TWENTY
Are any users groups around—organizations of people owning the machine?
Ask your dealer or call the manufacturer for the name of the group near you. If there isn’t such a group, that’s a blow against the machine then and there. You still might buy it, but you’ll have less technical advice than you might otherwise get.
Another beauty of good user groups is that they work closely with dealers and manufacturers without compromising their own independence.
With fellow owners just a quick phone call away, you’ll be less at the mercy of know-nothing hucksters.
Obviously, too, before buying the machine, you’ll find that the user groups can be just the ticket for learning the quirks of the dealers and the machines. Ask discreet questions after the meetings. Which machines and dealers are winners? Which are gobblers?
Don’t forget, of course, that the owners would like to think of themselves as having spent their thousands of dollars the right way.
I try to remember that when a computer shopper at a Kaypro meeting asks me about my machine,I say I like it. Then I go out of my way to tick off the Kaypro’s flaws so I won’t have it on my conscience that I offered a bum steer.
TWENTY-ONE
What about maintenance?