I've only ordered from them once. It took about 2 weeks and it did come
from Thailand. I was a little nervous about a Web site from a company
with really good prices that I had never heard of. So I had a little
money in my PayPal account and used the pay pal "mastercard" to pay the
account, figuring the worst they could do would clean out my $25 PayPal
balance. What they did do is authorize the charge right after I ordered,
but then reauthorized it again when they shipped and they captured that
charge. So PayPal was "holding" about $25 in my account that they would
not let me use or cash out until a month went by. Futurlec told me they
had reversed it with their bank, but PayPal wanted a fax from them (said
PayPal). So I never really figured out if it was Futurlec or PayPal that
was the hold up.

So that is one data point and not entirely positive. I'm sure it was
just a mistake on their part since there is no benefit to authorizing
twice (in fact, if their fees are like mine it cost them money to do
that). They didn't charge the card twice, so they didn't temporarily
make any money or anything. However, it would have been nice to have it
cleared up more quickly.

So that's my total experience.

Al Williams
AWC
* Control 8 servos at once
http://www.al-williams.com/awce/pak8.htm


> -----Original Message-----
> From: pic microcontroller discussion list
> [mailto:PICLIST@MITVMA.MIT.EDU] On Behalf Of Peter Barick
> Sent: Friday, April 05, 2002 9:46 AM
> To: PICLIST@MITVMA.MIT.EDU
> Subject: Re: [PIC]: ZIF Sockets
>
>
> Al, PIC Listers,
>
> "Sl-o-o-ly I turned, step by step ..." that was my mental
> state when seeing that word, "futurlec," in this post.
>
> Now done with my soliloquy, I would like to caution when
> ordering from this firm: allow for long shipping times. In my
> case last August, I placed an online order for some ICs no
> one else seemed to have. I was happy just to see them listed
> and on a friendly Web site--plus, the price was right. But
> afer two weeks and the order did not arrive, I queried them
> via email. They would only say there was no problem and it
> would take some time. [Ha, I thought, at least they
> recognized I placed an order. I was on Base 1.] Many more
> emails of mine followed asking for some sign that I would
> receive this order. [I was in a commitment bind on a project.
> Without those critical parts, my project was bust; oddly, it
> wasn't a money issue.] Without fanfare the order arrived
> 30-days post order, post marked Thailand, I believe. That,
> then explained the extra time needed. Had I been informed
> prior to ordering, I could have adjusted to accommodate for that.
>
> Overall, yes, I am happy, I got the odd parts from Futurlec.
> Now, you decide.
>
> Caveat lector,
> Peter
> -----------------------------------------------
> >>> alw@AL-WILLIAMS.COM 04/05/02 07:55AM >>>
> Try www.futurlec.com -- Australian company that ships from
> Thailand. Kind of "gray market". If you notice the green ZIF
> sockets they are marked something like TFXTOOL (instead of
> TEXTOOL). But they work well and the price is right.
>
> The company seems OK to deal with from the US. They did
> authorize my credit card twice which caused a small problem,
> but it was eventually resolved. Even then, they didn't charge
> it twice -- just authorized it twice and charged it once.
>
> Al Williams
> AWC
> * Easy RS-232 Prototyping http://www.al-williams.com/awce/rs1.htm
>
>
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: pic microcontroller discussion list
> > [mailto:PICLIST@MITVMA.MIT.EDU] On Behalf Of Mark J. Dulcey
> > Sent: Friday, April 05, 2002 7:39 AM
> > To: PICLIST@MITVMA.MIT.EDU
> > Subject: Re: [PIC]: ZIF Sockets
> >
> >
> > Royce Simmons wrote:
> > > Hi,
> > >
> > > Anyone knpw of a source for ZIP sockets for thr F84, F628
> and F876
> > > PICs?  I checked DigiKey, Jameco and a few others but I
> > could not find
> > > anything.
> >
> > The only real tricky thing is that nobody seems to make
> narrow 28-pin
> > ZIF sockets. There are, however, the "universal" ones that
> can accept
> > both wide and narrow DIPs; they'll do just fine if you have enough
> > space on your board for them. Suitable sockets for the 876 would
> > include the Aries sockets (Digi-Key A441-ND or A442-ND; the
> latter is
> > gold-plated), or the more expensive TexTool Double DIP sockets
> > (3M2806-ND). The only option they have for an 18-pin socket is from
> > TexTool: 3M1802-ND.
> >
> > Given the expense of ZIF sockets, it might be better to
> design a more
> > clever circuit that could switch the signals to appropriate
> pins, and
> > use a single socket that could handle any size of PIC. (Most
> > commercial chip programmers use that
> > method.) The 40-pin A445-ND or A446-ND would be good
> choices for that
> > sort of design, or you could go with the 48-pin versions
> (A-447ND or
> > A-448ND) if you want to be able to handle non-PIC parts
> that come in
> > that size of socket.
> >
> > These sockets are all the kind with a big flip lever,
> typically used
> > in chip programmers and prototype boards. There are also
> lower-profile
> > ZIF sockets that are sometimes used in production hardware,
> when you
> > want to be able to easily replace the chip. None of the catalogs I
> > have list any suitable sockets of that type (18-pin or
> narrow 28-pin);
> > only wide sockets in various sizes from 24 to 40 pins seem to be
> > available. But there isn't much point to that type of socket when
> > you're using a flash programmable part; designing an ICSP interface
> > into your board is far less expensive.
> >
> > --
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> >
>
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