[NTLK] I'm new to Newton emate purchased on ebay (Cosmo Kain)

[Forrest]

On Sep 01, 2010, at 06:13 AM, Cosmo Kain <cosmokain at yahoo.com.au> wrote:

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I am starting to hate ebay very much and I think the whole thing is a very big mistake and waist of money - the emate was $130 AUD the 4mb PCMCIA card was $43.00 and the 4mb upgrade ram was $31.00 

I don't like people with bad communication skills it's annoying!
 

Cosmo:

Okay...deep breaths...calm down.

First off, don't go hating eBay because of this bad experience...that's like saying "I hate all red cars because a red car hit my dog!" While this could've been handled better, there's nothing you can do now. Handwringing and wishing you'd done things differently is of little help at this point...it's done, learn from the experience and move on. There's no point in regrets.

As for the eMate, I'm confident that even if the hinge wasn't properly repaired you'll be fine. The NewtonTalk list is here to be a help to you...while admittedly I don't have an eMate, it doesn't look like it's very hard to get at and fix...but to get all worked up until you've actually seen the unit you're getting seems to be a great waste of energy and time. You have great resources and assistance here, so try and be positive.

There are several good things to learn and take away from this experience:

1) Try not to purchase an item that's so far away! While you're not exactly in the center of the world, there have to be eMates closer to you than this one. It's costing you a bundle of cash just to get it there!
2) Ask questions BEFORE YOU BID! I'm guilty of this one myself, and more than once. That's the only real leverage you have, because afterwards you could find yourself stuck with someone who suddenly becomes uncooperative.
3) DO RESEARCH! Find out about eMates--what could go wrong with them, what to look out for. Again, the NewtonList is a good place to ask questions.

Meanwhile, take the time while you wait for its arrival to read all you can about it...study the pictures until you're comfortable with disassembly (since it appears that you're going to have to take it apart to see if any repair attempt was made), and ask questions!

Good luck!

Thanks,
--Forrest