bannon@andromeda.rutgers.edu (Ron Bannon) (06/16/91)
DAK is advertising the following for $699. Is it a good deal? NEC UltraLite 4.4 lb. Notebook Computer 1-MB Silicon Hard Disk (That's right, one megabyte.) V30 CPU 640K RAM, (456K ROM) Built-In 2400 Baud Modem & Cable AC Adapter & Charger Rechargable Battery Pack Laplink (ROM) with Cable Serial Port MS-DOS 3.3 (ROM) Microsoft Works 2.0 (ROM Card) Thanks, Ron Bannon bannon@andromeda.rutgers.edu bannon@math.rutgers.edu
xiaoy@ecf.toronto.edu (XIAO Yan) (06/16/91)
In article <Jun.15.17.42.32.1991.20746@galaxy.rutgers.edu> bannon@andromeda.rutgers.edu (Ron Bannon) writes: >DAK is advertising the following for $699. Is it a good deal? > >NEC UltraLite 4.4 lb. Notebook Computer > 1-MB Silicon Hard Disk (That's right, one megabyte.) > V30 CPU > 640K RAM, (456K ROM) What's V30 CPU? and What's this 456K ROM for? Xiao
brian@king.csd.mot.com (06/16/91)
xiaoy@ecf.toronto.edu (XIAO Yan) writes: >In article <Jun.15.17.42.32.1991.20746@galaxy.rutgers.edu> bannon@andromeda.rutgers.edu (Ron Bannon) writes: >>DAK is advertising the following for $699. Is it a good deal? >> >>NEC UltraLite 4.4 lb. Notebook Computer >> 1-MB Silicon Hard Disk (That's right, one megabyte.) >> V30 CPU >> 640K RAM, (456K ROM) > What's V30 CPU? and What's this 456K ROM for? The V30 is an NEC workalike for the 8086. The 456K ROM is used for MSDOS, a DOS manager, and a setup utility.
brian@king.csd.mot.com (06/16/91)
bannon@andromeda.rutgers.edu (Ron Bannon) writes: >DAK is advertising the following for $699. Is it a good deal? >NEC UltraLite 4.4 lb. Notebook Computer > [...] It can be a really good deal, but it depends on what you want. To get a wealth of information on the UltraLite, subscribe to the UltraLite mailing list. Send your subscription request to ultralite-list-request@csd.mot.com.
ong@d.cs.okstate.edu (ONG ENG TENG) (06/18/91)
From article <Jun.15.17.42.32.1991.20746@galaxy.rutgers.edu>, by bannon@andromeda.rutgers.edu (Ron Bannon):
> DAK is advertising the following for $699. Is it a good deal?
I don't know about Ultralite, but DAK might be a problem. If you have
ordered from DAK before (and received the goods satisfactorily), then
ignore the following.
I ordered something from DAK before ($100+), it did not come for
several weeks. I complained and got my credit card credited back
with the same amount. Did not loose anything (except time),
but it is frustrating. brian@king.csd.mot.com (06/20/91)
ong@d.cs.okstate.edu (ONG ENG TENG) writes: >From article <Jun.15.17.42.32.1991.20746@galaxy.rutgers.edu>, by bannon@andromeda.rutgers.edu (Ron Bannon): >> DAK is advertising the following for $699. Is it a good deal? >I don't know about Ultralite, but DAK might be a problem. If you have >ordered from DAK before (and received the goods satisfactorily), then >ignore the following. >I ordered something from DAK before ($100+), it did not come for >several weeks. I complained and got my credit card credited back >with the same amount. Did not loose anything (except time), >but it is frustrating. I've ordered tons of stuff and have only had one problem. It's kind of humorous, really: I ordered a Lotus Agenda ROMcard along with my UltraLite, and received a Lotus 1-2-3 ROMcard instead. I called Customer Service the next day, and was told that they'd ship me Agenda right away. I asked for instructions on how to return 1-2-3, and was told "oh, just keep it". Nice! Or so I thought. A week later, no Agenda. I called back, and was told "Oh, the last person did it all wrong. I'll get Agenda sent to you right away." A week later, no Agenda. I called back, and was told "Yes, it's on order, but I have no way of knowing when it will ship. Wait a few more days." I did. No Agenda. I called back, and was told "Oh, the last person did it all wrong. I'll get Agenda sent to you today." A week later, no Agenda. I called back, and was told "Oh, it's simple. Just send back 1-2-3 with the appropriate paperwork and I'll send you Agenda." I explained all of the previous dealings and said that I would *not* send back 1-2-3, *and* I wanted Agenda. "Can't do that. It's an expensive package. If I send you Agenda, I'll have to bill you for it *plus* the difference between Agenda and 1-2-3" [1-2-3 was more expensive]. I asked for a supervisor. After 30 minutes on hold, the supervisor said "Can't do that", but understanding that I was pretty pissed off, she recommended that I call the Corporate office and ask for "The Kaplan Desk" [Drew A. Kaplan is the founder of DAK]. I called the Kaplan Desk the next day, and was told "Agenda is on it's way now, and there is no need to send back 1-2-3. Call back if it hasn't arrived within two days". Agenda arrived, free of charge. A couple of days later, *another* copy of Agenda arrived. I waited for a week to see if any more copies arrived, and then sent back the second copy. I was sincerely tempted to try to exchange it for WordPerfect or something like that :-), but aside from the Customer Service screw-ups, they really had dealt with me fairly and so I did the same and sent it back. After all, they made good on the first Customer Service representatives obvious blunder -- telling me that I could keep the copy of 1-2-3. Anyhow, the point is that DAK is a pretty good outfit and they'll deal with you fairly, but some of the Customer Service folks could use a bit of training. If you have to call them, get names and keep a log. Don't wait for as many weeks as I did before calling the Corporate office to get something resolved. -- -Brian Smithson Motorola Inc., Computer Group, Commercial Systems Division 10700 N. De Anza Boulevard, Cupertino, CA 95014 USA, (408)366-4104 brian@csd.mot.com, {apple | pyramid}!motcsd!brian
pastor@PRC.Unisys.COM (Jon Pastor) (06/24/91)
On the other hand, I ordered my UL from DAK, and it arrived, complete, intact, and ready to roll, *much* sooner than promised; they told me I'd have to wait a week to 10 days, but it showed up in 4-5 days. They can, however, be a bit difficult to reach on the phone (hint: you need an auto-repeating auto-dialer...), but when you get through you talk to someone helpful.