Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!att!mcdchg!ddsw1!ddsw1.MCS.COM!karl From: karl@ddsw1.MCS.COM ([Karl Denninger]) Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc Subject: Re: Info on Gateway 2000 wanted Message-ID: <[3217.7]karl@ddsw1.comp.ibmpc;1> Date: 17 May 89 18:00:05 GMT References: <1375@xn.LL.MIT.EDU> Lines: 69 >----- >Response 6 of 6 (3217) by thomas at on Wed 17 May 89 6:7 >[Malcolm Thomas] >(Gateway 2000 systems) >My only gripe with the computer is every now and then (too often for me) >I get a message saying > NMI interupt at "some location" > S) shut off R) Reboot Any other key to continue. That's a symptom of bad memory, or a bad memory controller on the motherboard. You should NEVER see NMIs in an application! It would appear that you have some bad (or slightly out-of-spec) memory....... or Gateway used marginally-rated chips...... Don't try to run Unix or OS/2 on this system without getting that memory problem fixed, or you'll see "Panic: xxxxx" instead and your system will halt dead -- just like in Windows. >I shopped around for ages before purchasing looking for "that lowest price" >that sometimes seems to elude us. I found them to be lowest until 3 weeks >after I had received the system. The new low price was $80 less. Wasn't >worth the hassle of returning it. If you were really going to return a system due to it not being the lowest priced, I'd say that's unwarranted and unfair. If you had a compatibility problem which was unresolvable, that's a reasonable reason for a return. That some firms allow returns without cause is no excuse for what is, in effect, bilking them out of a sale that DID meet your expectations and needs. As for buying from the lowest bidder, remember what John Stroh once said: "If you buy strictly on the lowest price, you must add something for the risk you run -- that what you bought might not do what you wanted, or that the quality might not be up to standard. If you add that risk factor in, you'll have enough to purchase something better." Computer systems are a wierd animal; if you purchase the cheapest machine you might find out that the company you buy from doesn't last as long as the warranty. And MOST motherboard (and many disk) manufacturers won't deal with you as an end user directly -- meaning if the company you buy from goes out of business, you have NO warranty. Motherboards are expensive, as are disk drives. Your system is only as good as the company that sold it. Those companies which have the absolute lowest price must have cheapened something somewhere. It could be in the disk controller, memory chips, power supply, or even motherboard. It's a fact of life that there are only two ways to lower the price of an item -- reduce manufacturing costs, or sell more units (economy of scale). Since there is little economy of scale in the AT/386 compatible business, there is only one way left to lower the price -- cheapen the unit somehow. We see it all the time in our repair business; systems with cheap disk controllers, marginal memory chips, power supplies with 200mv of ripple on the +5V rail (!), floppy drives made by some off-shore company I can't pronounce, and more. Lastly, a company which engages in price-warrior tactics (which many do) is most vulnerable in a commodity market. They have little margin to work with, and as a result are forced out of business when Joe's Computers comes up with a better price. And there is _always_ a Joe's Computers. Something to think about. Ps: We sell and service AT & 386 systems. I see machines every day come in for service that were bought "as the cheapest on the market". No system is a bargain when it breaks down a week out of warranty. --- Karl Denninger (karl@ddsw1.MCS.COM, !ddsw1!karl) Public Access Data Line: [+1 312 566-8911], Voice: [+1 312 566-8910] Macro Computer Solutions, Inc. "Quality Solutions at a Fair Price"