Art of Electronics, 3rd edition, free 109-page chapter

Just so you know, that was my first loan ever made and it was to establish credit with.

It was a 27% APR ITT loan.

And no... back then... that much cash was a lot and the loan was easy to pay. With VCRs at $400 each and tapes which degrade, I thought my Laser Disc decision was a good one. My eyes and fellow movie watchers sure liked it better.

More recently, I have made $1500 cash purchases for frivilous luxury items, and usually do for most of my gadgetry family now.

So, just my opinion, if all you can do to rail against my post is make a stupid remark about cash purchases, when the buying power of the dollar was greater then, but the number of dollars was less, you ain't puttin' up much of an argument about what is or is not worth fixing after two decades of use.

If it's simply new caps that can do the job, it may well be worth the time. A new mobo often forces a new install of Windows and all your programs. That's a serious pain.

--
 Thanks, 
    - Win

What I saw is you calling everyone that has ever repaired a computer as having a sad life (a little over the top huh) acting like money is no object (cause your rich and your time is worth way more than a the cost of a computer). And then I read you borrowed $1200 for a Laser Player, at 27% yet. When I first established credit (early 80's) I borrowed $1000, but used money in the bank as collateral for the loan. I don't recall the rate now, but it was low. Enjoy, Mikek

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No I am not rich. But a cheap sub 100 dolar mobo is a lame thing to fix. MAYBE if it gets up around $200 or more... maybe then.

Yeah, that's what a kid fresh out of high school does to establish credit, idiot.

High APR loans were the norm then for first time folks, and still are in places like "rent to own" stores, but it is those same places young folks get their credit lines started in.

You and your $1000 loan is a lame example because you backed it 100% with a bank balance as collateral.

That is an example of how it was NOT typically done by folks with less, so it is YOU who likely was more "rich" than I at the time.

Rent to own is just plain stupid. Go without, save your money for a year, then never go into debt again (House exception). When I did VCR repair, I'd get Rent-to-own VCR's for warranty repair, the receipts showed people paying just over $1,000 for a $239 VCR.

They say that over half the population can't round up $1,000. That is sad.

A four years dated, but we are still in the Obama economy, I don;t think it has got any better.

But it showed up on my credit rating as a paid off loan, it didn't say anything about the collateral. I will admit though 30 years later I don't know what my credit score would be, all my normal bills are paid on time, but I haven't borrowed any money for at least 23 years, other than using a credit card. Recently Wells Fargo had a deal to get a free credit score, I signed up and when I called to get it, they said I'd need to do it by mail, I'm sure there wasn't enough data for them to work with.

Far from rich, but we lived on less than we earned, that has great rewards if you do it for 30 years.

Mikek

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I've borrowed money for less than that but at 0% interest. Paying

the Italian guy with the crooked nose.

And a new CPU (3-4 times as much as the mobo) and memory (almost as much as the mobo).

And if it's a Dell the case won't fit a standard mobo, so you need a whole system and OS.

I just wish they'd make hotter irons now that solder has a higher melting point. That makes no sense. It takes 2 irons heating the hole from both sides.

Yes, that's the best way to build credit though many live perfectly well under the radar of the reporting agencies.

If you have a credit card, you will have a FICO score. If you have had any credit in the past 7 years you will have a record in the reporting companies and therefore a score. AIUI, 60% of the score is the ratio of the balance on all cards (the monthly usage counts as a "balance") divided by the total credit lines. Something like 30% is your payment history.

We just got a letter that my AmEx interest rate was *increased* to

12.99% because, among other reasons given, my FICO score was 839 out of 850. I was thinking of calling to bitch but I've never had a balance on the card and I have no idea what it was before. ;-)

That's the bottom line.

it is amazing that electrics stores etc. manage to sell people loans at ~27% when the general interest rate is near zero at the moment

-Lasse

You need a Metcal.

Have you checked credit card interest rates lately? 29% isn't unusual, yet people have thousands of dollars racked up on them.

For through-hole desoldering, look for a Hakko 808. They're awesome.

-- john, KE5FX

Den tirsdag den 10. marts 2015 kl. 00.20.03 UTC+1 skrev snipped-for-privacy@zzz.com:

and that is at a time where here the national bank has a negative rate -0.75% and the latest auction on a 1 year loan in your house ended at 0.11%

wonder what the rate would be if the rates were more "normal"

-Lasse

Probably not much more. "What the market will bear", and all that.

There is a trick.

You pre-heat the mobo, similar to ramping up on the reflow oven.

So, you take a heat gun (not full blast), and you preheat the board.

you can also use an oven.

The idea is that your pre-heated mobo is no longer the HUGE heat sink that it was, and the offset being smaller, it is easy to make a solder joint.

It ain't the tip temp, it is the sinking capacity of the solder joint location.

29% *is* unusual if you have decent credit. But credit card rates are *much* higher than any collateralized credit.

--

Rick

I have a 120W iron for the Weller that works pretty well, too. The Weller WX2 beats the hell out of Metcals.

Dunno, we have both, best for different tasks. Weller is adjustable, very useful, but Metcal sticks the tip's temperature better, at its specified fixed value.

Here's a desoldering part-removal tip: add Indium solder. Very low melting point lets you quickly scavenge all the solder from the joint, remove the part, and clear the hole. We get ours from Zephyrtronics. Watch their great video.

--
 Thanks, 
    - Win

I gave the Metcal away the first time I used the WX2. The pencils and tweezers are *much* better and the tips are easier and faster to change.

Nice! I will keep that in mind. Thank you.