jbasara@ssdc (jim basara) (11/26/90)
The Price Club here in DC started carrying a series of PCs named Positive. They seem to have alot of bang for the buck. Can someone provide me with some information on the company. I would like to hear from people who own/have owned one and who can provide experienced knowledge. I've heard that Positive PCs have been available at the California Price Clubs for some time. Thanks in advance!!!!!! Jim Basara uunet!ssdc!jbasara
ESR@SLACVM.SLAC.STANFORD.EDU (Ed Russell) (11/28/90)
In response to: >From: jbasara@ssdc (jim basara) >Subject: Positive pc's >Date: 26 Nov 90 14:29:11 GMT > >The Price Club here in DC started carrying a series of PCs named Positive. >They seem to have alot of bang for the buck. Can someone provide me with >some information on the company. I would like to hear from people who >own/have owned one and who can provide experienced knowledge. I've heard >that Positive PCs have been available at the California Price Clubs for >some time. According to an article in Computer Currents (Bay Area edition) they are made by Eltech Research -- a local (Silicon Valley) company based in Fremont, CA who have been making clones since 1985. In fact, the PC I am using as a connection to our mainframe is an Eltech. SLAC (Stanford Linear Accelerator Center) has bought a number of them over the last 2-3 years and we have found them to be generally quite reliable. According to the CC article, major Eltech corporate customers include Lockheed, San Jose State Univ., Univ. of Calif (Berkeley), and the USGummint -- notably Social Security Admin. That may not mean diddly squat since it depends on how much confidence you have in the buyers for these outfits. It is also not clear what differences there are, if any, between "true" Eltech units and the Positive units. All I can say is that the experience at SLAC, to my knowledge, has been fairly positive. Eltech is essentially a clone with motherboards (at least for the 386/486s) designed locally with some components imported from the Far East. Usually one has a choice of innards. Prices are similar to other similar clones. I have personally only talked to Eltech once, when I was specifying the machine I wanted. The guy across the hall had some sort of memory failure on one of his which they took back for repairs right away. He waited a week or so and called to ask where the machine was. When the manager found out it hadn't been returned and no notice had been given of why, he apparently fired the technician. It appears they are VERY anxious to provide good service.
dtl@hpihoah.cup.hp.com (Dean Lindsay) (11/28/90)
>The Price Club here in DC started carrying a series of PCs named Positive. >They seem to have alot of bang for the buck. Can someone provide me with >some information on the company. I would like to hear from people who >own/have owned one and who can provide experienced knowledge. I've heard >that Positive PCs have been available at the California Price Clubs for >some time. I investigated PC clones a few months ago. I found that I could get a 25 MHz 386 with 2 MB of RAM, a mouse, a cache, about 80 MB of hard drive and a 1024x768 monitor with MS-DOS 4.01 and Windows 3.0 for about $3200. Then I ran across Positive, with a **33** MHz 386 and 106 MB hard drive and all of the above, with the software already loaded on the hard drive, for $3000. I bought the system off the Price Club floor. It was a two box deal -- one box had the monitor, the other the system cabinet, keyboard and manuals. It was plug and play -- take out the cabinet, take out the monitor, attach the keyboard and monitor and power cables, power up to Windows. However, I had a glitch -- the keyboard has a switch (not mentioned in the documentation, which is not all that extensive) which was set for XT mode, so the first boot failed. I had noticed the switch, and changed it to AT mode, and then the system booted. After a few days, I moved the system, and it didn't find the hard drive. I reseated the SCSI controller (the disc is SCSI) and the system has run without problems since. I messed with the config.sys file to get mouse support in DOS windows, and this caused an apparent disc funny. I called their 800 number for support. It is always busy, but they take voice mail and return the call the next day (I have called several times while considering the system and after purchase). The tech told me how to get the mouse support and clear up the disc funny caused by the config.sys entry. In the process, I mentioned the failure to locate the disc after moving the system, and he was willing to authorize the replacement of the hard drive since he said it might be a motor problem in the drive. The replacement would have been on-site (the tech would have come to my house). I decided not to have the drive replaced, since the problem has not repeated. The system is fast, and I am pleased. I feel that I have avoided all of the potential hassles of setting up the software from scratch or trying to match components from different sources that I have read about on the net, and that is also an advantage to me. If you buy it at Price Club, you have 30 days to take it back for a full refund, NO QUESTIONS ASKED. I used the 30 days to load up applications software, and to gain experience on Windows, which I had heard about and seen demoed, but had never gotten to use. So by the time the system was really mine for good, I knew it could handle both Windows applications and non-Windows applications in Enhanced mode to my satisfaction. Not many computer stores will give you a 30 day return policy with a cash refund if not satisfied. I am pleased with the system and would recommend it to others. But, of course, I am a sample size of one. Dean Lindsay