Aardvark Daily

Please visit the sponsor!

Still no pi for moi

Many months ago, I registered with RS Components to go on the waiting list for my Raspberry Pi.

The backlogs were, we're told, horrendous so it was going to be a strictly ordered queue of people who'd be handled on a first-come-first-served basis, hence the need to register.

Well after waiting for several months I finally got my email advising that I was now able to order my long-awaited slice of the Pi...

For delivery in 10-12 weeks or so.

So I paid my money and placed my order.

I'm still waiting for my Pi to arrive or even for notification that it has shipped.

Meanwhile, I'm told that folk are now buying their Pi's from Element14 with a delivery of just a week or two.

What the?

What on earth are RS playing at?

It seems that now the Pi is being manufactured in very large numbers, the order backlog (at least over at E14) has all but disappeared.

I couple of folk I know ordered a Pi from E14 a few weeks ago and already have them.

How come I sat in a queue for months then paid and have been waiting more than another month with no prospect of receiving mine for another couple of months -- because I was stupid enough to pre-register and buy from RS?

That's got to suck!

It's enough to put one off Pi for life ;-)

Of course it does give me plenty of time to think about what my Pi will be used for when it arrives.

I'm open to suggestions - but I do have a few projects planned (over and above the laser-based alternet I'm mulling over).

I was never a big fan of RS components in the past -- their sky-high prices were enough to make me drop their thick printed catalog every time I turned a page (back in the days when they had a printed catalog).

Element 14 on the other hand have given me reasonably good service in recent times - except they screwed me when I ordered a $4 voltage reference and was instead sent a 2N2222 transistor in a bag carrying the voltage reference's barcode. They still haven't put that right.

Maybe I'll stick with Digikey or Mouser for my parts in future -- it seems that RS and E14 both have their issues.

I'd be interested to hear from readers as to where they buy their standard and oddball components.

Most of the pretty standard stuff such as 3-terminal regulators, rectifier and small-signal diodes, resistors, etc I tend to buy from China. The more esoteric or specialised stuff I have been getting from E14 - but I don't want any more unfixed screwups so I might look further afield in future.

Ah well, time to do a little pre-pi prep while I wait -- or maybe I'll just order a Pi from E14 and it'll be here months before my "pre-ordered" one. Grrrr!

Please visit the sponsor!

Have your say on this...

PERMALINK to this column

Oh, and don't forget today's sci/tech news headlines

Rank This Aardvark Page

Change Font