Re: "untested" PCBs...

>I had a question regarding an eBay seller "krazykatt1". It is appropriate
>to this forum because this seller deals a lot with Vector boards. It seems
>that "tested" and "untested" boards of the exact same time are sold
>side-by-side. But I've never seen any "defective" boards listed.

That should probably clue you in. It does seem very unlikely that she (Jan
does the selling; her husband tests the boards) could be selling tested and
untested side by side. Either "untested" is a euphemism for "non-working"
or "tested" means "tested a long time ago and pulled from the tested box".
Either way, you are running a risk.

>I'm wanting to tap into the experience of others who have dealt with this
>dealer and purchased an "untested" board to find out what the hit-and-miss
>ratio of working to non-working boards are. Does anyone have an experience
>they can share?

I have bought several items from her. "Untested" definitely means
non-working in my experience (I'm 0 for 5). Unfortunately, "tested"
sometimes means that as well. :-( I bought two "tested/working" Tempest
boards from her. One flat out didn't work when I received it. I attribute
this to a very poor packing job (multiple boards jammed into a box together
with no padding resulting in one of the video pots snapping off). The other
mostly worked until I tried changing its dip switch settings and discovered
that the dip switch was bad. In her defense, she mailed me a replacement
dip switch (which I haven't gotten around to soldering into place yet) and
offered to send a replacement pot as well. I know other folks who have had
better luck and received 100% working Tempest and Space Duel boards from
her. I have also purchased several non-PCB items from her and been very
happy with all of them. If you buy any PCBs, you would be well advised to
pay extra for insurance to avoid "damage caused by shipping".

I will also say that Jan seems to be a nice person. I just think she and
her husband should be a bit more careful with their item descriptions and
packaging. "Tested/working" should mean "tested and burned in right before
we ship". "Untested" boards should be listed as "non-working/complete" if
that is in fact what they are. I do consider her to be honest, and she does
seem willing to help a bit with items that don't quite meet expectations.
Your mileage may vary.

-Eric
Received on Sun Nov 28 21:53:56 1999