Specifications

FUN
got a bone to pick
?
The Watchdog’s on the case
CAUGHT AT HOME
Sometimes, executives can be very hard
to reach. Especially if their companies
are under investigation. But once the
Watchdog catches a scent, it’s hard to get
him off the trail. Here, Info Peripheral’s
president Paul Lee is grilled in an ambush
phone call (the number was provided by
a disgruntled former employee).
Dog: “Can you tell me if Info Peripherals
or Info Connections is still in business?”
Lee: “I have nothing to tell you right
now.”
Dog: “Will the reader be able to get his
scanner back?”
Lee: “I’m sorry, I can’t tell you anything.
Thank you.”
Dog: “Is there anyone else I can talk to?”
Lee: “Thank you. I’m sorry.”
(February 1999)
STARGATE 2000
The Dog suspected something fi shy
may have been going on with Stargate
2000. Sure enough, one month after the
Dog spoke with the company about a
complaint, the FBI arrested the owner on
suspicion of extortion, mail fraud, and
making false statements. (April 1999)
FAST AND FURIOUS
Kenwood’s 40x40 Zen drive was fast
in performance and also in litigation.
Maximum PC readers formed a posse
and successfully sued the company over
the unreliable drives. The result was full
exchanges for newer models.
(September 1999)
THOSE ARE PEOPLE WHO
DIED, DIED…
Cue up the Jim Carroll song and
sing along: Avatar, Syquest,
Info Peripherals, Storm
Technology, JTS, S3, Hercules,
Aureal, Aims Lab, Hi-Val,
Smart and Friendly, Super
Power, WebGear, Razer, Onstream,
Ricochet, Altima 2000, Max Gate, Step
Thermodynamics, Elsa, Crossline,
Microworkz, Kiwi, CyberMax, AMS,
Maximum PC (no relation), Quantex,
Patriot PC, Axis Terra, Axis Systems,
Viking Computers, Minds@work, X-
Dream Machines, KDS Computers,
Cendyne, Overclockershideout.com
GETTING PORN SAFELY
“Dear Dog: I have an embarrassing
problem but don’t know who else to turn
to.”
It wasn’t genital burning; it was getting
a refund from a porn site. The Dog
contacted the porn site and found the
business quite professional and easy to
deal with. On top of that, the Dog offered
some tips on getting porn safely, so as to
prevent embarrassing incidents like this
one: “Some friends and I came back to
my home pretty wasted and decided that
the best thing to do was look at some
porno.” (June 2000)
OOPS
What’s a bit or two? Hewlett-Packard
offered customers of its Jornada Pocket
PC a full refund after discovering that its
engineers goofed by putting the wrong
graphics chip in the units. Instead of
being able to display 65,536 colors as HP
advertised, the units could display only
4,096. (Sept 2000)
WE PRINTED THAT?
Richard Doane had problems contacting
WebGear for support on its Aviator
product. There was no help to be found
from the defunct company, so the
Dog vented his spleen by: “giving the
company a minus-9 verdict and a Suck
Ass award for its inability to be straight
with its customers.” (April 2001)
IBM DEATHSTAR
Proving that some lawyers do wear white
hats, Philadelphia attorney Jonathan Shub
sued IBM on behalf of Maximum PC reader
Michael T. Granito over the company’s
unreliable 75GXP Deskstar hard drives. It
wasn’t just Granito of course; hundreds if
not thousands of consumers were affected
by the drive’s reliability issues. The class-
action suit is still pending but it’s clear that
IBM blew it on this drive.
(May 2001)
BROTHER, CAN YOU SPARE
A RECALL?
A lot of eyebrows were raised when the
Watchdog ran a recall notice for Brother
printers just opposite a full page ad for
Brother printers. (January 2003)
EVACUATE, IN OUR MOMENT OF
TRIUMPH?
There were many follow-ups to the IBM
Deskstar issue, but the Dog’s publishing of
internal documents was our favorite. “We
have woven a story based upon half-truths
and misinformation that now places IBM
in a position that is almost untenable….
If Compaq fi nds out that we have
misinformed them, who is going to stand
up next to the account team and explain
how this happened?” (February 2004)
being able to display 65,536 colors as HP
WOOF!
WOOF!
MAXIMUMPC JANUARY 200566