PS Technologies is the new kid on the block in the OS/2 direct retail market. When we began this survey of OS/2 direct retailers we were somewhat skeptical about how well a hardware oriented retailer would fare against the competition. The answer was: apparently not too badly.

While their Promptness and Reliability was ranked by our readers as slightly lower (4.33 out of 5) than some of the other companies surveyed, it was not nearly as dismal as IBM Direct's rating. Their rating on Customer Service (4.48 out of 5) was tied for the top spot with that of Kiyo Design. And we found a substantial difference in prices at APS compared to the other stores; our sample list totaled only US$424.70 for an average price of US$70.78 while all the average prices from the other stores were in the US$73 dollar range (with IBM Direct over US$76!).

Part of APS's ability to offer such low prices no doubt comes from their cross platform advantage. They sell hardware suitable for OS/2 or other users and most likely high volumes on items like PartitionMagic allows them to keep prices to a minimum.

However, this same diversity affects their sales people's experience. When we spoke with a representative on the phone he seemed unsure of many details on pricing and availability of OS/2 software. Their web site is also not the most user friendly -- we could not find prices for any OS/2 apps on-line. But as long as you have a copy of their glossy catalog you should do alright. It lists 38 different OS/2 products as well as Warp itself (although some of these products are a little dated, such as CorelDraw 2.5 for OS/2).

Reader responses regarding APS were mixed. At least one person gave them a dismal rating and a scathing report complaining of all sorts of delivery, replacement and service failures. Others were less condemning and claim to have found APS to be very knowledgeable and professional. An interesting note is that many OS/2 e-Zine! readers who buy from APS Technologies buy not only OS/2 software from them, but also fulfil their hardware requirements there too.

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