Clones: cheap, but are they nasty?

TALK to computer retailers and they’ll offer two sides to the price/ quality coin.

Ask DATEC’s senior sales representa tive in Fiji, David Anstice, why IBM is “the big apple in the world computer market and he answers: “a standard operating system, lots and lots and lots of software, and it’s readily available. It can also get serviced anywhere in the world.”

I CL, which recently sold 80 per cent of its shares to Fujitsu to become the second largest computer company in the world, touts the same message.

Ihe big guys also like to caution buyers about the risks of buying anything but industry standard software there arc about 2000 viruses which can get into your computer through pirated software and erode everything from files to the hard-disc, making the original cost saving short-lived.

But there are those who believe a consumer with a broader perspective can get a more individualised system, software and service back-up. The home grown Fiji company, IDE, owmed by Doren Chew and Vijay Madhavan sells IBMs, Olivetti and its own DOS-based, IBM-compatible clones made from com ponents from Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Korea.

Software manager Sunil Nand believes the only difference w ith the clones is “we don’t have one of the more well-known brand names on it”. But there also are pluses, not the least of which is price.

IDE, for example, says it can offer a standard black and w'hite machine for about 52246, less than half.some of the majors.

On top of that there is no delay with back-up service: “We know every con figuration of our machines and we can be on the spot quickly and solve the problem quickly,” Nand said.

IDE specialises in Novel networks and deals in software including Lotus and

Word Perfect, but they also have six staff members who can rewrite or create software. “It’s not that we want to reinvent the wheel, it’s a matter of getting computers to do exactly what you want,” Nand said.

Pro Systems, a relative newcomer among the region’s computer retailers, also covers the market by selling both clones and brand names. Established less than two years ago by David Cork and Charles Quai Hoi, it looks at total solutions mainly in commercial oper ations.

It uses Dos Unix and Open Systems Strategy, Taiwanese clones and Wyse Technology, and is the exclusive value added resaler for the more upmarket and expensive NCR. Their main emphasis is on software rather than hardware.

Quai Hoi said the clones appeal because of cost, but there naturally is a quality correlation. He also stresses this when talking about personal computer users who travel outside the region and use the “grey market” (in which PCs can virtually be bought off the supermarket shelf in countries such as Australia, Singapore and the United States.) He cautions: “It’s okay for people to go outside and purchase a computer so long as the attitude is ‘Okay, if it lasts me two years I’ll throw it away and no problem’. Because of the price they pay they must look at it as disposable.”

Those who try to service such ma chines also may find it is substandard, and servicing can cost more because of time taken to diagnose the fault and find the right component.

Quai Hoi says businesses in particular are better off looking at buying a computer as investment production.

Larger retailers also suggest buyers look for a system which is expandable, so it can accommodate changes in tech nology, while retailers of cheaper clones argue that a cheaper system could be phased out or replaced. □