What if,... early PCs (was: stepping machanism - test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

11 Apr 1999

Well, the policy here in the U.S. seems to be to skip the outgoing
inspection and replace it with a warranty.  The terms of the warranty make
it void if you open the box, so the buyer returns it for a replacement or
refund, and the maker then gets to do the outgoing inspection on the
incoming trip back.

-----Original Message-----
From: Tony Duell &lt;ard(a)p850ug1.demon.co.uk&gt;
To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers
&lt;classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu&gt;
Date: Sunday, April 11, 1999 2:47 PM
Subject: Re: What if,... early PCs (was: stepping machanism

...
 >
> On Sun, 11 Apr 1999, Richard Erlacher wrote to Allison:
> > The principal complaint I heard about the M1 was the principal complaint
...
 > > about the M3.  It was a paper tiger until you
opened the box and added a
...
    bunch of stuff/mods. 
 While I agree, I kinda doubt that Allison has EVER plugged in ANYTHING
 before she "opened the box and added a bunch of stuff/mods".  So, she
 might not see that as quite the negative that you do :-) 
You mean there _are_ people who plug things in without pulling the case
and checking that it's built correctly? They must be mad...

Of course once you've got the lid off, you might as well fix whatever the
original designers got wrong ;-)

  The same, to lesser extent, perhaps, could be
said for
 the Apple.  The Apple was made easy-to-open.  The RS boxes were not. 
 While velcro is certainly extraordinarily convenient, particularly to
 those bothered by screwdrivers.  But, as an occasional professional auto
 mechanic, I hardly felt that half a dozen screws made something hard to 
I've also never seen the point of 'screwless' cases. If I'm going to be
fixing/modifying something I'm going to need a logic probe (or better an
logic analyser), multimeter, soldering iron, pliers, cutters, etc. Having
to use a screwdriver as well is no big problem..

  open.  But it is true that RS had a very bad
attitude about it.  They
 actually had anti-tamper paint on one of the screws!  One of the local RS 
Some machines had a label over one of the screws. What Tandy didn't
realise was that it was possible to get the label off in one piece
without tearing it, and then stick it back after you'd done the mod...

  technicians had an interesting slant on that: 
Since RS's policies
 apparently didn't explicitly mention modifications, only that the tamper
 seal must be intact, he would happily do the various warranty mods (there
 were SEVERAL for the early EI), IFF you provided him circuit sketches for 
I never put Tandy UK to the test (I always fixed my Model 1 myself).
Although the local shop did get me some of the parts either free or for a
nominal charge for me to do a couple of official mods myself.

  all mods, and put a dab of the anti-tamper paint
(he would provide it) on
 the screw after you made the mods. He said that if the store manager
 balked at seeing additional stuff through the slots of the "unopened" 
:-) :-)

  case, just start talking about "building
boats in bottles".  Apple's
 attitude of "go on in!" was much more refreshing. 
Although, IIRC the Apple ][ Techref did mention that doing the Eurapple
mod (50 Hz video) would void the warranty. It appeared that you could
open the case and stick in expansion cards with no problems, but if you
took a soldering iron to the motherboard you were on your own. Again it
didn't bother me. Both the Apple ][ and TRS-80 had excellent tech manuals
available, so fixing them yourself was the easiest thing to do.

-tony