Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!ucbvax!pasteur!draco!dyl
From: dyl@draco (Dylan Mcnamee)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc
Subject: Buying a 386 clone--need advice.
Keywords: reliability, brands, caveats...
Message-ID: <10917@pasteur.Berkeley.EDU>
Date: 10 Mar 89 18:27:15 GMT
References: <596@jc3b21.UUCP>
Sender: news@pasteur.Berkeley.EDU
Reply-To: dyl@draco (Dylan Mcnamee)
Distribution: usa
Organization: University of California at Berkeley
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I need to buy a '386 clone to do some development work on.
I have done a _bit_ of shopping, and have decided to get a VGA
system, with the Seiko (Sony) monitor, and a 40MB drive.

My question is:  should I avoid the taiwanese clones?  If I'm
careful, can I get away with buying one of these (which seem
to run approx $1000 cheaper)?  I am looking for approximately
a 20MHz machine, with or without cache memory.

Another question:  are there any BIOS's to aviod?  Are there
any common "tricks" the clone makers do that can shorten the
life of a machine?  (I know to watch out for a 16MHz 386 being
driven at 20MHz, but are there others?)  Does anyone own such
a clone?  

Please e-mail responses, and I'll summarize, if desired.

thanks very much

dylan mcnamee
dyl@draco.berkeley.edu