Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!usc!apple!motcsd!hpda!hpcuhc!hpspcoi!dlow
From: dlow@hpspcoi.HP.COM (Danny Low)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc
Subject: Re: Why do magazine's review mail-order PC brands
Message-ID: <1640076@hpspcoi.HP.COM>
Date: 9 Mar 90 21:31:14 GMT
References: <1990Mar6.024915.1295@cs.dal.ca>
Organization: HP Lovecraft Division
Lines: 40

>In most cases the only difference is the name on the front of the
>case.
>And they also think that company X's box is somehow different and
>better/worse than comany Z's box.
>This is how it works:

This is your basic incomplete and dangerous information. The description
of how it works is a generality that has many many exceptions. The larger
clone makers are certainly exceptions to this rule.

They have qualification programs. This means the clone maker only
buy from suppliers who can meet certain standards of quality. This means
testing components to insure that the standards are actually being
made. The result is you are less likely to get a clone that is DOA.
Returning a mail order clone that is DOA is annoying and time consuming.
From the MANY conflicting "I have no problems with my X clone" and "I
will never buy an X clone again" postings on the net, there are some
clone makers who clearly have quality control problems. 

The larger clone makers have their own IC design teams to design customer
circuits for their clones. The resulting clone may be faster, cheaper or more 
reliable than a clone made entirely of off-the-shelf components. 
Check the motherboards on the clone. The small clone makers buy their
motherboards off the shelf from an oem supplier. The large
clone makers make their own motherboards. A custom motherboard
is a good sign that this is not just another clone.

I work for a clone maker testing new clones. Most of
what goes in our Vectras are custom designed by us. The stuff
we oem off the shelf has to meet our internal Strife standards.
InfoWorld wrote an article recently on the tests an oem component
has to pass to qualify before we will use it. You can bet a clone
maker operating out of a garage does not do this sort of testing.
You may be getting an equally good product (after all that is 
how Hewlett-Packard got started) but that is unlikely.

			   Danny Low
     Disclaimer:These views are my own and not those of my company.
	Hewlett-Packard Sunnyvale Personal Computer Division
     HP SPCD   dlow%hpspcoi@hplabs.hp.com   ...!hplabs!hpspcoi!dlow