NetNews Offline 2/NetNews Offline Volume 2.iso/news/comp/sys/amiga/misc-part1/3440

Internet Message Format | 1996-08-05 | 5.4 KB

Path: tank.news.pipex.net!pipex!demon!hchworth.demon.co.uk
From: Paul Chan <paul>
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.misc
Subject: Re: The March Amiga?
Date: Mon, 29 Jan 1996 09:58:23 GMT
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
References: <[e-mail]> <4effuf$[e-mail]>
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[e-mail] (George Noel) wrote:
>In article <[e-mail]>,
>Eric Szulczewski <[e-mail]> wrote:
>>
>>In a message dated 01-20-96 14-15 George Noel writes:
>>
>>GN> You were crapping on the A1200,
>>
>>How appropriate, because that's exactly what I think it is:  crap.
>
>Crap that once was heralded as the most powerful home computer with the
>best price on the market?  In todays market, sure it is lacking but that
>is why AT are putting out the A1200+

The A1200Plus will be put out at a price about equal to the A1200 Surefr Pack,
IMHO. 700 US dollars. Unless:

1. The actual AGA hardware has been enhanced
2. There is a HD (high density floppy ;) drive in there
3. There is at least 1 3.5" internal HD (hard drive) bay.

then there will be little to gain from buying an A1200Plus vs buying an A1200
and beefing that up. IMHO, AT won`t change their price structure and we`ll be
left with an undesirable 030 machine which costs about the same as the 040 Mac
Performas and high end 486`s flying around otu there. And they come with
monitors and 8Mb of RAM!

[sniping snipped]

>The A1200+ could possibly be much better but the current A1200 will never
>be changed.  Why are you crapping on this machine anyways?  You say you
>own an A2000, wouldn't it be much more wise for you to upgrade to a more
>reasonably priced A4000t (when they are available) then downgrade
>(expansion wise) to an A1200?  Sure the A1200 stock is out of date now
>and has some quirks.. this argument will be moot ayways when the A1200+
>comes out... but more then likely you will find something new to crap on
>as that seems to be the type of person you are.

The A1200 might well be much better than the A1200. But unless the price tah is
reasonable then I don`t see mass success for it... or AT...

>
>>
>>GN> If you have no use for it or find it lacking, doesn't mean everyone will.
>>
>>And if they're satisfied with a stock 1200, more's the pity.
>
>Who HAS been happy with ANY stock version of an Amiga? The Hard Drive
>option on some of them was a bit better but normally you had to add a
>second floppy drive at least, add 1 - 2 more MEGs of memory at least, add
>a Hard Drive if it didn't come with one and you needed it/price was right
>(in the past) and in some cases add a new CPU to increase performance.
>This again is all depending on what the buyer is using the computer for..
>not everyone needs killer machines.  For the people who bought the A1200,
>at least they DO have a computer and at least they DO have an Amiga, if
>everything was the way you wanted it on the A1200, it would reduce the
>amount of people buying it due to the increased cost to produce it.  At
>least when they HAVE the computer, they are more inclinded to upgrade it
>when they can to make it better instead of ditching it and buying a whole
>new/different computer system to do the same sorts of things.  With the
>new approach of marketing the A1200 via the surfer pack, this is a great
>low end, minimum technology one would use/need to get on the web/internet
>that a lot of people could go for instead of waiting to buy a more
>expensive PC to do the same thing.

LOW END? Cosing 700US dollars == 700Uk pounds == 1100DM - this is no loinger
low end. It`s getting on for mid-range. And a well kitted out 486 bundle could
match the surfer at that price very shortly if not already...


>Because you are going after 1 of the 2 current Amiga models in
>production, one of which, the one you are crapping on, is the one (until
>the A1200+ comes out) that will be able to be afforded by the masses to
>do an adequate job as an entry level computer and will get Amigas and the
>name into the homes faster then an A4000t and the future Power Amiga would.

I am not going after the A1200 as a pile of crap. I would be very pleased to
evangelise the A1200 - with ALL it`s niggles and faults, if it`s PRICE was
LOWER. 299UK pounds or lower would have been acceptable. 199-249 would have
been great. But 399UK pounds is beyond sense, and I would point out a potential
computer buyer`s entire range of options (including PC and Mac) according to
their budget and needs, before rabidly droning "buy an Amiga it`s great".

Because at 399 UK pounds, the A1200 IS NOT GREAT.

>
>I bet if you were a salesmen in an Escom shop, you would be one of those
>ones that would rather sell someone a PC over an A1200 even if you were
>hired to sell Amigas.

Actually yes, because I`d be interested in what`s best for the customer, and
not the fanatical interests of a bunch of people who insist that every Amiga os
OK. No matter what the price/spec. The A1200 at the moment is overpriced and
underpowered (maybe I should assign that statement to a macro?) - and I
wouldn`t want the average know-nothing struggling over a computer that doesn`t
do what they`d like to do without extra hardware that our Escom shop doesn`t
stock.