[TenTec] How to Choose an SDR RX for the Pan-Adapter?

[Rick - DJ0IP / NJ0IP]

Yes, this is still true.
I had been a ThinkPad fan before IBM sold its PC business.

I switched to Dell (Latitude) right after that because it was feared that
the quality might possibly suffer and the service would definitely suffer.
As it turned out, neither were the case.

Our best technical computer magazine here in DL is "CT". - Computer
Technology
It has a circulation of over 400,000.

For the past 20 years they have been conducting laptop tests, for build
quality and reliability, AND level of service.
Besides running their own tests, they do yearly reader surveys and evaluate
the results of tens of thousands of users.

To test the level of service, they will buy a couple of laptops from each of
about 15 different manufacturer, install bugs and then send them in for
repair.  The check turn-around time and if the bug was even found.  They
also evaluate user experience.  Then they rank all of the manufacturers.

Although looking at a recent years results may seem like a good idea, the
real picture is seen when looking at many years results (say 10 or 15
years).  

What you will find is amazing.  
Most companies were all over the map, sometimes high on the list, sometimes
low on the list. 
HP was typically high on the service and repair list, until they bought
Compaq (who was typically low).
Instead of HP pulling Compaq up, it sunk like a rock and needed several
years to slowly climb its way back up 'near' the top.

Two companies stood out from the pack:  IBM and Dell.  They were always in
the top 3 or 4 every year and in most years they swapped back and forth for
first and second.
After Lenovo took over IBM's PCs, there was no change.  Lenovo and Dell
stayed on top.

Another company stood out:  Sony.  It had first class build quality,
excellent reliability, but terrible service, year after year. It was not all
over the map like most others, but consistently near the bottom of the pack.

Another aspect which is not apparent to the user is the service strategy.
These differ significantly.

For instance if your Acer laptop's disk drive dies, they require you to send
them the laptop.
If your Dell laptop's disk dies, they send you a replacement disk with the
operating system pre-installed, just like it was on the original, with all
the drivers for your laptop (including whatever options you ordered with
it).  This is made possible through the use of a "Service Tag" (number) and
a good tracking system.

There are more examples of this type of difference, some of which are
horrifying, but that is a bit far off topic.
Example:  the Seagate Firmware Bug in 2009, and how the various
manufacturers treated their customers who had lost all of their data.  Some
got free data recovery, most lost all of their data forever. (Who you buy
from makes a difference in things like this.)

73 - Rick, DJ0IP
(Nr. Frankfurt am Main)


-----Original Message-----
From: TenTec [mailto:tentec-bounces at contesting.com] On Behalf Of Barry N1EU
Sent: Monday, December 29, 2014 1:51 PM
To: Discussion of Ten-Tec Equipment
Subject: Re: [TenTec] How to Choose an SDR RX for the Pan-Adapter?

On Mon, Dec 29, 2014 at 1:12 AM, Jim Brown <k9yc at audiosystemsgroup.com>
wrote:

>  They tell me that Thinkpads are the best built of the consumer 
> laptops, and that the Thinkpad badged stuff is better than the other
Lenovo boxes.
>
>
Is this still true since China bought Lenovo/ThinkPad from Hewlett-Packard a
few years ago?  Quality hasn't suffered?

Barry N1EU
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