I received my "Your 990 is now available!" e-mail at 3:31 PM May 8. I'm trying to decide whether or not to accept. I was all set, and then during the waiting period I got a good deal on a big prime lens for my Nikon D70. Now I have to decide whether or not to put the 990 on plastic, or just wait until later this year, after reading the reviews from all who accept now. My only real complaint with my 950 is the 3 second or so audio sync delay when changing sources or sound formats. Otherwise it does everything that I need at this time. (Notice that I didn't say everything that I want.)

I'll try to make up my mind within the next couple of days while I'm traveling for training. I don't want to keep anybody waiting who may be next in line if I cancel out. I need a higher paying job to afford all the toys that I want.

Jeff

Well, I will of course encourage you to buy that nice lens. You'll be able to get a 990 for quite a long time at the same price, I would assume.
This has nothing to do with the fact that I didn't sign up on the waiting list until a couple weeks after it was announced and am hoping lots of people decide to put it off....
Actually, I was struggling with deciding whether to get a nice DSLR system myself, or upgrade my HT myself. I came very very close to pulling the trigger on the Cannon EOS20D and a few lens. But, I've never been able to listen to my DVD's and Sat programs in 5.1 as my gear is circa 1995. Knowing how much I like to lay on my hind side and watch the boob tube, I decided I'd get more enjoyment out of updating my HT for now. I've waited 10 years, hopefully I won't have to wait beyond their second "slow boat from Korea" to get my 990.

Iggy the dog,

As you may know, companies building a product like this cannot commit to building 10,000 units at once, they would drive themselves out of business before they got started. Also, since they have to be shipped by boat, which takes a month or more, they have to project sales and stage the delivery of the units from the factory. There are 2 sizes of shipping containers, which will probably hold 300 and 600 units repectively.

That means that on the first boat, only 300 to 600 people will get a 990. The rest will have to wait for the next boat to arrive and be inspected, and delivered. Hence the list of people that got an email.

Many people got rejected even a few hours after the reservation "lottery" opened. Which means the volume had to have been pretty high.

Outlaw would have error on the safe side not mass produce incase the unit got a bad rap in the media and sales did not pan out.

My conjecture on the shipping was based on the following:

- Next boat has not arrived yet
- It takes time to process a container and deliver its contents
- It takes time to process order in Outlaw
- It takes 2 weeks to deliver to my address (I purchased Outlaw products in the past, so I know the delievery schedule to my location)

The only possibility is that enough individuals back out of the deal to get to 6:00am the next day in the reservation lotto for people that put in the same time as I did to be up to bat.

Since Outlaw has stated that general delivery will not be until June, that obviously has something to do with ships arriving. If that is the second shipment, we will see nothing till then.

trikos,

My reservation time was 915EDT, and I have not received an available notice. You may have a longer wait than you expect to get to the 6am time stamp..

assid,

I already bought the lens with my 990 money. Now I'm trying to figure out if I should go in debt and get the 990 too. I'll have to purchase a new rack and completely redo my layout to get the 990 to fit. From what I've read in the other forums, it is a honkin' big beast.

As for purchasing the dSLR, if you do you will have a hard time using a point-and-shoot again in the future. I bought a Nikon D70 almost a year ago and have loved it. I played with a Canon 20D recently and it is a wonderful camera too. A Nikon rep told me that they are soon to release a couple of new models in addition to the D50 and D70s that they've just announced. One of which will be in the same price range as the Canon 20D.

Jeff

trikos:

Perhaps, but as you said, it is all conjecture. What none of us really know is how many people have reservered (presume a fair number), how many of the notification emails went out, how many units are here and one the way, and how the Outlaws are staging all of this.

At the end of the day, there are too many things that are in the "we'll see" department. Based on the way things have happened around here before, I would guess that it will be much sooner than two weeks before the next batch of notifications goes out, but that is also only conjecture on my part. Time will tell.

Iggy,

True, and I guess in the "waiting game" we all have our frustrated moments...

jeffdavis,

Go into debt and put it on the floor, it will still sound good from there and its only money..

trikos:

Very true, life itself is sometimes more frustrating for all of us. We only do what we can not to let it get us consigned to the dog house. Wait -- I'm already there...

trikos,

Thanks a bunch. That's how I get into these situations, no self-control and nobody to reign me in either. And now you're just encouraging me. Before checking back in I'd pretty much decided to pass on a 990 at this time, but it hurts to pass up a new toy when it's within touching distance. I really do like the sound of my 950/770 combo and I don't really feel like redoing the whole system again, after moving everything and buying a new stand about 2 weeks before they announced that the 990 was coming.

Whine, whine, whine.

Jeff