Systems

1. Movin' On Up
2. Systems -- You Get What You Pay For!
3. It's My Soapbox!

<Preface : Table of Contents : PCMCIA>

Movin' On Up
From Catalog 34, page 64

If you have read my columns in the past, you know that I encourage JDR customers to have a "backward" friend who will buy all of your hand-me-downs. If you don't have any "backward" friends, donate your old equipment for a tax deduction. I know people who are still using floppy only 8088 PCs. This is OK if you want to run 10 year old programs, but it just won't hack it for running Windows, AnyThing 6.0, and the even newer OS/2 or Windows NT.

Today's computer user is compelled to keep up or drop out. 80286's don't hack it. A 386 is OK, but not recommended for the heavy duty graphics load of the newest operating systems. If you want to run the newest programs, you need to consider a 486 with local bus support for graphics as a minimum.

A 486 with VESA Local Bus support and a VESA standard graphics adaptor are the ticket to tomorrow. The VESA local bus supports 32-bit high-speed data transfer for the fastest graphics available at a good price. Contrast that with the 8-bit low-speed cards of a couple of years ago, and you can understand why the upgrade is necessary.

I subscribe to an upgrade cycle that allows me to resell my old equipment before it becomes worthless surplus. That way, I never have to lay out more than a few hundred dollars to be near the leading edge.

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Systems -- You Get What You Pay For!
From Catalog 31, page 13

After making the decision to buy a computer, you really have a job to do. Aside from the elimination of mail order companies (or retailers) that might not be here next week, you really must read the "fine print." Unfortunately, the "gotchas" aren't always hidden in small type -- sometimes they are found deep inside the computer, other times they aren't mentioned at all!

Here are some observations to consider when selecting a computer from us or anyone else:

1. Dot pitch matters! Make sure you know what kind of monitor you are getting. Pay the few extra dollars for a non-interlaced display.
2. Don't buy a system without cache memory. It costs just a little more, but greatly improves performance.
3. Avoid systems with 1 meg of RAM included. These lowball systems are geared to sucker you in; then, they plan to "upgrade" you for a "few" dollars more.
4. The case and power supply are as important as the processor. Every year we reject scores of power supplies because of noise, ripple or cross regulation.

Remember, someone else is selling our rejects.

"And, you don't get what you don't pay for" ought to follow, so it will.

Last week I got a call to take a look at a PC that stopped working when the owner added 4 megs of memory to the 486 motherboard. He knew the memory was good because it would work when he pulled out the original 4 meg and swapped the new memory in. His first guess was that the SIMMsockets for the second bank of memory was bad.

I would have thought the same except that I could sometimes get the memory to work for a few minutes before a failure occurred, and also because the failures usually occurred in the first four megs, but not always.

The "brand name" PC had a 200 watt supply which should have been adequate, but I quickly took notice of the wire diameter that brought power to the motherboard. I don't think I have ever seen any so thin in a PC.

I ignored my observation for quite a while before deciding to replace the power supply because I assumed that the manufacturer knew what he was doing. I was wrong! As soon as I put in the new supply the machine began working flawlessly. So much for a good deal!

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It's My Soapbox!
From Catalog 26, page 59

Everywhere I turn, industry pundits are criticizing the amount of memory that Windows 3.1, OS/2, Novell NetWare, and other important software packages are taking on your disk and in memory.

Don't they have it backwards? If they want minimal memory requirements, shouldn't they stick with the software they already have and quit buying the "new and improved" versions of database, desktop publishing, and system software?

Failing to keep up with the changes is a sure way to stifle your productivity. Those aforementioned pundits recognize that a 386 or greater is becoming the minimum recommended for most users, but they decry a requirement of more than 2-4 megs of main memory.

Phooey! After spending $1,500 or more for the computer, and at least as much again for DOS, Windows, desktop publishing, editor, database and utility software for things such as pop-up calculators and sideways printing, they can't accept another $200 more to make it all run smoothly and quickly.

Any "pundits" who think like that should pick up their soapboxes and go home! So there!

I can't say as I've ever had any aspirations to save the world, but I often think I should be doing more to save the computing public. Not that I think I have it ALL figured out. I just believe I know enough to be of some value, and that I haven't attained my worth.

Since this is the end of this compilation, and the title above leaves me an opening to say just about anything I wish, I will resume my position atop the soapbox and speak my peace.

In my experience, people buy computers for the wrong reasons, and fail to buy them for equally wrong reasons. What follows are two examples from personal experience.

Story 1:

George runs an auto parts store in the heart of the city. His warehouse covers almost half of one small block and has been there since the 1930's. I'm not sure, but I think his father started the business and left it to him. George is in his mid-sixtys.

It doesn't take much imagination to see where a computer might empower George's business. Inventory is the biggest headache, followed by locating parts and cross referencing part numbers. Keeping track of money, employee hours and wages, incidental and recurring expenses like water and power, and the results of special promotions can be ignored for the time being.

I met with George because I thought I could help him computerize. After I presented him with examples run on a computer I brought with me, I expected him to be impressed with the faultless and speedy results I had illustrated. Keep in mind, his complete inventory is currently kept on stacks of cards that are constantly being updated by hand, and that there is only one stack for six sales clerks and one shipping/receiving clerk.

Following my explanation of a network that each clerk could access concurrently, I expected him to express interest and ask some more questions. He did not. Without further ado, George told me that he had no interest in spending money that would eat into the profits. Furthermore, he knew of companies that had tried computerization and gone out of business. He did not intend to play the fool!

End of conversation.

Story 2:

Jim wanted a computer. Jim had wanted a computer in the worst way for the longest time, and now he was going to get one.

Jim came to me for advice, and so I asked him what he intended to do with the computer. Here, paraphrased, is what he said.

I want my wife to be able to balance the checkbook, learn new recipes, write better looking letters to her friends, and perhaps help the church secretary with the Sunday bulletins.

I want my teenage daughter to be able to turn in good looking term papers and use a CD-ROM encyclopedia for looking up things. I expect my young son to be able to print legible letters because he has very bad handwriting, and probably play a few games.

"But Jim," I asked, "What are you going to use the computer for?" He answered that he just wanted to learn more about computers, and it was really his family he was thinking of.

Jim bought a computer!

What is it that bothers me here? Well, Jim bought the computer for the wrong reason, and will probably find it sitting on a shelf unused except for a few games in a month or two. I wish he had admitted it was just a status thing and left me out of the "advice" gathering.

I hope I'm wrong, and that one of his kids or wife find it useful.

George on the other hand wasn't trying to fool me. He was trying to convince himself. Had he accepted my advice and allowed me to only computerize the few key record keeping nightmares in his environment, I'm sure he would have been converted. Someplace along the way George has become convinced that he will be obsolete if he brings in a computer.

Those are some big problems I frequently encounter. Not so big but just as stubborn, is the problem of people who check with all of their friends before they make their purchase. Maybe they don't really consult their friends, but this is what they say.

"No, I don't want a 486 machine. It's too expensive, and I'll never need that much power. My friend Joe has a 286 and he thinks that would be enough for me."

It would be very difficult to buy a machine that has more power than you will ever need. It is just a matter of time before the programs you want to run will exceed the power of the PC that you have. Sure, I agree that many people can be satisfied with what they now have, but the overwhelming majority of people that I encounter have upgraded their PC's time and time again. What is it that makes these people think they will be different? (And, what motivation does Joe have to talk you into a machine no faster than his own?)

Put it another way, if you expect to upgrade the 386 computer you buy today to a 486 in a couple of years, why spend the next 2 years doing without only to start doing without the next evolution when you buy the 486?

(Compare yourself... In the latest JDR catalog, a 486SX motherboard costs $299.95. You can save yourself 10% or a whopping $30 by selecting a less than half as fast 386DX-40. Most software costs more than $30.)

Finally, let me relate the situation to something many of us would feel more comfortable discussing.

Suppose that you could buy a new family car for $10K that had cloth seats, a high revving 6 cylinder engine, and a stick shift, or, for $11K you could have leather seats, an 8 cylinder engine and an automatic with air conditioning. If everything else was equal, and you could afford the additional thousand, wouldn't you choose the car with more comfort and a longer life expectancy?

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