Philip Pemberton wrote:
> On 22/10/10 17:53, Mike Harrison wrote:
>  =20
>> Pity Digikey are generally so much more expensive than Mouser and Farnel=
l these days....
>>    =20
>
> Though they're still (usually) more competitive than Farnell, especially=
=20
> for things like FPGAs... Only thing I can't stand is the Spanish=20
> Inquisition you get when you try to order something to be sent to the UK.
>
> "What are you making?"
>    "A data acquisition unit."
> "What's it for?"
>    "Reads a voltage at a predetermined interval and feeds it to a PC."
> "Does it have any nuclear applications?"
>    "If it does, I'm not aware of any."
> "Any weapons applications?"
>    "I suppose you could throw it at someone. Though the DigiKey=20
> catalogue would likely do more damage."
> "Are you sure?"
>    "Well, I designed it, so I'm pretty sure, yeah."
> "Well, OK then...."
>
> Mouser are much more approachable :)
> "Here's a list of the stuff I want, complete with credit card details."
> "OK, you'll have your stuff in a few days. The VAT has been added and=20
> prepaid on our end."
>
> Did I mention how much I love UPS? Won't take a cheque, insist on cash,=20
> and EXACT CHANGE ONLY. Plus AIUI there's no way to find out how much the=
=20
> customs duties are on an item until the Brown Van Man turns up...
>
> (Fedex's "send an invoice a few days later" method is much easier to=20
> deal with, at least I can pay those with a BACS transfer!)
>  =20
Note that if you place your order in US dollars digikey give you the=20
choice of UPS or fedex. Downside is of course it's harder to predict how=20
much the order will cost.

In future designs I will be making a concerted effort to avoid any=20
digikey only parts wherever possible. Dealing with them is just too=20
painful (made worse by bad interactions between the behaviour of UPS and=20
the university beuracracy and by emails seeming to go missing between us=20
and them all to often).
--=20
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