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From: burton@mitisft.Convergent.COM (Philip Burton)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc
Subject: The PC Magazine study of 80386 systems & Can you roll your own?
Keywords: motherboards OS/2 save money keyboards satisfaction tower case
Message-ID: <775@mitisft.Convergent.COM>
Date: 12 Jul 89 23:45:48 GMT
Organization: Convergent Technologies, San Jose, CA
Lines: 42

I recently read the massive study PC Magazine did about two months ago on
80386 systems.  For all the work they did, I'm not convinced that they gave
me all the information I was looking for.  Given that all the components of
a 386-AT clone are available from multiple sources, it is possible to build
and sell a system entirely from packaged parts.  It seems clear that many
of these companies are just nothing but "screwdriver" operations.

Some of MY questions:

1.  What is the company size?  How many employees?  How many years in business?
How much revenue?  Bank and Dunn and Bradstreet references?

2.  Why is there such variation in the companies that support Class B certifi-
cation or OS/2 operation?

3.  IF I chose to roll my own system, how much money could I save?  (I estimate
about $400 for an entry-level system)?

4.  What about second sources for such items as keyboards or 32 bit RAM cards?

5. How much money do I really save if I take a chance with mail order or no-name
brand, compared with the discounted price available on a name brand system?

 *************************

If I focus on question 3 above, then it seems like PC Magazine did us a dis-
service by not taking the mountain of data, and abstracting some information
from that file. For example, which motherboards or motherboard/BIOS combinations
will always run OS/2 available from IBM or Compaq?  Can a tower case provide
sufficient shielding to provide Class B protection at 16/20/25/33 MHZ, even
if the manufacturer hasn't gone to the expense of running the tests.

Aside from the potential money savings, this is of interest to me because
I'm sure that the system I like doesn't have the keyboard I like, or the 
tower case I like.  Since I live in Silicon Valley, local sources for all
these components shouldn't be a problem.

Any comments, readers?

Phil Burton
Convergent Technologies
408 435 3791