marshall@wind55.seri.gov (Marshall L. Buhl Jr.) (04/27/91)
Everex has an ad for their new STEP Megacube system in the May '91 Byte on pages 59-61. On page 61, they have a bar graph comparing the MIPS (Meaningless Indicator of Processing Speed) rating of their system to the Compaq 486/33L, Dell 433E and AST 486/33TE. Their bar is twice as long as the others. When one looks carefully, one can see that the scale is 20-22 MIPS. Their PC is less than 5% faster than the others. I consider this an insignificant amount and that other criteria are more important when choosing a system. I find this sort of advertising highly offensive, so I called the listed 800 number (800-368-7837) to complain. It took nearly two minutes for them to answer (the phone just kept ringing). I told the poor innocent fool on the other end that I would not be doing business with Everex in the future (I have a STEP 386/25) because of this ad. I also told him they should have a few words with the slimey advertisers who created that ad. Now that I've got that off my chest, I can get back to work. Marshall -- Marshall L. Buhl, Jr. EMAIL: marshall@seri.gov Senior Computer Engineer VOICE: (303)231-1014 Wind Program 1617 Cole Blvd., Golden, CO 80401-3393 Solar Energy Research Institute Solar - safe energy for a healthy future
jdb@reef.cis.ufl.edu (Brian K. W. Hook) (04/28/91)
Gee, and I thought that *I* was the only one who noticed that little "truth stretching" that Everex pulled. Yeah, I found it pretty damned disgusting, especially since they aer supposed to be vaguely reputable. What a shame, what a shame. 50% on the graph, 5% on paper....sad excuse for honesty and fair comparison, Everx. Brian