Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!usc!snorkelwacker!mintaka!yale!cmcl2!lanl!dhc
From: dhc@lanl.gov (Dave Carter)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.dec
Subject: Re: Delays in DS5000 shipping?
Summary: slow
Message-ID: <59277@lanl.gov>
Date: 6 Aug 90 19:10:50 GMT
References: <1990Aug4.013555.11650@hayes.fai.alaska.edu>
Organization: Los Alamos Natl Lab, Los Alamos, N.M.
Lines: 40

In article <1990Aug4.013555.11650@hayes.fai.alaska.edu>, fnddr@acad3.fai.alaska.edu (RICE DON D) writes:
> I've seen many references to DEC shipping delays recently here and in the
> press, mostly concerning DAT drives and newer VAX configurations.  I haven't
> seen mention of delays in the DECstation line, other than the problems getting
> Ultrix 4.0 out.  But now suddenly our salesguys are saying there is a terrible
> shortage of DS5000's and delivery dates are anybody's guess.  I'm getting
> increasingly disimpressed by DEC's performance...am I just seeing them at
> a bad point in their history or what?  Here's the deal:

boy, you've hit a sore spot.  we placed an order for *one* 5000 late
may or early june.  (i think the order finally got placed on june
5th.)  our sales rep told us then that we'd get it in no more than 4
weeks.  well, he came back later with a different story:  a ship date
in mid-september!!  we had a major program which we could have lost
without a 5000, so i said this was unacceptable.  our sales rep
finally came up with a "loaner" 3100 until september.  this is proving
inadequate for the jobs that we have to run, however.

> 3. Early August: no hardware.  Call to DEC gets a revised ship date in late
>    August, with warning that it could slip further.  Reason given is "heavy
>    demand."  A 3rd party supplier says the real reason is that DEC hasn't
>    ramped up production of the DS5000 yet.

late august?!!  how did you get this good of a ship date?!  they're
still telling us mid-to-late september.

> Now perhaps this is a little simplistic, but it seems to me that if DEC had
> not screwed up the original quotation request and had delivered per its
> quotation that we would have had hardware by early July, and that their
> current (shakey) ship date puts them at least 60 days behind schedule.  It
> certainly puts us way behind schedule and could make it necessary for us
> to change brands.  We can get more work done on a slower machine that is
> on the desk than on a faster machine that is still at the factory.

yes, people here are pretty pissed at the whole thing, and are
considering a massive changeover to (heaven forbid) suns, only because
they are available.

							- dave
dhc@lanl.gov