I have recently acquired a QL for no apparent reason other than curiosity. I have a pretty varied collection of microcomputers, both 8 and 16 bits including some Speccys, Memotech and Acorn machines, and I fancied the QL, especially the look of it. The serial number starts D16 so I assume this is one of the later Samsung manufactured models, with properly sorted microdrives. I have not taken delivery yet but I know it is not working properly and I hope it is just a matter of the keyboard membrane; if not it'll be out with the soldering iron!
I've been doing a bit of reading up on this forum and other places and it looks like the most worthwhile upgrade is a Trump Card, so I will be keeping an eye out for one. I definitely don't want to have to rely on the microdrives. I have one for the Speccy and it did not take long for the first catastrophic failure (on the Sinclair welcome / demo cartridge, no less
). On the other hand, I do have quite a few old floppies and drives lying about...My background is software engineering and I have been programming for over 30 years. I recall the anticipation at the announcement of the QL although of course I couldn't afford one at the time.
In case this story seems familiar, know that I am also active on stardot.org.uk and atari-forum.com as well as 6502.com where I go by the same username.
Looking forward to a voyage of QL discovery!
Cheers
JonB
You are right on the drives front though, you really need a floppy drive setup to get the best from it. 
