🚀 go-pugleaf

In <4audfa$9j0@news.mel.aone.net.au> emmenjay <msmith@mpx.com.au> wrote:

>My experiences with Beyond Computers were not all good.
>
>I purchased a system from them early this year.  I clearly specified the 
>components which I wanted, but when I picked up the system they had 
>substituted cheaper components in several places:

This doesn't seem to be uncommon. My machine was advertised as having a 
Soundblaster 16-bit sound card (it was actually an OEM Vibra 16 card, which, 
to be fair, works and sounds just fine), and...

>I requested an EIDE HD controller but got an IDE controller.

I'm still not sure what I have as an HD controller. I paid extra for a Mode 3 
EIDE controller, and got... err... *something* on a card, devoid of any brand 
name at all, with a UMC controller install disk that told me I didn't have a 
UMC controller!

>I requested a fast 16550 UART comm port but got a standard (slow) one

I stupidly assumed that a 1995 model Pentium motherboard would by default 
have 16550 UART chips. It didn't (and comms were all but impossible for a 
week), but the store fitted them for free when I complained.

>I requested a motherboard with 4 SIMM slots bot only got 2.

I expected 4 and got 6!

>Beyond exchanged the parts on my request, but it should not have been 
>necessary.

Agreed. I won't name the store my machine came from, because they have not 
indicated any tendency at all to be shonky apart from a general reluctance to 
return phone calls after the sale. Any problem I've had has been fixed while 
I waited.

BUT beware those "5 year warranties". I bought my machine in May, got a 
letter from a company called "Warranties International" in June apologising 
for the delay and saying to expect my warranty in a week, and here it is at 
Christmas and still no warranty has arrived, nor any further letter of 
explanation. 


- Anthony






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      Anthony Horan, Melbourne Australia  -  anthony@xymox.apana.org.au
                     http://daemon.apana.org.au/~anthony/
       Physical mail: P.O. Box 40, Malvern 3144, Victoria, Australia
     "The red sky was bleeding glimpses of heaven, in sections of seven..."
    - Rose Chronicles reaching lyrical perfection on "Awaiting Eternity"
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