Re: Yet another reason to avoid PartMiner

Actually I wonder about the "£70 per set" figure for RS catalogs. It's what I was told once, and I think it might have been the whole-year figure, three releases per year. The costs rise per set the fewer they make, and they're trying to use CD's to save costs.

what

I know where you're coming from. My issue was more that RS insist on using a courier, and from the onset with RS it was just one big hassle.

But as for Maplin. They've become an overgrown toy store. What I do have here are the catalogues from 1988 thru 1992 and they're still useful, hence :-) Being able to look up every 7400 device at a glance, and every transistor package is just brilliant. It was like a total of about 20-pages so I don't buy into their excuse today that they're too complicated to list. Too complicated for them today maybe....

Is that the Maplin cats you have back issues? I'm trying to find the original manufacturers (Hung Chang) model number of the MF100 multifunction counter so I can search it online, if you have a cat that list that instrument the info might be on the page - it is for the currently stocked MF1000 counter/function generator.

"Aly" wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@bt.com:

That pegged Maplin neatly. It's a stupid move. Tandy failed in the high street in the UK because of it, and Maplin succeeded so well that Tandy mostly went back to the US where they operate more like Maplin did here. So why Maplin now start to do what made Tandy fail I do not know. It's painful to watch, so most of the time I don't watch.

Your point about RS and couriers I also recognise, I wish they'd reduce costs by using the standard mail. The kind of logic that says that to get a decent service you must use an expensive private courier is wasteful, and the neglect reduces the quality of the main service, making a self- fulfilling prophecy. Same logic that's currently making a crisis in UK dentistry. That scandal is making street long queues now, it's too big to hide, as will be the pollution of lots of tiny vans doing what a single train used to do.

multifunction

Give me until mid next week. I will check for you when I'm back home. Actually mail me if you really want it done :)

"Paul Carpenter"

Hi Paul

:-)

That kind of sounds like my conversation with PayPal at the moment. They did a system upgrade about a month ago which messed up the reporting of some Verified accounts to eBay. This is slowly trickling back onto the forums.

PayPal say it's eBay. eBay say it's PayPal. Well, through my own determination (and access to multiple accounts) it's definitely PayPal. I've now told them to stuff it (in polite terms) and STILL they keep on bloody contacting me. I've finally resorted to totally blowing my top earlier, and STILL they thank me for telling their useless staff to F-off!

I do have limits. It's usually about a month before I go crackers!

So

painful

Totally acknowledged.

Maplin. Well. I don't go there unless I'm in deep *stuff*.

RS. Yes, why they can't use RM I have no idea. But I'm not paying £30 for a little edge connector anyway (in my thread on the sci.electronics groups).

As for dentistry, you can't even get one if you're willing to give them REAL money now. :-( Look, reaaaaal money, lotsza money. Nope, they'd rather treat 7-bus loads of smelly whining children a day. (yes, I hate kids. And I hate companies. Is there a link?)

Aly wrote: [supplier woes]

I've got the "Spring/Summer 2006" Maplin catalogue. I'd never bother to buy it, but the sales bod said there were vouchers in there which would save me more than the catalogue cost on what I was buying anyway (which they did) so it cost me about minus one pound. They have the 7400 series, 4000 series and transistor packages in there again (with a note saying it's a result of feedback).

I completely agree about their change in direction though. It's awful. I just don't know what they are trying to be - they're now crap for components, crap for consumer electronics, crap for toys and crap for computers. Their sole redeeming feature is that you can check stock at your local store on-line so you can be disappointed without having to leave the house :)

I've pretty much given up on Maplin for anything but "I need a 50k trimpot to finish this off and I want it this afternoon" type 'emergencies'. Rapid and Farnell are my current favourites. Rapid's catalogue (which I was sent gratis, without asking) is good.

Tim

Real email = dl0504DOTfieldATntlworldDOTcom

Many thanks.

RS told me "no minimum order" and no P&P unless requested express delivery - maybe they've changed their terms since you last looked?

delivery -

The problem with RS is if you're not in a major city or town. Courier delivery drivers simply don't even bother to deliver the packages, they just say 'attempted-delivery' when clearly they haven't. 3-weeks it took to deliver the catalogues in the end, before someone eventually rang to say they were in the village.

Even if you give couriers your telephone number, they just don't bother. This is the gripe with RS, in that their delivery method is fine if you're in big easy to find business premesis.

Can't speak for other countries, but here in Australia, RS ship free if your order is more than $100. That doesn't make a huge order, these days...

"Aly" wrote in news:7qOdnUV snipped-for-privacy@bt.com:

That definitely sucks.. if anyone working in RS is reading this, consider the Royal Mail. Not only does it work well with most recorded deliveries, at least as well if not better than most couriers (and cheaper), there's a special advantage: a parcel can be sent to a local post office for collection. Try doing that with a courier. I did once, it's impossible, even impossible to get a direct phone line to a local office. Instead of neglecting the postal service so that we all have nothing to do but moan as it shrinks, use it.

Yes Rapid are excellent. They're a 10-minute drive down the road from here and the trade counter is ideal, you just walk in with a load of numbers and you're out in 20-minutes.

Only issue with Rapid at the moment is this ROHS compliance, it's messing up their stock levels all over the place. But, some non-ROHS stock is ridiculously cheap. 30VA 15v-0v-15v toroidals for £3!!!!!!

David R Brooks wrote in news:451ef3eb$0$15669$ snipped-for-privacy@per-qv1-newsreader-01.iinet.net.au:

RS will ship for free for any order I place. Wasting money is wasting money, even if it's not mine. :) The point is that the waste is particularly stupid. Originally the courier idea was a fast track service. Now that everyone wants it the efficient service has become neglected and the 'fast' service isn't anymore. There's no sense in a special service if the general one is not an option. All it does is ruin both, eventually.

Email sent containing scanned image of 1993 catalogue :-)

(i don't even know what I have here, found the catalogue while looking for a cable)

Oh, RS apologise repeatedly in a perfectly worded scripted message.............

One of the bits of work I've done is prototyping for the automotive industry, ABS braking sub components and alike. I just said to RS, "if I don't have it then I can't spec it."

Like I'm going to c*ck up a project and put RS on the list of suppliers.

Mostly I just go direct to suppliers, Microchip, SGT, Maxim etc. etc. The stuff always arrives by Royal Mail about a week later, some of it comes from Asia!!! It always arrives though, funny that init!

Stuff from Hong Kong gets here faster than using DHL. :-(

I got the impression that from day 1 they intended to get people hooked with their free access to data sheets, then start charging for it. Maybe I was mistaken...

Bob

I consider spammers to be evil.

It's perfectly reasonable to require reading ads in order to access their data sheets. They could require joining an email list (for ads) as long as the opt-out works and as long as they are up-front about what the deal is. The magic word is informed consent. They would have to specify something about how many and what type of ads they were going to send.

It's not reasonble to sell/trade the email addresses they collect. There is basically no way to opt-out from a system like that. It is reasonable for them to forward ads for other people, again, they have to be up front about how many/often and how big.

In theory, it might be reasonable (as in "informed consent") to require an email address that will get sold, but I can't see how to do that in practice. It would require that people sign up with a disposable address. Would the advertisers accept their end of that?