Exactly, Fran!
This is Roland's tragic mistake (one that I've heard rumors they are changing)... to relegate the entire arranger division to dealers that didn't want them, knew nothing about them, and weren't even mandated to carry them for the public to see.
A recipe for failure that a child could have foreseen. Apparently, not the doofuses at RolandUS, though...
It's not that the arrangers are bad, but they get seen and heard by so few that, firstly, 'sight unseen' is a game few (other than certain SZ members
) like to play, and secondly, they are getting into the hands of so few players that some of the OS blunders aren't being complained about by sufficient numbers to get much corporate attention and subsequent fixing. This is not to say that tremendous progress hasn't already been achieved, but a few niggles are left, and not apparently important enough to get Roland's admittedly very short attention span...
But you take almost ANY product, make it more expensive than before, and don't exhibit to the general public, and I guarantee it will wither on the vine. Roland have found this out to their cost...
As to the rumors you state, well, the return of the Chord Sequencer will make it a 'must buy' for me, but all the rest of that cr@p is just almost useless. Especially an eight track audio recorder. Sheesh, what are they thinking? Anyone that can afford something in this price range already HAS (or knows they can get) a FAR superior DAW out of their existing computer, with infinitely better editing and plug-ins. But no doubt, Roland will jump on the 'me-too' bandwagon instead of concentrating on making the ultimate ARRANGER, and they will continue to graft little-needed workstation functions onto a little improved arranger OS.
When will they ever learn... We don't need a studio in a box. We need a great ARRANGER.