Heiby.Micro.PCO-MULTICS@BRL@sri-unix (07/28/82)
This message is in response to a message sent to info-micro and placed into info-cpm. I can't seem to send things to info-cpm at BRL from either this site or HI-Multics, so I'm giving this a try. A message to info-micro at mit-ai dated 22 Jun 82 from ...!presby!aron included "I skip over the Superbrain because of its horrendous reputation." I am quite curious what this means. I know three people who own or used to own Superbrains and all are quite happy with them. If anyone has any horror stories to tell, please send me mail and I'll send a summary to the list. Thanks. Ron H. (Heiby at HI-Multics)
Charles@sri-unix (07/29/82)
While I have not used the Intertec Superbrain, I did work for a company at
one time that used the Intertube II. I ran into the following problems with
the terminals at one time or another:
1) Intertec has a policy of warranties from manufacture date, not purchase
date.. This means that most if not all of your warranty can be used up
while the terminal is on the manufacturers shelf (I found that 25-40
days of actual warranty was typical).
2) Intertec seems to have a policy of shipping DOA's. Fully 30% of the
terminals did not function on initial delivery. Intertec was VERY slow
in repair. I found that we could easily rely on them taking 3-5 months
to repair a DOA (not replace it), therefore removing any warranty left
over when we got it (since they did not extend or renew warranties on
repair).
3) When we finally got fed up with their service, we ordered a set of
schematics from the company (for something like $125<!>) so that we could
hire someone locally to fix them. There were four different revision
levels of schematics on various pages for the SAME board. After doing
some research, we found out that NONE of them came close to matching
the terminal we really had. Upon discussing this fact with Intertec, we
were told to return the schematics for replacement/refund. This we did,
by certified mail with a reply letter. To date, Intertec has not admitted
receiving them, telling us to return them, or mailing them in the first
place.
4) Our final order of Intertube's was for 12. 11 of them arrived DOA. We
notified Intertec that they were not acceptable, we were returning them,
we would NOT pay for them, and that we would not order any in the future.
We also asked for return instructions (since we were not returning them
for repairs which we had memorized by that time). Their reply, through
their lawyers, was that if we didn't pay within 30 days, they would seek
payment through small claims court. We replied, to their lawyers, that we
would be MORE than happy to return the terminals (with our reasons) and
that as soon as the lawyers approved, they could expect the terminals in
their law offices via UPS. We have not yet received a reply for that (its
been about 2 years).
5) All the above is mainly about the company, which I have heard has not
changed much. As far as the actual terminal (which may or may not relate
to the Superbrain): The user manuals were unreadable, incomprehensible,
and usually incorrect. the cursor controls documented rarely matched the
way the firmware implemented them.
6) The firmware was unbelievable buggy. The hardware was under-designed and
prone to failure. It generated spurious characters, had a tendency to
lock its keyboard, and generally made life miserable. The fastest we could
reliably run the terminal with minimal cursor controls (XY and Form Feed)
was 1200 baud. One of its best features was that it was possible to change
the internal clock speed to match 50Hz or 60Hz from the keyboard. It also
seemed to like to generate that code spuriously, causing some of the most
interesting screen graphic displays I have ever seen (on a non-graphics
terminal.
They might have changed the way they do things since then. I don't know.
>From what I have HEARD, the only way to buy a Superbrain is to find a
reliable dealer who will ship you the unit directly from the factory
(rather than his stock), and will extend the warranty from his own
pocket. From the track record I have had with the firm, I would not be
caught DEAD with anything by the company, and you could not give it to
me.
chuck
(chuqui at mit-mc)CAL.MIT-OZ@Mit-Mc@sri-unix (08/04/82)
From: Clifford A Lasser <CAL.MIT-OZ@Mit-Mc> I find it hard to believe that you have had so many problems with Intertec. The company I work for has purchased 6 Superbrains so far. I must say that we have been very happy with them so far. First of all, not one of them was "dead on arrival". The store we purchased them from would take them out of the box and try them out before selling them. However, I dont remember seeing a Superbrain fail that test. The problems we have had with the machines have all been related to the power supply or the floppy disc drives. In the 2 years we've had them, most of them have broken down at one point or another (I think a couple are still going strong). When they do break, we've generally shipped them down to Intertec. In all cases, Intertec repaired the units and shipped them back in 2 weeks. I also think the repair costs were reasonable. By the way, the cost of schematics for SB's is $50. I also have a set for Intertubes/Emulators that cost me a whole $25. Although they did not come with any explanations, I found the SB schematics to be complete and accurate: I have repaired a couple of them myself). I have also had the occasion to speak with some of the Intertec customer service/technical staff. Most of them have been very helpfull and very willing to spend their time trying to figure out some of my problems, hardware and sofware, with the machines. All in all, Superbrains are great machines for the price. We have found them to be pretty reliable and easy to repair. They are now selling for $2000 and a 10M hard disc goes for $2700. Who else is selling similar machines for that price?
CHUQUI@Mit-Mc@sri-unix (08/04/82)
From: Charles F Von Rospach <CHUQUI@Mit-Mc> I should re-iterate that my experience was on the Intertec INTERTUBE II terminal, not the Superbrain. The Company may have gotten its head together, quality control wise. I personally would be very wary of them from past experience, but they might have a fairly reliable computer in the Superbrain. chuck
paul (08/04/82)
In regard to the conduct of Intertec, here is my experience. I purchased a Superbrain II recently to develop software for a tester on our production floor which is controlled by a Superbrain. To my surprise, the two machines are not compatible. I was not told this by anyone even when I told them the use of the new machine. When I called Intertec, I was told that they were too busy right now and they would call me back. After four hours they had not called. I called back and was connected to a very obnoxious CS rep who was no help at all. I spent two days and 8 phone calls before I found someone at Intertec who was helpful. I have used the machine for approximately 4 months with no problems, but I would not buy another because of the attitude of Intertec.