From: Frank Gruendel (fg2_at_pda-soft.de)
Date: Sat Oct 09 2004 - 14:23:58 PDT
Hi gang,
Russ Bravo and myself have bought a batch of memory cards that we would like
to offer to NewtonTalkers. This the only type of card that the seller Oliver
mentioned yesterday offers that will work in the Newton. Since this seller
doesn't ship abroad, we think this might be interesting for some of you.
Following is our attempt to answer the questions we think you are likely to
ask:
Q: What size in Megabytes?
A: They are 20 MB cards
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Q: Are they new?
A: No. They are used. Of course I have asked where
they come from, and the seller assured me they were
not used in routers. They were used in medical
instruments. He mentioned cardiac pacemakers.
If this is true, these cards have probably not
seen many write cycles.
------------------------------------------
Q: How can I pay?
A: PayPal or wire transfer. If you use PayPal,
you will need to add 3.9% to the total price
because this is what PayPal will charge us. Sending
cash at your own risk is OK, too. I can't take
money orders because they are ridiculously
expensive to cash in Germany. Not sure if Russ
can accept them at the moment.
------------------------------------------
Q: Is there a warranty?
A: This is up to you. Since these cards are
used, both Russ and me offer a one month
money-back-no-questions-asked warranty.
You would not get the shipping cost back, though.
------------------------------------------
Q: Will the cards be cheaper without this warranty?
A: Yes.
------------------------------------------
Q: Is there a legal backing for the warranty
you offer?
A: No. I am not a company. Neither is Russ.
But I don't think you need to consider legal
issues when dealing with us. Vain as I am,
I hope that most of you have noticed by now that
dealing with me is fairly risk-free. You might
not know Russ since he doesn't post very
often to the list, but from personal experience
let me assure you that he is a pleasure to deal with.
------------------------------------------
Q: Talking of shipping: How much is it?
A: Only what we pay at our post offices.
If you buy from me, this means
Germany:
1.44 Euros (no insurance, your risk)
5.29 Euros (insured)
Europe:
2.50 Euros (no insurance, your risk)
6.35 Euros (insured)
World (air mail):
4.00 Euros (no insurance, your risk)
7.85 Euros (insured)
Not surprisingly, Russ prefers being paid in
GB, so if you buy from him, shipping will set
you back
United Kingdom:
GB 1.00 (no insurance, your risk)
GB 2.50 (insured)
Europe:
GB 3.00 (no insurance, your risk)
GB 4.00 (insured)
World:
GB 5.00 (insured).
Russ will not send internationally
without insurance.
You are of course welcome to send these amounts
in USD or another currency when using PayPal or
wire transfer.
------------------------------------------
Q: Are you interested in a trade?
A: But of course we are. Make an offer!
------------------------------------------
Q: Will the card work in my eMate?
A: Yes, but you won't be able to write to it.
The eMate will mount it read-only.
------------------------------------------
Q: Will the card work in my Newton?
A: Yes. Russ and me offer testing each card
in as many Newton models as you want, so you
can be sure the cards will work in these machines
before we send them. The test will include
formatting the card, loading a large package or
a small package onto it (depending on your Newton
model, OS1.x models have a problem with large
packages) and ensuring that said package can be opened.
Since this is a very time-consuming thing to do,
we would ask buyers not to have us test every card
in every Newton model there is, but only in those
models the cards will definitely be used in.
------------------------------------------
Q: Will untested cards be cheaper?
A: Yes.
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Q: Are there discounts available?
A: Yes. For each 5 Euros (or USD) donated to
NewtonTalk or the Worldwide Newton Association
you will get a 3 Euro discount for one card.
You are, of course, encouraged and welcome to
donate more. NewtonTalk donations:
http://www.newtontalk.net/donations/
WNA donations: No idea at this point. Doesn't
seem to be possible yet. Paul Guyot, could you
please chime in and maybe add a Donate
button to the WNA web site?
------------------------------------------
Q: Can I get a card for free?
A: Yes. Until further notice new members of
the Worldwide Newton Association (WNA) will
get a free card when they provide proof of
membership fee payment. Sorry, only NEW members
are eligible for a free card. Be aware that
becoming a WNA member has another benefit. This
is the only way to get the WWNC DVD with all the
presentations and photos.
------------------------------------------
Q: Who should I buy from?
A: If you live in Germany, you should buy
from me since shipping will be cheaper and, in
the unlikely case that one is required, there
would be less hassle with a warranty case.
Likewise, if you live in the UK, Russ is the man
you should get in touch with. If you live anywhere
else, it doesn't really matter. Throw dice, or
just buy from whoever you feel more comfortable with.
There won't be any noticeable difference.
------------------------------------------
Q: If I buy a card, how long will it take until
I have it?
A: This will depend on the amount of orders we
get and to a certain degree on the shipping type
you choose. Neither me nor Russ are mailing houses,
and everything that has the word "Newton" in it
isn't part of the job that pays the rent and hence
has lower priority. If we are swamped with offers,
which I don't really expect, we will process orders
as quickly as we're able, but list members are expected
to be patient. Testing each card in the Newton models
of your choice, packing and sending them will require
some time, and said time will be between midnight and
4am at least as far as I am concerned. No, this is not
a problem for me. Fortunately I usually manage to catch
a few hours of sleep at the end of every other month.
Shipping stuff inside Europe usually takes between
a day and 10 days. For worldwide shipping it
depends on where you live. The shortest I had for air
mail so far was two days to the US of A. The longest
I had for surface mail was about three months to
Australia (unfortunately that was a Christmas present,
it arrived around Easter...).
------------------------------------------
Q: How the f*ck much are these cards, after all?
A: Cards tested in your Newton models that come with
the warranty are 15 Euros or 12 Euros if you provide
proof that you donated to NewtonTalk or the WNA. Cards
sent untested und without warranty (just taken from
the pile, stuffed into an envelope and sent) will
set you back 9 Euros and can't be discounted by
a donation.
------------------------------------------
Q: How much was that in USD again?
A: With today's exchange rate about
18.6 / 14.9 / 11.2 USD
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Q: Considering these cards are cheaper at
eBay right now, aren't you ashamed to make almost six
bucks on an untested card?
A: No. For one, we cut this deal BEFORE these cards
showed up at eBay, and when asking his price
(which we paid) the seller conveniently omitted to
inform us that after the deal was cut a large amount
of the same cards would show up for less at eBay.
Apart from that, my
admittedly very personal opinion is that taking the
risk of this being a big loss deserves the few bucks
we will make on an untested card after deducting
everything we won't charge for (packing material,
driving to the post office and back, ...)
As for the profit on a tested card with warranty, well,
these days the kids at McDonald's probably make
twice as much in half the time we'll spend on this.
------------------------------------------
Q: Would you at least like one of these baseball
caps for all the time and work you have spent
and will continue spending on this?
A: Well, if one of you has one he won't need,
I will gladly pay for shipping. So would Russ, I'm
sure...
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Q: May I answer this post by replying to the list?
A: Sure. Provided you don't mind hard objects
moving at an alarming speed towards body parts
you'd rather keep intact.
If you are interested in a purchase, please
reply to Russ or myself. If you just want to comment
or praise or condemn or whatever, by all means
post to the list, but please delete quoted text
passages that you don't comment on before you click
on the "Send" button.
Russ' eMail address, by the way, is
russbravo AT lineone DOT net
Cheers
Frank
-- Newton Software and Hardware at http://www.pda-soft.de
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