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NEC makes fine equipment, but I think the support isn't as good as with IBM;
I have a colleague who's had nothing but trouble getting repairs on his
(aging) Versa.
W/r to the pointer controversy, at least NEC has finally discontinued those
screwball front-of-case trackballs, which were awkward at best and required
frequent servicing. My research group's Micron (which just returned from a
trip to Tahiti, alas I didn't get to keep it company) has both a touchpad and
a trackpoint. When it is on my desk (most of the time) the trackpoint is
enabled; I can't abide the touchpad. When my grad student has it, it is the
other way around. However, he's much more of a mouser than I am - I use
keyboard commands whenever possible, and don't like to have my fingers leave
the home rows (and the thumb just doesn't cut it for accurate touchpad use -
you need to use your forefinger).
I'm appending a story about the Versa that was on CNN a couple of weeks ago;
I'd deleted from my system, but fortunately hadn't yet emptied my recycle
bin:-) Enjoy!
- David R.
* * * * * Attached file:
“Suspicious” notebook PC survives detonation by bomb squad
March 19, 1998
Web posted at: 3:37 PM EST (1537 GMT)
(CNN) – After being blown up by a police bomb squad, a
computer
belonging to a New York State government worker continued to
function.
An unmarked, suspicious looking box was found in the parking
lot
of Rochester’s Army National Guard Armory in February. As a
precaution, police called in the bomb squad to investigate.
An
examination by a remote-controlled robot revealed that the
box
contained wires and cables, so the bomb squad decided to
detonate the package. The small blast tore the box apart and
revealed a NEC Versa notebook computer and some peripherals,
which had been reported stolen earlier. Some speakers, a
CD-ROM
drive and battery pack were damaged, as were the top panel
and
screen of the notebook, which took the brunt of the blast.
Following the blast, the owner hooked up the damaged machine
to
a VGA monitor, expecting it not to work. Instead, the machine
booted up and he was able to send an email to the NEC
customer
service department, congratulating them.
"You make one rugged machine," wrote Joseph Songin,
facilities
manager at the armory. “I expected it to start smoking and
had a
fire extinguisher ready, but instead the password screen
appeared. A quick check showed that all the files and
software
were undamaged and fully operational."
Despite this damage, the Versa, which was primarily used for
map
plotting, flight planning and conducting meteorological
research, continued to function, without any data loss,
damage
to the processor, hard drive or memory slots.
The theft of the machine is still under investigation.