Competition

Competition:

To all NWC Dealers,

In response to the many requests from our Dealers for a less expensive system we would like to introduce our new "VALUE SERIES" for 2003.

While it takes advantage of the latest technology available in the area of Integrated Motherboards, unlike the other Manufacturer's systems, which only provide either a "90 Day LIMITED Warranty", a "Six Month LIMITED Warranty" or a "1 Year LIMITED Warranty", we will continue to offer our "3 Year Standard Warranty", just as we do with our more expensive "Dominion Series" computers with Non-Integrated Motherboards. We can do this because, as in the past, NWC is committed to producing and selling the best built system for the right price in today's marketplace and, as we did with our original "Competitive Analysis", we challenge you to find a comparable system anywhere that carries a "3 Year Standard Warranty" using an "apples-to-apples" comparison.

The "Value Series" can still be customizable to a limited degree, additional Memory, substituting a CDRW, DVD, or COMBO unit instead of a standard CD ROM Drive, larger Hard Drives, etc., where desired, all at upgrade optional costs. Sound, Video, and a 10/100 LAN connection are all included on the Motherboard

The original "Competitive Analysis" is reproduced below with current updates for your convenience:

Competition:

All of the major manufacturers offer two (2) distinct product lines, their "low end" product (our new NWC Value Series) and their "quality" product (our NWC "Dominion Series"), which now seems to be their Workstation Class systems, which typically cost at least twice that of a Standard Desktop PC.

The "low end" products from each are as follows:

*Compaq "Presario" – The “Presario” is the system sold in most of the Retail stores, and it has a published 40% failure rate, 40 out of a 100 fail within the first two months and have to be returned to the nearest Compaq Service Center for repair. Only a 1 Year LIMITED Warranty. And most of the cards are NOT covered.

*HP "Pavilion" -- The “Pavilion” is the model sold in most of the Retail stores. 1 Year LIMITED Warranty.

** The Compaq and HP line continues to be a mystery as to which systems will survive the merger and which won't, and meantime their quality hasn't improved appreciably.

IBM "NetVista "A", "M" and "S" Series -- IBM's Basic 1 Year LIMITED Warranty, and IBM won't even itemize it, you have to call an IBM rep for the information on what, and what’s not, covered..

Gateway "300, 500, 700", "Profile" -- Gateway's approach to their "LIMITED WARRANTY" -- they don't even tell you what is LIMITED and what isn't!. Gateway continues to be in dire straights, and their sales have dropped off significantly as consumers are hesitant to purchase from them. Over the last three months they have been selling TV's in their "Gateway Village" stores to maintain any kind of sales at all.

Dell "Dimension "2350", "4550"", ” 8250”, "Smartstep 150D" -- 1 Year LIMITED Warranty, and in most cases they don’t publish the limitations.

Sony "Vaio RZ" Desktop -- 90 Day Warranty if you don't register the system with them! If you do, then you get a 1 Year LIMITED Warranty.

These ALL carry a LIMITED 1 Year Warranty, and it is really limited, most of the major components are NOT covered, there is on-site service offered on some of them, but it still doesn’t cover the parts that aren’t covered by the warranty in the first place! If you buy any of the first three in a Retail Store they will be glad to offer you a 3 Year Warranty for an additional $200.00-$250.00, but it's on the same piece of equipment that they sold you in the first place, therefore the service isn't any better. The Retail Stores love this, it's just money going directly into their pockets, the service is exactly the same as you get for the first year, no more! Gateway has a footnote on their advertising to "call for information" on their "LIMITED" 1 Year Warranty, and again NO on-site service.

The "quality" products from each are as follows:

*Compaq " Evo Series" – They have a 3 Year LIMITED Warranty on their Workstations, but again they have a qualifier where replacement parts are concerned: “new OR used materials may be used…”, not very encouraging.

*HP - They now offer only the Compaq "Evo Series" in this category,

**They have eliminated all the HP products here.

IBM “Intellistation M Pro” --Their 3 Year LIMITED Warranty costs $229.00,and has a statement that says: “replacement parts MAY not be NEW…”

Gateway – “700 Series” – Gateway doesn’t seem to have a Workstation class, so the 700 Series is the closest we could come to a comparison, and once again it only offers a 1 year LIMITED Warranty.

Dell “Dimension Series” -- Dell's approach to their "LIMITED WARRANTY" -- "For a complete copy of our Guarantees or Limited Warranties, please write Dell, USA.". They don’t seem to publish information on their 3 Year Warranty, but in other areas with other models you have to write or call them for the information on what is and is not covered..

Also, Dell, Gateway, IBM, etc., have gone to great lengths to CAREFULLY explain their LIMITED WARRANTY on their web sites, and in some case as above, don't even do that. I would suggest that you spend the time to go to each manufacturers site and read their warranty VERY CAREFULLY, it's shocking. A number of components that have their own brand name on them, and which they factory install, are not even covered! They brag about their On-site Service and 24 Hour Call Service, well that may be true, but you are going to end up paying for Parts not covered under their warranties if not the Labor, and we believe that they will only perform On-site Service on their more expensive models. Techie site "Chat Rooms" are full of complaints about the Service provided by both Dell and Gateway, their customers are crucifying them over the lack of initial quality and after sales service support!

We can beat the prices on any of the other major brands when we are compared in this bracket. Also, and of prime importance, your competition is NOT the Retail Stores such as Best Buy, Staples, Circuit City, Wal-Mart, etc., because of the reasons outlined above.

To compare "apples-to-apples" you have to look at the warranty that each manufacturer offers, will they even support their systems properly even while they build them so cheaply. The answer is, they support them only as far as they feel comfortable.

Our NWC Standard Warranty is 3 Years: Year 1 = Parts and On-site Labor : Years 2 and 3 = Parts Only, on both our "Value Series" and "Dominion Series" systems.