[AG-TECH] Last minute equipment questions

[Roberts, Ian E]

Hi Bryan, we purchased our system from Imprint. You've already done far more
work than I ever did, so the time savings might not add up for you as it did
for me. I appreciated not having to look up all the vendors and part numbers
and ordering them all separately. I also had the benefit that it was a
capital funds request from the DOE, so my employer's time was more expensive
than the money used to procure equipment. 

The thing I most appreciated about going through Imprint is that the rack of
computers and several boxes of equipment came preinstalled and all (well,
most :) of the cables were labeled for me. It was nearly a "flip the switch"
experience. There was still some playing with the Gentner to get it all set
up and everything, but I didn't have to worry that, for example, my Linux
install wouldn't play nice with my vic software.

As for cost, you might as well get a quote from them. I was surprised at how
little the "labor" part of the charge ended up being. It was well worth the
cost and hassle for me.

~ian
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

P.S. I should mention that the other player in the turnkey solutions game is
inSORS. If you will be getting quotes, might as well get two. In fact, I'd
be surprised if you didn't hear from them after your posting here. :)

P.P.S. By not installing all my own stuff, I was able to use the system
quickly, but I also had to learn how it all works after the fact. If your
goal is also to know all the in's and out's of your system, setting up
yourself might be fun for you.

	----------
	From: 	Bryan Kirkendall
	Sent: 	Saturday, June 22, 2002 9:14 PM
	To: 	ag-tech at accessgrid.org
	Subject: 	[AG-TECH] Last minute equipment questions

	First off, I would like to thank all of you who have helped me out
with my
	questions these past few weeks.  I've now gotten together a list of
	everything I think I need to put together my node, but both my
supervisor
	and I thought it would be a good idea to run it by you guys first,
just to
	make sure I haven't forgotten anything.  I've posted a copy of my
equip
	list at http://www.cs.uidaho.edu/~kirk5801/ag , if anybody has the
time
	and inclination to check it out, I'd greatly appreciate it.  The
first
	file is a part-by-part list of what'll be put in each of the 4
computers,
	the second is a list of the other various equipment I need.  (Quick
note -
	I haven't gotten a final count on how many microphones the room is
going
	to need, hence the question marks there, and that number will, of
course,
	determine which Gentner I'll need).

	On a related note, I've recently been contacted by a company called
	Imprint Systems, who offer a 'one-stop shop' for AGN purchases,
taking a
	single PO for the whole shebang.  (Website at ag.imprintsystems.com)
	We're looking into this as an alternative to buying everything
seperately,
	depending on how pricing works out.  Have any of you had any
experience
	with buying from this company you'd like to share?

	Sorry for being a bit long-winded there.  ^^;;  Thanks in advance.

	-------------------------------
	Bryan J. Kirkendall
	AGN Administrator
	University of Idaho CompSci
	Moscow, ID 83844
	kirk5801 at cs.uidaho.edu

	-----BEGIN GEEK CODE BLOCK-----
	Version: 3.12
	GCS/MU/IT/M d+(--) s+:+ a-- C++(++++)>$ UL++>++++ P+>++++ L++>++++
E---
	W++(+++) N o? K? w---(++++) !O M--(++) V-- PS+++ PE- Y+(++) PGP
t+(++) 5+
	X(+) R+(+++) !tv b+(+++) DI++++ D++(----) G>++ e>++(*) h- r++ y+(**)
	------END GEEK CODE BLOCK------