>
>           We have 2 Bio-Rad MRC 600's, one of them since early 1988,
>           and have had great service response on both of them whenever
>           we needed it, which has not been often.  They have responded
>           to problems with speed and always completely solved the
>           problem presented to them.  I'm very satisfied!!
>
>           Sue DeMaggio
>           UC Irvine
>
 
It has been great to hear how most everyone is thrilled with the
service/support from the various manufacturers/suppliers.  But I still
wonder quite a bit about timeliness; for example, when Sue DeMaggio refer's to
"speed" of response. We've been working with VoxelView, SGI and Zeiss for
a couple of years, now, and I toss into the ring the following.
 
With VoxelView, I have ALWAYS had an answer, either by a thorough phone
discussion or email, within HOURS.  The idea of going with
'shareware' type software, sans phone support, does sound a bit
scarry to the anti-cyberpunk, that is why the intuitive nature of VV has been
so great to work with.  Updates have been a plenty, and input from the users
is essential and always welcome.  Personal 'want lists' DO make it into
the new releases.  And, no, I am not on their payrole...
 
Resolution to hardware problems with Silicon Graphics
has always been very prompt, usually hours, though sometimes a day.
Unfortunately, the first few months did include
replacing a motherboard, a 1 gig hard-drive, monitor, dat-drive and
mouse--all of which was underwarranty. That was truely unusual, so I
hear, but at least it was handled promptly, and I've
had no problems thereafter (which is nice, since we're riding maintenance
contract free now).  SGI's phone support to novice users of a UNIX
machine did tend to be somewhat impatient and condescending, but always
helpful.
 
There you have it -- a few worms.  Am I really the only one????
 
Mike Mancini
The University of Texas Institute of Biotechnology
15355 Lambda Drive
San Antonio, TX  78245
[log in to unmask]
210 677 6277 (fax)