I wonder if this is the cause of the low supply of G400's:

[Rags]

I have noticed there is a shortage of G400 32MB DH retails and G400 Max's. I have been trying to figure this out, because there appears to be an over abundance of 32MB DH OEM's, 32MB SH, 16MB DH, 16MB SH's, so this didn't make sense until now. Maybe I am wrong, but I think it is worth a thought. I believe that Matrox has judged the market incorrectly, meaning that their marketing, who figures these things out, have mistakenly thought there would be a much higher demand for the cheaper products by consumers, therefore focusing much of the mfring. on these lower end products, while not producing as many of the premiere two. What do I have to back this up??? Well, if you have been watching the prices and availability for the last month, you will have noticed that the prices of all of the G400's have been coming down at end suppliers on the internet, with the only exception being the Max and the retail 32MB DH. So, they have overproduced the cheaper versions, creating a surpluss, hence the price drops. Notice almost every supplier that has sells these cheaper cards have them in stock, while the premiere's are not. Also, I think that demand out-weighing the supply for these two has held the price high on these two cards, so the end suppliers are not willing to purchase these cards yet, since there will be very little profit, if any, on them (especially if they have some on back order at a low price). So, rather than take the loss of profit, they are waiting for the supply to come up and price come down.

Or Maybe it was

What do you think?

Rags

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Fed Ex Sucks!

[This message has been edited by Rags (edited 09-19-1999).]

[Kruzin]

I think it's because FedEx looses or breaks 2/3 of the cards they ship...means they have to produce 3 for every 1 ordered.

DOH!

[Rags]

Look, here is the dude taking my G400 home, right now, I would like to knock that little smirk off of his face!!! :

[DK]

Rags,
Possible, also seems like more G400's coming out with Max equipment.

Derek

[KvHagedorn]

I saw a few of the oem cards offered by certain vendors, but the big ones don't seem to want to stock oem cards. TC Computers only lists the two top cards you mention and dont have any. Provantage and NECX list G200s, Marvels, etc. but have nothing in stock. (Meaning no Matrox product, period.) Provantage cancelled my order saying they couldn't get ANYTHING from Matrox and stopped carrying them. Who knows the real story? I wish MichaelA would speak up.

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Kind Regards,

KvH

[Zypher]

Hint: Fedex basically contracts out to drivers, almost anyway. Sucky driver = sucky delivery.

I'll bet it was the same driver who had a hand in them all.

BTW, if they packed it right, you card would have been ok. I got my max in a Biiiiig brown box through fedex...inside was a smallllllllllll g400 box and some paltry crumpled paper. Someone needs to school matrox online store 'how to pack a mofoing box'(TM). It was ok though.

[Rags]

Zypher, if you purchase an OEM card, then it is up to the supplier to package your card. My card was retail G400, and the box was literally crushed, I had a small bit of hope when I opened it, and there it was not broke in two, but with a fine crack down the middle. It is my guess that the packaging survived the two FedEx employees getting in on on top of my card, then it survived being caught in the conveyer belt for a day, then it even survived the FedEx driver throwing his case of Old Milwaulkee on top of it, but the last straw was when his fat ass wife hopped into the truck to have a beer with him, and plopped down on top of it. The box was in that bad of shape. You should of heard what I told the guy who handed it to me.

Rags



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FedEx Sucks!

[paulcs]

I'd like to indulge in some idle speculation, some armchair economics. I touched upon this in a previous, overlong post. I suspect Matrox may be altering their business model a bit--for better or for worse--to deal with their less than optimal supply situation, and possibly to deal with what they consider the future of the retail market.

Now, we've known for a while that Matrox has been aiming squarely for the Holy Grail of videocard markets, one dominated by their crosstown rivals, the evil empire, ATI. This could, in part, explain the glut of OEM boards flying around. I've seen the OEM 16 Mb G400 Single head for as low as $119.00. This has to be appealing to the casual upgrader and business user.

I can see how the Matrox Store might be appealing alternative for Matrox to the traditional retail market. Let's assume Matrox suspects hardware junkies--those of us who have to get the latest, greatest, and fastest part money can buy, no matter what the cost--have easy web access, are relatively sophisticated about e-commerce and have purchased stuff online in the past.
If they have the infrastructure in place, why not cut out the middle man while prices are still high, and sell directly to the hardware junkie. Sure, they alienate retailers, something Matrox has been doing for a while. But while supplies are low, something has to give.

This seems even more appealing during what appears to be a Max chip shortage. There is no way they are going to meet demand from retailers. So sell the darn things yourself and, regrettably, lose a few retailers in the process. When yields are higher and prices drop, ship to retailers.

Let's face it. You're not going to get a lot of impulse buys from the casual user at $259.00. Given the supply situation, the very people most capable of buying from the Matrox Store will snatch Max's from the shelves immediately, retailers will have to wait forever for restocks, and they will still get pissed off.

Move the cheaper parts to retailers, and while supply is low and demand is high, sell the more expensive parts yourself.

Maybe Matrox finds themselve in a win-lose situation. It's not optimal, but it's a lot better than a lose-lose situation.

Again, I'm just speculating.

Paul
paulcs@flashcom.net

[paulcs]

Rags, I laughed out loud at your Fedex post.

However, I believe if there was an Olympic 19" monitor toss competition, we'd see UPS employees winning gold, silver, and bronze every time the event was held.

Paul
paulcs@flashcom.net

[Rags]

I have heard that, but I have never been delivered a bad package from UPS yet. The worst UPS has done for me is leave my package for me on my porch while I was away. Pretty stoopid when it's a 1000 dollar monitor.

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FedEx Sucks!

[SCompRacer]

Rags, thats called driver release. If the Loss Prevention folks determine you live in a safe area, the package will be left, preferably in a safe place. Saves re-attempts at delivery which reduces cost.

The driver then codes it, like LOP, left on porch, or LORCIMP, left on roof cause I missed porch.

Zypher, Fed Ex basically hires it own part or full time couriers.

[cjolley]

I'm ready to go back to the US Postal Service.
FedEx delivered my MAX squashed like a bug. My last UPS delivery was a motherboard that was left on my neighbors front porch in the rain. It was so wet the packing peanuts had melted!
A pox on both their houses!
chuck


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ABit BH6 w/ Celery 333@500, 128mb gh@cas2, 10gb IBM@7200, SB Live Value@????, noname CDRom@40x, Mitsumi CDRW@2x2x8, Zoom@56k, Princeton EO75@1024x768x32x85hz, Matrox G400 MAX!!!!

[Ron]

Well FedEx hasn't yet ruined any computer gear for me but they did a great job of smashing $5700 worth of Infared filters. The damage was obvious so they never even got the chance to deliver them, I refused delivery. At that, they're not as bad as Purolator.

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BX6r2, 128MB PC100, C300A@464, Pan DVDwHollywood+,Pan 4X SCSI CDR, WangDAT, Quantam UDMA HDs, Fireport 40 UW, SBLive!Value (attached to bi-amped TEAC/Hitachi multimedia system), SMC Intel 21041 NIC, etc. G200 Mystique as well.

[Wombat]

I hope to never have to deal with UPS anymore. I shipped a lot of stuff from NJ to MO, including my computer stuff. The computer wouldn't boot when I got it out of the box. Maybe it had something to do with the dent in the shipping box. I tracked it down to a broken motherboard. I had ensured my packages, so I figured things couldn't go to poorly.
Here's a brief synopsis of the next six weeks:
1. Called UPS, operator took my information, realized I needed to talk to someone other than an operator, transferred me to a hang up.
2. Called back, operator took my information, and said they'd call me.
3. After a week, I called again. There was "no record of any of my previous calls". I bitched. I ask where my lawyer should send the upcoming papers. I was "escalated". Supervisor took my information, said it was going right to the techs.
4. Techs leave a message on my machine. I call back. They tell me I must have messed something up, and need to reinstall Windows. Already tried that. "You must have something misconfigured." No, the cache is broken, I told you that. I've already gone through diagnostics. "It was broken when you put it in the box." Sorry: tested->into box->UPS->out of box-> broken. See the weak link here? "No, it must be something with the software. Have you called the manufacturer? I am the manufacturer. "........okay. Our field tech isn't in right now. Let's get your information, and he'll call you about coming out there."

So, I give them the weekend, and then call back. Shorter version of last conversation, this time I get the tech. We schedule a time for him to come on site. I have it all ready for him. But, he wants to see it not working. "Have you tried reinstalling Windows?" (!!!!) I finally get him to take it, and get photocopies of everything. I also show him the monitor box with the 10" gash down the side. If it had hit one of the other sides, they'd also be relacing my monitor. I also get a business card for where he's taking the computer. Says it will be about a week, sorry about the wait..

About 5 days later, I call the place they outsource the repairs to. "Nope, sorry, that computer hasn't been here." So I call the tech., slightly pissed off. Said the l-word again, and the computer apparently shows up at the repair place. I call 2 days later, and the place says they "can't disclose information on UPS work". I give him a description of the computer, to show it's mine. "Says here there's nothing we found wrong with it." Did you follow the instructions I gave to UPS that would guarantee a crash? "What instructions?" Here, do this.......

So, I eventually got a new motherboard in there. I'm a little fuzzy on 3 days here, five days there, but it was over 6 weeks from my first call to the day my computer came back repaired. It shows the reason that UPS only charges $.10 for every $100 insured is that they have no intention of paying up. If I hadn't built the machine, I wouldn't have had the confidence to stand up for myself. Also, I later found where they had dropped my receiver. Now only the B channel speakers are any good, the A port is done, but it's not worth the hassle.

## Forgot to mention: All I ever asked was that they repay me for the motherboard. I'd faxed/shown them copies of the receipt. They refused to reimburse. They must have lost a lot more money replacing the board than if they had simply cut me a check. Left me with a crappy no-name OEM, too.

-Wombat



[This message has been edited by Wombat (edited 09-20-1999).]

[KvHagedorn]

I had a similar experience with UPS. God forbid anything happens to an item in their care. At least 20 phone calls and faxes were required to take care of my problem. When you add up the time spent on both sides, you are right. It would just be cheaper to be reasonable and cut a check. It almost makes you want to just drive to wherever and transport the goods yourself. You should have sued them. It would have been worth it in he long run.

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Kind Regards,

KvH