pflikk@wam.umd.edu (Paul Glen Flikkema) (04/07/91)
First, a correction: in a recent posting describing my unhappiness
with my $5K NeXT T-shirt, I asserted that the NeXT factory service
department did not swap out my 400 MB drive when it was shipped there
for service. I repeated what my dealer told me---and that
was not correct. The factory service dept. *did* do the swap.
(But the new drives were also noisy--see below.)
In my subsequent dealings with NeXT and the local UM service
department, my faith in both has been largely restored. Although in
my case their response resulted from my posting, I'm convinced that
the people at NeXT (Fremont and Northern Virginia) are doing their
best to make customers happy. Moreover, I have a very good feeling
about NeXT standing behind their products. My sense is that if your
slab or cube goes belly up, NeXT will make it right, and do it
promptly. This is *very good news* for people (like me) who like
NeXT computers, but worry (as I did) about whether they'll support
the machines once they are in the field.
On the 400 MB noise problem: NeXT is aware of it and dealing with it.
I believe that that they will solve the problem. Personally, I'm
waiting for a quiet drive (and hope it will be soon!). Another
solution (which I considered and rejected on matters of taste) is to
get the nice, quiet 200 MB drive and use that SCSI port for an
external drive when you need the space. The only rub is the
difficulty in getting the Extended software release (sigh)---the
dealers ought to make it available.
Personal opinion: Being a person who wants more of a computer than
a 3/486 running DOS/Windows or a Macintosh, but at a similar price,
I think NeXT has a unique offering. I like it *a lot*. The major drawback
is that they are providing a product that uses the latest hardware
from outside suppliers (by necessity since they're a small company).
In doing so, NeXT is particularly vulnerable to delays in shipment of
the new H/W---witness the 040, the 400 MB small form factor drives,
and the C-Cubed JPEG compression chip. Even though I've experienced
long delays in getting my slab, I'm still happy I waited. No other
computer manufacturer offers NeXT's combination of price/performance,
bundled software, and basic usability.
--
Paul Flikkema (pflikk@wam.umd.edu) Electrical Engineering Grad. Student
University of Maryland, College Park