I plead guilty to not being in the low-end computer peripherals business. Virtually all of my work has been in industrial and laboratory devices, where you are a d___ fool if you don't try to cover every possibility of "things" going wrong. Wrong plug, wrong cable, wrong medium, too much or too little light - the list goes on. The wrong medium was a bit interesting - I'm not referring to the recording medium, but a carrier for the test reaction. Pour in the wrong medium and some time later there will be a loud bang, a nasty smell and lots of small pieces of glass all over your laboratory. We were very careful about testing that one, and trying to idiot-proof it. So fat I haven't heard of one exploding, so I guess we did it right. And yes, I do know that no one repairs boards to the component level any more. I have written instruction sheets which tell the user to replace the device if the self-test fails. On the cost / price point - the scanner was $150 new. I have used it sparingly for two years, and it probably had a few more years to go. The direct cause of the damage was working too late at night and in too much of a hurry, so I can't blame them for that. Any other time I would just buy the newest, latest & greatest replacement, but this is not a good time for it. Anyway, though I have no real right to feel disappointed, I am. RJG > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Herbert Graf" > To: "Microcontroller discussion list - Public." > Sent: Thursday, May 12, 2005 10:21 AM > Subject: Re: [EE]: looking for schematics or other info on > Microtek4900scanner > > > > On Thu, 2005-05-12 at 08:47 -0400, Roy J. Gromlich wrote: > > > I suppose I didn't expect much help from them, but their attitude has > > > been go away & don't bother us. Quite a shame, really, because they > > > make a great product. However, I could never recommend them to > > > anyone after this. > > > > Well then you won't be recommending ANY company that sells electronics > > these days, because pretty much every single one of them will behave in > > the exact same way. > > > > Nobody "repairs" electronics anymore, at the lowest levels whole boards > > are replaced, with many items replacing the item is the way to go. This > > is a fact of life. > > > > > As for releasing schematics, I have never really understood the issue. > > > In the case of a scanner, most of the complexity and cost is likely to > > > be in the optical hardware, and ultimately the firmware controlling the > > > hardware. If I wanted to clone the scanner it would take me longer, > > > and cost a lot more, to duplicate the optical hardware & the firmware > > > than to simply copy the circuit board. > > > > Releasing the schematic MAY give away some "secret" a competitor might > > use. No matter HOW remote this possibility is, this is what causes > > companies to just say no. > > > > And it's not just schematics. Getting specs out of manufacturers for > > writing your own OS drivers has been EXTREMELY difficult. It's only > > lately that some manufacturers are either opening up or developing > > drivers of OSs other then wincrap. > > > > > Let this be a warning to designers - don't rely on an external plug-in > > > regulated supply alone to protect your hardware. Especially when using > > > a standard plug & jack pair as would be found on any unregulated wall > > > wart. Had this scanner had a voltage regulator on the main board, or a > > > different type of power plug to the regulated supply, it would not have > > > mattered if the wrong wall-wart was plugged into it. The regulator might > > > have gotten hot and gone into thermal shut-down, or maybe popped a fuse. > > > > Obviously you have never been a manufacturer in the market of computer > > peripherals. Computer peripheral margins for most areas are EXTREMELY > > thin (there are of course exceptions). Yes, the extra $0.50 for a > > regulator and associated components is often enough to cause a maker to > > decide not to manufacture a product. > > > > Also, you forget, that plugging in the wrong adaptor is NOT something > > covered by warranty, and since it's something you did to the product > > it's not something you can blame the product for. The average person > > will not even enquire as to how much it would cost to fix it (since they > > know it would be more then a new item) and will simply go out and buy > > the latest and greatest, which rewards the manufacturer for not putting > > in the regulator to begin with. > > > > TTYL > > > > ----------------------------- > > Herbert's PIC Stuff: > > http://repatch.dyndns.org:8383/pic_stuff/ > > > > -- > > http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive > > View/change your membership options at > > http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist > > -- http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive View/change your membership options at http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist