PC vendor experiences (was: HP/Compaq Presario and Linux)

[Benjamin Scott]

  Since everyone is voicing their opinions and experiences with vendors, 
here are some of mine:


  I work for a systems integration and support company, so in most cases, I
*am* technical support for the end-user.  While I can do all the work
myself, it's far cheaper for me to be able to pick up the phone, call the
vendor, and say "The hard disk is toast.  Come replace it."  If you're smart
and buy the right support options, this is all it takes.  It's worth it.  
Life is too short to spend time being a parts monkey, and I've got too much
to do as it is.

  Any time you call a big vendor for support, your call is going into a
large building staffed by several thousand trained monkeys.  Some monkeys
will be better then other monkeys.  Thus, past experience is no guarantee of
future results.  I've had bad and good experiences with all the major
vendors.  I fully expect this to continue.  The ability to state "I want
this call escalated" in a stern tone of voice is useful.

  Dell supports Linux on their PowerEdge servers reasonable well.  They
don't provide support beyond making the OS work with their hardware, but
they don't do that for Windoze, either.  (You can buy software support if
you need it.)  Dell has and continues to fund a lot of development for
things like kernel drivers and features that their products need; see
http://linux.dell.com/ for resources.  This is where the "informal" OptiPlex
and Latitude support comes from, too.

  I work with a customer who likes Gateway.  Like Dell, they have a
"business" division, which is where they buy from.  The hardware appears to
be fairly standard commodity stuff (like a Dell).  ATX cases, Intel
motherboards.  The business sales rep has been very helpful.  Tech support 
varies a lot (see above).  Gateway as a whole definitely still has the 
"consumer" mindset; the sales rep has done his best, but I really get the 
feeling he's fighting the company he's working for.  Unfortunate.

  I used to prefer buying whiteboxes from smaller vendors.  For one, I like
to support the Local Guy and the Little Guy.  For another, good whitebox
vendors would often provider better support at a better price then a good
major brand.  Unfortunately, too many of these good vendors went under, due
to price pressure from the likes of Dell.  Thus, professionally, I no longer
recommend whitebox systems.  I don't want the warranty to evaporate in two
years.

  One also faces the issue that many whitebox vendors are selling crap.  
They keep no records and have no clue; their idea of support is downloading
drivers from http://www.asus.com.tw for you.  That's if you're lucky; many
ship whatever cheapest no-name components they can find that month.  No
manual, no vendor markings, no support at all.  Have a nice day.

  Personally, I build my own computers from parts, but that's because I know
what I'm doing, and it lets me "play with hardware".  Even so, I don't
pre-built whitebox systems; I buy major brand parts and integrate them
myself.  Asus, Epox, Intel, and Abit motherboards; Adaptec SCSI controllers;  
ATI and NVidia VGA; Intel and 3Com NICs; Plextor optical drives; it's all
top-of-the-line, with support right from the manufacturer.

  I like fudge.

-- 
Ben Scott <bscott at ntisys.com>
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