Revision on May 9:
THE PREMISE OF THIS THREAD HAS NOW BEEN SUPPORTED AND VINDICATED. SEE THE SEPARATE THREAD "Z3100 Rebate PS Version INCLUDED!!!!"
Skip over the endless debates in the middle of this thread about whether the rebate applies to the PS model. It does. Even though those who made that argument are still arguing the same point in other threads.
The bottom-line conclusion for consumers of HP products, and a disturbing conclusion for wholesalers, resellers and vendors of HP products who must commit financial resources and floor space to stock HP products:
DO NOT BUY ANY HP PRODUCTS IN THE FIRST THREE OR FOUR MONTHS, AND WAIT FOR THE PRICE TO DROP. THOSE WHO BUY IN THE FIRST 60 DAYS WILL BE SCREWED AND LOSE $800 BASED ON THE EXAMPLE OF THE 3100
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Anyone who purchased a separate Z3100 in the last three months was ripped off and cheated by HP. If you were a big enough sucker to buy the Z3100 and the APS separately, you were ripped off and cheated twice over. Read on . . .
Several postings on the the other thread on the Advanced Profiling Solution (APS) for the HP Z3100 are reporting that a new model has been released -- the Z3100PS. The pricing is very aggressive, so that you can now buy a Z3100 along with both the RIP and the APS for the price previously paid for a Z3100 alone.
I am posting this new thread to underscore that those of us who purchased a Z3100 less than two months ago were ripped off and cheated by HP.
I searched the HP web site for a reference to the APS. It was previously posted as a separate item selling for about $800.
Guess what? It is no longer listed.
That's how HP has reacted to the severe criticism on this forum that the APS was significantly overpriced. The other criticism made of the APS is that it should have been included with the printer from the very start and not cost an additional $800.
Well, that is exactly what they have done. HP has decided to sell a new model with the APS and RIP included. Some postings have pointed out that HP has higher list price (about $1000 more) for the new PS model on their own web site.
So what? That is the manufacturer's suggested list price. It is common for discounters and everyone else to sell for 25% less than that. Since many HP authorized resellers are selling the PS model for $3900 to $4000, it is clear that HP has aggressively priced the new PS model at the wholesale level, allowing retail dealers to sell the new PS model for the price of the previously separate Z3100 model.
The separate APS? It is clearly a thing of the past. Gone. No longer listed anywhere on the HP web site, at least not that I could find. The APS was previously listed as an accessory for the Z3100 -- and it was included in all lists of accessories on the web sites. It is gone and no longer listed at all. It is now included in the printer.
So if you paid roughly $4000 to $4200 for the separate Z3100, you missed out on the APS. You could have received both for the same price.
You're the suckers stuck with the appropriately named Easy Software. I want you all to enjoy knowing that you missed out on the more advanced APS profiling system. If that makes you angry -- as it should -- protest to HP.
If you paid roughly $4800 to $5000 for the Z3100 and the APS you paid $800 too much in order to obtain the APS.
The obvious rebuttal to the above is that prices always drop after the release of a product. Early adapters always pay a higher price. Prices always drop later.
But can anyone recall such a significant drop in the price for such an expensive product and in less than two months?
HP is clearly reading this forum. But their solution has been to significantly drop the price of the printer -- and eliminate the separate APS all together -- so that the APS is, in fact, now included as part of the printer.
Yes, HP responded to the criticism on this forum.
But in the process they cheated every early adapter who bought the Z3100 when it was first released. That is the delicious and profound irony. We posted our comments. HP responded. And we all lost $800 as a result.
More importantly, HP cheated every one of you who were loyal early customers, and reported on the many early problems with the Z3100 and APS.
Those of you who spent hundreds of hours testing and posting on Z3100 problems, and working with the staff in Spain, it is all of who have been mistreated to the greatest extent. (Unless HP already gave you the APS for free.)
Those of us who bought either the printer or the printer and the APS just lost $800 in the process.
There is a sucker born every minute. Unfortunately, EVERYONE on this forum who bought the Z3100 and/or the APS qualifies in that category.
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A later addition, resulting from points made further down in this thread:
(1) The early adopter argument does not apply. The first units, such as BluRay, always cost more, and the second generation units cost less. But first generation units are not cut by $800 in the first 60 days, thereby screwing everyone who bought the first units. Because if that was the norm, it inevitably leads to the next conclusion:
(2) There is a clear warning and lesson for all us. Namely:
DO NOT BUY ANY HP PRODUCTS IN THE FIRST THREE OR FOUR MONTHS, AND WAIT FOR THE PRICE TO DROP.
HP will be really popular with retailers and wholesalers if consumers come to that conclusion, and millions of dollars of inventory sit in warehouses for the first three or four months, and nothing is sold.
But that is the only and most obvious conclusion to how HP has treated us. Again, based on the fact that a large number of retailers are selling the printer and APS in a package for the previous price of the printer alone. And based on the fact that the APS has disappeared from the HP web pages as a recommended accessory.