| T.R | Title | User | Personal
Name | Date | Lines |
|---|
| 113.1 | Nothing New | AUTHOR::MACDONALD | CUP/ML | Mon Sep 22 1986 16:54 | 8 |
| Doesn't sound much different than the deal they are offering now.
Many places are selling the system as you describe for $1495 and
are tossing in the "free" $499 monitor. The credit card business
is new though. I paid $1334 without the monitor for a 512K system
with external drive.
From what I have seen though the Amiga has really caught on. I have
a friend selling his 1040ST system after having tried my Amiga!
|
| 113.2 | Good Timing! | JAKE::ACCIARDI | | Mon Sep 22 1986 17:25 | 12 |
| Even the smug higher-ups at CBM know when their corporate goose
is about to be cooked...I'd say it was a smart move..Now, if only
they can afford some non-esoteric TV ads hyping the speed, graphics,
and multitasking, plus some dealer incentives, we might see some
action.
By the way, on all the networks, there does not seem to be much
excitement about the ][GS, (even on the Apple-nets)!.. The feeling
seems to be that it is too little technology, too late, and for
too much money..'tho that never dissuaded the buying public in the
past.
|
| 113.3 | maybe not such a great deal?? | BAGELS::BRANNON | Dave Brannon | Mon Sep 22 1986 20:23 | 8 |
| re: .0
did the original "free" monitor require the 256K upgrade?
Does this new discount program require that upgrade to get the "free"
monitor?
What is the list price for the Commodore 256K upgrade?
-Dave
|
| 113.4 | Better than nuthin' | JOKE::ACCIARDI | | Mon Sep 22 1986 20:45 | 12 |
| Offically, CBM's FIRST price break on the Amiga ended in June, but
many dealers carried on the discounts. I dont knok if the 256k
upgrade is a required part of the deal, but believe me, you need
the upgrade to do anything useful.
By the way, everybody and his brother is selling 256K cards, but
the best price I've seen yet is thru GO-Amiga (800) 843-2842, for
$89.00. I've ordered stuff thru them, and they ship immediately.
Another point... the Amiga 1080 monitor is not worth very much for
hi-res work, although you could try a glare screen..I use a screen
on my Sony and have no trouble with flicker.
|
| 113.6 | | JAKE::ACCIARDI | | Fri Sep 26 1986 09:24 | 13 |
| That's EXACTLY what tees me off about dealers!!! Every time I walk
in, the Amiga is sitting there looking for all the world like a
toaster oven, and the IBM's are running Flight Simulator, and the Mac's
are have a cutesy "Hello" drawn on the screen.
I bought my system from a dealer, but after the level of support
I've seen (it took my friend 7 weeks to get his drive re-aligned),
I would recommend mail order to anyone else.
One could conclude that Amigas, against all odds, manage to sell
themselves. I never saw a salesperson even offer to demo an Amiga
to a prospective rube.
|
| 113.7 | Try Memory Location, Rte. 16 Wellesely | TSE::FONSECA | Caught peeking under the rug of life... | Fri Sep 26 1986 10:52 | 9 |
| I've found a dealer who cares. Since he only sells Commodore, he'd
better care. The service is always helpful, and he has a pretty
good selection of programs for such a small store. He also has a
'club' which costs twenty bucks, and then you get a 10% discount on
all s/w, plus access to a 'library' of programs and hardware.
I'm sure there are other good stores, but I'm getting the feeling
if you are not buying mail order, than any store which has more than
two or three salesman is 'too' big.
|
| 113.8 | ANOTHER VOTE FOR THE MEMORY LOCATION | MASTER::DBATOR | | Fri Sep 26 1986 12:04 | 10 |
| I second (and third) the recommendation of The Memory Location.
The 2 guys are technically capable and not pushy. Besides they are
also an "official" repair facility for everything they sell. Being
hackers at heart, they can also tell you from first hand about the
books, software, peripherals, etc they sell. One of them, Don
Towne, was the featured speaker at the Commodore subgroup meeting
of the Boston Computer Society on Sept 8. Their prices are also the
lowest. Bring in your ads, they will compete!! I didn't mention
this store before, because I assumed everyone in this notesfile
knew of the only Commodore specific store around.
|
| 113.9 | LCA | AUTHOR::MACDONALD | CUP/ML | Fri Sep 26 1986 12:25 | 6 |
| LCA Computers and Video are also Commodore specific ... they happen
to rent vidoecassettes too -- but they are big into the Amiga. They
also have club discounts, and you can belong to any computer club
to garner a 10% discount on software.
Oh, they are located in downtown Norwood.
|
| 113.10 | | JAKE::ACCIARDI | | Fri Sep 26 1986 13:20 | 21 |
| Basically, I understand the dealer's zeal over Apple products...you
see, my brother in law works for Apple as a Macintosh rep for the
New England area...I once asked him what he really does for a living,
and he swore his job was to get dealers drunk and sign them up to
prominantly feature Apple products in their showrooms... and also,
keep the damned Amigas turned off..
CBM, never having had a good relationship with dealers, has no such
luck in pushing their products; hence, machines sit there until
people who are really curious, or read the technical rags, come
in and demand a test drive.
However, two of his dealerships have gone bust (Online & some other
one), which proves that no amount of marketing will move a mediocre
product. I also understand that the Computerland chain, although
heavily franchised, is in a world of hurt.
My point is that if you can find an Amiga dealer who cares, support
the hell out of him, even if it means paying a few more bucks for
stuff. I will definately check out the Memory Location!!
|
| 113.11 | Take heart. | SAMURI::HEFFEL | Examine everything. | Fri Sep 26 1986 23:29 | 12 |
| This is presented here just as a form of consolation to the war
torn masses, not as useful information to you northerners.
In my town, Greenville SC, we have a dealer who is genuinely excited
about the Amiga. He actively courted CBM until they gave him official
Amiga dealer status. Though, he can't make repairs in-house, he
has made provision with a local computer repair person to do the
work. They seem to be on the good side of several suppliers as well
because every time I go in there he seems to have several new software
products. He *is* a CBM specific dealer, but it's refreshing to
see people who really give the Amiga its due.
Gary
|
| 113.12 | Memory Location | JAKE::ACCIARDI | | Sun Sep 28 1986 02:03 | 11 |
| I visited the Memory Location in Wellesley MA today, and the minute
I walked thru the door, I knew I had found home. I saw more Amiga
stuff in one place than I've ever seen in my life. The owners,
Roy and Don, are true Amiga freaks, and have all the latest gadgets,
rumors, etc. One interesting tidbit that they said was coming real
soon now was a box with a 20 meg SCSI DMA(?) drive, and 1 meg of
fast, 0 wait RAM all in a tiny package, for 1495.00!!
Anyway, after my dissapointment with Computerland, this place really
cheered me up!
|
| 113.13 | PAL Jr. | WEBSTR::ARNOLD | | Tue Sep 30 1986 17:19 | 6 |
| re .12
The product you are referring to is called "PAL Jr." put out
by Byte-by-Byte. There is a picture of it on the back cover
of the latest AmigaWorld magazine.
|
| 113.14 | Visit to Memory Location | DSSDEV::SAUTER | John Sauter | Mon Oct 06 1986 13:38 | 34 |
| I visited Memory Location last Saturday. Finding it was not simple,
so I'll give a few more clues so that others won't have as much
trouble as I did.
Wellesley township has at least three shopping areas along route
16, separated by long stretches of parkway. The first is at the
east border of the township, near route 128. The third is the actual
town, containing a church with a spire and a square. Memory Location
is in the second, between the intersection of route 16 with route
9 and with route 135. The store is quite small, being almost a
stall in a triangular building containing several other retail
establishments. If you are traveling West on route 16 (coming from
route 128) it is after the route 9 intersection on your left as
you climb a hill.
It is difficult for an outsider to know which parking signs are
enforced and which are not. You can't obey them all or there is
no place to park. I parked in a large, nearly empty lot off the
side street behind Memory Location. It is posted as being for parking
only by people who are attending the community center (or whatever
it was) but there was apparently nothing going on there last Saturday.
The news that I heard is that there is still no music sequencer
software available, that the hard disk I want is called Pal (no
Jr) and that 1.2 should be available at the end of October or early
November. In other words, nothing new.
They had a lot of customers in the store--I hope that means they
are doing well.
They had two MIDI interfaces on display, but Roy recommended MIDI
Gold before he knew that I knew Jon Arnold. Sounds like Jon's product
is being well-received.
John Sauter
|