Plug-and-play Windows system - Hardware Review - Samsung Information Systems America's Sensor SP-386SX - Evaluation

Home Office Computing, March, 1992 by Charles Gajeway

AT A GLANCE: A compact, Windows-ready computer that offers good performance and great convenience--a likable and livable system.

DOCUMENTATION: Clearly written, nicely packaged manuals. Well-done video introduction provides more than enough guidance, even for a novice. People may miss have a technical manual for Windows.

SET UP: The machine is so totally preconfigured that it is out of the box and running in 15 minutes. EASE OF USE: This was the fastest and easiest MS-DOS setup I've ever experienced.

SUPPORT: Fair to good. The machine comes with a six-month on-site warranty and unlimited toll-free hardware support. Software support is via a 900 number, with the first minute free and $1.50 per minute thereafter. My calls to the hardware number produced somewhat uneven results, but I did talk to real people.

LIST PRICE: $1,998

STREET PRICE RANGE: $1,700-$1,800

MANUFACTURER: Samsuing Information Systems America, 3655 N. 1st St., San Jose, CA 95134; (800) 624-8999

MICROPROCESSOR: 80386SX, 16 MHz

MEMORY: 2MB, expandable to 8MB

DISK DRIVES: 85MB hard-disk drive, 28-ms access speed; 3.5-inch 1.44MB floppy-disk drive

PORTS: Serial, parallel, mouse

AVAILABLE EXPANSION SLOTS: Two 16-bit

SOFTWARE INCLUDED: MS-DOS 4.01, Windows; GW-BASIC, Norton Utilities, Norton Backup, YourWay personal information manager, Balance Point personal financial manager, Prodigy

HARDWARE INCLUDED: Internal 2400-baud modem, mouse

DISPLAY: 1,024 by 768 super VGA

DIMENSIONS: 30 by 20.9 by 21.7 inches

OPTIONS: 5.25-inch 1.2MB external floppy-disk drive

WARRANTY: Six month on-site; one year limited

READER SERVICE: For more information, circle Reader Service number 65

Samsung has positioned its Sensor line of computers as consumer products rather than business machines. The systems come complete and totally preconfigured.

As Samsung promises, unpacking and setting up the system was a breeze; it took about 15 minutes. I was impressed with the sleek, compact size of the system unit, and the solid, well-finished feel of the components. The small size of the CPU allows for only two expansion slots.

When you first boot up, you're asked if you want to back up the installed software. You'll need thirteen 3.5-inch high-density floppy disk if you choose t do that, and it takes about a half hour. The resulting set of floppy disks can be used to boot up and restore your system, from low-level formatting up, if necessary. Samsung provides labels for the backup set; and once you go through the routine, the boot-up takes you straight to Windows without interruption (the manual describes how to make additional backup sets if you want).

Good impressions. In basic use, the Sensor performed satisfactorily, though as usual, Windows seemed sluggish with only 2MB of RAM. Adding another 2MB would undoubtedly make the Sensor nearly as lively and responsive working in Windows as it is in DOS.

The 101-key keyboard was good but not outstanding; the action was even and crisp but devoid of any tactile feedback. But the mouse was comfortably contoured, with a satisfyingly smooth and solid feel.

The 14-inch monitor mounts on a tilt-swivel stand and produces a crisp, clear image with bright, saturated colors at 640 by 480 and 800 by 600 resolution. At 1,024 by 768 resolution (super VGA), however, the display was painfully slow, with a pronounced squirm. A call to technical support revealed that this was a design problem, not a defect in my machine. Of course, knowing that didn't help the picture at all.

The bundled software was simple and useful, but--with the exception of the invaluable Norton programs--aimed more at personal than at business use. Any meaty business tasks will call for more powerful programs, such as a spreadsheet, for example.

The bottom line. I like the Sensor; it's compact and attractive and loaded with features, with no major design flaws. The street price of $1,700 to $1,800 is a bit steep, though--as with the Compaq reviewed above, you'll pay a bit extra for a name-brand machine. (Be sure to specify the 85MB drive option; Samsung also sells the Sensor with a 40MB drive that your business may outgrow sooner than you think.)