Computone grumbling

[Chip Salzenberg]

[A consultant's customer has trouble with Computone on a 2.2->2.3 upgrade]

According to bob at consult.UUCP (Bob Willey):
>1. It is YOUR job to ensure a peaceful migration from one version
>   to another.  (Including all boards...)

True enough.  Xenix changed internally from 2.2.3 forward in a way that
renders old drivers unusable.  A consultant should have known this.

>2. Hardware many times needs to be changed to reflect new features
>   and updates in software.  This is NOT a Computone specific issue.

Quite.

>3. If you were using an Atvantage board, you were not using the "latest"
>   board to start with.

No matter.  The ATvantage is still supported by the latest drivers.

>If you are now unhappy because you had a $150 upgrade that you didn't
>tell you client, so be it.  And if you don't want to use CompuTone
>anymore, so be it.   
>But don't give everyone the impression that they are a bad company!!

Well, since you mention it...

Their products have so many proble]ms it's not funny.  Our experience with
the Intelliport-6 is that it has a field mortality rate of over 50%.  That's
right, more than half of them died after we installed them; then we had to
replace the dead ones from stock.  Further, there is a hardware fix that
Computone won't even >explain< to us!  All they'll do is fix the boards we
send them, with a several-week turnaround.

And -- get this -- when we send one that fails under Xenix, they test it
under DOS and if it works, they send it back unchanged.  Aargh.

Perhaps the company isn't bad, but their products leave a lot to be desired.
-- 
You may redistribute this article only to those who may freely do likewise.
Chip Salzenberg         |       <chip at ateng.com> or <uunet!ateng!chip>
A T Engineering         |       Me?  Speak for my company?  Surely you jest!