Huge Ipaq shortages in US

WE'VE SEEN YET more research that Compaq has undertaken in the US, this one being on big store Best Buy, currently the subject of some dispute over a Komplett-Kodak kind of deal.

Overall, Best Buy staff seem to like the Big Q more than CompUSA does - perhaps they're getting Big Spiffs from the Big Q.

But they're also concerned about Carly taking over Curly's stuff. The Westminster branch, for example, wanted to know if everything would be the same after the takeover.

Best Buy in Thousand Oaks asks an intriguing question: "Will printers be given away again?".

And there's still a problem with the Ipaq, with the Fullerton store saying there's not enough accessories for the popular little handheld. That's the Ipaq, not Mike Capellas.

It's the same story in both the Pasadena and the Yorba Linda branch. Not enough Ipaqs, Compaq on back orders, and it's time to shift in the popular gear.

Lakewood suffered a disaster - its display model of the 3765 was nicked. Roseville wants to know when the 3870 Ipaq comes out. Real soon now? Burbank sold out of the Ipaq too.

Arggh… a CompUSA like disaster. The Best Buy chain has replaced Compaq networking product with Netgear and Linksys branded goods, reports Best Buy in Sterling.

And over at Cary, some customers with 715US notebooks are saying that they're overheating and locking up. Is this normal, the sales folk want to know.

Brentwood. "The store was rather slow and the employees seemed disinterested in what I had to say". No spiffs, guys?

The Antioch branch reported that the 710 notebook is overheating all the time and keys just come off. But it loves the Ipaq.

The Frisco store has the largest volume Athlon sales in the whole Best Buy chain. Why would this be, we wonder?

Palo Alto has fierce competition from Toshiba, while McKinney wants ever more Pocket PCs, because they're hotcaking. San Antonio and Plano are also out of Ipaqs, Pocket PCs.

Houston needs Ipaqs. A bit of a shock if the local Best Buy is having trouble sourcing them.

In Fort Worth, no one was available to help with voids which sounds very nasty indeed to us.

Phoenix wants the Bluetooth Ipaq and accessories for the same. And in Milwaukee there's a problem with the 3835 working because there's no battery charging ability on display.

Many customers ask about Bluetooth Ipaqs in Phoenix, while in Mesa, two 3765s broke where the stylus was supposed to sit. The same store reports it's been out of MP3 Compaq players since November.

Cleveland's sold out. Falls Church is moving in May 2002. Rockville sold out of the IJ650, so Lexmark is selling instead.

Columbus branch said that it could have sold 30 Ipaqs in a day if they'd been in stock. Merrillville makes a similar complaint.

Matteson reported that the 5420 had fatal errors on the hard drive - fortunately staff found that out before they were sold to customers. Skokie hasn't seen a single MP3 player in the whole of 2002. µ