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From: eddy@girtab.usc.edu (George Edmond Eddy)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.bsd.freebsd.misc
Subject: Re: SWH seeks hardware, must run FreeBSD.
Date: 8 Nov 1995 19:21:18 -0800
Organization: University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA
Lines: 82
Sender: eddy@girtab.usc.edu
Message-ID: <47rs3e$kii@girtab.usc.edu>
References: <46rfdl$5he@rdsunx.crd.ge.com>
NNTP-Posting-Host: girtab.usc.edu
passaret@copernicus.crd.ge.com ("Mr. Mike" Passaretti) writes:
>OK, so I'm out there looking for a PeeCee, and I'm stumped.
>I'm looking to buy a complete system, and I'd like to buy
>it all from one place.
> [...]
>Intel Endeavour:
>ASUS P55TP4XE:
>Tyan Titan III:
>SuperMicro P55CMS:
well i purposely don't know anything about boards etc. anymore.
>And who out there has a recommendation for a dealer.
>I'm not looking for cheap, I'm looking for priced right
>and supports the product. I'm also not looking to pay
>$4K for a $2K box.
after too many years of 'do-it-yourself' pc building, and a real
job. i decided to just fork over the cash and get it all. so i
went to CompUSA. despite the annoying commercials and my general
avoidance of such retailers.
i bought a Compudyne 486 66/2, 2 VL slots, w/4mb ram (i had an addition
12 at home, that i promptly added), with a 500mb hd. an actix prostar VL
svga card. (i had a monitor already). i paid > $1,500. i added a sound
blaster pro 16, as well. the MB comes with 4mb, an unenhanced ide
controller :(, 2 serial and parralle ports, built on it.
i am happy to say that installation of FBSD 1.1.5 and then 2.0.1, went
very smoothly, it works great! and is pretty fast (of course after
sitting at my SS20 at work all day, it takes some adjusting :).
X, came up with little fuss (i had to monkey with scan rates for
my monitor a bit, since i'd lost the documents.) i also have a
dos partition and use bootmgr.
I did have one semi-major frustrating adventure for a couple days,
though. when i bought a 1gig hd and was clueless about enhanced
ide vs. unenhanced ide controllors (like the one on my system),
the maxtor drive came with software that faked dos out, but i could
not get FBSD to blindly accept the modified geom that dos was using.
Well i'm sure you all know the moral of the 1GIG ide story, so i forked
over an extra $60 and bought an EIDE controllor, poped it into my
computer, put in my 1G hd and bingo, it just worked!!!
i have found compUSA to be reasonably easy to deal with, allowing you
to take stuff back without hassle (provided you have the reciept
within 30 days), just as long as you don't try to ask the people on
the floor too many involved questions (i've seen a couple of 'em
glaze over then promptly ramble incoherntly for a few minutes :).
anyway, for those of us that have become impatient with dicking around
with pc's, and don't mind spending a couple extra $$ (although, i
think they are about as competitive as you'll find, short of mail order)
i am quite satisfied with compUSA.
PS - i had boycotted them for a long time. because way back when they
were software etc. i had bought turbo pascal 2.0 (i did say way back)
during my first year of college, and asked the sales rep what the turbo
toolkit was for, his reply was "you don't need that, it's for people
who write serious software". what an idiot! i wonder were that guy
is now 8-)
> Desperately seeking Silicon,
> - MM
>--
>"The future's never bright here Depression sells like gold
> And everything's so trite here It leaves a body cold
> The politics lean right here They're always in control
> The music sounds so white here And love, love has got no soul"
--
- rusty
eddy@isi.edu