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Old 06-26-2014, 05:44 PM   #181
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I have been buying from eBay, and these small mom-and-pop vendors often ship the same day if you place an order early in the morning. Digikey, an electronic part vendor, has that as a policy.
Maybe a bit OT, but I need to check out DigiKey sometimes. I order most of my parts from Mouser, who have done alright by me so far (though they often wait until the next day to ship). I did learn my lesson when I bought a batch of cheap LM386's from overseas (China, I think). I just had to replace one, as the audio from it had a "scratchy rumble". I am used to hiss from LM386's, but not anything else. I replaced it with a genuine part manufactured by National Semiconductor, and my new radio now works like a charm.

My friend had a similar experience with some cheap TDA7052's he also bought from eBay.

No more cheap eBay chips for me!
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Old 06-26-2014, 05:44 PM   #182
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I am not happy with Amazon!

Placed an order with them early on Tues. Received an email that the order got shipped today. I had hoped to get it before the weekend, so that I can take it with me back to the boonies home to do some work. And this is not the 1st time for me that the order is not shipped until the 3rd day. Definitely not happy!

I have been buying from eBay, and these small mom-and-pop vendors often ship the same day if you place an order early in the morning. Digikey, an electronic part vendor, has that as a policy.
On a number of occasions an Amazon item I've ordered did not ship until the following day (actually the following night), even if I ordered it early in the day. The item was shipped from one of the Texas Amazon warehouse locations and arrived the following day, resulting in the promised two day Prime delivery.
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Old 06-26-2014, 06:25 PM   #183
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No more cheap eBay chips for me!
Come to think of it, I have not bought any ICs from China through eBay, but suspect there might be a few rejects that are resold instead of discarded.

I have bought LED modules, digital panel meters, and passive components like alligator test cords, meter test leads, BNC, TNC, N connectors and adapters, etc..., and have been happy with the products.

Recently, bought some chargers and cables for iPhone, and had a bad cord. Vendor sent a replacement promptly.

And while we are talking electronics, I have bought surplus electronic hobby items from the following vendors: BGMicro, All Electronics, and Electronic Goldmine. Their odds and ends can be a real bargain, if they happen to be what you need.
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Old 06-26-2014, 06:58 PM   #184
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Come to think of it, I have not bought any ICs from China through eBay, but suspect there might be a few rejects that are resold instead of discarded.
I think that is what was going on in the cases I quoted. They were very cheap, even for parts from China and in retrospect, this should have set off an alarm bell. There is of course, a lot of quality product that comes from China but, as with products from anywhere, a certain amount of caveat emptor is to be recommended, and when something is too cheap, there is often a reason.

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And while we are talking electronics, I have bought surplus electronic hobby items from the following vendors: BGMicro, All Electronics, and Electronic Goldmine. Their odds and ends can be a real bargain, if they happen to be what you need.
I used to live close to an All Electronics location in Los Angeles. That was a treat having their store close by!
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Old 06-27-2014, 05:47 AM   #185
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I would be upset too if something didn't ship until the 3rd day, after paying for Prime. Sometimes third party Amazon sellers take a long time to ship things, though, I agree.
I'm a bit disappointed in the shipping time for these framing mat boards that I ordered last Sunday. While I do have Prime this was not a Prime-qualified item. They're expected to arrive Monday, a day over a week later.

BTW, what pushed me over the edge on paying for Prime was the streaming video. Last night I watched Hansel and Gretel, a bit of a not-awful-but-a-little-weird movie about what happens to them when they grow up. They become professional witch-hunters. It helps if you have a couple glasses of wine with the movie. There are better movies available.
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Old 06-27-2014, 08:42 AM   #186
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We signed on for Prime just before last Christmas to take advantage of the free shipping for gifts we buy. Not only was it time saving (no trips to the crowded stores or the dreaded mall), but it made the whole gift buying business much less of a mess. Just what we saved in fuel for those store trips probably paid for 1/2 the membership cost.

Another benefit is that you can add three additional relatives to the membership. We added two of the kids and DW, since she has her own Amazon account. So now 4 of us can take advantage of Prime. Prime has to be a "loss leader" for Amazon as I can't see how they can make money on it as a stand alone service.
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Old 06-27-2014, 08:50 AM   #187
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I'm a bit disappointed in the shipping time for these framing mat boards that I ordered last Sunday. While I do have Prime this was not a Prime-qualified item. They're expected to arrive Monday, a day over a week later.

BTW, what pushed me over the edge on paying for Prime was the streaming video. Last night I watched Hansel and Gretel, a bit of a not-awful-but-a-little-weird movie about what happens to them when they grow up. They become professional witch-hunters. It helps if you have a couple glasses of wine with the movie. There are better movies available.
Waiting for over a week is annoying to me. When I have a choice, I will choose the Prime-eligible item but sometimes there just isn't a good Prime eligible choice.

I didn't watch anything on TV last night. I probably should have streamed something on Prime, but to be honest, I just didn't think of it. I have never watched anything all the way through from Prime streaming video. Instead, last night I was happily multitasking (5 podcasts one after the other, two video games that I was playing simultaneously, the forum, and my spreadsheet). A not-so-good movie would have been a great idea because it might have sent me to bed a little earlier.

Looking forward to delivery of my hangers this afternoon. They are coming by USPS. I wish Amazon would use UPS always instead of USPS, because UPS has much better tracking. All I know is that my package is on time and has left the seller facility.

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Another benefit is that you can add three additional relatives to the membership. We added two of the kids and DW, since she has her own Amazon account. So now 4 of us can take advantage of Prime.
I didn't know that! I don't have many relatives but I'll check it out. Maybe I can persuade them to consider Frank as a relative somehow. He would enjoy getting Prime for free, I'm sure.

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Prime has to be a "loss leader" for Amazon as I can't see how they can make money on it as a stand alone service.
No doubt about it! Even with bulk rates, I don't see how they can ship items in two days for nothing. And then there's the video and audio. Probably they are trying to get us hooked, and the prices will skyrocket sometime later on. But meanwhile I am getting a big kick out of it.
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Old 06-27-2014, 09:11 AM   #188
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I thought sharing membership had to be in the same household??
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Old 06-27-2014, 09:17 AM   #189
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I thought sharing membership had to be in the same household??
Oh well! I'll put that idea aside, then. Thanks.
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Old 06-27-2014, 09:38 AM   #190
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Looking forward to delivery of my hangers this afternoon. They are coming by USPS. I wish Amazon would use UPS always instead of USPS, because UPS has much better tracking. All I know is that my package is on time and has left the seller facility.
Tracking the arrival of $3 clothes hangers. What will you do all day, indeed.

(said the guy checking the arrival times of his 4 cases of cat food and nut mix - those are two separate items from two separate vendors FYI)
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Old 06-27-2014, 09:42 AM   #191
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Tracking the arrival of $3 clothes hangers. What will you do all day, indeed.

(said the guy checking the arrival times of his 4 cases of cat food and nut mix - those are two separate items from two separate vendors FYI)
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Old 06-27-2014, 09:43 AM   #192
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As I buy quite often on eBay from Chinese vendors and they ship perhaps by slow boats, 2 or 3-week delivery time is common and I am used to it.

However, domestic eBay sellers tend to be very prompt, hence my dissatisfaction with Amazon processing time. Even the Chinese vendors acknowledge and process the order the next day, and one cannot blame the slow transit time on them.


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(said the guy checking the arrival times of his 4 cases of cat food and nut mix - those are two separate items from two separate vendors FYI)
Good to know. Some might wonder if some cats would eat nuts.
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Old 06-27-2014, 09:46 AM   #193
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(said the guy checking the arrival times of his 4 cases of cat food and nut mix...)
How's that retirement budget working out for you?

At least you can still afford to liven up your meals with nuts, so I suppose things could be worse.
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Old 06-27-2014, 09:55 AM   #194
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How's that retirement budget working out for you?

At least you can still afford to liven up your meals with nuts, so I suppose things could be worse.
Captain's Choice Dinner not good enough for you? The label says it's "real* pâté".

Nuts ate a nice crunchiness to the otherwise mushy pâté.
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Old 06-27-2014, 10:02 AM   #195
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Crunchiness in pâté... Interesting, but I guess one has to serve it right away or the nuts get soft.

People have used pistachios in terrine, but I do not know if they use nuts. Besides, the nuts get soft as mentioned.

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Old 06-27-2014, 10:07 AM   #196
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Kung Pao Captain's Choice?
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Old 06-27-2014, 10:30 AM   #197
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Yuck. I feel sorry for Kung Pao and the Captain.
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Old 06-27-2014, 11:10 AM   #198
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I thought sharing membership had to be in the same household??
Really? ours is shared between three different locations. All they asked for was family member name, relationship, e-mail address and birthday (birthday optional).
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Old 06-27-2014, 11:30 AM   #199
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Prime sharable within same household
Old 06-27-2014, 01:03 PM   #200
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Prime sharable within same household

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Really? ours is shared between three different locations. All they asked for was family member name, relationship, e-mail address and birthday (birthday optional).
Accounts are sharable between members of the same "household". I guess it depends on how you interpret "household". To me it would mean the same address.
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