Let's break down the 1000 yet again.

I can't believe that pre-order prices in the UK are nearly 50% more than the US price (£699) - no wonder we see 50% price drops after a couple of months...

That's par for the course. They always get screwed on prices in the UK. I couldn't believe how much everything was when I was there. The only thing they seem to pay equal prices for is computer parts, and some other electronics, like cell phones. On music gear, forget it.

And, like the rest of Europe they pay something like $4 a gallon for gas.

bboy wrote:If my plan works out, I live 20 mins away from the main Musician's Friend warehouse, and if they really are getting the 1000s oct 31, then I'll have myself a 1000 by friday... its comin' up

I just called Musician's Friend to check their availability date of 10/31/03. The sales rep said AKAI visited them and demoed the unit. He claimed their availability dates are usually accurate. It was all I needed to hear. I ordered the MPC1000 from them. My order with zzounds is still open in case Musician's Friend doesn't come through.

cool, good deal, thanks for calling. Musicians Friend has been the only place that hasn't been changing their availability dates around. I guess they were the first to put in the order to Akai.

I went ahead and ordered from Musicians Friend...if it hasn't shipped by next week I'll cancel and order from zZounds instead (for being honest about the ship date).

Oh yeah, and I registered here as well - the site has been a good resource while I weighed up the decision to purchase the 1000. Figured I might as well join in the fun.