why are sams so expensive?

[Mightyzorlac]

Did everyone miss the "A4000 for £45"??!?!?!!! God thats a good price, you luck SOB hehe
 
What did you get with it? was the battery thingy whatsit OK?
 
I got an A4000, A2000, 2 x A1200s and a CDTV (all with extras) for £100 I had to change my pants when I got the stuff home :roflmao:

Thankfully its got the newer type of baterry that does'nt leak all over the board. It was in practically mint condition and came with loads of games and other software on the HD,a monitor, keyboard all working in perfect condition. Ive been in heaven since lol as Ive been looking for one of these for years, so lucky the old guy had no clue as it belonged to his son who died last in Iraq and he was having a good clean out of his stuff..

[zylesea]

HERE is a question: at what price would you say SAM would be competitive???  (much more creative than whining about the current price).

A price tag not exceeding EUR 200 for the flex-board would be adequate. The Sam is not that much more powerful than Efika is - and that went for US$ 99. For EUR 200 I'd consider Sam to be a cool device.  I spent less for my Eee, Mac Mini and Efika together than for a Sam System alone.

[Tajmaster]

Thankfully its got the newer type of baterry that does'nt leak all over the board. It was in practically mint condition and came with loads of games and other software on the HD,a monitor, keyboard all working in perfect condition. Ive been in heaven since lol as Ive been looking for one of these for years, so lucky the old guy had no clue as it belonged to his son who died last in Iraq and he was having a good clean out of his stuff..

I feel sorry for the fella losing his son over there, poor guy.

Anyway It sounds like you got the uber rare A4000CR?? They came with the coin battery as standard. Did you get an accelerator of any sort too?
Good deal anyway I started going back to car boot sales last November and I always secretly hoped Id pick up a bargain Amiga, LOL! The funny thing is, I never saw one for months and months then I see a guy selling an A600 with a shed load of games and all he wants is TEN quid! I ripped his arm off,lol! Ironically, I go months without ever seeing one then see 2 at the same boot sale! LOL the other was an A500 with nothing else and he wanted £15, just the base unit so I didnt do too badly.

[takemehomegrandma]

Why is the Sam Flex so expensive?

Economy of scale is part of the equation. Low production numbers means higher per unit costs. Alliances with other companies could perhaps have helped here (like Genesi for instance is doing). But that's only a part of the equation. The Sam is an overly complex design, and this will set the lowest possible per unit cost quite high, no matter the volume. It has many layers and external controllers, especially the notorious FPGA chip that no-one (not even Acube themselves) has come up with a use for, not even after all this time. It just sits there like some appendix, costing money and adding to the complexity. To summarize why the Sam is so expensive, everything boils down to the Acube management, and the decisions they made.

[takemehomegrandma]

Did they loose money on every Efika they sold?

Of course not!

It was so cheap!

They still are (you can still buy them brand new):

Directron in USA
Vesalia in Europe
AusPPC in Australia (he does wonderful work with casings)

(I also remember being surprised some time ago by seeing someone talking about another dealer (none Amiga related) that sold Efikas, but I can't remember their name)

So they are still available! :-)

[takemehomegrandma]

I spent less for my Eee, Mac Mini and Efika together than for a Sam System alone.

That says it all...

[tone007]

They still are (you can still buy them brand new):

Directron in USA

$99? Now there's a price that'll sell some operating systems.



edit: and the OS is free? Now there's a bargain.

[Painkiller]

It's expensive for the same reason a Rolls Royce is expensive: They are not build in big numbers. And no, Rolls Royce is technically not more advanced then your everyday Skoda.

You should watch Top Gear more often

[dammy]

$99? Now there's a price that'll sell some operating systems.



edit: and the OS is free? Now there's a bargain.

AROS' EFIKA port is free.

[zylesea]

$99? Now there's a price that'll sell some operating systems.



edit: and the OS is free? Now there's a bargain.

There are free OSes for the Efika, but if you meant MorphOS. No, that is not included. The trial version is free though and has no restrictions except that it will reduce speed half an hour after each boot up to a minimum. If MorphOS meets your taste and you want the unrestricted version, the registration fee is 150 EUR (I was lucky paying only 111 EUR during the 1st two weeks after release).

[tone007]

Sneaky.  Is morphos-team.net the official website?  They have a download link, but they don't mention anywhere on the site that I've seen that it's a trial version or a price for the software, nor do I see a purchase link.

[Piru]

Sneaky.  Is morphos-team.net the official website?  They have a download link, but they don't mention anywhere on the site that I've seen that it's a trial version or a price for the software, nor do I see a purchase link.

Tried the Frequently Asked Questions?

[tone007]

Kind of a silly place for such universally needed information, but there it is.

[takemehomegrandma]

nor do I see a purchase link.

You purchase MorphOS from within MorphOS (when online), not through a link on a website. You then receive a keyfile that is tied to that particular hardware from where you purchased it.

[tone007]

The plot thickens!

Unfortunately the OS costing more than the hardware I'd run it on kind of kills the fun for me.  Guess I'll stick with the old stuff.

[zylesea]

Indeed MorphOS license is a bit expensive for a low end computer like the Efika. Anyway, I don't regret to have bought a license though, but I am kind of addicted anyway ;-)

A viable solution to get a taste of it while spending as less as possible may be this: Get an Efika for 99, add the other necessary parts from #? (dumpster/attic/ebay) you end up at about 99 -250 total cost for the hardware. Then toy around with the MorphOS Demo, with Aros, with Linux and see what the Efika can and cannot do. If you feel you actually like MorphOS, but don't want to register for the Efika, you will soon have the chance to run it on a way more powerful Mac Mini (I expect 5 - 10 times the speed). After trying out on the Efika you will know if a Mini w/ MorphOS is worthwile for you or not.
99-250 for toying around - it's worth a thought. If you feel you don't like it at all, you can sell it off again with an expected loss of no more than 50.