Sun OEM Experience Sought

[Jim Battan]

In article <1757 at brazos.Rice.edu> softeng1!zumbachl at uunet.uu.net writes:
>X-Sun-Spots-Digest: Volume 8, Issue 140, message 12 of 13
>Are Artecon and ERI Electrorep good sources for Sun equipment?

My company bought 16 Artecon 3/60 systems with local 327MB disks because
they could deliver sooner than Sun at the same price (this was in early
1988).  I have NOT been pleased with either the Artecon product or their
support.

The disk shoeboxes are very poorly made.  The 11 screws that hold on the
cover are too short and strip easily (Sun shoeboxes have two large
screws).  The power supply looks cheap; we had one blow on us.  The mouse
is mechanical, and not as smooth as Sun's optical (although some of the
users like them better).  The monitors (by Moniterm) do come with an
anti-glare coating (a no-cost benefit), but the stands aren't too sturdy,
and the Moniterms aren't as sharp as Sun's Philips monitors.  We do have a
set of Artecon's Workstation Extender cables, which work well.  The CPU
box is virtually identical with Sun's, except for the label.

The big complaint I have is with Artecon's service.  We had depot repair.
Once it took several calls and many weeks just to get an RMA number.  I
had to repeat the problem to the service person many times before he
understood what the problem was (his English was very poor).  This wasn't
an isolated incident either:  Their average response time for telephone
calls was about four days.  It took 9 days to get a replacement power
supply.

We now have one vendor supplying on-site service for both our Sun and
Artecon systems, at lower cost than Artecon's depot repair service.  Larry
Hunt (Artecon's service manager) promised me they were improving the
customer service department, but for us it was too late.

Jim Battan     uunet!sequent!qtc!battan    +1 503 626 3081
Quantitative Technology Corporation (QTC)
8700 SW Creekside Place, Suite D  Beaverton, OR  97005