling fan. They provide 1-year warranty and 30-day free return privelidge. They accepted our P.O. with bank reference. The box took about 2 weeks to get here. No instructions were provided. Out-of-box, it had one severe problem: The 50-pin connector on the internal cable was improperly installed. The socket (female) for pin 1 had the connecting wire sticking out into the receptor hole, making it impossible to seat the male connector. After our engineering lab crimped a new connector, it turned out that the original connector also had shorted leads 2 and 3. Back to the hardware lab, pry open the old connector, break off the offending taps, reassemble. It works for me, but I imagine a home consumer without an electronics lab might be severely disappointed. I'm not flaming them (much) for this quality-control problem; I imagine that most of their boxes come out just fine. It hasn't been running long enough for me to report on reliability. I like the design of the box; make your own inferences about quality control and take your own risks. I have no affiliation with either Tulin or Westcom. -- Carl Paukstis "I'm the NRA" | DOMAIN: carlp@ISC-BR.COM NOTE domain! | UUCP: ...!uunet!isc-br!frigg!carlp | Ma Bell: +1 509 927-5439