On Thu, 15 Nov 2007 22:43:28 -0800 (PST), alan smith wrote:
> Interesting.
>
> I don't work for the biggest company, sales are only
> say...hmmm.....actually I don't know what they are!
>
> BUT....there have been very few companies that haven't offered support.
> I've gotten very decent support from TI, freescale, Mchip, Onsemi, but I
> always start with the reps and they take and run with it first because
> they have the contacts that aren't normally given.
>
> Guess its the fact that I treat the reps decent as well, so the favors
> are returned.

Same experience here. I do quite a bit of design work with TI MSP430s,
general analog stuff, power management and battery chargers and I've always
gone through my local sales rep first. He usually can get me a direct
contact with a TI factory guy and once I've got that the communication and
information is excellent.

About a year ago I had a strange requirement for a Li-Ion battery charger
and they put me in touch with the head of the power management group and
the guy who actually designed the chips I was using. Within the day I had
lots of good suggestions from them and sample schematics.

But I do agree, going through their Product Information Center (PIC) seems
to be hit and miss. I think with *any* of these large companies (including
Microchip) the key to getting good support is getting past their generic
help system and communicating with an actual support person.

Matt Pobursky
Maximum Performance Systems


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