Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!munnari.oz.au!bruce!roddi From: roddi@bruce.cs.monash.OZ.AU (Roddi Walker) Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.advocacy Subject: Re: Commodore Australia ... on the ball? Message-ID: <4457@bruce.cs.monash.OZ.AU> Date: 14 Jun 91 04:43:14 GMT References: <1991Jun13.111350.8458@sugar.hackercorp.com> Organization: Monash Uni. Computer Science, Australia Lines: 52 In <1991Jun13.111350.8458@sugar.hackercorp.com> peter@sugar.hackercorp.com (Peter da Silva) writes: >I know Aussies on the net flame about Commodore Australia, but for the past ten >days, while I was back home for my brother's wedding, I noticed: > Every department store I went into was selling Amiga 500s. > The price for the machine was A$900, or about US$700. Given the > horrible sales tax on computers, that's a killer price. I saw > 286 based PCs for over $2000. > Decent advertisements were displayed with the machines. Grace > Brothers had their home computer section flanked by Commodore > ads. > Grace Brothers also said the 500 was their best selling machine. >I don't know about their support for high end machines, but Commodore US >could learn something from them on selling 500s. >-- >Peter da Silva. `-_-' . > 'U` "Have you hugged your wolf today?" >(Back from vacation back home in Australia) Yes, they are OK are far as mass-marketing goes. But for any real service, they are *EXTREMELY* unresponsive. Case in point: I want to get a flicker fixer for my Amiga 2000. Obviously, I'd rather get an A2320 rather than some outdated Microway device. Problem - CBM have a large amount of Microway parts in stock. However, they don't want to sell the A2320 before they've sold all their Microway stuff. Needless to say, the Microway fixers aren't selling all that fast. It may be a long wait for the A2320 to sold here in Oz. I'll get one from the States, I think. Their developer service is little short of horrendous. I'm not a dev (and probably never will be with CBM Oz), but a dev here at Monash was waiting 6+ months for his A3000 - the only reason he got it is because he has his own fax machine :-) Chris Hames (the dev in question - author of DirWork, on the Fish Disks [better than SID!]) may wish to post the gory details of the trauma he went through. He did eventually get his A3000, but only after they sent him an A2000 + Bridgeboard (he is developing an IBM emulator). Also, I've installed the new Denise chip in my A2000 (naturally, I didn't get the chip through CBM). Problem is, when I use Productivity on my multisync, the top inch of the screen is distorted. No problem my dealer says (he is a good dealer, so the following isn't his fault) - there is a trivial/cheap CBM part that fixes that (goes between the video port and the monitor cable). Hum, CBM Oz is out of stock. Ah well, seeing that they're a pack of morons, I'll give them 3 months to get is back in stock. That was 6 months ago, and me (and my dealer) have given up. Go figure. Roddi