The following is a summary of the major problems reported by some 10th Anniversary Club
members. Follow the hyperlinks to details on these issues.
Please note: Many of the components used in the 10th Anniversary system (P133A) were also used in other P133 systems such as the Holiday XL, as well as some P150 and P166 systems. If your GW computer was shipped from the summer of 1995 through 1996, you may have affected components. Check the ad or sales literature and the invoice that came with your system to be sure. Please read the disclaimer and use agreement before proceeding!
Please Note: All trademarks and registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
Western Digital AC31600 (1.6 GB) Hard
Drive - Western Digital has noted an increase of isolated failures with the WD
AC31600. They have released a utility to analyze these drives.
Matrox MGA Millennium video card
- The card supplied by GW in the P133A was an OEM version of this video card. GW offered
to buy back cards that were supplied with the system, upgraded, or purchased for other
systems as add-ons if they were purchased from GW prior to May 1, 1996. This offer expired
on June 14, 1996.
Wearnes "6X" CD-ROM Drive
- Members have reported 4 significant problems with this drive. They include lack of
recognition of the drive by the system at bootup, "pausing" or
"freezing" system activity intermittently while playing music CDs, very high CPU
utilization rates, and slow data transfer rates relative to its "6X" rating. GW
offered to exchange this drive for a Sanyo 6X drive on March 21, 1996. Please note:
Members have reported problems with the Sanyo CDR-S16, and an updated announcement on the
CompuServe forum (Message 510533, June 14, 1996) states that GW will exchange the Wearnes
6X, but does not specify the brand or speed of the replacement being offered.
Sanyo 6X CD ROM Drive - Some
members have reported that the drive tray and CDs that are inserted into it become
excessively hot, and some report noise and vibration problems. GW representatives have
posted messages on CompuServe that indicate that this noise and vibration "is not a
problem" as long as the data on the disk can still be read.
Telepath 28.8 Fax/Modem -
There have been various issues reported by members, including low volume message playback
and "pausing".
FaxWorks Communication Software
- There have been various issues reported by members, depending on the software version
installed.
ACS 450 Speakers - Some
members reported that these speakers "hissed," "buzzed," or
"hummed." Initially, owners that reported these problems to GW were instructed
by GW technical support to return the speakers to Altec Lansing for service. In some cases
the "repaired" speakers worked fine. In other cases, the repair did not rectify
the problem. GW then offered owners who were unhappy with the performance of ACS 450
speakers the option of returning the speakers with the subwoofer for a refund that varied
from $200 to $220, or downgrading the speakers to the smaller ACS 400 model, keeping the
subwoofer, and receiving a $50 refund.
Tower Case - GW advertisements
for the P133A stated that the "standard configuration comes in a new tower case
sporting our 10th Anniversary insignia." Some owners who complained about not
receiving this particular tower case were offered a replacement bezel, an MS Natural
keyboard or, in some cases, $100.
Price Protection - GW initially
told some members that "courtesy refunds" (price protection/price drop) during
the first 30 days of ownership were not available to owners of the P133A. This policy was
later reversed.
CMS 1400 Tape Back-up Unit (An
option on the P133A) - A Windows 95 version of the Colorado Back-up software was not
available when the P133A systems began shipping. Instead, some customers received DOS and
Windows 3.1 versions. A Windows 95 version is now available.
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Updated 1/1/98
Copyright ©1996, 1997 & 1998 by The 10th Anniversary Club
