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From: ttak@uhura.cc.rochester.edu (Timothy Takahashi)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc
Subject: Re: Zeos and Swan 386 clones
Keywords: TRW, Zeos, Swan, Diagnostics, Support
Message-ID: <7889@ur-cc.UUCP>
Date: 15 Jun 90 00:39:34 GMT
References: <10491@hydra.gatech.EDU>
Reply-To: ttak@uhura.cc.rochester.edu (Timothy Takahashi)
Organization: University of Rochester
Lines: 33

In article <10491@hydra.gatech.EDU> gt0159a@prism.gatech.EDU (LEVINSON,MARC LOUIS) writes:
>I am considering buying a new 386 clone.  Zeos and Swan have
>very enticing specs and prices.  Has anybody had experience with either of these
>two companies (good/bad)?

I have an Oct. 1989 Swan 386sx machine and my father (after my good luck) has
a Feb 1990 machine. Mine has been completely trouble free, my fathers has a
different motherboard (with IDE drive support) that would generate intermittant

DISK NOT READY errors under IBM PC-DOS 3.3 (works fine under PC-DOC 4.0). Mine
has a MFM-disk controller that has been troublefree.

Both machines sucessfully run Windows 3.0 under /386 mode (unlike some other clones)

>Doccumentation usually gets worse as the machines get cheaper.  How good is the
>*new* Zeos doc book?  What is the extent of Swan's docs?  My concern is a

Swan has an *excellent* manual *VERY* professional (much better than the docs
that came with the 1987 Zentih Z-386 (a computer worth its weight in trash).

>I have gotten good response from both Swan and Zeos when requesting more info
>by phone.  Their tech reps also seem competent (for answering pre-sale tech
>questions).  I 

Tech support from Swan has been Excellent, i had some subtle questions (could
ram configured as extended ram on an above-board be converted to expanded ram
using the phoenix-bios drivers supplied with the machine - answer no) that
were handled quite competantly. The sales staff was courteous and efficient.

>LEVINSON,MARC LOUIS
>Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta Georgia, 30332

tim takahashi