gerry@frc2.frc.ri.cmu.edu (Gerry Roston) (11/08/90)
Yesterday, I received the latest DAK catalog. I have the following observation to make: If you are in the market for a computer, you may want to seriously consider their 386SX product, simply because of the software that comes bundled with it. The computer appears to be a very ordinary machine, which 1 MB RAM, 49 MB disk, two floppies and standard VGA. Cost $1800 + $70 S&H. No flames to me please. If this is a poor machine, please post to the net. My comment is based on having NO knowledge of this machine. I also have a question: Does anyone have any experience with the CD ROM device they are offering for sale? Again, considering the software that comes bundled, it appears to be a good deal. Any opinions will be gratefully accepted. gerry -- gerry roston, field robotics center robotics institute, carnegie mellon university pittsburgh, pennsylvania, 15213 (412) 268-6557 gerry@cs.cmu.edu
curlandm@prism.cs.orst.edu (CURLAND MATHEW J) (11/09/90)
(In *my* opinion)DAK is not a place to buy anything if you're looking for any semblance of quality. They are masters of hype. They could do a two-page pitch on the garden-variety slug and sell half a million. Uhh, Ohh... Matt Curland... . . . . . .Internet: curlandm@prism.cs.orst.edu _______________________________________________________________________________
ted@helios.ucsc.edu (Ted Cantrall) (11/09/90)
>[DAK]If you are in the market for a computer, you may want to seriously >consider their 386SX product, simply because of the software that >comes bundled with it. The computer appears to be a very ordinary >machine,... ---------------------------- Look at the height of the machine in the picture. Does it look like it's tall enough to take standard expansion cards? The "gotcha" may be non-expandability. -ted- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ted@helios.ucsc.edu |"He has showed you, O man, what is good; and what does the W (408)459-2110 |Lord require of you but to do justice and to love kindness H (408)423-2444 |and to walk humbly with your God?" Micah 6:8 (RSV)
yoshida@hpfcso.HP.COM (Stuart Yoshida) (11/13/90)
ted@helios.ucsc.edu (Ted Cantrall) writes: > >[DAK]If you are in the market for a computer, you may want to seriously > >consider their 386SX product, simply because of the software that > >comes bundled with it. The computer appears to be a very ordinary > >machine,... > ---------------------------- > Look at the height of the machine in the picture. Does it look like it's > tall enough to take standard expansion cards? > The "gotcha" may be non-expandability. > -ted- The cards in the BSR 386SX are inserted horizontally instead of vertically. That's a trick that many "slimline" machines use. There are 3 open slots available on the DAK/BSR machine. I have been using the BSR 386SX for about 3 months now, and I'm satisfied with its performance, features, and cost. However, if you're not a software and/or hardware hacker, you may not want this machine. Although DAK has a hardware and software support line, for detailed questions they're pretty worthless. So IMHO you have to be comfortable with a screwdriver and taking apart the machine to root around inside if you're thinking about upgrading (adding memory or putting in a high performance graphics card) or reading notes a lot to glean information about DOS/Windows/etc. -- Stuart "La vida de paz." --Yolocamba-i-ta' UUCP: {hp-sdd, hp-pcd, csu-cs, edison, hplabs}!hpfcla!yoshida Internet: yoshida%hpfcla@hplabs.HP.COM VOICE: (303) 229-2324
ron@vpnet.chi.il.us (Ron Winograd) (11/15/90)
[CURLAND MATHEW J] at prism.cs.orst.edu says: >(In *my* opinion)DAK is not a place to buy anything if you're looking for >any semblance of quality. They are masters of hype. They could do a two-page >pitch on the garden-variety slug and sell half a million. >Uhh, Ohh... Yeah, they are master of hype, and they probably could sell half a million slugs, but not all their stuff is cheesey. For instance, their breadmaker is really good. It really does do all it says. I have one, have had one for a year, and it works excellently. It does offer a bigger bowl than the others, and although it is a bit more than 5 minutes. i.e. Washing dishes, measuring ingridients, it does generally do what it advertises. The only bad thing is that the guy can promise all he want to send more recipes, in the whole year, we only get 25 extra. The machine, though, does do really good bread, and considering how much work it would be to make a loaf the hard way, it does save an extrodinary amount of time. The bread also comes out of the pan really easily. I can easily say we have made more than $400 worth of bread in the year. I would completely recommend the machine. The ice cream machine, however, bites the big one. The bowl is WAY small, and for the $250, it really isn't worth it. -Ron ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Ron Winograd |Some boy scouts were taking a survey. They knocked on a| |ron@vpnet.chi.il.us|door and asked the gruff man who answered, "Sir, do you| |-------------------|think that ignorance or apathy are the biggest problems| |in America?" Annoyed, he answered, "I don't know, and I really don't care!"| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------