Xref: utzoo comp.sys.laptops:22 comp.sys.zenith:82
Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!clyde.concordia.ca!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!umich!wsu-cs!egrunix!fred
From: fred@egrunix.UUCP (Manfred Prange)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.laptops,comp.sys.zenith
Subject: Re: zenith 386 laptop closeout - is it a good deal?
Message-ID: <324@egrunix.UUCP>
Date: 12 Jan 90 04:31:20 GMT
References: <1990Jan11.004443.8795@chinet.chi.il.us> <7946@nigel.udel.EDU> <30731@shemp.CS.UCLA.EDU>
Reply-To: fred@unix.secs.oakland.edu.UUCP (Manfred Prange)
Organization: Oakland University, Rochester, MI
Lines: 41

In article <30731@shemp.CS.UCLA.EDU> alex@cs.ucla.edu (Alex Quilici) writes:
>gmiller@udel.edu (Gregory Miller) writes:
>   "I rushed out and bought the Zenith supersport 286 when
>    it first came out (I got serial number 93!), and I've been thrilled
>    with it since I've had it."
>
>Well, here's a different opinion: stay away from Zenith laptops.  I
>bought a supersport 286 with a 40mb hard disk and an internal 2400 baud
>modem for around $3500 just over a year ago.  And, since then, it has
>been in the shop over half of the time.
>
       (Very unfortunate horror story deleted.)

>Has anyone else had problems with Zenith?  Especially with
>their 286 supersports?  The shop I've been taking it to has
>seven other supersport 286's with the same set of problems,
>so I imagine there must be others out there in the same boat.
>
It sounds to me like your machine, and the 7 others in the shop
have come from a bad production run. I have a SS-286 w/40Mb and
2400 baud modem which I have been using for a number of months, and
it is a real peach. I've owned and used ZDS computers of several
types over the years, and never found the quality of their machines
to be anything less than sterling. If your machine is defective -
and from your description it certainly seems to be - give the ZDS
head office in Chicago a call, give them all the unfortunate
details, as you did in your post. This is very definitely something
they will want to know about. A friend of mine had a recurring
problem with a ZCM-1490 monitor, and the local shop was not
handling things correctly, a call or two to Chicago cured the
problem.

Zenith now has VGA and page-white LCD equipped laptops, the SS-286e,
and SS-SX386, as well as an upgraded 20Mhz version of the Turbosport.
That is why the older Turbosports are on clearance. I've had the 
opportunity to experiment with them, and they are excellent
laptops, particularily in the screen department, where ZDS remains
unmatched.

Good luck with your problem. Send me an e-mail reply with your
progress. -MWP