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RE: Personal Edition - Poor Quality



I also bought the Alldata CD for an '88 Audi 90q a number of years ago, and
was seriously disappointed because:
- the scanned-in images were almost unreadable; in some cases totally
unreadable;
- it was very difficult to find any information (it was not laid out in a
logical fashion), as well as
- big chunks of information seemed to be missing; and finally
- the interface was non-standard and difficult to figure out.

To add insult to injury, trying to re-install the software after
reformatting my hard disk consistently failed (it refused to accept my
authorization number).  Of course by that time I had ceased to care
anyway..........SLM

Steve Manning:  stephenm@ix.netcom.com
...Physical home: Metro D.C. area, USA
.....Virtual home:  http://www.stationwagon.com 


At 09:49 AM 7/1/98 -0700, you wrote:
>Somethings amiss here because we don't change any information from the
>professional cd to the consumer cd.  So, what you found at DuMark's is
>also on the consumer cd.
>
>Some points:
>
>1.  We cover from '82 -'93 at this time on the consumer cd.  '94 and '95
>information will be available over the next couple months.
>2.  There is a lot of information we don't provide associated w/the
>vehicle body and other areas that the club members may be looking for.
>We do provide TSB information for body, for example; but not how to
>repair door handles, heated mirrors, etc.
>
>I'd be interested in the club members' concerns and would be happy to
>communicate with them on what to expect from ALLDATA.
>
>Thanks for the feedback.
>
>Walt Samuelson
>SVP, Customer Operations
>walt@alldata.com
>800.829.8727, ext. 3033
>
>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From:	Todd Young [SMTP:tyoung@wamnet.com]
>> Sent:	Wednesday, July 01, 1998 9:19 AM
>> To:	walt@mailhost.alldata.com
>> Cc:	quattro@coimbra.ans.net
>> Subject:	Personal Edition - Poor Quality
>> 
>> First, a little background.
>> I am very mechanically inclined, though I've never had post-high
>> school automotive schooling. I rebuilt my first Chevy small block
>> when I was 17 and it ran perfect. After high school I joined the Army
>> as an MP as a way to pay for college. I then attended the U of Minn.
>> and obtained a BS degree in Aerospace Engineering. Unfortunately
>> for me the market for Aerospace Engineers took an extreme dive
>> just before I graduated, so I have been working odd jobs here and
>> there trying to find my niche. All this time I have save thousands
>> of dollars performing a lot of my own maintenance and repairs on
>> my own and friends vehicles.
>> 
>> One job I held was at a small garage in Crystal, MN called DuMark's
>> Garage. It was there that I was introduced to the system known as
>> AllData. To be quite honest I was duly impressed. All you needed
>> to know at your fingertips to repair almost any vehicle.
>> 
>> Well I haven't worked for Rick Dukatz for a year and a half, but I do
>> stay in contact. Recently I bought a 1993 Audi 90S and in my search
>> for some advice on parts and repairs came across a site called The
>> Quattro List. This format allows Audi owners to share ideas and
>> advice with other Audi owners all over the world.
>> 
>> So when someone on the list asked about the quality of the Alldata CD,
>> I jumped in and said they were a great tool. How little I knew. I was
>> bombarded with comments saying that the cd was next to worthless,
>> the only good part of it was the TSBs. So I went to Rick and asked him
>> if I could browse through his cd for my car just to see how much info
>> it contained. Well, it looked pretty good to me, I only spent about 20
>> minutes looking around, while shooting the breeze. So I responded
>> back to my Audi comrades stating that the cd I looked at had pretty
>> good information, even citing specific examples, like ohming up
>> fuel injectors to test serviceability. Again I was deluged with
>> comments
>> 
>> stating that there was no such information on the Personal Edition of
>> the Alldata CDs.
>> 
>> SO, what's the deal. Why don't the Personal Edition CDs have all the
>> same information as the Professional Edition. Quite frankly, I find
>> this
>> 
>> lack of information very insulting, it would seem that you consider
>> the
>> average person to stupid to effect proper repairs to his/her own
>> vehicle.
>> I can list quite a few individuals who are VERY dissatisfied with the
>> Personal Edition CD, and at present there is NO WAY I would pay
>> $25 for the CD. Please contact me when the Personal CD contains ALL
>> of the information  found on the Professional CD and I would be
>> very happy to purchase your product.
>> 
>> As can be seen, I have CC'd this e-mail to the Quattro List, I
>> wouldn't
>> be surprised if you get deluged with more e-mail from some very
>> UN-satisfied Audi customers.
>> 
>> 
>> --
>> Todd Young              WAM!NET Inc.
>> tyoung@wamnet.com       6100 West 110th Street
>> 612-886-5051            Bloomington, MN 55438-2664
>> 800-585-1133 ext.5051   http://www.wamnet.com/
>> 
>> 
>
>