#BB or clone?
13 messages in this thread
I wonder if anyone could give me some advice about whether to buy a clone
or wait for the new 386 BB to come out. After reading the messages here
about the supposedly imminent release of the 386 BB, I guess I'm still
skeptical about this product, given Commodore's track record of "announced"
products which never appeared or were severely delayed. Also, the
prospective price of 900-1000 dollars is disappointing. I can buy a 20mhz
386SX clone with 40MB hd, VGA monitor, mouse, etc., etc., for less than
$1000. As far as I can tell, the only advantage to the BB is that it saves
space. That Is a factor worthy of consideration for me, as space IS at a
premium here. I probably would prefer the BB, all things being equal, but
as far as I can tell, they're not. Advice would be welcome. Thanks.
Don
Personally, I like the idea of the BridgeBoard. It allows me to add a whole
new computer, <looking over shoulder> and my wife won't be able to walk in
to my office and say: "Where did THAT come from?" <g>
But as far as price-performance-value goes, it really depends on what
you're going to use it for, and how much that desktop space is worth to
you. It's pretty hard to beat the clone prices out there these days…
especially with some of the software bundles that are included.
Cumulus Computer Corp. has a new 386SX-20MHz, 6.5# NOTEBOOK with 60MB HD,
32 shade greyscale LCD screen VGA (& ext port), with side mount mouse, 2MB
RAM, ext keyboard port, ext floppy support, internal support for modem AND
INCLUDES: MSDOS 5.0, Windows 3.1, MicroSoft Works, WordStar for Windows,
Correct Grammer and BitStream Facelift… all for $1,399 retail (not mail
order!). Made in the USA, and backed by a 12 month warranty. 11" X 8.5" X
2" How can you go wrong with a product like that from a company with the
reputation of Cumulus?
Michael
….from the north coast
Don,
The '386 BB is now available BUT, not as a standalone package YET.
I just talked to my dealer today. He says for right now, it can only be
bought as part of a package from Commodore. But they expect to release it
as a standalone package in the near future.
Don
The question is, what is "the near future?" With Commodore, that can be
anywhere from next week to 2 years. I guess this is another instance of
Commodore playing games. My dealer told me about a year ago that the '386
BB was all finished but Commodore was withholding it because they wanted to
deplete a rather large overstock of '286 BB's. If that's the case here,
I'm guess I'll just go ahead and get a clone. I'm not in the mood to wait
around for Commodore to arbitrarily decide when the time is right to
release this product. Thanks for the response.
Don
Don,
Depending on how urgently you need it…I'd hold off for month or
so, and then if the standalone product isn't available…go for the clone.
Don
Don,
I know that the 386 bridgeboards have been on sale in England for more than
a month now. We are told that Commodore US has a limited supply of them
and is currently selling them only with new systems. I cannot say when
they will be available to anyone who wants them, but I suspect it will not
be far away.
Betty
Don,
The 386BB is out. Appx cost is 850.00
JOHN – The Lost Southerner!!
fwiw…
I got an ad from my local dealer today:
A3000-25/50B w/386SXBB $2,799
386SXBB 20MHz 1M RAM $ 799
3070 Tape Backup $ 499
Michael
….from the north coast
John,
Yes…I know it's out, and on dealer's list of goodies, but so far,
it is not orderable unless part of a bundle.
Or so my dealer told me 2 days ago.
Don
DON, you are correct in the not orderable except bundled mode. Have your
dealer order it bundled the next time he needs an A3000 and then take it
out and give it out and sell it to you and the A3000 to someone else.
JOHN – The Lost Southerner!!
According to my dealer, the 386 BB is NOT out yet. It is only available as
part of a 3000 package. Stand-alone versions are not yet shipping. My
dealer also says that Commodore is delaying release to get rid of as many
286's in stock as they can.
Don…
The 386 is on the dealers product list, but it's not available as a
standalone product yet. In fact, the news release of new products doesn't
give a price, though the dealers have one.
Commodore's story is that they have only a few 386 BB trickling into this
country, and they want to use them to "fill the back orders for the
3000/386 configuration". The only problem with that is that if it was
announced at the same time, how come there are back orders for the 3000?
More likely, it's more important to Commodore to include it with the 3000
and sell an expensive system to a new Amiga owner than to sell it as a
stand-alone to existing Amiga owners.
Commodore says they don't even have stand-alones for reviewers yet.
Marion
CROSSINGS
Newsletter for the Bridgeboard, etc.
Marion,
Thanks for the informative reply. It's pretty much what I expected from
Commodore. Given the information I have now, there's no way of telling how
soon the 386 BB will in actuality be released as a stand-alone product.
It's too bad, because if I knew for sure that it would be released within a
month, I would have purchased it. But given Commodore's record of waffling
and wavering in these things, I guess I'll buy a clone. In some ways it's
a better deal, anyway, but I still like the idea of 2 computers one box.
Thanks again.
Don