#Chicago Ami Dealer
29 messages in this thread
Aaron,
I don't know exactly where you are in the Chicago area, but I always
recommend MicroTech Solutions in Aurora. I've found them to be a great
store for buying both hardware and software. They also run their own BBS,
but I don't currently know the number. Of course this won't help you too
much, because I don't think they give Amigas away free. 🙂
— Mike Roth
Mike:
Shucks. Thanks for the information, anyway. I'll look them up – I
don't even know where Aurora is, though I'm sure I can find it. (I just
moved here, myself.)
Aaron
Aaron,
Aurora is out in the western suburbs, off of I-88. I no longer buy
mail order because I feel MicroTech is worth supporting. They deserve any
business I can give them. I can't say that about too many places in this
area (or anywhere for that matter).
— Mike Roth
Mike:
Yeah, I looked for it on the map; looks a little far away. I found
another one in Mundlein; I don't know how good a dealer they are since I've
only talked with them once. They seemed like a small shop – sort of
backwoods. We'll see what happens.
Aaron
Aaron,
The dealer in Mundlein is also MUCH closer to me….but! I find
their prices too HIGH and the service leaving a little bit to be desired.
Example of price difference on a recently purchased GVP HardCard Controller
was approx $60.00. MicroTech was the big winner on this one.
MikeM:)
Now thats my personal opionion. The place went downhill when they lost one
salesman who new what he was talking about.
Well, Mike, thanks for the caveat. Maybe we could whip them into shape or
something. Who couldn't use another GOOD Amiga dealer?
Aaron
Just a note about the dealer in Mundelein. I know some folks who think
that they are great, but I had some very bad luck with them. I am told
that the person I dealt with is no longer there. My wife purchased my
Amiga for me two Christmases ago.
Chris -)—–
Chris:
You may be interested in knowing that I took a copy of that message
from Mike in Waukegon (sp?) to that dealer in Mundlein and all she could
say was, "This pisses me off." I don't know, but I'd say that says it all
about that place. If a dealer can't read an honest opinion and do
something constructive about it, they're headed for hard times. I mean,
geez, the CUSTOMERS, who I thought controlled the market, are saying, "your
act stinks," and she's basically saying, "well, I don't want to hear this."
"Well, it wasn't nice doing business with you and you can't count on my
return."
As an aside, I saw a listing of ads the other day in a newspaper
for data entry people (sit and type – no brains required, is what they
should say), specifying a year or two of experience on various machines as
requirements. Further on down the page, though, there was an ad for a
computer salesperson: "Basic skills preferred." Gee, maybe that's why the
service stinks. You get people in there who don't know a floppy disk from
a coffee filter saying, "you really do need this, and what's money for if
not to spend?" Kind of funny, actually, but it's we who pay the price.
That 'taint funny, and I'm not laughing.
Aaron
Aaron,
Guess I had better not show my face there anymore! 🙂 Not that I
have much to do with them now. Then again I was just expressing my
personnel opionion. Maybe a little local competition might help improve
things. I really prefer getting my software and hardware information/
recommendations from fellow forum members.
MikeM:)
This brings up a point that is of particular interest to Amiga users.
Overall, Amiga users are pretty smart. If you know more than a little bit
about computers, you are going to look around and make your own opinion
before you go out and buy something. That's the group that forms the basis
of the Amiga user community. We are folks who took a look and said "hey,
here's a machine that will do more than what I was looking for and costs
half the price." We are also not afraid to take a chance on a lesser-known
product because we know enough to keep it going on our own, despite a lack
of available support.
The average computer buyer is not so lucky. He/She must have some sort of
support (hardware, software, and emotional) before going out to purchase
equipment. Spending the extra $ on a Mac or name brand PC is like buying
an insurance policy. There are enough people around who DO know how to
handle those machines and enough people who already own them that the buyer
can feel safe. One side effect, however: most people I know who purchased
their equipment that way become very defensive if you suggest that there
might be a better way.
Finally, this situation causes its own problems for Amiga owners. Many of
us who are compu-smart enough to buy an Amiga are also willing to take the
chance of purchasing it from mail-order shop. This reduces the profit for
the local Amiga vendors, who wind up selling less. This means that they
cannot affort to pay the support staff that they should have for the Amiga,
which reduces the level of support that they can offer, which makes it more
likely that we will buy our equipment from a mail-order shop. Bad circle.
Anyway, that's part of the problem (IMHO) with the Chicago area dealers. We
can't support them because they can't support us because we can't support
them… You get the idea.
Chris -)—–
Chris,
Well, I certainly feel that MicroTech in Aurora deserves my support. They
really are a very good dealer. I also don't believe in buying most
hardware through mail order. The first time you receive a piece of
hardware that doesn't work, you fine that the hassle isn't worth the
monetary savings.
— Mike Roth
Sounds reasonable. Everyone has their own needs and values and we all try
to find what works best for us. I just wish I could find a really good
dealer in my area. Close enough to get to by train or bicycle (get my
excersize this summer).
Anyway. I just got the lattice newsletter/catalog here at the office. I'm
interested in that mug, so why don't you tell me something about PANEL?
Chris -)—–
Chris,
I had to look at the newsletter to see what you were referring to. 🙂 I
believe that PANEL is a product (library?) to help you build data screens
for getting and displaying data. I'm not too familiar with it, but I'm
sure if you call our sales number they'll be glad to tell you more.
— Mike Roth
Mike:
I'd like to be able to say I took your name out before giving it to
her, but it didn't occur to me until afterwards that it might cause
problems for you. Ooops, of a major sort. Well, looking at things
positively, if they turn their act around, you can always say you fired the
first shot. A little weak, I realize, but what's done is done and we can
only try make things better after the fact. Let's wait and see what
happens. I have to go back there soon anyway so I'll tell you if I notice
a difference. You never know – they may suprise us all.
Aaron
Aaron.
I have purchased a few hardware items from MicoTech also. They seem
to have the best prices around for hardware..(at least compared to my local
dealer). My last order was for a GVP Harddrive Controler. Ordered by
phone and it was at my door step in two days.
Mike:
Gee, if I get another goo review of these guys, I may just have to
check them out, even if they are a little faw away. (Spoda be "good," not
"goo.")
Aaron
Aaron
In case you live in Chicago instead of one of the suburbs, you might want
to try MicroEd. They are located at 444 N. Orleans in suite 250. I just
found them myself, so I don't want to sound like I'm recommending them, but
they do seem to know what they are talking about and they only sell Amigas.
Leslie
Les:
(I have a niece by that name, so I hope you don't find me too
informal.) I'd rather not go into the city if I don't have to. I'm
somewhat of a country boy – rural New York misplanted in this faraway
place. The city looks nice – from way out here in the 'burbs.
Aaron
Aaron,
Should of asked this in the last message I left you. Where are you
living. I reside in Waukegan.
MikeM:)
Mike"
Should've answered this in my last letter. Schaumburg. I just
moved out from New York, which has a lot going for it, but unfortunately,
not in the employment area.
Aaron
Aaron
No problem about calling me Les. I go by either name, depending on the
situation; "Les" seems to cause fewer gender confusions, especially here in
Chicago. (Back in Texas, the name "Leslie" seemed to be used equally as a
male or female name. Here in Chicagoland, it seems to be about a 90 – 10
split in favor of the ladies.)
If you find a good dealer in the 'burbs, let me know. I live in Chicago,
but work in Schaumburg, so I'm used to doing a little driving.
Les
Les:
That's amazing. I work in Schaumburg too. Actually, I live here
and work here. I told Mike in another letter, but I just moved out from
New York. I haven't found too many dealers yet, but I'll surely let you
know when I find one I consider good. By the way, you wouldn't happen to
work for Motorola, would you?
Aaron
Aaron:
Nope, I work for Sears Technology Services over on Martingale. Good luck
on finding a dealer.
Les
Here are the local dealers I know of…
1) you can get an A500 at Software etc. Many B. Dalton Bookstores have
Software
etc. shops in them. 2) Ring Software in Geneva, IL
3) Micro-ED, downtown Chicago.
4) DOS computers in Niles (not recommended)
5) Digital World. Two locations – Aurora and somewhere else (maybe
Schaumburg?)
6) Software Plus – several locations.
Also, there is a discount place located somewhere in the far
north-northwest area that carries Amigas. Compu-something.
Chris
I thought Digital World was in Naperville. Maybe that's the other one. In
any case, I would not recommend Digital World since they seem to be rather
overpriced. Of course I haven't gone there in quite a while. The best
Amiga dealer I've found in the area is MicroTech Solutions in Aurora. They
really stock a lot of products and are very knowledgable about the Amiga
(They cater to Commodore equipment).
— Mike Roth
Chris,
Hope you don't mind me jumping in, I was monitoring your messages since I'm
from the ChicagoLand area. I saw you mention DigitalWorld and thought I'd
give you the specifics (I just bought a 2000HD system from them about a
month ago. They're very helpful and knowledgeable.)
The proprietor's name is Sam Gunda and he has two stores:
711 Army Trail Road 1163 E. Ogden Ave. Addison, IL 60101
Naperville, IL 60540 (312) 543-9000 (312) 717-5300
Keith
Chris:
I have had pretty good luck over the last few years with DOS computer
center in Niles, but always at list price or thereabouts, mind if I ask why
you listed it as "(not recommended)" ??
Also, you listed a discount place (Compu-something) in the far
north-northwest area. If you think of the name I REALLY would like to know
about a Chicago area Amiga DISCOUNT dealer. Thanks.
Several years ago I had some problems with the one guy there who knew
anything about the Amiga. I am a programmer, and (though I like the
windows-iconsmice-pulldown menus type system [wimps]), I feel better if I
can get my hands deeper into the machine. I can also type,
thankyouverymuch.
I am mostly a Pascal/Modula-2 programmer, but my wife is a C type. When
she saw the mouse she said "where's the cat!?".
So, anyway, we were trying to get the salesman to tell us about the CLI and
the resident libraries and such. We wanted to know about the heart of the
machine, not the skin. The saleman kept insisting that we didn't want to
know all that stuff. He said that we could do everything we wanted with
the mouse and the icons and such. We kept telling him that the mouse was
fine, but we really wanted to know more about the system.
Now, I have to explain about me and my wife. One day we went into a
Computerland to buy a box of disks. She needed them for a class and it was
the only place around. Before we went into the store, she told me that she
wanted me to behave (she knows what I am like in a PC/Mac environment — I
get a bit nasty with the salesfolk). Well, we went into this place and the
salesman started telling us about the Compaqs and the IBMs and the Macs and
such, and about how they would never sell anything else, and that nothing
was better.
Well, I kept my cool. Normally I would start asking the technical
questions and get the salefolk real nervous and get them to contradict
themselves and make total fools out of them, but I was good — I behaved.
My wife blew up, however!
So anyway, back to this Amiga store. We really wanted to know more about
the machine, and we were getting the feeling that the salesman didn't know
all that much about the heart of it. So, that's why "not recommended",
which is not to say "recommended against".
-)—– Chris
Les:
Sears Technology Services?? Haven't heard of it. What goes on
there? I'm curious.
(Actually, I'm Aaron, but occasionally I step out of character.)
Aaron