Vikings' first order with Raptor is go
Quick news bite: Vikings has their first order in with Raptor and will go live with a selection of OpenPOWER systems in their on-line store as soon as they arrive. We don't know yet how many units they'll stock, but the fact they'll have some on the other side of the Atlantic is good news for current and potential European (and, hey, probably other) customers for whom shipping and exchange rates to and from the United States could be prohibitive. Given that Raptor still lists the Blackbird as backordered, it's most likely the initial selection will be T2 and T2 Lites, but as someone very happy with the T2 he's typing on, a Talos II is still a heck of a computer. We'll be sure to advise more about what's available and options for RMAs and support as information is revealed.
Well, this seems like good news, because we claimed, that we will probably never ever buy Talos II directly from Raptor. We had really byg problems with both systems we ordered. They just ignore tickets for months and we had to call them twice to get indium pads sent to us, because they forget for them, etc. If Viking is going to have some of them in stock and have predictable delivery times, we will probably advertise and build systems for our customers again. So thanks for promising good news.
ReplyDeleteRaptor here. Sorry to hear that, your experience is not typical for our customers. Do you happen to have ticket numbers handy so we can investigate what went wrong in your case?
ReplyDeleteYep, biggest one was #453095. Look at the dates and those quick reply from that "system". Moths without answer etc...why you have such ticket system at all, when have to call direcetly overseas to get some info. And even after call we had to do another one to get ticket updated and get tracking #. First order was probably backordered by CPU from IBM, but again, no info at all about whats happening for months. So after this, my boss decided to never ever buy from you, even if it's nice peace of HW and is working grat togetr with dual GPUs for AI/ML tasks.
DeleteSo any comment on that?
DeleteIt would be nice to get systems out to distributors in other regions than the US to perhaps avoid the hassles that come with importing (warranty anyone?). The cost of my Blackbird with a 8-core also was significantly increased due to VAT in the US as well as import taxes here in the EU, let alone the effort of having to go through customs.
ReplyDeleteI did not although have issues with support at Raptor and usually got updates when requested in a timely fashion.
Nice. But it would be even nicer if Viking publish any info on at least is it a matter of months or quarters to see stuff available in their shop. Some people may be interested in buying but have a limited time frame to decide about buying something that costs quiet some cash. You know. Selling quiet obscure piece of equipment is not an easy task, no need to make it even harder for yourself.
ReplyDeleteIf you can't wait, just write a mail to them
Delete