Adam.Frix@f200.n226.z1.FIDONET.ORG (Adam Frix) (11/08/89)
Peter Espen writes: >The 80 Meg Quantum in my IIcx started acting flacky about 3 weeks ago, >so I brought it in and had the new ROM installed. I now have a IIcx >with a drive that makes weird noises and is significantly slower at >random times. SOME FIX! It would be perfectly possible for Apple to >initiate an exchange program, install new or rebuilt Quantums in our >Apples and send the bad drives to Quantum, where they could be opened >up and rebuilt. If the lubricant really is the only problem, the >drives can be repaired and sent back to market and used for exchanges. >I'm really starting to get fed up with Apple's attitude of "customer >support .... what's that?" There's an article in the MacWEEK I received yesterday (11/6) that mentions that a whole bunch of people are dissatisfied with the ROM fix. In fact, it seems the ROM fix slows the drives down some ungodly amount. (Sorry, I don't have the article in front of me, or I'd quote the relevant passages). Apple claims that this slowdown lasts for only 2 weeks (I'm still trying to figure _that_ one out) and, indeed, many folks have borne this out. One user that MacWEEK interviewed, however, said that his slowdown returned even worse a week later. I think the general opinion is going along the lines of "Apple dropped the ball on this one, big time." You also mention that you are a "once satisfied Apple user." My suggestion is to buy only the basic, _basic_ box from Apple and do everything else through third parties. The market is a great one now; you can get displays, keyboards, pointing devices, disk drives, etc., all for tremendously lower prices, with tremendously better warranties and customer support. Anyone buying an Apple box with Apple RAM, hard drives, displays, etc. included are merely asking for trouble. Look at it this way: even Jasmine admitted its problems with Rodime drives much more easily than Apple admits any problems whatsoever. So your next purchase, go buy an Apple box with a DataDesk keyboard (or some such), Kensington trackball or A+ mouse, a Radius or SuperMac display setup, and a GCC hard drive. Then you'll be a satisfied Apple/Kensington/ Radius/GCC user. Oh, and get a GCC laser printer or a HP DeskWriter. (Those of us who bought Macintosh systems before the recent glut of successful third party hardware and are desperately trying to get good output from our ImageWriter IIs, look at those buying new systems now with great envy.) --Adam-- -- Adam Frix via cmhGate - Net 226 fido<=>uucp gateway Col, OH UUCP: ...!osu-cis!n8emr!cmhgate!200!Adam.Frix INET: Adam.Frix@f200.n226.z1.FIDONET.ORG
espen@well.UUCP (Peter Espen) (11/09/89)
In article <110300018@uxe.cso.uiuc.edu>, mcdonald@uxe.cso.uiuc.edu writes: > > > No, if they can't build them right to begin with, they have little > hope of making them reliable with a retro-kludge. IBM tried this > with their CMI drives - and it didn't work, they still die. The > only cure is a whole new properly designed drive unit. > If Quantum is telling the truth, and the only problem with the drives is the type of lubricant that was used, then it should be possible to open the drives and re-lubricate them with a proper lubricant. Peter Espen
gillies@p.cs.uiuc.edu (11/11/89)
> If Quantum is telling the truth, and the only problem with > the drives is the type of lubricant that was used, then it should > be possible to open the drives and re-lubricate them with a proper > lubricant. I'm no drive expert, but this may cost as much as the drive itself. For ten years, "Winchester" disks have been manufactured as disposable technology. Here's why it might be cheaper to throw away the drive -- (1) The inside of the drive is like a clean room, with only so many ppm of particulate matter. This must be maintained, and the drive must be re-tested ($$$) when the repair is complete. (2) Have you ever tried to open a motor to change the grease? I thought you hadn't.
gillies@p.cs.uiuc.edu (11/13/89)
Re: suggesting you should "buy the basic box ONLY from Apple". This is all well and good, but Apple has jacked up the cost of a basic box considerably. For instance, Apple has jacked up the price (at this university) of an unpopulated Mac II about $400 since it was introduced. The price difference between an SE/20 and an SE/2-floppy is only about $250. I believe they did this to steal the business of 3rd-party manufacturers. When you have one product that's a ripoff, the Apple solution is to raise prices on the other products, turning the ripoff into an instant steal. Now there's some twisted logic for you. It might be that Apple originally priced peripherals outrageously, to encourage 3rd-party developers. Now that 3rd-party development is strong, Apple needn't shelter these guys. But then why has Apple *raised* the prices of the empty system units (i.e. raised wholesale prices for system units)? Why didn't they *lower* the prices of the hard disks?
cyosta@taux01.UUCP ( Yossie Silverman) (11/13/89)
If you do a simple comparison of prices (as of a few days ago) on Apple consortium prices, you find that the internal 80M disk is $1600 (after discount). I have seen 105M disks (Quantum) for $800 in the latest MacUser. However jacked up the barebones price is, it still doesn't make it a good deal to buy Apple, obviously, f**ked up drives. - Yossie P.s. I haven't looked lately, but it seems that Apple 40M drives and Apple memory is also way overpriced - the price being the difference between the machine with and without. -- Yossie Silverman What did the Caspian sea? National Semiconductor Ltd. (Israel) cyosta%taux01@nsc.nsc.COM or RPR1YOS@TECHNION.BITNET NSA LSD FBI KGB PCP CIA MOSAD NUCLEAR MI5 SPY ASSASSINATE SDI -- OOLCAY ITAY
t-jacobs@cs.utah.edu (Tony Jacobs) (11/14/89)
In article <2855@taux01.UUCP> cyosta@taux01.UUCP ( Yossie Silverman ) writes: >If you do a simple comparison of prices (as of a few days ago) on >Apple consortium prices, you find that the internal 80M disk is >$1600 (after discount). I have seen 105M disks (Quantum) for $800 >in the latest MacUser. However jacked up the barebones price is, it Check out MacWeek. One place offering them for $725. Darn hard to beat that! Tony Jacobs * Center for Engineering Design * U of U * t-jacobs@ced.utah.edu