In a UK national newspaper today, about 80 USD, emphasis on the XS of XS8303
Charles Arthur Thursday May 31, 2007 The Guardian
Strictly speaking, it should be ?61.31 (£41.51), which will buy you one - count it, one - screw that will hold your valuable Sony XS8303 loudspeaker together. Actually, you'll need four of them, as the picture clearly shows.
So, will you be paying by cash or credit card, sir or madam? Do you carry that much cash around with you?
The discovery of this pricey fixing, verifiable through Sony's parts database, unveils the strange world of spare parts, where things that you would expect to cost about £1 for a dozen instead cost a dozen pounds each.
What on earth could it be made of? "The crushed souls of Sony gamers," suggested one wag on the quartertothree.com forums. "Plutonium," ventured another. "Unobtanium," said yet another.
We did call Sony to find out the secret of fixings that cost as much as a meal in a London restaurant (including wine). Alas, its people were in Unobtanium too.
Still, if you feel excited about that screw, and you've got an XS8303 (or perhaps two - speakers often come in pairs), then you can get your very own manual for them online. Just drop by Manuals Paradise and you can download the PDF - for just $19.50 (£9.80).
Those screws are looking a bit cheaper already, aren't they?
-- Diverse Devices, Southampton, England electronic hints and repair briefs , schematics/manuals list on