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Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!rutgers!sunybcs!ugkamins
From: ugkamins@sunybcs.uucp (John Kaminski)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.tandy,comp.sys.ibm.pc
Subject: Re: Is there really no better value?
Keywords: TANDY PRICES
Message-ID: <5432@cs.Buffalo.EDU>
Date: 23 Apr 89 05:33:03 GMT
References: <1454@csm9a.UUCP>
Sender: nobody@cs.Buffalo.EDU
Reply-To: ugkamins@sunybcs.UUCP (John Kaminski)
Organization: SUNY/Buffalo Computer Science
Lines: 116

In article <1454@csm9a.UUCP> japplega@csm9a.UUCP (Joe Applegate) writes:
=>Tandy's latest motto has been developed to give the illusion that the
=>their computer products are the best value on the market... but is this
=>truth in advertising or just marketing hype... Let us examine Tandy's 
=>products in comparison to other vendors to determine if:
=>
=>		"Is there really no better value?"
=>
=>First let us look at the Tandy 1000 series, the latest incarnation being the
=>1000 SL and TL computers.
=>
=>(These prices are based on the price at the CSM Bookstore and thus represent
=>an educational pricing... this is done SINCE I have no idea what the pricing
=>for these computers is outside of the educational market and most Usenet
=>readers are academics anyway!)
=>
=>For aproximently $900 the Tandy SL
=>8088 - 8 Mhz.
Try again.  8086
=>1 5 1/4" 360K floppy
=>CGA graphics (ok... expanded CGA... whoopie)
It's not Tandy's fault you choose not to use the extended capabilities.
=>Parallel / Serial ports (Tandy Standard)
=>384K Ram
=>3.2 (?) Dos IN ROM
Try again. 3.30
=>DeskMate (which probably should count against it!) IN ROM
Why against it?  Clearly your subjective opinion.
=>
uh......yeah????  Don't choose to include much of the other stuff either.
owell...
=>To make this a usable computer one needs:
=>CM-11 CGA Monitor - $399
Oh? Well, again, your subjectiveness.  Your "useable" is another man's "souped
up."  To me, useable is a VM-4 or -5, OK is a CM-5, and real nice is CM-11
=>upgade to 640K - $189
Hey, only if you need to.  Not everyone needs a full 640K so why make them
pay for it all up front?  Flexibility.  More subjectiveness.
=>20 Meg HardDisk - $599
nice, but not to make it useable.  Subjectiveness again.
=>
=>Total System: ~ $2100
=>
=>Compare this with:
=>IBM PS/2 model 30 package:
Can't say as this would come up to the full functionality of the SL, as you
seem to have personally omitted the other capabilities (sound, setup in
EEPROM, OS in ROM with option to boot from disk, and more)
=>8086 - 8 Mhz  (8086 has improved throughput over 8088)
=>VGA!!!
Yeah?  For which you need a special monitor.  Well, I will submit that this
is becoming more the standard, just as 3.5" floppy. But there still are many,
many CGA programs out there, as well as CGA programs.  Again, why make 'em
pay up front for something they may never need?  Why do you need VGA for your
spreadsheet, for example?
=>Analog Color Monitor
=>Parallel / Serial ports (industry standard)
=>640K Ram
=>1 3 1/2" 720K floppy
=>20 Meg Internal HD
=>Dos 4.01
=>MS Windows
=>MS Works (Not a whole lot better than Deskcrate but at least the communications
=>	  work with our VAX!)
Oh?  I connect to UBVMSA thru UBVMSD just fine with DeskMate Telecom.
=>
=>Cost: $1800
Well......you might want to add on stuff like an A/D + D/A board, etc.
=>
=>Gee... there goes Tandy's value right out the window!
I'm not so sure.  How about support?  Your IBM friends "hold the customer's
hand" like Tandy does every day?  They have the same number of places where
you can get 'em and get 'em fixed when necessary?  I regret that you deal
only with the bad ones of the Tandy bunch, but there are probably just as
many if not more people that are twice as good as the ones you happen to deal
with.  Are your IBM cronies perfect?   A bit super-human perhaps?  Totally
error free?
=>
=>Why........?????
=>Tandy's peripherals are the most expensive in the industry... they sell their
=>computers at Kmart prices (and with Kmart quality I might add) and sell their
KMart must be rather quality conscience then.
=>peripherals like they were Apple!
=>
=>Lets look at another comparison:
=>
=>Tandy 1000 TL vs. Model 30/286
=>
=>While an equivelent system is impossible just on the basis of Tandy's CGA vs.
=>IBM's VGA the cost of the 286 package vs. Tandy is roughly the same $2100
=>(assuming a 20 meg. HD is added to the Tandy)...
=>But with the IBM you get Windows, Word, and Excel... and VGA graphics...
=>With the Tandy you get DeskMate... and Tandy's 16 color graphics for games!
=>need I say more!
Yeah, to me, plenty more.
=>
=>The question is:
=>
=>Why would anyone but a fool buy Tandy, seeing as how there are so many better
=>values?
Well, as someone else on the net pointed out (indirectly I suppose), you are
living in a country of fools, cuz Tandy is #1 in the home market
=> 
=>And this is coming from a person who 4 years ago was a Tandy evangelist!
=>
OWELL, just because of 1 misguided soul who was misinformed about compatibility.
=>Joe Applegate
=>President - Colorado Color Computer Club
=>President - Denver Metro MSDOS Users Group
=>PC Coordinator - Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO

You still seem rather steamed that you can't have a current computer by adding
to your old one.  PErhaps this was misinformation on the part of the original
salespeople.  Look, you want the ultimate in your computer, why don't you
go hand wirewrap your own Cray compatible and quit flaming Tandy?  And while
you're at it, take your model T and upgrade it to a Lotus or Porsche.