Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!csd4.milw.wisc.edu!lll-winken!uunet!hi-csc!slocum
From: slocum@hi-csc.UUCP (Brett Slocum)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.apollo
Subject: Re: Flames against Ami
Message-ID: <42fbc30c.805@hi-csc.UUCP>
Date: 2 May 89 16:19:00 GMT
References: <330@quintro.UUCP> <187@santa_fe.UUCP> <1198@cs-spool.calgary.UUCP>
Reply-To: slocum@hi-csc.UUCP (Brett Slocum)
Organization: csdd
Lines: 39

In article <1198@cs-spool.calgary.UUCP> freedman@ksi.cpsc.ucalgary.ca.UUCP (Dan Freedman) writes:
>
>[ . . .] Everybody's customer
>service is lousy (can anyone truly say that they are happy with the
>technical support that they get from their vendor?  If so, did you get
>good technical support from the beginning, or did you have to really
>fight for it?).

We have had Apollos since 1983, when all you could get was the DN400, and
the 2-d graphics station which I can't remember the model number of (DN600?).
Since that time, we have had excellent customer support from Apollo, up until
we switched to internal Honeywell support due to mistaken ideas about cost.
Apollo usually had someone out within a couple hours for hardware problems,
and the hotline was usually very helpful (though the time was longer).  

We did have some problems with one of the technicians they sent out a few times,
but that was cleared up when the new technician took over.  

All in all, we had many good things to say about Apollo support, and few bad.

On the other hand, we have also had Suns since the beginning as well.  And
we had the exact opposite experience with their technical support (what
technical support).  They were very slow and unwilling to accept that there
was a problem.

On another note, one Apollo system administrator could manage twice as many
workstations as our two Sun administrators.  Everything was easier on the
Apollo.  Backups were simple - one machine could backup the entire ring.
Software could be installed on any node in the ring from one node.  Many
other tasks were faster, easier, and more convenient.

None of these comments have anything to do with the technical merits of
either machine, or the cost (which we find Apollo to be cheaper when buying
multiple machines).

-- 
Brett Slocum   UUCP: ...uunet!hi-csc!slocum
               Arpa: hi-csc!slocum@uunet.uu.net
"My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die."