Still some great deals for the determined
I couldn't resist a NanoBass at $19.95 even if it didn't work. I figured I could bring it home and fix it myself. It had no audio out, or I should say it had a 60 cycle hum that was not affected by the volume control. All of the midi communication and patch editing was functional, just no audio.
Looking at the board, there was a suspiciously large transistor in one corner that I figured might be the amplifier. I called Alesis to verify this (and order another if my suspicions were correct).
To make along story short... they told me that they warranty from sales date, not manufacture date, and would fix
the NanoBass free regardless of its non-operational demo status at time of purchase.
I once again stopped at GC on the way home from work and talked them down to 49.99 on the NanoSynth, which was also broken. Both units are now on the way to Alesis for repair and I'm only out $70.00 for both pieces. I can only hope that they aren't sitting in a dusty warehouse two months from now waiting for the walls to come down.
There's still demo equipment out there, just thought I'd relate my own experience if anyone wants to try the same.
BTW, I also picked up
a DM Pro (nice sound module, great layers) for $300. I had bought a DM-5 two months ago, so now I've got that extra if anyone's interested.