July 1998

Friday July 31, 1998

Good morning !
Congratulations to Cyberian Outpost. Today is their IPO and we wish them and Winfield Capital all of the luck in the world!
Vice President Al Gore will be discussing Internet Privacy today.
Some people have asked us about our silence on the Motorola and AMD agreements. Our concern centers around the support from motherboard manufacturers. Super7 motherboards are still maturing. We all recognize the growing pains – new chipset revisions, motherboard revisions, and BIOS updates. This isn’t all bad news but as a consumer you need to recognize that potential problems may crop up when you least expect it.

Hopefully this product line will be ready for everyone in the market soon. AMD’a K6-2 is a wonderful product. We offer the Epox motherboards for simple configurations. The GigaByte motherboard is not ready for resale. ASUS will release a Super7 board soon.

If you or a friend are interested in building a simple desktop system then the AMD processor is an excellent choice. If you are trying to add multiple devices, SCSI devices, large amounts of memory, mixed parts from older systems – then we might suggest you stick with an Intel-based core. As a reminder, dual processor systems still remain an Intel processor market. We would also remind everyone that overclocking your processor is not supported by any manufacturer (or us). All warranties are void when you work outside of the manufacturer’s specifications.

Of the motherboards ESC offers, which is the most popular Pentium II motherboard (single processor, BX chipset)?
ASUS’s P2B motherboards have consistently been our clients 1st choice. ASUS traditionally has consistent quality, extremely low return rates, high customer satisfaction rates, and ease of working with the company for technical support and questions.

The P2B series boards are:
P2B: single Pentium II processor support
P2B-S: single Pentium II processor support with dual channel SCSI onboard
P2B-LS: single Pentium II processor support with SCSI and LAN onboard
P2B-DS: dual Pentium II processor support with SCSI onboard

Gigabyte 686BX, 6BA, and 6BXDS motherboards are close runner ups. Next, would be Intel, Atrend, AOpen (Acer), and then Abit as an introductory Pentium II board.

Of course, we try to offer product that has return rate to manufacturer (through either ESC or client) of less than 3%. Also, ASUS, Gigabyte, Intel, Atrend, Acer, and Abit Pentium II boards are available in the distribution channel.

When will ESC start offering Pentium II 450 MHz processors?
Intel has not shipped Boxed Pentium II 450 MHz processors into the US, authorized distribution channel. When product is available through these sources, we will start shipping product too. When will that be? We have estimated time of arrivals that range from August 3rd to August 15th.

Wait a minute — what about the rumored release of the Pentium II 500 MHz with extended MMX functions (code named Katmai) in late August??

Initial costs from Intel to distributors of the processor are expected to be around $825 (1,000 unit price estimate. $825×1.1=$907 reseller cost $907×1.07=971 end user cost ). We’ll offer the Boxed product as soon as the product is available through authorized distribution channels.

The construction on the new shopping system is moving forward. We’ve managed to tie in the database for faster updates. The search engine is also ready. As requested, the navigation will remain similar. The order status section is still not complete.
Albert and Gracie are doing fine. They have been rather quiet. It’s the summer heat. Al has never been one for the heat. Of course, he loves basking in the sun. Gracie spends most of her time grooming herself – the heat messes up her hairdo.
We hope all of you have a wonderful weekend, get plenty of rest and relaxation, and above all – that all of you remain safe.

Thursday July 30, 1998

Intel’s N440BX motherboard supports dual Pentium II processors. This server motherboard has remote server access for quick troubleshooting, repair and real-time server management.
- dual-channel ultra-SCSI
- Intel EtherExpress™ PRO/100+ LAN Controller (Intel 82558)
- PCI Video with 2 MB SGRAM
A shipment of Boxed Pentium II 300 and 400 MHz processors arrived this morning. Pentium II 333 and 350 MHz processors (Boxed) are available also.
Are you looking to upgrade your older 486 system or Pentium and would like to keep your existing case? Gigabyte manufactures the 6BA motherboard, which is AT form factor.
- supports Pentium II 233-333 MHz processor at 66 MHz front side bus
- supports Pentium II 350-450 MHz processor at 100 MHz front side bus
- uses SDRAM
What is an easy way to increase the performance of my current computer?
- Adding more memory is frequently the easiest way to increase the performance of a system. If you are looking for SIMMs then Crucial Technology, a division of Micron offers upgrade modules for your home built system, or brand name system. Corsair Memory or Crucial may be able to assist you if your system uses SDRAM.

Tuesday July 28, 1998

Good afternoon! We’ve delayed writing this section today until we had more information on Intel processors.
Expect severe shortages on Intel processors for the next 8 weeks. This will drive prices up on the OEM market. According to Intel, there was manufacturing difficulty. There will be 150,000 Pentium II 266 MHz processors available approximately in mid-August. Everything else will have a delay and we do not have timing. Patience will be vital.
According to Intel, the first Xeon 400 MHz have shipped. There are 73 pieces available. If you have a motherboard, then we can get the product for you. We have not tested these products. The price is $1279.00 for quanti
ty one.
ASUS products will also be on severe shortages. Each summer, ASUS goes on vacation. All motherboard supplies will be limited through August 5 or 6.

We have spent the morning trying to locate product for everyone who has placed orders. If you are thinking about ordering, we are suggesting that you watch processor pricing very carefully. We expect there to be a price increase as the product disappears.

Monday July 27, 1998

Corsair will be visiting us today. They have several new products that they are introducing.
The Intel Boxed Processor prices have been lowered. The OEM/Tray product prices will be adjusted throughout today.
As a reminder, the shipping calculated on the shopping cart is not correct. The new shopping cart is being designed with different shipping zones. This should help calculate the correct price.
Have you been watching Amazon.com stock?

Friday July 24, 1998

Corsair releases new products:
Corsair Launches EDO DIMMs for the New Intel 450NX Chip Set/Xeon Processor(PR Newswire)

Corsair Memory Inc., the industry leader in high density DRAM Dual In-Line Memory Modules for the Intel Server Platforms, is now offering 32MByte, 64MByte, and 128MByte ECC EDO DRAM Modules for the new Intel 450NX Server Platforms — AD450NX, and SC450NX.

Corsair Launches 256MByte PC100 Registered SDRAM Modules (PR Newswire)

Corsair Memory Inc., the industry leader in high density Synchronous DRAM Dual In-Line Memory Modules, is now shipping qualified 256MByte PC100 Registered ECC SDRAM Modules.

[Update: 3:20pm] New Intel processor prices are:

Intel Pentium II 400 MHz $650.34

Intel Pentium II 350 MHz $474.28

Intel Pentium II 333 MHz $355.84

Intel Pentium II 300 MHz $239.01

Hello.
Okay. We still can’t get the dates right on this website. Just like the XT’s requiring the date and time to be entered manually each time the machine is started – this section of our website requires us to manually put in the correct date. Someone suggested that we wind up our watches. Others have suggested that we replace the batteries in our clocks. We have even been reminded to check the CMOS settings in the system BIOS.
We have been debating our new shopping cart. The debate is getting rather exhausting. We’d like to thank everyone who emailed their ideas. If you have additional thoughts, please let us know. No decision has been made but we are leaning towards an NT server. We will let you know when the new site will be available.
Yes, Intel is dropping processor pricing. However, many of our distributors are dropping Intel. Since there is no longer profit in offering their processors, and distributors are in the business of earning a profit, we don’t fault them for their decisions. Most of you know that there are pricing services on the web. From these services you can see that there are companies offering Intel processors at prices considerably below distributor pricing.

Intel continues to state that many of these companies are offering remarked product. We are not convinced. It does suggest that pricing pressures will drive many companies to seek alternative products. We, too, have been eliminating particular processors from our product offerings. We are also considering only offering processors with the sale of a motherboard and memory. This may dramatically change the way we do business. In reviewing sales from last quarter, our greatest losses came from single item processor sales. Socket 7, motherboard-only sales also represented a risk we are no longer interested in continuing. As we make changes to our product line, we’d like to know your thoughts for additional items.

Many people have emailed us requesting processor prices for Monday. According to Intel there will be a price drop on Sunday. Some of our suppliers have started to provide estimates for the new pricing. However, final prices have not been determined. We found one supplier who is already reflecting the "new" prices but they will not ship until Monday. All orders that we accepted this week will have prices adjusted to Monday’s new processor pricing.
Corsair 64 MB CAS Latency 2 parts are in stock.
Crucial also lowered their prices for PC100 memory.
Both Epox motherboards that we offer are in stock.
The full line of ASUS Pentium II motherboards are available. The exception being the P2B-D – which may never be released for resale in the US. (We said this about the GigaByte GA-5AX and guess what arrived? – so don’t believe everything you read in print.)
What is the difference between a used car salesman and a computer salesman? The used car saleman knows when he is lying.
Guess what? Our company doesn’t have salesman. In fact, more sales are now done on the web than through our toll free 800 number. Therefore, if you call and ask for sales, you might get a technician. You might not – and end up with Al or Gracie.
Who is Edwin Wayne Heiny? Grandpa Heiny was born June 1906. He married Martha Mary Wilkinson in 1933. She was a young gal that he met in the Oakland Church. They have four children, fourteen grand-children, and seventeen (and a half) great-grandchidren.

Robert Wayne Heiny (aka Papa) is their oldest son. Bob married Joan Marie Umscheid in 1956. They have five children and four grandchildren. Yes, you guessed it. The gaggle of individuals operating this business are all related to E.W. Heiny.

Grandpa was born in Nebraska. At the age of 6, his family moved to Rocky Ford Colorado and finally to California. Grandpa was the first graduate of Boeing School of Aeronautics in 1930. He worked for Pacific Air Transport which merged with Barney Airlines and Boeing Airlines to form United Airlines. He retired from United in 1971. According to Grandpa, that’s about all you need to know and if you have any questions then please let him know. (Now, you know where that comes from!)

Tuesday July 21, 1998

Hello. Did you miss us? We kept extremely busy yesteray and didn’t upload to this website. We are reviewing other shopping carts and this has taken our time. We are also looking at different ISPs to house the new shopping cart system. Because of the redesign, we are also asking for your opinions.

Here is our list of necessary features:

Database driven for easy price updates

Links to specification sheets and additional product information

Search capability

Single page listing all products with link to ordering

Multiple item ordering

Non-cookie based shopping

Non-browser specific

Removal of Javascripting

Accurate UPS shipping by zone

SSL encryption for credit card information

E-mail confirmation of order

What features would you like to see in the new shopping cart?

Intel diagrams 700-MHz technology (News.com) This article was published yesterday.

"The new "Coppermine" will be a chip for desktops and notebooks, while "Cascades" is intended for use in servers and workstations."

Albert and Gracie have been sweltering in the heat. We never knew that Gracie’s tongue was so long. We hope the heat isn’t getting to you.
We were told on Monday that our IBM Authorization has been approved. We will start offering the Thinkpad products after the shopping cart work is finished.
Corsair Memory is preparing Macintosh memory to extend their product line.
According to Intel, they have not shipped Pentium II 450 MHz processors.

Tuesday July 21, 1998

Hello and welcome back.
Circuit City announced their new build-to-order program. They will ship custom configurations 10 days after ordered. It seems that our policy for 7 to 10 business days is right in line.
AMD eyes copper, 1-GHz chip (News.com)
Seagate pushes out Shugart as CEO (San Jose Mercury News)

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Monday July 20, 1998

Who knows the "inventor of the ESCape sequence, the universal switching mechanism for all computer-controlled communications?" – that was our question on Friday and it seems that no one answered. So we’ll give you a little hint. His first name was Robert. That should really narrow it down for you.
We had a wonderful surprise on Sunday morning. The Modesto Bee published a very kind article on ESC Technologies. We knew they were going to write something but we didn’t expect such an glowing report. Reading this story online won’t get you the pictures, but at least it will provide a little flavor of the people behind our company.
Intel Raises Antitrust Concerns (Techweb.com)
We received a phone call today from Channel 14 and they are going to do a phone interview for tonight’s news.
We’d like to welcome all of the new visitors to our website today. If you have never been to our site you might be interested in reading about our company on our online profile.
Mr. Livingston wrote an update to his Infoworld article, including the BP Utilities. If you are having Windows 98 installation trouble then this article is a must read.

Friday July 17, 1998

Hello.
Bet you are asking yourself, "Why are the dates on this page always wrong?" Okay. Okay. We skipped Thursday, had Tuesday as Monday, and couldn’t even find Saturday or Sunday. Well, it all started when we were little puppies. While some young mutts were chewing on loafers and leather shoes … [Note from the Webmasters: This explanation has been deleted. To us, all excuses sound the same. We apologize to anyone who missed a meeting because they believed our dates were correct.]
We have Corsair 64 MB PC100, CAS Latency 2 modules in stock.
Well, some of you were stumped. Grace Hopper was a Naval Officer known as "Amazing Grace." She led the development team for Common-Business-Oriented Language (COBOL) in the 1960’s. Who knows the "inventor of the ESCape sequence, the universal switching mechanism for all computer-controlled communications?" No cheating and using the web to do your research. Let’s find out who the real nerds are among us.

Wednesday July 15, 1998

Hello. How are you today? All of us are doing well. We hope you are too.
Albert and Gracie have traded food bowls. It seems that Albert thought Gracie was getting more and Gracie thought Albert was getting more. Therefore, they traded. Once this was done, both have felt better about dinner.
We have AT and ATX Epox motherboards in stock. There is also a limited supply of AMD K6-2/300 processors.
Boxed AMD K6-2/300 processors may arrive as soon as August 18, 1998.
166 MHz and 180 MHz Pentium OverDrive units are backordered.
ASUS P2B, P2B-LS, and P2B-DS motherboards are available.
Intel to preview workstation, 3D graphics (News.com)
Many of you know that there are three people who design/write the HTML behind our websites. We’ve been using Billy-Bob’s FrontPage 98. However we aren’t able to update all of our sections daily. It is also difficult for all three of us to update sections at the same time. Generally we concentrate on the prices and specification sheets – and this leaves out the technical support section. We are reviewing different HTML editors but we’ve decided that there is a definite lack of good products. Three years ago, using notepad was fine. Two years ago, it was acceptable to use an HTML only editors. Now, it seems that site management, DHTML, database connectivity, javascript, group writing and many other features are required to ensure that all sections are updated. Any ideas? And please! Keep the cost within reason.
Since many of you smarty pants knew about the LISA, let’s see how many of you know why a particular female in the Navy was so important in our industry’s history?
But first, here is a clip from one of our favorite answers regarding the LISA computer:

"A Lisa was Apple’s first attempt at creating a computer that used a graphical user interface. It cost $10,000 and the unsold invantory (sic) was burried (sic) in a desert in Utah if I recall correctly."

Other answers included information about Lisa Jobs, GUI interfaces, Xerox, and strong emotions about expensive computer equipment.

Intel Plans Even Faster Chips–But Who Needs Them? (PC World) —

We’ll I want one. I’m tired of waiting. Waiting for my machine to boot. Waiting for the Operating system to load. Waiting for the application to start. Waiting to download files. Waiting for a website to load. Waiting for the PC to shutdown and restart because it locked up. Waiting. Waiting. Waiting. Okay. So want isn’t the same as need. But it’ll do for now since we’ll all be waiting for the faster processors.

This is called the WIN principle — The Want It Now principle. The manufacturers say they are going to build it. They win because their stock goes up, new people are hired, and the industry is on the move. We win because we order it, beta test it, provide valuable ideas to the manufacturers on how to improve it and then ask, "When will it ever get fixed?" It’s a real "win-when" situation.

Wednesday July 15, 1998

Good morning. Good morning. Good morning.
Yesterday’s question regarding the spelling of "canceled" or "cancelled" has brought about a huge debate. We asked this question because several of us spell the word one way and others spell it the other way. Both insisting that they are correct. The spell checking programs are of no use – because it states both are correct. Our favorite response came from someone saying, "cancel is pronounced ‘kan(t) sel … suggesting that you "can’t sell" the product if a customer canceled the order." Obviously, we have very clever visitors coming to our website.
Have you been watching all of the tech stocks? Wow, sometimes we feel it is akin to watching the bouncing ball. Everyone sing along.

"Oh, I bought my tech stocks on a whim
I thought the company was a gem.
Oh, I bought my tech stock on the brim,
how was I to know things looked so grim?
I bought tech stocks on a whim."

Everyone…

"Oh, I bought my tech stocks with my card.
My purchase wasn’t very hard.
Oh I bought my tech stocks with my VISA
And now the stock is just like the LISA,
I bought my tech stocks on a whim."

Third verse, same as the first.

"Oh, I bought tech stocks on a whim
I thought the company was a gem.
Oh, I bought my tech stock on the brim,
how was I to know things looked so grim?
I bought tech stocks on a whim."

Here is today’s debate, "How many of you know what the LISA was?"
Limited AMD K6-2/300 processors are available.
Boxed AMD K6-2/266 are available.
Intel Boxed Pentium II 450 MHz processors have been assigned a part number by one of our distributors. The ETA is August 10, 1998. Therefore, look for it after the 20th of August.
ASUS is reworking the P2B-DS motherboard BIOS to recognize the 256 MB Corsair modules. Hopefully, this BIOS version will be available in the next couple of weeks.

Tuesday July 14, 1998

Good Day, eh?
Albert and Gracie slept most of yesterday away. The heat was getting to them and we don’t think they were drinking enough water.&#1
60; You can always tell when Albert has not had enough water because he doesn’t drool as much. Gracie is a little more difficult to read. Since she is the "pretty one" then she tries to hide her slobber. We hope the weather isn’t making you slobber, either.
Daniel J. Boorstin thinks every American should read the following ten books:

Undaunted Courage by Stephen Ambrose
My Antonia by Willa Cather
Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
No Ordinary Time by Doris Kearns Goodwin
A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway
Main Street by Sinclair Lewis
The Naked and the Dead by Norman Mailer
Truman by David McCullough
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck

How many of these books have you read? Well, we didn’t do very well. So we’ve decided to split into groups. Each group will read one of the books. Then the group will present the highlights of the book they read to the others. Just think if all of us showed up to one of those libraries that we drive past everyday. What would the librarian’s do with a rowdy crowd of nerds?

Two of our ISPs for the proxy server and direct connections are down. Fortunately the one for this site is functional. However, answering email will be slower today as well as the updates on the pricing.
GigaByte may not release the GA-5AX or GA-5VX.
Hey, is the spelling "canceled" or "cancelled"?
Intel earnings off 29% (News.com)

Monday July 13, 1998

Good Morning to you.
Today has already become an exciting day. Intel Boxed and OEM processors are not available. Well, the 300 MHz and 333MHz are available. Nothing else. Why? Distributors thought there was a price drop on the 7th so they stopped carrying inventory. Then they thought the drop was the 17th, so they still didn’t want to pick up inventory. Yesterday, Intel formally announced a price drop for Sunday July 26, 1998. Therefore, the distributors don’t want to pick up inventory. Now, do we all wait around for the price drop or just run out and buy those nifty AMD K6-2 processors? Don’t look to us to make a recommendation. We use both AMD processors and Intel processors.
Albert is out mowing the lawn. Nope, not with a power mower – but with his teeth. Blade by blade he’s been eating the grass in our backyard. Between Al and Henrietta – we don’t need a power mower. Al has also eaten most of our garden. He left a few onions, a few tomatoes – but no green beans, no carrots, no radishes, no peas, nor squash. Guess Albert is reflecting Intel’s latest style – restrict the product in order to create the demand. But maybe we aren’t hungry for Intel processors. Oops, I mean green beans.
Gracie is still in bed this morning. She pulled the covers over her head and said it was way too early for morning to already be here. She spent most of her weekend chasing after Albert, a neighborhood cat, and sitting on Henrietta. It seems that her "wild" weekend has caught up with her.

Monday July 13, 1998

Good Morning to you.
Today has already become an exciting day. Intel Boxed and OEM processors are not available. Well, the 300 MHz and 333MHz are available. Nothing else. Why? Distributors thought there was a price drop on the 7th so they stopped carrying inventory. Then they thought the drop was the 17th, so they still didn’t want to pick up inventory. Yesterday, Intel formally announced a price drop for Sunday July 26, 1998. Therefore, the distributors don’t want to pick up inventory. Now, do we all wait around for the price drop or just run out and buy those nifty AMD K6-2 processors? Don’t look to us to make a recommendation. We use both AMD processors and Intel processors.
Albert is out mowing the lawn. Nope, not with a power mower – but with his teeth. Blade by blade he’s been eating the grass in our backyard. Between Al and Henrietta – we don’t need a power mower. Al has also eaten most of our garden. He left a few onions, a few tomatoes – but no green beans, no carrots, no radishes, no peas, nor squash. Guess Albert is reflecting Intel’s latest style – restrict the product in order to create the demand. But maybe we aren’t hungry for Intel processors. Oops, I mean green beans.
Gracie is still in bed this morning. She pulled the covers over her head and said it was way too early for morning to already be here. She spent most of her weekend chasing after Albert, a neighborhood cat, and sitting on Henrietta. It seems that her "wild" weekend has caught up with her.

Friday July 10, 1998

Good Afternoon. The greatest compliment for us is to be kept busy by people asking us questions. These past few weeks have been filled with tons of excellent questions. This also means we haven’t spent much time on line. So let’s do a little catch up: First www.esctechnologies.com was being repaired these past few days. The machine holding the local copy of the web decided that the personal webserver didn’t need to accept our passwords. Therefore, Lora spent several days installing and reinstalling FrontPage 98. Next, we worked on the accounting server. We were trying to improve the speed. We think it takes too long when we are searching through records. We changed the hard drive, added RAM, and changed NICs. It’s still slow. Finally, we’ve spent some time on the Windows 98 installation. More below.
As a registered System Builder for Microsoft, we offer the OEM version of Windows 98. The installation is a little different from Windows 95. We left the installation of 95 up to the individuals. Recently, we have started to install Windows 98 on select barebone units. Today we finished the wizard and "preinstallation diskette" so that when we load the Operating System you will be able to turn on your PC, Windows 98 will start. You will need to enter your name and company name, time zone, and license. This should speed up the assembly of your new or upgraded PC.

Thursday July 9, 1998

Good morning!
Were you curious about the statement above yesterday’s Birthday wish to Lora? Albert was brushing up on his Latin, "Tall Oaks grow from small acorns."

According to Gracie, Albertus can barkus more code, "dang joystick stuck gameth cr
ash n quaked more food un bowl n stuff to eat shoes to chew n ‘escape dash technologies dot com’ wolf e stein tis slow." Hmm, sounds to us like Albert is using his computer for more than surfing the net.

Windows 98 Technical Tip (copied from "hardware.txt"):

PCI systems

If the video device is configured by the BIOS to use an IRQ and you use the secondary PCI IDE controller in your computer, your video will work only in VGA mode. To load the accelerated Windows 98 driver for your video, disable the secondary PCI IDE controller in the BIOS and the Device Manager (double-click System in Control Panel). An alternative (if supported by the BIOS) is to disable the IRQ of the video device.

The Timber or Night Lite from Intel is available, T440BX. For those of you with a sense of humor might recognize that the N440BX uses a technique known as BUD (Interrupt Router/ Basic Utiltity Device). The BUD is a programmable logic device that effectively doubles the available PCI_Int_A interrupts from 4 to 8. The T440BX provides a less complex BUD, a BUD lite. The next time you see two Intel representatives in a heated argument over BUD and BUD Lite, you will know that the argument is not over a liquid substance.

Wednesday July 8, 1998

Do you remember when we told you about Rusty, the 4th of July Party Crasher? Well, Harry the Box Turtle was racing down the road this fine morning – and was just about squished by one of our trucks. Fortunately, he was seen in time and returned to his owner. Harry is about 7 years old and runs faster than Albert. This is also the third time Harry has managed to escape from his home. Guess that’s why his name is Harry Houdini.
Parvis e glandibus quercus

Happy Birthday To you
Happy Birthday To You
Happy Birthday Little Sis
Happy Birthday To You.

You youngster you!

Were you thinking of using the 256 MB PC100 Corsair memory modules on your ABIT BX6 Pentium II motherboard? Well, don’t. According to Abit they are working on a different motherboard which will accept the modules.

Monday July 7, 1998

Beckley, W. VA, July 7 (UPI) — Neither rain, nor sleet, nor snow, nor gloom of night may interrupt mail service, but Herbie the chimp did.

Police in Beckley, W. VA, say Herbie jumped into the back of a postal truck Monday and the mail carrier jumped out.

The truck then rolled downhill, striking a parked car belonging to Herbie’s owner. The carrier followed the truck. A dispatcher says when he caught up, he an dthe chimp grabbed hold of each other’s arms and started screaming.

No one was injured in the incident but Herbie’s owner thought the 4 – foot – 6, 125-pound chimp was so shaken, he took him out for ice cream.

Are you looking for an easy way to upgrade your old AT form factor system? Gigabyte released their GA-6BA motherboard, which is an AT form factor based on Intel’s 440BX AGPset.
Intel has released the SE440BX motherboard without audio. Currently, the product is backordered at authorized Intel distributors.
Intel Express 3D AGP card 8 MB is available.
Of the Intel Pentium II processors, which speeds are clients buying more than others?

From June 1st to today, the Pentium II 266 MHz, Pentium II 400 MHz, and Pentium II 350 MHz were the popular Pentium IIs.

Monday July 6, 1998

Good morning.
Albert and Gracie had a wonderful 4th of July. Even though Gracie doesn’t like the sounds of the fireworks, she managed to remain cordial during most of the day.

Several other dogs arrived this weekend for the festivities: Rusty, Daisy, and Pepper. Now Rusty was a run-away who wasn’t intentionally invited. Guess you could say he was a party crasher. Albert helped Rusty find his master – by calling Animal control. The poor owner didn’t even know Rusty was missing. All was well when the officer placed the call to Rusty’s owner saying that Rusty was fine and would be home soon.

Daisy and Pepper stayed just before the show. They had dinner and then left. It seems that Pepper isn’t into the noise level and spends most of his 4th of July shaking. Albert would have preferred that they stay for the show and skip the dinner part. In fact, while the other dogs were around – Albert just stayed by his food bowl. Guess that is why his midline is getting bigger by the day.

The ASUS P2B-D is available in small quantities.
We learned a valuable lesson these past few days regarding SCSI devices. We don’t know enough ! After receiving an IBM Ultrastar 9ES DDRS-34560 SCSI-3 drive – we learned that we couldn’t hook up the drive to our host adapter. It seems that this drive is an 80-pin SCSI and our cables were all 68-pin and 50-pin. Fortunately, Kingston has a part that everyone who works with SCSI should discover, DX100-SWC. This adapter is just the ticket for 80-pin drives. Now you know why we don’t offer SCSI products – Phew!
The ASUS P2B-LS manual has a typographical error. The jumper settings for the Bus Frequency are as follows:

Bus Frequency	FS2	FS1	FS0
66 MHz	2-3	1-2	1-2
100 MHz	1-2	1-2	1-2

Saturday July 4, 1998

Happy 4th of July!
Go play with the kids, drink a glass of lemonade, read a good book, relax….

1000 days on the Internet

Yes, you read that right. Today is the day. The once in a lifetime. The big Enchilada. The whole Tomato. The one and only. Yes, Ma’am. Yes, sir. It’s the day.

ARF and Woof

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you!

"Now, get back to work." — R.W.H. (aka Papa)

Friday July 3, 1998

Good morning! As you might have guessed, today is a special day for us.
Albert and Gracie have taken the day off. They are both sun-bathing and getting ready for tomorrow. The BBQ grill, briquettes, lighter fluid, matches, and plenty of food are all waiting for them.
All of our distributors have also taken the day off – BUT – We are still here. Working away :-) Well, maybe having a pizza party, a few laughs, and a few pre-4th of July celebration thoughts. We’ll answer telephone calls till 11:30 AM.

We will resume telephone service Monday July 6th at 9AM Pacific Time.

Enjoy your weekend!

If you are checking on the status of your order, then you may email us. Also, if you know your product has shipped and you have your invoice number, you may go to www.esc-ca.com/faqs/tracking.html , and view your tracking information.
On July 1, 1998, Intel formally announced that All 256K Cache Pentium Pro Processors have been discontinued.
Update on GigaByte 6BA motherboard:

We received sample product. More product should be available in volume next week.

When will Gigabyte release 100 MHz Super 7 boards?

Gigabyte is hoping to release their GA-5AX (ALI chipset with 512KB cache) and GA-5VX (VIA chipset with 512KB cache) in mass production after next week. We’re anxious to see these new boards, and we’ll let you know as soon as they are available.

We are still receiving our back shipments of Epox boards. We are filling orders as quickly as possible. I
ASUS P2B-DS, P2B-S with 3860, P2B-LS, and P2B motherboards are available in the channel. Gigabyte 6BXDS, 6BXS, and 686BX are also available.
Intel 200 MHz Pentium OverDrive with MMX technology is limited in the channel. The 166 MHz OverDrive and the 180 MHz OverDrive are backordered.
Processor availability update:

AMD
	Tray K6/233 (discontinued)	available
	Tray K6/266	available
	Tray K6/300	available
	Tray K6-2/266	available
	Tray K6-2/300	backordered

	PI Box K6/233 (discontinued)	available
	PI Box K6/300	available
	PI Box K6-2/266	to be released mid July
	PI Box K6-2/300	to be released mid July

Intel
	Tray P II 233	available
	Tray P II 266	available
	Tray P II 300	available
	Tray P II 333	available
	Tray P II 350	available
	Tray P II 400	available

	Box P II 233	backordered
	Box P II 266	limited
	Box P II 300	available
	Box P II 333	available
	Box P II 350	available
	Box P II 400	backordered

Thursday July 2, 1998

Good morning !
These two stories are included in today’s topics because we have been discussing this trend for quite some time. Almost all computer companies are making adjustments for slower growth. We’ve been fortunate enough to continue to grow at an outstanding rate. It’s exciting for us but we know that other companies have not been as fortunate. We’d like to thank everyone who has supported our company.

Intel to shut plants temporarily (News.com)

Chip recovery isn’t near (San Jose Mercury News)

One of our fish decided to jump out of the tank this morning. He was the largest KOI.
There were a few people in email who have asked us to explain why we use the phrase, Webcentric, Customer Focused™, on some of our webpages. Our company is solely on the Internet. We do not have a retail storefront like most of the computer companies on the Inet. Because we work out of warehouse space in an Industrial Park we rarely visit with a client in our physical location. Also, we do not solely rely on telephone orders. Instead, we rely on our websites, shopping cart, and email.

We have also been known on the Inet as a company which responds to the changes in the market. Many times we sit on the bleeding edge. Many companies try to use our phrases or they talk about their future plans – but we are already doing what they are talking about. You can pick up any magazine or read any Inet Publication and you will see talk about shoppers started to place orders online.

We’ve been taking orders over the Inet since 1995. This makes us a unique, Webcentric company. You’ll start to see other companies talk about their ideas regarding electronic commerce and we hope that ecom continues to expand so that there is a positive relationship between the surfers and the business suits. We are just glad to be involved in such exciting times! – Wolf.

The motherboard guide is temporarily closed. We are reworking the design. Please excuse any difficulties this may cause you.
The GigaByte GA-6BA, GA-6BXDS, and ASUS P2B-LS motherboards arrived for testing.
Happy holidays to those of you who are going to have long vacations. Please drive safely.

July 1, 1998

Good morning!
There are a few Boxed Pentium II 400 MHz processors available. AMD K6-2 processors are not available. The Epox ATX motherboard is back ordered until the end of next week. IBM UltraStar 9ES (9 Gb) is limited. The Intel Boxed Pentium II 233 MHz is now an End of Life product.
Albert has started a bad habit. After he eats his bowl of food, he immediately wants outside. This is understandable. However, he walks outside – goes to the middle of the yard – and barks. We don’t have a clue why, but once he has barked a few notes – he turns around and comes back inside. How odd. Now, we can’t relate this behavior to computer buying habits (grin). But we are curious if he will do the same tonight.
Corsair expects to be able to start shipping the 256 MB PC100 modules at the end of next week.
Intel has announced that their is a known erratum when matching the MU440EX motherboard with a Pentium II processor. The erratum is the result of a low voltage condition on the VTT (1.5v) line supplied by the motherboard to the processor. This erratum does not affect operation of the MU440EX with the Celeron. According to Intel, if someone is using the Pentium II, Intel will replace or refund at their Repair Centers.

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