Randy Glenn wrote: > On 5/25/07, Rolf wrote: > >> P.S. Microchip has evicted me from their sampling program... I signed up >> years ago and listed "hobbyist" as my company, tried to be honest, etc. >> I got samples about 4 times, but now, when I try, I get the "Dear John" >> rejection page. Anyone else the same? I have (starting from even before >> I got my first samples) routinely been buying PIC's, and only sampling >> occasionally... I have bought at least 4 times as many Microchip parts >> (not just PIC's) than I have sampled.... as a hobbyist that is quite a >> lot .... ;-) >> > > What email account did you sign up with? They're blocking a fair > number of domains these days (mostly free email providers, like GMail > and Hotmail). > > Same address as used on this list.... @rogers.com Ahhh well, I sampled enough to get hooked. I purchased an ICD2 (the genuine puck) through Digikey, bought a bunch of chips as well, and I am now pretty much hooked on to PICs as opposed to other uChips. Just sucks that the sampling option is gone.... Funny thing, is that as a hobbyist (mid thirties, family, settled, getting conservative, etc....), I am mostly happy to pay for the parts I use (cheaper than movie tickets...), expensive or not. I can tell you that samples I have received from Allegro and Microchip have ensured that I always look to their products first.... but, now that respect for Microchip is a little diluted, and I feel a bit peeved, even though I fully understand ..... and even though, when I signed up, I knew I was the wrong side of the line.... just sucks to have something good taken away. Funny, the worst part of this is situation is psychologically complex: one part of me says fine, that's just fair (can;t expect Microchip to fund my hobby). The other part of me thinks my brother (lives a few minutes away), who runs his own company that has a technology (though not electronics) bent, will happily receive packages on my behalf.... and I could sample a lot more than before ..... and the internal morals/principles/ethical debate is the real irritating part, not the lack of sampling...! Reality is that my MicroChip sampling days are over though.... Rolf -- http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive View/change your membership options at http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist