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Subject: Is the right product forthcoming?

Author: J. C. Boco

Date: 15:49:53 05/02/03

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On May 02, 2003 at 12:51:59, Ray Rogers wrote:

>On May 02, 2003 at 08:47:53, J. C. Boco wrote:
>
>>On May 02, 2003 at 06:32:43, Jorge Pichard wrote:
>>
>>>http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,4149,1051739,00.asp
>>
>>As someone else pointed out already, ChessTiger isn't native for the processor
>>yet.  But your point is well taken.  It also drives yet another nail into the
>>dedicated-chess-computer market, which is really too bad.  I've always had a
>>soft spot for the dedicateds.
>
>I don’t go with this “……nail in the coffin of dedicated chess computer” stuff.
>Clearly there is still a market with people like myself just waiting for the
>right product. Playing strength isn’t everything. I’ve two new fast PC’s plus
>Fritz 8 etc. but I won’t be selling my R30 even for the £500 I‘ve been offered.

In a way I'm waiting for the right product to come along also.  When the Star
Sappire or Star Diamond finally come (if they ever do) I will be tempted to buy
one simply because they will be the strongest on the market, perhaps not
counting your R30.  By the way, what is the estimated rating of your R30?

But as for "Waiting for the right product", well, just what new products have
there been in the dedicated market the past few years of rating 1800+?  The two
computers I mentioned above have been expected for two years now, and they may
never materialize.  I just don't think we really can wait until the right
product comes along.  I think that the Novag Star Sapphire/Diamond are going to
be the last, because they won't make much money from them.  I just don't see any
product down the pipeline to wait for.

What I hope happens is that perhaps Novag will throw a better chip into the
Sapphire/Diamond.  I can tell you that I belive the right product will have come
along if they just find a 100MHz chip to toss into the Sapphire/Diamond.  Then
you would have a nice dedicated with a significant increase in strength, and I
would probably buy it.  What is the reason, and I am presupposing there is one,
why you can't find a similar chip to the one already in use and use a faster
version?  I would even pay for an expensive dedicated chess computer which had a
crappy slow notebook PC chip in it (something which wouldn't require cooling).
There are hardware tricks Novag can do to try to enliven the dedicated market,
but even with high-quality people like me (ahem) and you, they probably just
wouldn't make enough money doing it.



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