Just by way of footnote to this thread I just noticed the real financial difference to me here in Ireland.My dealer quoted me these same sterling prices plus Irish Vat (at 21%) plus a minimum of 130 euros freight!!!!ie. minimum cost of 2030 euros for 598 DC !!!
This seems to work out at almost half the cost of a new machine !This really shows the problem of lack of communication between Meridian and their customers.Outlays of this kind need to be made known to (some of) us in advance.
I may not now be able to get the upgrade simply because I wasn't given some kind of ballpark estimate earlier on .

As has been said before,not their finest hour,
Regards,
Manus

Mostly harmless. Comfortably numb.