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Re[2]: The Compaq Issue
Ariel Biener <ariel@fireball.tau.ac.il> wrote:
> Pfewwww, really. I do believe some people on this list are interested in
> high powered & highly reliable systems, backed up by a company who does
> QA
> on each machine that leaves its factory, and every order is built to
> order
> at the factory, and not a lame collection of parts from the Israeli
> market.
I have to disagree. If you order the parts you _want_ and really understand
your needs (both conditions are usually satisfied simultaneously), the
no-name box thus assembled is, as a rule, twice cheaper (or twice as
powerful for the same money paid) than a one purchased from a "big name"
company.
What one really gets with big name boxes is headaches. The onboard SCSI is
mentioned as Adaptec, but Linux doesn't recognize it (or work unstable). The
on-board video chip is an "ATI Mach64", but XFree doesn't recognize it. Of
course, there are diskettes with drivers provided "for all major operating
systems". Ever seen Linux in the list? :) To change something in the BIOS,
you must boot to DOS (or even Win$). The mainboard <-> led display
connectors are not standard and even montage holes in the mainboard doesn't
correspond to any chassis except the one you buy it in, so a $100 (in the
case of a no-name box) upgrade of the case to make more room for disks
corresponds to buying a new computer (that's the whole intention of the big
name companies) or tinkering with drill and soldering iron.
> If this is the case, go DELL. I must say, I have a VERY good experience
> with DELL PowerEDGE servers, bot with Linux and x86 Solaris.
Hmm, maybe they (Dell) improved lately. When I checked the issue two or
three years ago, I did quite a thourough check of news posts, and _major_
part of them were saying "Don't buy Dell!" I can quote by heart one PC
repairment technician: "Thanks a lot to Dell. If they didn't exist, my
income would have halved."
Regards,
Evgeny
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/ Evgeny Stambulchik <fnevgeny@plasma-gate.weizmann.ac.il> \
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