Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!swrinde!cs.utexas.edu!milano!moth.sw.mcc.com!rcp From: rcp@moth.sw.mcc.com (Rob Pettengill) Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware Subject: Re: Dell, Northagate, Zeos ... advice? Message-ID: <3021@moth.sw.mcc.com> Date: 13 May 91 21:55:07 GMT References: <75383@eerie.acsu.Buffalo.EDU> Reply-To: rcp@moth.sw.mcc.com (Rob Pettengill) Organization: MCC, Austin, Texas Lines: 59 In article <75383@eerie.acsu.Buffalo.EDU> v126mc7u@ubvmsd.cc.buffalo.edu writes: ; ; ;I finally decided to treat myself and buy a sparkling new 33Mhz 386 machine ;but I am looking for a little more advice before I go out and blow all ;that money. ;Is there anyone out there who has a Dell, Northagate or Zeos machine (or ;any other good machine that they convince me to buy) ;that can tell me how they like it, i.e. quality, reliability, performance ;... ; ;Elliot I have had a Dell 333D for about 10 weeks and am very pleased with it. I have kept my original IBM PC putting along for 8 years at home and I wanted a high performance multitasking machine that would last as long. Advantages: High performance. In any individual category you may find a machine faster than the Dell - In the Dell you can see the results of engineering time that went into making the processor, memory, disk, and vidio all fast. The onboard video gives good performance in the SVGA 800x600x16 and 800x600x256 colors in windows. Applications only take a second or two to maximize and repaint themselves. High quality. My Dell was delivered exactly as promised and has worked since then without a hitch. The mechanical and electrical quality of the machine is very high (comparable to what I expect from HP). It is easy to configure: everything is accessible and easy to open. The motherboard is a high quality, no blue wires, surface mount VLSI design. My experience and the other reports I have seen put DELL 2nd to none in compatibility. Windows runs very solidly with 3 or 4 windows apps and 2 or 3 DOS apps going (including simultaneous file transfers with Kermit). Quiet and Cool. The 333D is the quietest desktop machine I have heard. I can barely hear it even late at night at home. With SVGA, 5MB RAM, 2 S 1P port, and 195MB IDE drive no parts felt more than slightly warm to the touch after several hours of running. After getting used to how quiet the DELL is, I think that the roar made by most "personal" workstations is almost criminal! Disadvantages: Cost: Dell costs about 20% more than other "quality" mail order vendors. (This is still a factor of 2 below Compaq and HP). SIMMS: The 333D uses 72pin (36bit wide) PS/2 style SIMMS for memory. These allow you to add 1 SIMM at a time (almost any mix of 1 & 4 MB), but (because these use more expensive 4 bit wide chips) the PS/2 SIMMs cost about 60% more than byte wide (9 bit) SIMMS. (IBM, Compaq, and Zenith also use these SIMMS). -- Robert C. Pettengill rcp%tikal.cactus.org@cactus.org well!rcpetten@apple.com