wdr (01/31/83)
Regarding mail-order TRS-80's at discount: Don't. Those places are Radio Shack franchises, not Radio Shacks. Dealing with them is quite similar to buying a camera by mail. You don't know until you open the box what if any enforcable warranty it comes with. The people in net.rec.photo will tell you some mail-order camera places are honest and some aren't; but no mail-order dealer can or will give you the service a neighborhood dealer can, will, and must provide. Your kids can go down and ask the salesmen questions after school; they can't telephone XXXXX Computers-By-Mail, PO BOX ##, etc., except to make a MasterCard order. And repairs with mail-orders are a lose. Either (a) you ship it back to the seller, and wait; or (b) you convince your local 'Shack to take your money to fix it or bill the seller for warranty repairs; but you're a second class customer... they don't believe you'll buy your printer from them when you want it; they'll never get the BIG profit from you, so why treat YOU the same way they treat their REAL customers? YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR, NOT JUST IN HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE, But also in SERVICE and Customer RECOGNITION. I ignored my own advice about the perils of multi-vendor and gray-market systems a few years back. My net cost after all problems was more than it would have cost to deal with the 'Shack up front. I will not skimp on components again untill I am fully prepaired to do all my own maintenance and can afford the down-time waiting to get it fixed. (At this point, my wife and budget both rely on the TRS-80 III so I can't have down-time; thus the second disk and memory expansion probably will wait untill I can afford 'Shack prices. Otherwise the cost is $$$ plus risk of downtime &/or future payments to the 'Shack or other repairman to fix what I've broken.) Regarding Customer Recognition: After MUCH shopping around, I bought a camera system over-the-counter from the branch manager of the camera store. Four months later, when I call him, to ask questions about flash availability or equipment rental or good bulk Polaroid prices for my club, he knows me by name and remembers my loyalty, and will do his best by me. (Including agreeing I'm best off getting the film from a local wholesaler..) TANSTAFL, BILL RICKER