When a stable product arrives just in time it makes testing so much better. That's the one aspect of what we do at AT that rarely gets conveyed in reviews - the trials and tribulations of evaluating pre-release hardware. Normally all of the issues we encounter with pre-release hardware is corrected by the time the product actually ships, but the price we pay for getting access to things well ahead of its release is generally stability (or a lack of quirkiness).
I remember a couple of years back I had a pre-release motherboard that would only POST if I hit the enter key after turning on the testbed (it powered up, but no initialization until you hit enter). Then there was the time that I was testing a system that would corrupt any zip file it touched. It took me forever to track down why half of the files on my fileserver were now corrupt. Needless to say, these types of issues are incredibly frustrating and to have them all fixed for you by a new BIOS, final release hardware or act of hardware-deity is such a relief. It's this elation that I'm feeling right now, tests running smoothly, no crashes, all is good in the CT lab.
Now about that writing...
I remember a couple of years back I had a pre-release motherboard that would only POST if I hit the enter key after turning on the testbed (it powered up, but no initialization until you hit enter). Then there was the time that I was testing a system that would corrupt any zip file it touched. It took me forever to track down why half of the files on my fileserver were now corrupt. Needless to say, these types of issues are incredibly frustrating and to have them all fixed for you by a new BIOS, final release hardware or act of hardware-deity is such a relief. It's this elation that I'm feeling right now, tests running smoothly, no crashes, all is good in the CT lab.
Now about that writing...
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scuzzee - Tuesday, November 30, 2004 - link
ha my current pc (a P2, i know i know i'm a loser) also hav zip phobia. the tech support guy replaced three LS120 drives (one of them smoked right in front of me and him when he's installing). finally gave up and refund my money. some components just cant exist together, defying all theories.Chuckles - Tuesday, November 23, 2004 - link
#5, 'Mother Teresa'I seem to recall a long painful progression in which my Quicksilver's northbridge went insane. It finally let out the "beep of doom" earlier this year. Also, I recall a hasty update put out by Cupertino because a FireWire driver bug could trash data on external drives.
Anonymous - Monday, November 22, 2004 - link
#6: How many times have you had a motherboard that is unstable? At stock speeds, 99% of motherboards (or other components) will be stable. Overclocking is for enthusiasts and it doesn't look like you are one of them. So you should use overclocking tests to determine the stability. If the motherboard is stable at 250MHz (50MHz above system bus speed) then obviously it will be stable at its stock settings. What's there to test about?sj - Monday, November 22, 2004 - link
Personally, I'd much rather see reviews and ratings on stability than overclocking. I don't care if I can run my CPU 30Mhz over the specified speed if it reboots or needs to be rebooted every hour or so.If I want speed, I'll buy a faster CPU. What I really want to know is how stable a piece of hardware is.
Sam - Monday, November 22, 2004 - link
Hey Anand - why were you using the pre-release mobo on a production network anyway? And doing work on it by the sound of it, if it managed to corrupt all those zip files.Probably your own fault for putting too much trust in the hardware i'd say :P
Mother Teresa - Monday, November 22, 2004 - link
Every time I hear yet another story of the almost perverse patience of PC users for their buggy computers I think: "When is some psychologist going to analyse WHY?!!"My view is that it is Stockholm syndrome... and no that is not a cheap gag, it is a sad reality.
Guys, use up all your patience on dealing with Wintel manufactured bugs & your personal life will suffer. You have my sympathy.
Anugrah Adams - Monday, November 22, 2004 - link
Umm Mr Shimpi This is more of a reply to your previous blog on the lack of good movies.What about:
Veer-Zaara
Mughal-e-Azam
I take it back there is a dearth of any good movie(s)
Anand Lal Shimpi - Monday, November 22, 2004 - link
It depends, often times we are involved in the development of products, providing manufacturers with user feedback, telling them what AnandTech readers would like to see (your feedback is definitely taken into account in product development, I and the rest of the AT staff make it a point to convey the messages you all send us via email or comments/forums, it is up to the manufacturers to listen). In those cases we are usually either exposed to or have product for testing in house months before its release.Most other products we get fairly close to release (1 - 2 months max lead time) and those bugs are generally all worked out by the time the product ships. I don't remember a case off the top of my head (although I'm sure there have been some) where we found an issue with a product, recognized by the manufacturer, that wasn't fixed when it was eventually released (or shortly thereafter). That being said, normally other bugs and issues develop that either weren't present in our samples or were somehow overlooked (e.g. a unique configuration that we didn't test, etc...).
The product you'll read about in around 12 hours for example was in horrible condition when I first received it. It was one of only 10 that existed globally, but the second revision which I received today has been flawless. The difference in manufacturing time between the two revisions was about a week. Fixing most major bugs usually isn't a big deal (thanks to spending millions or in some cases billions of dollars on R&D), especially with manufacturers that have top quality testing and validation labs.
Take care,
Anand
quiksel - Monday, November 22, 2004 - link
Anand,How much lead time do you really get on all the pre-release hardware? Do companies really fix all those bugs in just a few weeks ahead of retail release, or is it common to get stuff to play with months ahead of time?
Just curious.