Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!cs.dal.ca!lane
From: lane@cs.dal.ca (John Wright/Dr. Pat Lane)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc
Subject: Why do magazine's review mail-order PC brands
Message-ID: <1990Mar6.024915.1295@cs.dal.ca>
Date: 6 Mar 90 02:49:15 GMT
Organization: Math, Stats & CS, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, Canada
Lines: 32

I wonder why computer mags and people here on the net spend so
much time comparing various clone computer brands, most of them from
from mail-order houses in the U.S.  Surely all these brands are assembled
from the same generic components that you can buy from these places.
Why not review/discuss the components, in particular the motherboards
and then, when reviewing the "Brand X" PC, simply say "well, this machine
has a 'Kung-Foo 286' motherboard (ficticious names here, of course!) -
see issue XXX, p. nnn for a review of that" and list the various 
component that the manufacturer/assembler has used.

Around these parts people generally choose from a brand-name machine (IBM,
Compaq, Zenith, etc.) from a store like Computerland, or, a no-name clone
from one of the smaller stores.  Many of the clones are assembled in a
back room of the store!  Others are assembled by mail-order houses in
Upper Canada.  Most don't even bother to put a name-plate anywhere on
the outside.  They all seem to be built from the same components so why 
not choose your system based on the components.

I'm never going to see a review of "Joe-down-the-street's clone" in PC 
Magazine and I'm not going to by from CompuAdd when I can get virtually
the same thing locally so most of those reviews are pretty useless to me.

I suppose the obvious answer is that PC Magazine is giving free publicity 
to the same large U.S. mail order houses that advertise in the magazine.

Oh well, just rambling.

-- 
John Wright      //////////////////     Phone:  902-424-3805  or  902-424-6527
Post: c/o Dr Pat Lane, Biology Dept, Dalhousie U, Halifax N.S., CANADA B3H-4H8 
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