#which pentium to buy?
20 messages in this thread
Can anybody recommend pentium systems to buy that work? What questions should
I ask when purchasing mail order? Should I buy IDE or SCSI, viper or matrox?
Is there anything I should know about the pentium before buying one? Any help
will be greatly appreciated.
Thank You,
Jerry
IMHO, if I were to buy a Pentium today, I would probably go with the
new Dell P60. I have a Dell, Gateway, and CompuAdd and out of the three
(486's) I only like to work on the Dell because it's such a solid machine (in
every way). I've also known too many people with some sort of complaint about
their Gateway computer.
Get a Dell.. you can't lose (IMHO of course)..
— Steve
Jerry,
With all due respect to the esteemed animation expert Mr. Lee (hey Steve, how
are you doing?!), I've had an alternate experience. I have three Gateways here
in my house today, (one of them a Pentium), have bought several 486's for work,
and several more for friends. The collective experience is zero problems not
explained by user mis-configuration.
Caution, the following statement is most likey unfair because of temporal
considerations: In fact, I had problems with my last Dell, although that was
LONG ago. (I've heard many good things about Dell boxes from others, though.)
A month or so ago the wise and gracious Gus Grubba recommended that due to
evolving board designs, wait as long as possible before buying a Pentium. When
Gus speaks, listen. I see he just bought another one for himself though, a
DEC, I think…
JKJ
With all due respect the Mr. JKJ, I wouldn't buy another Gateway. I didn't
have HALF the problems others on the Gateway Forum had at the same time, but
they were terribly slow, unresponsive and seemingly unconcerned. A friend of
mine at another local firm also had enough problems that they eventually had to
cancel their order (about a month after it was supposed to have arrived, but
hadn't — Gateway wouldn't even return their calls).
With Gateway, it either seems like the experience is either a breeze, or the
scraping of fingernails on a chalkboard.
Dave
Hey big Dave!
>>slow Gateway response…
Yeah, I've read comments like this in the trades. Gateway claims this was due
to their great value and the overwhelming number of orders. <g> There is no
excuse for not returning calls, though.
I simply may have been lucky. I've had reasonably quick deliveries; just what
they quoted on the phone, nearly to the day. The sales guys always called back
when I left a message, and the few technical calls I've made over the last
several years were answered quickly and effectively. They even sent me a
second NEC monitor, and paid the shipping, when I had a question about the
first one.
We generally do our own technical support, however. I suspect that people who
don't feel comfortable with this should NOT buy mail order, regardless of the
brand, but stick with a local, competent, dealer (if available!)
BTW, what machines have you had good luck with and can recommend?
One of these days we'll all be using 500 MHz disposable computers from a
vending machine at the supermarket and we'll look back on this and laugh! <g>
JKJ
Well, I got my machine slightly AHEAD of their quoted date, but then they had
to send me replacements for the video card, monitor, mouse and power supply!
And, when I could actually get them to send me replacements, they weren't
always right — the replacement powersupply they sent was for a desktop case,
not a tower (also, though, it turned out there was no problem with the power
supply, other than it had not been tightly screwed into the frame and was
vibrating like crazy, and the second monitor they sent me was worse than the
first, so I just kept it!).
Then there was someone else here on the forum who bought a machine from them,
and then called to order more memory, only to be told that they weren't selling
any memory for x amount of time! THAT'S _full_ service, for you!<g>
I don't think they're bad machines, but their testing and customer service
leave MUCH to be desired.
Dave
Oh yeah — as for other machines, most of the rest of ours are from Chuck Mies
72110,1263 — now you want to talk SERVICE….<g> (Hiya Chuck!)
Dave
JKJ;
>> I have three Gateways …. >> The collective experience is zero problems
>> not explained by user mis-configuration.
The company I work for has just purchased about 10 to 15 Gateways. I received
one of a lot of six 486-66's. In the lot of six for sure, there is "pause"
period of about 10 seconds about every 30 minutes. For whatever reason, it sort
of goes to sleep for 10 seconds, then wakes up and continues to "go like 66".
The type ahead buffer continues to work, and everything you do is caught, it
just takes a nap. Someone said this was the BIOS. I don't know, but it is a
nusance(sp). Just my 2 cents. 🙂
However, it beats my previous IBM Model 80 all to pieces. I could take a nap
with it! <G>
Dennis Fenske
Dennis,
We have not heard of this "pause" condition. Could it be specific to the 66
model? The 66 I have here is an earlier EISA with the DX2 upgrade. The other
486 here at home is a VLB 33. I'll ask a couple of people at work who have the
"official" 66 if they have experienced this.
JKJ
JKJ;
>> Could it be specific to the 66 model?
Anything is possible I suppose. Our company has accepted this as an annoyance,
but not as a problem and it seems they are willing to accept it. I have had
the computer for about two or three weeks, and you do get used to it.
However, it seems that our company is no longer going to be purchasing
Gateways. Apparently, it has been decided to buy all the individual piece
parts and build it ourselves for all future computers.
FWIW,
Dennis
Jerry,
I have my own "corny" rule about ordering computers. Remember, it's not the
name on the front of the box, but the service policies that you should be
concerned about. My little attest to this philosophy occurred in my computer
infancy when my IBM AT and Epson Equity 286 CAD machines both "bit the dust"
the same day (Easy on me guys, this was 1987<G>!). I had the Epson back that
afternoon, and the IBM followed 3 DAYS later!!! Am I saying that the Epson was
a better machine? NO, I'm saying that the Epson DEALER was better!
>>IDE or SCSI
For what applications? 3DS is a given, but do you run any disk intensive
applications (IE Large Databases)? IMHO IDE is just fine for the 3DS3 and
AutoCAD words as these are very processor intensive tasks. If your system is
set-up properly, you shouldn't be hitting the disk (except for loads, saves,
etc.). Windows is a different story, it can be VERY disk intensive. I
personally use an IDE drive connected to a 4MEG caching VLB IDE controller.
SCSI is definitely the better performing system, and the ability to
"Daisy-Chain" up to 7 peripherals has it's advantages, but at a price premium.
Summation, save your money on IDE and BUY RAM!!!!!
>>Viper or Matrox
Personal choice, but note that there is another thread here discussing driver
problems (and the lack of) for BOTH these boards. Our Pentium systems use the
PCI version of the Number9 GXE (an S3 928 based board). It (S3) has a wide
driver following.
One final note, there was an early version of the PCI chipset that had some
definite compatibility problems, and some of the "name" brands had these. I
think that all these bugs have been resolved, but that could be a question to
ask.
Finally done,
Chuck
Are you saying are not having these drivers problems with the #Nine board
running 3DS R3? And in Windows? Would you recommend this board to someone
whose board now is not going to be supported for 3DS R3 and who is shopping?
Is anybody using the ALR Evolution 5000 , pentium, its PCI (?)?
Rachel,
Well, you caught me on one thing, this is a new combination for us and I have
not logged enough time with the #9's and 3DS3 to make a recommendation yet (I
can't keep one in house long enough!<G>). I'll let you know ASAP.
As far as windows, ROCK SOLID so far. We have (5) of these out there and they
are "windows only" machines. Also, great drivers that allow you some amazing
control over the Windows environment including Vertical Refresh Rate (ON THE
FLY!!!), resolution and virtual screen, cursor color, font size, etc, etc.
Recommendation, ask me in a week when I get back in the office and put them
through their paces.
Chuck
I am very curious to hear what you think…also the difference in 3DS with
large files between the two models they are offering..i guess the second has
more RAM…..and has and i at the end…
Rachel,
Keep you posted, but their are 4 #9 GXE PCI Bus Models to choose from. The
primary difference is the amount of RAM. Without my specs here (I'm at home
this week) here are the differences as I recall.
1Mb VRAM 1024×768-256 colors, 800×600-65,000 colors, 640×480-16.7m 2Mb VRAM
1280×1024-256 colors, 1024×768-65,000 colors, 800×600-16.7m colors,
640×480-16.7m 3Mb VRAM 1280×1024-256 colors(with 1600 x 1200
"virtual" desktop for Windows),
1024×768-65,000 colors, 800×600-16.7m colors, 640×480-16.7m 4Mb VRAM
1600×1200-256 colors, 1280×1024-65,000 colors, 1024×768-16.7m colors,
800×600-16.7m colors, 640×480-16.7m
For 3DS, the 1mb or 2mb model will suffice (we have been getting alot of
inquiries about the 2Mb version) as you are not as concerned with resolution,
but color depth. For Windows and ACAD (and other "resolution junkies" like me)
the 4Mb version will be the choice. Imagine being able to see a 2k film file at
a zoom of only 2:1 in 65,000 colors!
More to follow once I get back in the office <g>!
Chuck
Chuck, when are the 4Mb GXE PCI boards going to be available?
And, have you had any personal experience with them?
– G
chuck have you ever tried out the ALR's evolution5 pentium system?
Rachel,
Unfortunately not, we deal HP, Compaq and our own "City Blue" label clones.
Chuck
Jerry:
I have been very pleased so far with the Pentium system I just received for
review from Micron Computer Systems. It's a PCI bus-based 60MHz system with
32MB of RAM and a Diamond graphics board.
David
To add to what David Cohn said,
We have purches 11 Microns (all 66's) over the last 6 months. Good machines
with good components, and when we had any problems they sent replacement swap
parts (even entire computers) overnight air. They're quite responsive and
their tech staff is competant (average phone wait – 2 or 3 minutes). Our next
boxes will more than likely ge their p60's.
– Phil
ps since they're a RAM manufacturer they have some of the most reasonable RAM
prices around – they didn't even flutter much during that entire RAM price
gouge last year.