OPUS systems

[Tom Yager]

I've worked with three generations of OPUS products (Clipper, 88K, SPARC)
and can say without hesitation that OPUS is a quality outfit. I got my
OPUS SPARC clone a couple of weeks ago, but am waiting for an upgrade of
disk and memory before I put it into full operation. The system is
shipping only in very limited quantities right now.

I'm under non-disclosure on some of the details of the system (perhaps
someone who isn't can shed more light without legal risk), but my
experience with it so far is that it is very stable, very compatible and
will be priced competitively.

>From a potential purchaser's point of view, OPUS has two significant
advantages over some of the other clone vendors. First, they did their own
motherboard and OS work; they didn't just repackage someone else's
hardware or software. This is their style, and I've never seen a company
respond so quickly to reported problems. Second, my experiences with their
tech support have been smooth. Everyone I've ever gotten on the phone
there knows their stuff, and knows how to get to the bottom of a problem.

OPUS will be offering their SPARC line in three forms: motherboard only,
complete system and PC add-in card (!). The PC card has its own on-board
SCSI controller, and even has SBus expansion slots.

I have, as you can tell, tremendous respect for OPUS. I'll hold off on
offering an opinion about the quality of this equipment until I've
finished my tests, and written the BYTE review. I do expect good things
from them, however, and have no hesistation about recommending them as a
quality vendor.  (ty)

+--Tom Yager, Technical Editor, BYTE----Freelance writer-------------------+
|  UUCP: decvax!maxx!tyager          NET: maxx!tyager at bytepb.byte.com      |
|  "Get hipper...with flippers!"                                           |
+-------------Dr. Dude & Assoc.------I speak only for myself.--------------+