Summary and Conclusions

By Ed Tittel and Toby Digby, published on November 29, 2007
Source: Tom's Guide US | Keywords: , , | Themes: Software
Contents

7. Summary and Conclusions

It’s pretty obvious that the PC-Doctor kit has nicely withstood the test of time-the company’s been in the PC diagnostics business since 1993. This is especially apparent in the quality and usability of the company’s Windows-based diagnostics and test tools environment, and the collection and capabilities that the PC-Doctor Service Center 6 kit delivers. But we have to confess that we are somewhat miffed by the $399 price tag that comes with the kit. Those who must deal with high PC service costs, or who use their PC service skills to generate income can probably justify (or recover) the sticker price, but this is pretty darn steep for hobbyists or home users.

That’s why we simultaneously give this product our cautious approval for its contents and capabilities, while suggesting that those on tight budgets approximate what this kit can do for significantly less money. Shoot, even PC Diagnostics will sell you a Professional Technicians kit that does pretty much everything that the PC-Doctor Service Center 6 kit can do-and then some, including a much more capable two-way ISA and PCI POST card and a laptop test card-for "only" $249.95. It lacks the NIC, game port, and audio loopback adapters and the dongle/status LEDs, but offers as broad a range of testing and diagnostics software, including remote control and diagnostics capabilities.

Of course, it’s your money and you can spend it any way you like. And if what you like includes a comprehensive, convenient, easy-to-use, and well-documented PC diagnostics and test kit, you won’t be sorry you spent the money on this PC-Doctor offering. But if you’re prepared to roll up your sleeves and substitute elbow grease and ingenuity for cold hard cash, there are many ways in which you can achieve nearly the same results that you could with the PC-Doctor Service Center 6 kit without forking over $399.

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Deleted profile 11/30/2007 11:34 AM
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Nice review. I use PC Doctor 6 on a daily basis and can say that it is quite an expansion over Service Center 5. I also use diagnostic utilities such as DFT and Memtest, however one thing that PC Doctor has over every other free utility is the logging capabilities from DOS. I have it scripted to run the whole onslaught of tests and save the log file to the MUD. This is especially helpful when a customer want's to see proof that something passed or something failed. It can also come in handy when sending a unit off to a specialized repair center if parts arent available to you. Also, the cost of a replacement MUD (at least to my company) is $130. So if you go high end, SC6 actually becomes more of a bargain.
Deleted profile 12/01/2007 3:06 AM
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I also use PC Doctor but the problem I have with it is that is slows performance down. There is also a bug in the program. On system shutdown you receive an error message. There is times where the program will not allow system shutdown at all.
Deleted profile 12/03/2007 1:31 AM
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if you no what you are doing you do not need this crap! I worked in a shop for a year that had all of this specialty troubleshooting stuff and absolutely no one used it! The only testing software u need is memtest and any hd tools, and they are free. Stop buying this stuff and learn how to fix and diagnose without all these 399$ "tools" and you will save money and learn something.
Deleted profile 12/04/2007 7:24 AM
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Why should a computer break? Oh ya I remember: failure to perform to proper quality control standards vs price since the beginning of time. Now everyone with their $399 Walmart and Bestbuy piece of junk computers can just go right back out and buy more crap to ultimately slow down a slow worthlyss computer. This is why I build my machines from scratch using high quality compponents, not some big old computer companie who throws pennies at the lowest bidder.

This seems like a great product and fortune smiles for the inventer. Unfortunatly this mess costs the consumer millions in the long run, just to have a half broken machine until the end of mankind.
etittel 12/10/2007 11:44 AM
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etittel
I think the range of responses shows just what I thought about this product: it works for some and not for others, and indeed those willing to substitute ingenuity and work for convenience and extra cost can get there from here without necessarily buying the kit. But I have to believe that hobbyists and do-it-yourselfers do not represent a key target market for this product anyway.

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