Conference 7.286::digital

    What the analyst probably means is that the VAXmate did not
    sell 100,000s of copies and take market share away from IBM.
    What is and is not a good product means different things to
    different people.
    
    From what I've heard, the VAXmate is a reliable, mostly IBM
    PC comparable system. It's designed more for business use with
    networks but should perform well at home. It all depends on
    what you want to do with it.
    
    There is a VAXmate conference where you could go for more information.
    It's at VIKING::VAXMATE and if you hit KP7 the conference will be
    added to your notebook. 
    
    			Alfred

    I want to use it for a rare-book business -- create a bibliographic
    database using dBASE III (IV).  I also want WP, List processing,
    spread-sheet, and eventually, desk-top, capability.  Everyone
    advises me to go with an IBM-compatible machine for the long-range.
    
    I have the VAXMate file in my directory, but it's mostly technical
    stuff -- no recommendations, etc.
    
    Thanks.
    

    Try the ever popular notesfile NAC::IBMPC to get a glimpse of the
    world of IBM and compatibles.
    
    FWIW, I bought an IBM PS/2 Model 50 for myself, and a standard clone
    for my church office with both a 5 1/4" and a 3 1/2" floppy drive
    in addition to the 20 mb hard disk.

        If you survey the market, you will probably find that, even
        with the DEC employee discount (assuming the VAXmate can be
        purchased through the Employee Purchase Program, assuming the
        program still exists), the VAXmate is simply not priced for
        the home computer market.  Yes, it will run all the software
        you list, and more, but by the time you've got all the pieces
        you need, you'll spend lots less on one of the IBM PC clones.
        
        Tom

    You may also want to look at the Macintosh conference.  Press KP7
    to add it to your notebook.

    To expand on 530.1 "failure" in the context of a market analysis means
    "reality did not meet expectations".  How is reality determined?  Whose
    expectations?
    
    The specific case of the VAXmate is best left to the VAXmate and
    Marketing conferences.
    
    In general, "reality" comes from hard numbers from the vendors
    themselves for the public (of which Digital doesn't provide any by
    product), and from surveys of sales channels and consumers.  (Of course,
    certain employees of Digital know the units shipped, the backlog, the
    costs and profitability of the VAXmate, for example; I am not one of
    them.)
    
    "Expectations" come from the vendor, market analysts, sales channels,
    competitors, shareholders, consumers.  The expectations of each group
    are certain to be different.  You draw your own conclusions from all
    the information provided.

    I'm also a MacIntosh fan!  You could do very well with it and there's
    a huge library of software available for it these days. From business
    to games.  Also many dealers have a DEC discount available.  Check
    it out!!  You'll probably do better with a Mac than a VAXmate. 
    It sounds like the VAXmate is marketed for the business market and
    is priced that way too.  Too bad for us employees.  I had given
    some thought to buying one prior to my purchase of the Mac + .
    
    Bryan

    Having both a Mac and a Vaxmate I concur with the previous reply.
    
    Mark.

    The VAXmate is an IBM/AT look alike.  It runs virtually all the
    IBM software (at least everything I have tried on it works).  I
    guess it all gets down to what you want and how much you want to
    spend.  I have a IBM/XT clone.  With 640k, Color monitor/graphics,
    2 360k 5 1/4 disketts, etc. and it cost less than $1000 including
    tax.  I also have a VAXmate at home that I brought from work.  There
    is nothing that runs on the VAXmate that won't run on the clone.
    Only diff is the hard disk on the VAXmate, and I can add that to
    the clone for under $300.  If I had it to do over again, I would
    consider the MAC, but the price is substantially more that what
    I paid for the clone.  If you want an IBM look-alike, go with a
    clone rather than the VAXmate.  However, if you want something very
    easy to use and don't have access to lots of IBM software, check
    the MAC out.  Its a fine box.     Good luck.
    

    RE -.1
    
    Yea, O.K.  I'm glad an IBM clone user said that if he/she had to
    do it again, he/she would go with a Mac.
    
    It's nice to hear those words.
    
    :^>