Dealer Drops LXD55

Just saw this today and thought it was interesting.

http://www.proastronomer.com/lxsertel.html

I guess they have been having some trouble with these scopes and are now refusing to carry them.

I don't see anything necessarily "bold" in it and dare not presume/assume that ProAstronomer is doing this because of big bad Meade. Maybe Meade is doing this because of ProAstronomer.

That's just a possibility -- I've heard no rumours supporting it.

On the other hand, I've heard very little negative feedback regarding any LXD55 quality issues, either. My impression, to date, is that the vast majority of owners have been very pleased.

Obviously, we don't have the full story and can only speculate, but a couple points regarding ProAstronomer's on-line advertising copy did catch my eye:

1) they mention three contributing factors to their decision to take no further orders:
-availability (duh -- the LXD55 is Meade's hottest-selling product line since the debut of the ETX90; demand is extreme; supply may not be)
-quality issues (?? news to me)
-transportation problems (I have no idea what that might mean; perhaps distribution problems -- related to availability...?)

2) And where did ProAstronomer's alleged MSRPs come from? Their *way* out of line with Meade's own suggested mail-order retail prices. Meade's suggested mail-order retail price for the LSD55 SC-8 is $1195. ProAstronomer's MSRP is $2200.

Anyone know what ProAstronomer's GPS+ synchronization software package is/was?

Just looking at the other side of the "possibilities" coin.

Best wishes.
-Dan