"cdb" said: > Got to admit I have never had any problems with Maplin even with > international post. > I do think though, their electronic component offerings have gone > drastically downhill since they changed hands. Same here :-( Here's an example of a short conversation between me and one of their staff: "Do you have any PIC16F874s in stock?" "#12.75" "OK, one please" (I was in a hurry) "Sorry sir, out of stock. I could order you one, it might take a few weeks though, the warehouse have run out too" *!!!* In the end I ordered a pair of F874s from Crownhill. The chips came in two days via 1st Class Recorded. And the final bit of icing on the cake - I ordered a 74LS-somethingorother. Went to pick it up and the thing had all its legs, bar one (which had broken off) bent under the package. Their response: "Can't you bend the pins back out again?". My response was "No, because one of them is missing". In the end I ordered a load of stuff from Farnell and added the logic chip to the order. It arrived in one piece in a plastic ESD-proof package inside a black ESD bag. Now, if only they could sort out their perpetual lack of IC sockets... Later. -- Phil. philpem@dsl.pipex.com http://www.philpem.dsl.pipex.com/ -- http://www.piclist.com hint: The PICList is archived three different ways. See http://www.piclist.com/#archives for details.