I give up. :( (Abit does me in in more ways than one)

[jonnyGURU]

People can't take the truth.

I wrote <a target=new href="http://www.systemlogic.net/reviews/hardware/motherboards/abit/kt7raid/
">a column</a> about my &quot;hatred&quot; towards the KT7 board. The column got posted as a review.

At first I figured &quot;whatever&quot;. Column, review.... it's just a word.

I got a lot of flame mail telling me that &quot;review&quot; is not a suitable title and that rather &quot;column&quot; or &quot;commentary&quot;. Even my mad, Kyle at [H]ard|OCP had some words for me (he even emailed me at home). Oh well. Dave said he KNEW that I would get heat for having that column up as a review, but he wanted the controversy. Site traffic? Sure. I can understand. I let it slide.

But then, all of the hate mail start coming in... to me at home AND to my work email (because I was dumb enough to put my work email up as a way to get a hold of me for some tech support).

Basically, I panned the product and this pissed people off. I figured if 10% of the boards are bad, then 10% of the reviews should be too. Truth in journalism, right?

Well, it turns out that people can't handle the truth. Either a bunch of 14 year olds that built ONE PC or, at the best, 18 year olds that build maybe 3 PCs a year start telling me that I don't know what I'm talking about and figure it's fun to fill up Mr. Wilson's mail box with crap. Sorry to break it to you guys (whomever you are since most of the mails and ICQs were anonymous... COWARDS!). I wouldn't lock down a 10% failure rate figure without first seeing 300 units. Now that I've seen well over a thousand, I can say that number has dropped, but not much.

If the emails were constructive criticism, like Kyle's (who is neither 14 nor 18 and builds more PCs a year than three) it wouldn't be so bad, but instead, I'm getting emails from people that are pointing things out that aren't even in the column! They didn't even read it! Aaaaaarrrrrrgh!

So that's it. I'm never writitng a review again. I'll stick with bitching about customers. If I can't be HONEST and give REAL, USABLE data, I'm not going to do it. I'm not going to LIE and say &quot;the cherry picked board I got from Abit rocks!&quot; or &quot;After 5 boards, I finally got a good one and it ROCKS!&quot; If I was a consumer, I would want to know short comings and quality control issues. NOT every review should be a glowing review, but apparently I am alone in this belief. Then again I am neither 14 nor 18 and builds more PCs a year than three.

Yet another reason why I have shriveled back into the confines of ATOT.

 

[fdiskboy]

Hey! Don't let the bastards win!

Who cares what they think/say? It shouldn't matter.

I say keep up the good work. Tell the truth, if others can't handle it, that's their problem.

 

[Windogg]

I'm with you jonnyGURU, I too know what it's like. We have a few idiots that but one eMachine and then suggest how the company can &quot;realize great savings&quot; by getting all eMachines. Yea whatever.

I guess some people just don't know what you do for a living. Hell if I start seeing a bunch of RMA requests for an item, it might not be an isolated ID10T error. Don't let the morons and wannabes discourage you. I posted in GH about a server and of course there are those who have never even seen a real server flame those that suggest &quot;Mirroring with a FastTrak reduces performance. Who needs mirroring anyway?&quot; HUH??? A server is not the fastest system on the network, it's the one that runs 24/7/365 without fail. As far as I;m concerned, if you tell me the KT7 blows donkey balls then I avoid it like the plague.

Windogg

 

[Adul]

Hang in there jonny, The truth will not win you popularity contest, but at least someone is telling it.

 

[Antisocial Virge]

I saw it as kinda &quot;jonnyGURU experiences&quot; It kinda sounded more like a rant than a review. I didn't even see where you wrote down the specs of the motherboard, maybe I'll have to look again.

I still liked it but I took it with a grain of salt because I already knew you hated Abit.

 

[cxim]

Yo..jG... don't give up..

Just publish under another name... protect your identity

Why do you think news papers don't reveal who writes an editorial..?. Lots of whacos respond..

A review or column is the same. It is an opinion based on experience, technical in nature, but still an opinion.

The best reviews are biased, biased by past experience, knowledge, training &amp; intuition.

Don't let this set you back..

 

[jonnyGURU]

The boards features really aren't there, except for I went into some good detail and SpinRite benchmarks with the RAID controller.

I seriously wanted to take this PC home. I even built that monster case with the 4 5 1/4 bay coolers in it to accomodate it. Everyone thinks the column was so biased, but the fact remains I WANTED THAT DAMN MACHINE TO WORK MORE THAN ANYONE, but if it can't run 24/7 predictably, I don't want it. Plain and simple.

I wouldn't &quot;hate&quot; Abit if they didn't keep SCREWING UP. They have so much potential and great design... just make the boards better quality, that's all. Like I said in the review; the board would EASILY get a 10, but it's too flaky.

 

[Windogg]

I guess mistakes were make since jonny stated he did not like reviews. I'm sure thing would have been more clear had it been labeled a column. I know he is not a big fan of Abit but many intersting facts were presented. Plus that contempt must come from somewhere. People often ask me why I hate Compaq desktops so much. Well work on enough of them and you realize they are a pain in the ass. Their servers on the other hand are great.

Windogg

 

[jonnyGURU]

Speaking of Compaq... What's there deal anyway? The servers are great and really the QUALITY of the desktops are there, but the freaking layout and the degree of proprietarity (is that a word?) is ridiculous!

I've been using these cheap $189 barebones machines lately for desktops. They might not be of the &quot;quality&quot; of a Compaq with their Tekram boards and Cyberdrive CDROMs, but dammit, it's a standard MicroATX form factor and I could throw a Socket A board in there a year down the road if I wanted to! What are these people thinking when they buy these Compaqs?!?! DISPOSABLE COMPUTER!!!!! Use it... CHUCK IT!

...see.... I'm easily side tracked. I dare not write an Anti-Compaq &quot;review&quot;, I'd get more flames.

I like cxim's suggestion of a pseudo name. He he he.... That could open up many possibilities.

 

[Windogg]

Yes Compaq has many propriatary parts that are really annoying to work on. They have gotton better lately but we still have many older models that use a funky reverse riser card. Not only that but many of their designs are held togther with about 500 Torx screws in cases with lots of jagged edges. All systems need to be cleared of an overloaded Windows install (Still shipping with W98 First Edition!!!). Getting drivers installed is an absolute pain. I kid you not when I say it takes a full day to build a stable image.

I like Compaq servers because support is excellent with a pre-fail warranty.

Sorry to invade your thread jonny. A pseudo name with a generic mailbox sounds like a good idea. Anyone wo writes will get crap from people. Look at Tom Pabst and Kyle Bennett after the P3 1.13Ghz incident. They got their share of hatemail for telling the truth just like you. I'm sure you will be vindicated as more stories of dying KT7s come to light. Then all the naysayers will disapper into the woodworks.

Windogg

 

[Cable God]

JG, people don't like to hear bad things about something they BUY or hear about that they WANT to buy because it makes them feel like they aren't so smart themselves. I have been there before. It will blow over eventually...

 

[apoppin]

Well, you've learned your lesson. Don't give your e-mail address with unpopular reviews.

Keep up the good work!

(Once ABITten, twice shy.)

 

[snow]

We know the truth about Abit. Don't sweat the morons, there will always be more of them than intelligent people, and they will always be more vocal. The only thing you need to do differenly next time is not to give your personal or work email. Looking forward to more truth in this world of palm greasing. Keep it up.

 

[AndrewR]

Don't let them bother you though I would rid your reviews and/or columns of any email address that matters. Use Yahoo or Hotmail or something like that. That way, when it fills up, the hatemail just bounces back.

What is amazing is that I have read dozens of people mention that Abit's RMA rate is around 10%, and the ONLY board that has died on me was an Abit (BP-6, about 11 months after purchase). I've used Shuttle, Tyan, Intel, Asus, Soyo, Epox, MSI and probably a couple others without any of them failing except the Abit. That's specifically why I shied away from Abit when buying my Duron board, and I went with the MSI K7TPro2. MSI boards ROCK!!

Honestly, though, I've found MSI to make some quality stuff and have been impressed with the two boards I've used (both systems are running MSI boards now, PIII and Duron). I will never buy another Abit motherboard again. It's a shame that people cannot accept that Abit, which makes some interesting products with great potential, has QC problems. If people cannot accept FACTS, then their opinions of your opinion based on those facts are unfounded and pointless.

 

[Mister T]

jonnyGURU,

I loved the review man. It was straight up.
Please do not stop writing reviews!! I almost bought one of the boards too...

 

[jonnyGURU]

Well, after getting to work and receiving more hate mail, I've come to an important conclusion....

Commercialism.

Am I wrong here?

I was told by other sites that my &quot;heart was in the right place&quot; or that my &quot;intentions are good&quot;, but how dare I &quot;pan the product and call it a review&quot; and &quot;how unprofessional&quot;. I'm confused.

Dave wants the column up as a review because it generates negative attention. ANY attention equals hits. Hits equals money.

I can see where this could piss some people off. You come to a site and read a &quot;review&quot; that totally bags the product and it's spread across five pages with ads all over them.

Who would take me seriously? None of those ads are Abit ads. It MUST be biased.

I'm just naive. Look at some of the work I've done in the past...

webhelp.org: Free HTML help. No ads (All Advantage link shouldn't count).
badhabitrabbit.com: Free VW help. No ads (a few Amazon book suggestions).
torturetest.com: Free PC insight. No ads.
jonnyguru.com: That's just a POS... but there's no ADS!

Advertising underminds the very core of the insight that I provide. If I'm pursuaded by advertising to NOT write a scathing review, than I CAN NOT write a bad review. My influence would be altered out of a fear that I would lose advertising or future advertisers.

Maybe if the &quot;review&quot; appeared as a column, it may not have produced so many flames. Maybe if the &quot;review&quot; appeared on another site without ads (like one of mine), then maybe it would be a tad more flame retardant.

Fact is, whatever the reason, I spoke what I knew as the truth and I'm catching hell. Oh well. At least I've got my health.

Whatever the reasoning, I've learned a lesson. Sorry for my rambling. I'm just trying to move forward and justify any reason I can come up with that would excuse all of these flame mails I'm getting.

All I can say is I'm not going to let it happen again.

I like being the &quot;nice guy&quot;. Which is part of the reason why I tucked tail and ran back here where people know me as the &quot;beer drinking, bike riding, music listening hippy with a VW&quot; instead of &quot;that Abit hating tech with a piss poor attitude.&quot;

 

[ride525]

Don't give up.

I've built several systems using Abit boards and all have been fine, including two KT7s. But I've heard Abit has a high problem rate, and it's &quot;reviews&quot; like yours that help us make a decision when buying a board.

Keep writing what you think.

 

[TwoFace]

jonnyGURU: I personally loved your piece...

I've personally built three systems using the KT7 this year, and not had any problems like you described... Two of those systems have been built using the KT7-Raid however since that was a feature wanted at a later date... Now I know that that &quot;feature&quot; might not work, and knowledge is power. Your &quot;review&quot; opened my eyes to the fact that saying that a motherboard works when you haven't tested all the features yet can be VERY stupid! Thanks for telling the truth about your experiences, and giving me the power to make my own decisions in the future based on more knowledge than I had before!

Please don't stop telling the truth as you see it. There aren't enough people out there with the GUTS to do what you did, and this world needs more people like you!

Keep telling the truth and you'll always have my backing.

Regards

Two-Face

/edit I can't speeeel edit/

 

[DaveJ]

It's good to see someone writing what they feel, rather than what everyone wants to hear. This is the number one reason why I very rarely pay attention to reviews on the Net, including here at Anand's. It's a rare occasion that we actually hear about serious compatibility issues, and 99% of the time the part being reviewed is hand-picked, running on the testbed of the day/week/month. Simply put, there is absolutely ZERO consistency, even within a single site. It's really sad. If I was to post this in GH I'd probably get my ass flamed for even suggesting that most reviews are crap... Guess that's why I spend my time here in OT.

With that said, the ONLY site I pay attention to on a regular basis is
Storage Review. These guys have a consistent testing methodology, and their testbed lasted TWO YEARS without a major hardware change. Only when they hit a performance wall did they decide to upgrade. They have changed benchmarks over the years, but will still benchmark newer drives with older tests just to provide a frame of reference. Now THAT'S how you run a hardware site...

Great review Jonny, keep it up!

Dave

 

[yakko]

We know that you don't know what you're talking about jonnyGURU. That is why we don't flame you here.

 

[FlashG]

jonnyGURU


I?m only half way through your article and all I can say is ?Do you do Video cards also??

I only make about 2 personal PC?s a year and straight factual information is of great use to me. I don?t have the luxury of going down to Shipping &amp; Receiving to grab another part to see if it will work or not.

I for one do appreciate your TRUTHFUL comments. After all, your income is derived by delivering a quality product to your customer at the least cost to your organization. In other words you aren?t pandering to your parts supplier just to get preferential treatment for the new latest and greatest whatnot.

Please do NOT stop. Put me on your mailing list.

BTW,
You have helped me in the past with some technically related questions and I appreciated that.

Finally,
I also experienced some difficulties with my first motherboard (The Sacred Abit BH6). I thought it was my own inexperience and let it go at that. But after building my son?s FIC VA-503+ and wife?s Tyan S-1590, I am sure the problem was the Abit not me. Since then I replaced it with an Asus P3B-F and am amazed at how easy it was to set up and work on.

 

[AndrewR]

Well, I read over the piece, and I thought it was great. The semantic distinction between a &quot;review&quot; and a &quot;column&quot; is pointless. Granted, there was a fair amount of ranting in there, but I think with the FACTS of what happened in using the Abit boards, it's quite merited. Like you mention in the article, you didn't receive a cherry picked board from Abit -- these came straight from vendor stock.

Of course, everyone wants to receive a perfect example of a product when they buy it. Fact of the matter is that you won't, and this history of frustration in the article is more likely to be what a consumer encounters. There are many examples of a product which, when working perfectly, is truly a marvel and the best of its kind. However, that product was plagued by problems and rarely worked properly (the only example, rather inapplicable outwardly, is the German Panther tank from WWII -- awesome war machine wracked with engine troubles that made it worthless in combat until they were fixed).

Anyone who reads the &quot;review&quot; can clearly understand the perspective and understand that it isn't a standard product review such as is seen on AnandTech, for instance. To me, that was painfully clear on the first page. If someone cannot identify the bare intent of the piece when reading it, then they're uncategorically stupid -- I'm not sorry to say.

Further, if someone criticizes a piece of hardware that I own, and my experience is different, I will merely note that that person had problems while I do not. That person's experience, however, may make me more concious of problems to look for in the future. If I am doing research on an item, such as I did recently with DVD players and A/V receivers, a preponderence of users with favorable opinions will convince me of the worth of a product, but I do make PARTICULAR note of the problems that people have and, even more so, of those people's background and experience. If I see 40 neophytes praising a product and 2 audiophiles criticizing it, I will give much more weight to the audiophiles and evaluate from there.

I think this whole episode goes to show the average intelligence of people on the net, sadly enough. Understand the source, understand the article, understand the intent, judge accordingly. It's not so much about a biased article as it is about biased readers.

 

[abracadabra1]

so you got some stinking boards and pissed off some folks for a perfectly legitimate claim- abit boards, in your opinion, suck ass.
i am an abit-veteran, so to speak
i've had just about every single abit board since the be6 and i must say they are quite nice for home computers. very simple setup and reliable, in my experience.

sorry you got flamed bud. some people don't realize that everything isn't quite what they perceive it to be.

 

[jonnyGURU]

This ONE STATEMENT from Andrew made the whole situation so clear to me, that I have a whole knew outlook on this situation:

Anyone who reads the &quot;review&quot; can clearly understand the perspective and understand that it isn't a standard product review such as is seen on AnandTech, for instance. To me, that was painfully clear on the first page. If someone cannot identify the bare intent of the piece when reading it, then they're uncategorically stupid -- I'm not sorry to say.

*sniff* That's beautiful man.... *sniff* That really's it right there.

Screw the dips with the anonymous emails! They don't know what their talking about, and if the other webmasters want to stab me in the back for being frank so they can save face.... SO BE IT! I'm above all of that!

...Besides, the emails lightened up a bit today.