Vendor List 99 1738 NEW DVD 4 6/25/04 10:39 AM Page 2
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99 1738 NEW DVD 4 6/25/04 10:39 AM Page 1 Vendor List 99 1738 NEW DVD 4 6/25/04 10:39 AM Page 2 2 Vendor List One of the most frustrating things about supporting PCs is finding a specific adapter board, part, dri- ver program, or whatever you need to make a system work. If you are supporting or installing prod- ucts, you will need access to technical support or documentation for products you might not have purchased. Over the years, I have compiled a list of companies whose products are popular or whose products I have found to work exceptionally well. I use these contacts regularly to provide informa- tion and components that enable me to support PC systems effectively. Many of these companies have been mentioned in this book, but others not specifically mentioned have been added here. These companies carry many computer products you will have contact with or that I simply recommend. I have tried to list as many vendors as possible. These vendors are important in day-to-day work with PC systems and can supply documentation for your components, provide parts and service, and be used as a source for new equipment and software. This list is as up-to-date as possible, but companies move or go out of business all the time. If you find any information in this list that is no longer accurate, please leave me a message at [email protected]. Although originally exclusively the domain of computer enthusiasts, today almost all companies use Internet Web sites to provide a high level of technical support. Through a company-run Web site, you can receive detailed technical support on that company’s products and download product literature and reference materials. I usually find the level of online support is superior to traditional phone sup- port, especially because I don’t have to wait on hold! A few companies still provide BBS support, but the popularity of the Web has caused most companies to discontinue their BBS support. With each company listing, I have included both standard phone numbers and 800 numbers where possible, so U.S. and international readers can easily contact these companies. Also included are fax numbers, Web site addresses, and BBS numbers (where available). I have not included any communi- cations parameter settings, but virtually all BBS systems support 28.8K (V.34) connections. Some companies run a FAXback system, an automated system through which you can request product and technical information to be sent directly to your own fax machine. FAXback systems are an excel- lent way to get immediate documentation and technical support. If you discover any such information that I have not included, please email me detailing what you have found. Finally, each listing includes a short description of the products or services the company provides. I use this vendor list constantly; I hope you find it as useful as I do! As an improvement to this 15th Edition, I’ve added a categorical listing of products and services at the end of this list. If you need to find a product but don’t know which company makes it, look up the category at the end of the vendor list, find the vendor(s) that makes or sells this type of product, and then look up the contact information. 99 1738 NEW DVD 4 6/25/04 10:39 AM Page 3 Vendor List 3 #1-PC Diagnostics Company (the ESD Division of Windsor Technologies, Inc.) 130 Alto Street San Rafael, CA 94901 Phone 415-456-2200 Fax 415-456-2244 Web www.tufftest.com Email [email protected] Manufactures #1-TuffTEST-Pro, an excellent high-end, service-technician-level, PC diagnostics, and troubleshooting program that can be downloaded from its Web site. Other downloadable diagnostic products available include the #1-TuffTEST automatic PC testing program and the free #1-TuffTEST-Lite. 3Com Corp. 5500 Great America Parkway Santa Clara, CA 95052-8145 Phone 408-326-5000 Sales 800-638-3266 (NET3COM) Fax 408-326-5001 Web www.3com.com Manufactures network switches and NICs for enterprise and small-business customers; Wi-Fi-compliant wireless LAN hardware; networked telephony solutions; and Bluetooth, 10/100 Ethernet, and 56Kbps modem/LAN PC Cards. Also offers IP-based telecommunications infrastructures and service platforms through its wholly owned CommWorks Corporation subsidiary (www.commworks.com). 3D Labs (see Creative Labs, Inc.) 3Dfx Interactive, Inc. (out of business) Driver Web Sites www.voodoofiles.com www.windrivers.com The former creator of Voodoo-series 3D accelerator chipsets went out of business in late 2001 and no longer provides any technical support. The Web sites listed here provide the latest available drivers, including beta drivers for Windows XP. A.K. Stamping Company, Inc./Globe Manufacturing Sales 1159 U.S. Route 22 Mountainside, NJ 07092 Phone 908-232-7300 Fax 908-232-4729 Web www.akstamping.com Manufactures assorted PC adapter card brackets, connector shells, Compact PCI, PC Card kits, and board-level shields sold by its sales arm, Globe Manufacturing Sales, Inc. (www.globebrackets.com). 99 1738 NEW DVD 4 6/25/04 10:39 AM Page 4 4 Vendor List Aavid Thermalloy LLC 80 Commercial St. Concord, NH 03301 Phone 603-224-9988 Fax 603-223-1790 Web www.aavidthermalloy.com The first ISO-certified heatsink manufacturer in North America, Aavid Thermalloy manufactures a line of excellent CPU and graphics chip heatsink products, including versions with built-in ball-bearing fan modules, as well as cooling products for other electronics products. ABIT Computer (USA) Corporation 45531 Northport Loop West (Corporate) 46808 Lakeview Blvd. (RMA Center) Fremont, CA 94538 Phone 510-623-0500 Fax 510-623-1092 Technical Support 510-492-0968 RMA Center 510-492-0882 RMA Fax 510-623-0443 Web www.abit-usa.com RMA Web Site www.abitusa-rma.com Manufactures an excellent line of PC motherboards in ATX form factors for use with Intel and AMD CPUs. Its motherboards are known for having jumperless and switchless software configurations. It also manufactures multimedia speaker and I/O devices as well as graphics cards based on NVIDIA GeForce-series chipset products. Accurite Technologies, Inc. 48460 Lakeview Blvd. Fremont, CA 94538-6532 Phone 510-668-4900 Fax 510-668-4905 Web www.accurite.com Email [email protected] or [email protected] Manufactures floppy drive diagnostic products, PC Card (PCMCIA) diagnostic products; compact USB and IEEE-1394 hubs; Compact Flash (CF) adapters; PC Card (PCMCIA), USB, and IEEE-1394-based hard drive subsystems; PC Card (PCMCIA)-based floppy and LS-120 SuperDisk drives; and CF and PC Card development products. Floppy drive diagnostic products include the Accurite Drive Probe and Drive Probe Advanced Edition floppy drive diagnostics programs; HRD, DDD, and AAD industry-standard test disks; and a reference disk for certifying floppy disk testing hardware. PC Card (PCMCIA) products include the PC ExtenderCard, the PC ReportCard (a PCMCIA diagnostic card), the HeadstartCard (a PCMCIA developers’ kit), the Travel Floppy (a PCMCIA interfaced floppy drive subsystem), the Travel 120 (a SuperDisk LS-120 PC Card interfaced high-capacity floppy drive), and the Travel HD (a 10GB or larger external hard disk available with PC Card, USB, or IEEE-1394 interfaces). 99 1738 NEW DVD 4 6/25/04 10:39 AM Page 5 Vendor List 5 Acer America Corp. 2641 Orchard Pkwy. San Jose, CA 95134-2073 Phone 408-432-6200 Toll-free 800-733-2237 (SEE-ACER) Fax 408-922-2933 Sales Fax 254-298-4164 Tech Support 800-816-2237 Tech Support Acer Aspire 800-610-2237 Notebook/Desktop/Server 800-816-2237 Technical Support Web aac.acer.com U.S. operations of one of the top ten branded worldwide PC vendors. Manufactures complete desktop and notebook systems, tablet PCs, servers, and monitors. For motherboards and components, see the entry for Aopen America, Inc. For scanners, optical drives, keyboards, and projectors, see the entry for BenQ (formerly Acer Communications and Multimedia America). Acer Laboratories, Inc., USA (see ALi Microelectronics Corporation, USA) Acme Electronics, LLC (formerly Acme Electric/Electronics Division) 9962 Route 446 Cuba, NY 14727 Phone 585-968-2400 Fax 585-968-3948 Live Wire Express (Repairs) 585-968-2401 Live Wire Express Fax 585-968-3770 Web www.acmedevelopment.com Manufactures custom electronics for OEM suppliers. Acterna, LLC 12410 Milestone Center Dr. Germantown, MD 20876 Phone 800-638-2049 Toll-free 800-729-9441 Product Service 866-228-3762 (ACTERNA) Web www.acterna.com World’s largest provider of test and management solutions for optical, transport, access, and cable net- works. Provides test and management products for all major network types, including ATM, FDDI, Fast Ethernet, Gigabit Ethernet, wireless, DSL, and many others. 99 1738 NEW DVD 4 6/25/04 10:39 AM Page 6 6 Vendor List Adaptec 691 S. Milpitas Blvd. Milpitas, CA 95035 Phone 408-945-8600 Fax 408-262-2533 Sales 409-957-7274 Sales Toll-free 800-442-7274 Customer Service 408-957-2550 RAID/Fibre Channel/External 321-207-2000 Storage All Other Products 408-934-7274 Web www.adaptec.com A leading supplier of high-performance I/O solutions, including a broad array of SCSI, SCSI and ATA RAID, iSCSI, Serial Attached SCSI, USB 2.0, IEEE-1394 host adapters, video capture and creation products, as well as high-performance Fast Ethernet NICs, Wi-Fi wireless products, and software. Its SCSI host adapters have become a de facto standard and have an enormous amount of third-party support. Its USBXchange and USB2Xchange allows USB 1.1 and 2.0 ports to attach to external SCSI peripherals.