The LA Fox Developer Newsletter

October 1995

Dell Computer .

A PC Odyssey

by Barry R. Lee

“It all started off innocently enough.”

That seems to be my favorite opening line whenever

I’m reviewing hardware or software goods and

services. Well, it did start off innocently enough this

time!

My company had just moved into new offices and I

needed to get still another PC. (I currently have a

386 notebook, two 486/66 mHz desktops, and a

486/100 mHz machine.) Since my home office

machines are linked together on a network, I had to

face the reality of obtaining a new machine to net-

work with the other ones going into the new office.

The requirements were fairly simple and straight

forward: the new machine had to be pentium-class

with lotsa RAM, at least one 1.2 Gig drive, a 4X CD-

ROM, tape back-up (which I was going to add

myself, for reasons I’ll explain later), 17” monitor,

etc.

Up until now, I had made a habit of building and re-

building my machines to their present states. As a

result, a certain “standardization” had evolved over

the years I have always used Maxtor hard drives,

because they’re very reliable and I can now change

the master-slave jumpers in my sleep; Teac flop-

pies, also very reliable (my oldest is at least 3-1/2

years old and hasn’t so much as hiccupped); and

Conner TapeStor tape backup units, also very

reliable and quite a bit less noisy than the more

popular brands. I even have a “recycling” program

going on, so that when I outgrow one hard drive, I

simply pull it, add a larger one, make it a slave, and

make the original HD a slave in one of my other

boxes. It’s easy to do when they’re all the same.

But this time, I decided I didn’t want to do that. Why

not have somebody else build it for me? That way I

wouldn’t have to worry about all those pesky lRQs,

etc., and I could save some billable hours.

Here’s where the fun begins. I’ve always advised

my clients that if they want to buy PCs, avoid mail

order houses and opt instead for a source closer to

their place of business. When the source is care-

fully selected, the reasons are obvious: better, more

personal service; less turn-around time for repairs;

the building of stronger business relationships, etc.

So, following my own advice, I set out.

First stop, MicroCenter, in Santa Ana. None of their

off-the-shelf machines met my criteria, so I asked

them to build me one. I was promptly informed that

they didn’t have 1.2 Gig Maxtors, and why on earth

would I want one to begin with. Not to worry, I’d try

someplace else.

Next stop, CompUSA, Fountain Valley. It took

approximately 36 seconds to walk in the front door,

walk past the Acers, Packard Bells, etc., and walk

back out again. Not to worry, I’d try someplace else.

Next stop, Fry’s, Fountain Valley. That venerable

megamarket of electronics. Why hadn’t I thought of

this before? After all, haven’t I purchased thousands

of dollars of components from these people in the

past? Well, the salesperson said he would be glad

to help me if I would just walk around the store,

jotting all the individual part numbers down on a

piece of paper which he would then enter into a

terminal which would then produce a quote for me.

Wait a second I don’t think he realizes that I’m

about to spend a few thousand dollars more if he will

just walk around, gather the part numbers, and

produce the quote for me. I ask him again, stating

my intentions, and again I get the same answer.

“Well then”, I say, “Can’t I just stand here, give you a

description of the parts, i.e., Maxtor 1.2 Gig EIDE

Hard Drive, you enter that in, get the part number

and the price?” No, I’m told, I would have to walk

around the store you know the rest. “Well, what

happens when I get all the part numbers?” He

answers, “You then take the quote to the service

department for their assembly quote.” I’m starting to

worry. I may have to consider mail order.

I come back to my new office and start looking

through my latest copy of PC Magazine. “Let’s see,

Dell has one of the best mail order reputations in the

business I think I’ll give them a call.” I call the

number, get connected with the order desk, and

place the order - a Pentium system with a 15” moni-

tor (I think I’ll save a few bucks and trade with one of

my 17’s at home.). They tell me they’ll ship it to me

at the office and it’ll be there in 10 days. Boy, oh

boy! Is this painless, or what? But I can’t have my

Maxtor HD or Teac floppy, I’m limited to what they

have in stock. Oh well, I’m so beat down at this

(Con’t, page 6)

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