Accept a G450-eTV upgrade program?

[AndrewDV]

Hello,

A lot of folks are pretty upset right now. As more and more info about the future of the G400/G200/RRG is known, the less happy it makes current users.

This question is specific to users of the "legacy" hardware. Would you be happy if Matrox offered a trade-in discount for your current hardware to get a G450-eTV? If that is acceptable, what value would you want?

It is well known that Matrox monitors this forum. I pose this question to Matrox. How valuable are your current users?

I, for one, would be more than willing to accept a decent trade-in value of 30% off a G450-eTV along with free shipping/handling for my Marvel G400-TV.

Thank you

[SwAmPy]

I don't think they'll do any kind of returns unless they are set up for it. If they do some kind of rebate thing, they'll probably let you keep your card and give all us marvel/rrg people some kind of rebate on an etv or maybe even on any matrox product.

30% would be way to high becuase profit margins inthis industry aren't that high. I think 20% would be more reasonable.

I think this would be easier for them becuase the paper work is minimal, there's no headaches of getting boards back to re-work and re-package them, store them, etc.

But then again, I see alot of complaints that people don't want a software capture under 2k with yuy2. So why would the same people go for an etv? It's still yuy2.

Think about it. If you're willing to get an eTV then you are stuck with software capture under any OS. At least with the marvels, you can still get the hardware capture in 98 and use software capture in 2k.

Just my 2 cents.

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SwAmPy

[AndrewDV]

Always start off at the high point of negotiation

Not everyone is getting YUY2 support for Win2K (G200/RRG are getting RGB only). To some extent, we are not sure the YUY2 support for the G400-TV is going to be the same/ as good as the G450-eTV.

Even worse, what if there are bugs in the "soon-to-be released" Win2K vid tools (if released at all)? It sounds like Matrox is putting legacy hardware on the back burner for development.

More upseting is that bugs in the current MJPEG vid tools are not going to be fixed (ex: "green flashes").

The G450-eTV also has Matrox support for Ligos MPEG captures. This means G450-eTV users are getting software support from the hardware manufacturer. The others are not going to get any YUY2 support. If there is a problem, it'll be a blame game between the software and hardware manufacturers. The G450-eTV also comes with other Win2K supported software (ex: VideoStudio, DVD player, and timeshifting).

Granted, I don't speak for everyone. However, I know a lot of users got tired of the crash-a-matic, soon-to-be dumped Win98 OS and moved on. Some stay on Win98 holding on to a bit of hope Matrox is going to fix their problems in the next release (is Win98 final?). Some even look to OpenSource Linux. Some are even willing to purchase a used G400-TV for a large price

Whatever turns out, I hope it is the best for the everyone.

[mikiem]

True, there isn't much profit margin in anything PC now days, but marketing for example is a cost of doing business. Costs go against income at tax time, plus there isn't an SEC or wall street that'll think it looks bad.

For a real world example, albeit in a different industry & other factors:

Thompson TV produced a bunch of product where the solder connections broke. For a few years (& I hope currently, since I just had mine fixed), they would reimburse customers ~2/3 the cost of repair. As the result of a proposed class action suit, they are to be offering $100, $50, & $25 rebates if I remember correctly, depending on if the problem surfaced for you or not. Remember that these were TVs most often produced in the early to mid 90's, that the customer had usually 3 years of good service, & that the TV was still usable after repair.

That's for whatever comparison one can come up with or cares to make.

Pricewatch lists the 450etv for $222, but capture solutions (no matter how poor) start at less then $20. The full version of video factory 5 can be had in the US for between $40 & $0 after rebate -- the same for Video Studio. I'd guess there would have to be a sliding scale, and that it would have to put the 450etv in the $175 - $180 price range to entice a bunch of customers who weren't already in the market, which isn't that bad for Matrox considering they wouldn't have the costs from normal distribution channels, nor packaging, nor regular marketing -- they could even offer it OEM style without software.

Theoretically, the cost of using OEM packaging wouldn't be too high since they already have volume supplies/suppliers, nor would the accounting/ordering since they'd simply match serials off the cards with their database. Don't count on free shipping though from Canada.

Maybe all that will help get the ball rolling, or at least see if enough were interested to run it up the flagpole...

Mike