daw@houxs.UUCP (David Wolverton) (09/01/88)
Several weeks ago I posted a note wherein my local dealer claimed the Mac 512 ROM/disk upgrade was unavailable. To make a short story shorter, I went to a second local dealer who immediately ordered the upgrade from Apple. Now my Mac512 is a 512E. Yeah! (Now to upgrade to 2 meg.) So, YES THE ROM/DISK UPGRADE IS AVAILABLE FROM APPLE. Thanks to the following people who sent private mail messages: ===================================================================== According to the info I have here, you can still buy upgrades from Apple to take either a Mac 512 or Mac 512 Enhanced up to a Mac Plus. M2516 Macintosh Plus Disk Drive Kit M5200/A Macintosh Plus Logic Board Kit M2519 Macintosh Plus Keyboard (ifya really need it) The disk drive kit upgrades the ROM and disk drive in a Mac 512. The logic board kit converts a Mac 512 Enhanced to a Mac Plus by switching the mother board. I'm not sure what both upgrades would cost at retail price, but a student here can buy them together for $788. John O'Malley \ Personal Computing \ Purdue University \ (317) mace.cc.purdue.edu!ajq \ Learning Resource Center \ Computing Center \ 494-9944 ===================================================================== Your dealer is right - Apple removed that from the price list about a year ago. After a lot of screaming from the consortium schools, it was put back on the Higher Education price list, but not the regular dealer price list. It may have been even more than a year ago - I don't remember. As far as Apple is concerned, the Mac Plus is the bottom of the Mac line. All the rest is just bad memories. -- Steve Ligett steve.ligett@dartmouth.edu or (decvax harvard ihnp4 linus)!dartvax!steve.ligett ===================================================================== Dave Wolverton att!houxs!daw
shino@motbos.UUCP (Rei Shinozuka) (09/02/88)
I had a similar experience. I decided last year to upgrade my 1984 vintage Mac 128 to a 512E. The Computer Factory in Paramus NJ said that they would only do the upgrade if I bought the full 1 Meg of memory. I demurred, pointing out that the disk drive swap was a SEPERATE item in the Apple price book and that the 6-7 hundred (or so) dollars for half a meg was not at all competetive. They couldn't care less. A few months later, I found The Computer Center in Montvale, NJ who did just the disk swap as I wanted. (For their excellent service and helpful staff, I subsequently purchased a Mac SE from them--i.e., I recommend The Computer Center). I think that if a Computer Factory is going to deny me Apple Authorized services, they should have no right to be an Apple dealer. After all, Apple will be known by the dealers it keeps. I sent a letter to Apple summarizing these complaints, but the last posting reminded me of this incident. -rei
sbb@esquire.UUCP (Stephen B. Baumgarten) (09/03/88)
In article <398@motbos.UUCP> shino@motbos.UUCP (Rei Shinozuka) writes: >I had a similar experience. I decided last year to upgrade my 1984 >vintage Mac 128 to a 512E. The Computer Factory in Paramus NJ said >that they would only do the upgrade if I bought the full 1 Meg of >memory. I demurred, pointing out that the disk drive swap was a >SEPERATE item in the Apple price book and that the 6-7 hundred (or so) >dollars for half a meg was not at all competetive. They couldn't care >less. Sounds familiar. This is a typical, scummy, Computer Factory tactic. And if you do get the upgrade from them, they try to charge you *labor* on top of the upgrade cost (this happened to me when I got my ROM/drive upgrade years ago). Fortunately, you knew that you were being lied to (although at Computer Factory it's always possible that the salesman was just benignly incompetent). Just to clarify the point Rei and I are making: the people who run Computer Factory are a bunch of weasels. And watch out West Coast... they're headed your way. For a real laugh, call anybody at SuperMac (a company that I've had nothing but positive experiences with) and tell them that you're calling from NYC, and that the only SuperMac dealers are Computer Factorys. You can actually hear them groan and say things like, "Oh no! Well, yes, well we've had some problems with them..." That's putting it mildly. Unless things have changed recently, SuperMac is no longer pre-shipping products to Computer Factory (i.e., sending a new drive before a defective one is returned), because they have what is euphemistically called a "credit hold" against the chain. That's right, the whole chain. Seems they don't pay their bills on time. Or at all. >A few months later, I found The Computer Center in Montvale, NJ >who did just the disk swap as I wanted. (For their excellent service >and helpful staff, I subsequently purchased a Mac SE from them--i.e., >I recommend The Computer Center). > >I think that if a Computer Factory is going to deny me Apple Authorized >services, they should have no right to be an Apple dealer. After all, >Apple will be known by the dealers it keeps. I sent a letter to Apple >summarizing these complaints, but the last posting reminded me of this >incident. > >-rei Apple is well aware of the problem, but seemingly is unable or unwilling to do anything about it. Until they go out of business (not likely, since even as we speak they're spreading out across the country) or shape up (not a chance), the people in NYC will continue to get taken by these bozos, unless they, like Rei, happen upon a honest and competent Apple dealer. - Steve -- Steve Baumgarten | "New York... when civilization falls apart, Davis Polk & Wardwell | remember, we were way ahead of you." {uunet,cmcl2}!esquire!sbb | sbb%esquire@cmcl2.nyu.edu | - David Letterman