I've just received an email from Amazon saying that the computer I ordered will be dispatched today and delivered on Saturday. The original estimated dispatch date was anywhere between October 12th and November 5th.

So happy happy singey dancey and hats off to the folks at Amazon. I only placed the order 8 days ago, so that's the sort of turnaround time I would have expected if I'd ordered one direct from the manufacturer.

By gum. They must be a hard working lot in that there warehouse of theirs.