329 lines
7.1 KiB
HTML
329 lines
7.1 KiB
HTML
<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
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<HTML
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><HEAD
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><TITLE
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>Things to Check when Buying</TITLE
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><META
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NAME="GENERATOR"
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CONTENT="Modular DocBook HTML Stylesheet Version 1.7"><LINK
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REL="HOME"
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TITLE="The Unix Hardware Buyer HOWTO"
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HREF="index.html"><LINK
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REL="PREVIOUS"
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TITLE="Questions You Should Always Ask Your Vendor"
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HREF="questions.html"><LINK
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REL="NEXT"
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TITLE=" After You Take Delivery"
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HREF="x675.html"></HEAD
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><TR
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><TH
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COLSPAN="3"
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ALIGN="center"
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>The Unix Hardware Buyer HOWTO</TH
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></TR
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><TR
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><TD
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WIDTH="10%"
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ALIGN="left"
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>Prev</A
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ALIGN="LEFT"
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WIDTH="100%"></DIV
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><DIV
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CLASS="sect1"
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><H1
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CLASS="sect1"
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><A
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NAME="mailtips"
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></A
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>10. Things to Check when Buying</H1
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><DIV
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CLASS="sect2"
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><H2
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CLASS="sect2"
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><A
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NAME="tricks"
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></A
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>10.1. Tricks and Traps in Warranties</H2
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><P
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>Reading warranties is an art in itself. A few tips:</P
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><P
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>Beware the deadly modifier <SPAN
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CLASS="QUOTE"
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>"manufacturer's"</SPAN
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> on a warranty;
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this means you have to go back to the equipment's original
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manufacturer in case of problems and can't get satisfaction from the
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mail-order house. Also, manufacturer's warranties run from the date
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<EM
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>they</EM
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> ship; by the time the mail-order house
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assembles and ships your system, it may have run out!</P
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><P
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>Watch for the equally deadly <SPAN
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CLASS="QUOTE"
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>"We do not guarantee
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compatibility"</SPAN
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>. This gotcha on a component vendor's ad means you may
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not be able to return, say, a video card that fails to work with your
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motherboard.</P
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><P
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>Another dangerous phrase is <SPAN
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CLASS="QUOTE"
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>"We reserve the right to substitute
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equivalent items"</SPAN
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>. This means that instead of getting the
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high-quality name-brand parts advertised in the configuration you just
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ordered, you may get those no-name parts from Upper Baluchistan
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— theoretically equivalent according to the spec sheets, but
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perhaps more likely to die the day after the warranty expires.
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Substitution can be interpreted as <SPAN
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CLASS="QUOTE"
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>"bait and switch"</SPAN
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>, so most
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vendors are scared of getting called on this. Very few will hold
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their position if you press the matter.</P
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><P
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>Another red flag: <SPAN
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CLASS="QUOTE"
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>"Only warranted in supported
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environments"</SPAN
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>. This may mean they won't honor a warranty on a
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non-Windows system at all, or it may mean they'll insist on installing the Unix
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on disk themselves.</P
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><P
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>One absolute show-stopper is the phrase <SPAN
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CLASS="QUOTE"
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>"All sales are
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final"</SPAN
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>. This means you have <EM
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>no</EM
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> options if a
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part doesn't work. Avoid any company with this policy.</P
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></DIV
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><DIV
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CLASS="sect2"
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><H2
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CLASS="sect2"
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><A
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NAME="mail_questions"
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></A
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>10.2. Special Questions to Ask Web/Mail-Order
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Vendors Before Buying</H2
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><P
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></P
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><UL
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><LI
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><P
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>Does the vendor have the part or system presently in
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stock? Mail order companies tend to run with very lean inventories;
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if they don't have your item in stock, delivery may take longer.
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Possibly <EM
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>much</EM
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> longer.</P
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></LI
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><LI
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><P
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>Does the vendor pay for shipping? What's the delivery
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wait?</P
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></LI
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><LI
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><P
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>If you need to return your system, is there a
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restocking fee? and will the vendor cover the return freight? Knowing
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the restocking fee can be particularly important, as they make keep
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you from getting real satisfaction on a bad major part. Avoid dealing
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with anyone who quotes more than a 15% restocking fee — and it's
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a good idea, if possible, to avoid any dealer who charges a restocking
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fee at all.</P
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></LI
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></UL
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><P
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>Warranties are tricky. There are companies whose warranties are
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invalidated by opening the case. Some of those companies sell
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upgradeable systems, but only authorized service centers can do
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upgrades without invalidating the warranty. Sometimes a system is
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purchased with the warranty already invalidated. There are vendors
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who buy minimal systems and upgrade them with cheap RAM and/or disk
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drives. If the vendor is not an authorized service center, the
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manufacturer's warranty is invalidated. The only recourse in case of
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a problem is the vendor's warranty. So beware!</P
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></DIV
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><DIV
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CLASS="sect2"
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><H2
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CLASS="sect2"
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><A
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NAME="payment"
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></A
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>10.3. Payment Method</H2
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><P
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>It's a good idea to pay with AmEx or Visa or MasterCard; that way you
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can stop payment if you get a lemon, and may benefit from a
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buyer-protection plan using the credit card company's clout (not all cards
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offer buyer-protection plans, and some that do have restrictions which may
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be applicable). However, watch for phrases like <SPAN
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CLASS="QUOTE"
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>"Credit card
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surcharges apply"</SPAN
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> or <SPAN
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CLASS="QUOTE"
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>"All prices reflect 3% cash
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discount"</SPAN
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> which mean you're going to get socked extra if you pay by
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card.</P
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><P
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>Note that many credit-card companies have clauses in their
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standard contracts forbidding such surcharges. You can (and should)
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report such practices to your credit-card issuer. If you already paid
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the surcharge, they will usually see to it that it is returned to you.
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Credit-card companies will often stop dealing with businesses that
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repeat such behavior.</P
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></DIV
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><DIV
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CLASS="sect2"
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><H2
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CLASS="sect2"
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><A
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NAME="vendors"
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></A
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>10.4. Which Clone Vendors to Talk To</H2
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><DIV
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CLASS="sect3"
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><H3
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CLASS="sect3"
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><A
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NAME="pans"
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></A
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>10.4.1. Some pans</H3
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><P
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><EM
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>Gateway</EM
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>: may also be a vendor to avoid.
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Apparently their newer machines don't have parity bits in their
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memories; memory is tested only on reboot. This is dubious design
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even for Windows, and totally unacceptable for Unix.</P
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></DIV
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><DIV
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CLASS="sect3"
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><H3
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CLASS="sect3"
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><A
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NAME="AEN670"
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></A
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>10.4.2. Some picks</H3
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><P
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>In early August 2001 I designed an `Ultimate Linux Box' with Gary
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Sandine and John Pearson of <A
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HREF="http://lanm-pc.com"
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TARGET="_top"
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>Los Alamos
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Computers</A
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>; you can <A
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HREF="http://www.catb.org/~esr/writings/ultimate-linux-box/"
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TARGET="_top"
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>read all about it</A
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> These
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guys know what they are doing and are fun to work with. If you need a
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high-end Linux workstation, or your laboratory needs a computer cluster,
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talk with them.</P
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></DIV
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></DIV
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></DIV
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><DIV
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CLASS="NAVFOOTER"
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><HR
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ALIGN="LEFT"
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WIDTH="100%"><TABLE
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SUMMARY="Footer navigation table"
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><TR
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><TD
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WIDTH="33%"
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ALIGN="left"
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VALIGN="top"
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><A
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HREF="questions.html"
|
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ACCESSKEY="P"
|
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>Prev</A
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></TD
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><TD
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WIDTH="34%"
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ALIGN="center"
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VALIGN="top"
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><A
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HREF="index.html"
|
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ACCESSKEY="H"
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>Home</A
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></TD
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><TD
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WIDTH="33%"
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ALIGN="right"
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VALIGN="top"
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><A
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HREF="x675.html"
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ACCESSKEY="N"
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>Next</A
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></TD
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></TR
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><TR
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><TD
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WIDTH="33%"
|
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ALIGN="left"
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VALIGN="top"
|
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>Questions You Should Always Ask Your Vendor</TD
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><TD
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WIDTH="34%"
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ALIGN="center"
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VALIGN="top"
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> </TD
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><TD
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WIDTH="33%"
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ALIGN="right"
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VALIGN="top"
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>After You Take Delivery</TD
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></TR
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></TABLE
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></DIV
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></BODY
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> |