#Vendor & Equip Comments?
11 messages in this thread
I'm considering purchase of a 486/33 system. Would anyone here have
suggestions on a mail-order vendor with relatively good
equip/sales/service/support that doesn't cost too much? I'm looking in the
range somewhere UNDER Northgate… current top contender is Gateway. Has
anyone had experience with a company called Micro Generation?
Also, has anyone used the new ATI Ultra or Diamond Stealth cards with
AutoCAD? How do they compare to, say, a TSENG 4000 SVGA with display list
driver (I'm used to Panacea's DLDVGA)?
And how about the Mag 15" (or 14") monitors?
I appreciate all comments, both pro and con. Main applications will be
ACAD, Animator Pro, WordPerfect, Windows and a multitude of games (well it
IS a home system, you see! <grin>). Thanks in advance for the info.
Heather:
I would recommend Comtrade in California… your good buddy John Intorcio
can give you the number. I have it at the office, but I don't Cserve from
there unless I'm desperate…<g>.
C#
Hiya, Craig!
Thanks for the suggestion on Comtrade. I've seen their ads, but hadn't
gotten around to calling them. Someone from here at the office bought from
them and wasn't happy… I think they forgot a COM port or some diddly
thing, so the guy was really p*ssed. Maybe I'll give them a buzz this
weekend. BTW, might I ask why the recommendation? Have you dealt with
them in the past, or know someone else who has?
-Heather
Heather:
Both John and I have… and I have been very happy with them. I put my own
486 together and saved about $200 over their price… and I wouldn't
recommend that anyone go through what I went through, but I wanted to learn
a thing or two.
Ask for Peter and tell him I sent you. The only problem you should have is
understanding their English, maybe. I had a problem with a dead I/O card
and they sent one overnight…
I don't recommend that ANYONE buy mail order if they want to complain about
service, quality of product, timeliness, compatability problems, etc. You
ALWAYS get what you pay for if you do just a little research and know what
fair is… buying mail order requires the proper attitude and some
experience with computers.
C#
Craigrecommendations in mind when looking.
-Heather
Heather:
Where do you live? I've noticed in reasonably large metro areas (like
Indy, or even Peoria, for that matter) there are often local vendors who
can come real close or even beat mail order. It might be worth a look.
Otherwise, I'd sure recommend Gateway. I bought a 486-33 box from 'em last
fall, and I've been real happy with it and them. I've had one small
problem (small, but disabling – the video card bought the proverbial farm)
and the staff handled it quickly and efficiently.
My only gripe is the monitor. At 1024×768 it doesn't have the sharpest
picture in the world. The 14" Seiko (Trinitron) I use at work is nicer.
I've noticed that this "blurriness" can be partially alleviated (in ACAD,
anyway) through the judicious adjustment of the color palette.
Craig B
Craig(live in Kansas City) and have even bought from several of them over the
years. None have been very sharp. I guess that for the price, they can't
really afford to support you to any extent (like returning phone calls…
<g>).
I'm looking very seriously at Gateway. They're offering the ATI Graphics
Ultra board with their system now, and the 15" Mag monitor (PC Mag Editor's
Choice) is a $195 option in their OEM version. Sounds like a pretty nice
video package.
Heather
Heather,
I'd second Craig's comments. I bought a GW2K 486/33 ISA last Summer and
it has been trouble free. I'd also agree on the monitor, I just don't think
the Crystal Scan NI they shipped(Mag Computronics made I think) was very
sharp at high resolutions – unuseable at 1024 x 768 I think, but I'm more and
more convinced that 17" monitors are a minimum for that resolution anyway.
The only other drawback would be that the new motherboards only allow 32Meg
on the board, while the version shipping last Summer could take 64Meg on
board. If I was buying today, I'd go for the EISA version which is priced a
little LESS than the ISA version was last Summer :(.
Dave T-L
Dave..
Thanks for the comments on Gateway. I tried 1024 on a 14" monitor and found
it pretty awful, but I think it was the monitor (an Optiquest 2000). The
screen wasn't that difficult to read, but the horizontal lines were a
different color and thickness than the vertical lines… even though they
were supposed to be the same. Was rather maddening with CAD, of course, so
I went back to 800×600 and it looked fine.
Well, maybe the EISA is priced at what the ISA was last summer, BUT… I
could not have bought the ISA last summer (or now) at that price! Would be
nice, but one has to draw the line *somewhere* when they're just buying a
toy for home. <grin>
-Heather
Heather,
Now I hope that concept, drawing the line when buying a toy, doesn't
catch on in my house.<g>
Anyway, I think the ISA would be likely to suit you fine, I kind of want
the EISA for the future expansion, and for the EISA hard disk card. May be
buying one(of the EISA boxes) this Summer to use as a digital audio
workstation for a small digital studio I'm putting together at work.
If you do buy from GW2K, keep a careful eye on the prices for the 90 day
period after purchase(watch on the forum here on Compuserve to keep as
current as possible) because they have in the past given refunds to those who
asked if the price drops within 90 days of purchase! I discovered this about
a month and a half too late to take advantage of a drop in price that
happened in June or July.
Good hunting
Dave T-L
Davepolicy) in case of price drop! I will certainly keep an eye on things
should I decide to get a system from them… that's very useful
information.
-Heather