It has always been my opinion that you get what you pay for or should I say this is most often the case. I have been a customer of Parallax off and on for many years. With a clean conscience and no financial reimbursement I can honestly make the following statements:
Any product that I have ever received from Parallax, has always been of the highest quality.
The support for the product they offer is almost unparalleled, with the exception of Igus Inc., which is also a great company.
Parallax makes every attempt to satisfy the needs of their customer base with respect to new products
Parallax does the best job possible to educate the public about their product and encourage the youth of the world to learn robotics, electronics, and programming.
And in my opinion, Parallax is a generous company, as far as freely giving away their products, and their unbelievable warranty policies.
With regard to the public forum they offer as a service, they are almost always patient and kind to obvious idiot (which has been me on numerous occassions)
I am very content with purchasing and using Parallax products, because of the unsurpassed quality and support that I receive for my hard earned dollars.
Oh, yeah, that was also the guy who built a stereo amplifier. He then realized he could double up the power supply as a battery charger for his motorcycle batteries. A simple switch on he front panel would turn one pair of speaker terminals from audio output for a speaker into a battery charger connection.
That was fine, ... until someone threw the switch at a party and the speaker exploded!
[*]The support for the product they offer is almost unparalleled, with the exception of Igus Inc., which is also a great company
Bruce Drummond
Novel Solutions
So I looked them up... and I found the perfect set of end bearings for my project! Thanks.
So I looked them up... and I found the perfect set of end bearings for my project! Thanks.
LOL Glad it helped. While you are poking around, take a good look at their cable chains and flex cable..... There is a lot to choose from for automation projects.
LOL Glad it helped. While you are poking around, take a good look at their cable chains and flex cable..... There is a lot to choose from for automation projects.
I think you better have your eyes checked. I am almost always a square, and on rare occassions a rectangle, but under no circumstances have I ever been a round.
Yes, this is often the case. But people living in these countries (which most often include Brazil, China, India, Argentina and most of Latin America) are fully aware of the fact that their government will assess an import fee of 100-500% on the value of the product. And these situations become complex, and sometimes you may not even receive the product if it travels by the country's domestic postal service.
I'd be happy to sell events a reduced-cost JTAGulator just to win him over to Parallax. . .as long as he sends Joe Grand a minor appreciation royalty via PayPal. Joe has to be paid for his work, no matter what we do.
Ken Gracey
He can buy the JTAGulator board from OSHPark and build it himself, for "far less" than the retail cost.
I encourage anyone who thinks an FOSS product is "too expensive" to take this approach.
I still refuse to have our business practices dictated by abusers, and although we encounter them from time to time they shall never dictate our policies.
At the rate im going, im more than making up for the abusers. I've killed over 50 props in a single week timeframe, didn't break a sweat. ... but i think I shed a tear possibly...
Nor did I or would I attempt to RMA them. I killed them ... fair and square.
For every 1 prop chip, someone kills and gets free, I kill 50 props and order 100 more. The 50 dead props land in my relic pile, some of them still twitch, ...mostly...
Kens right, see, most of our time is more valuable than 8$ it takes to order and 3 days delivery time. By the time an RMA gets back, you are 2 weeks+ later round time.
You burnt through any savings in wasted wait time.
This policy is best because it supports the hobbyist, the poor student(who killed an 8$ chip, dosen't know how, and can't afford a new one till next semester)
Really, the parallax policy covers people who were dumb with their new toys, most of us eventually learn to be more careful, and "disappear" from the RMA users list quite rapidly.
At the rate im going, im more than making up for the abusers. I've killed over 50 props in a single week timeframe, didn't break a sweat. ... but i think I shed a tear possibly...
Nor did I or would I attempt to RMA them. I killed them ... fair and square.
We should figure out what you're doing to destroy so many Propeller chips, if you don't already know.
Call our tech support and start with a question or two to David Carrier. If needed we can elevate to Jeff Martin, too, and even talk with Chip if needed.
In many ways, i'd love to see this thread just go away. The title is presumtive, negative and annoying.
On the other hand, I am alwaysam happy to see Ken Gracy jump in with a clearly open-minded stance and ready to resolve any flaw in Parallax's operations.
For someone new to Parallax, there are items that may seem excessive; and yet there are others that huge bargains. The Propeller chip at less than $10 USD is a great bargain. So is the Propeller ProtoBoard at roughly $25 USD. The Quickstart is another excellent value. Other stuff begins to offer more niche features and prices climb.
The BS2 is a rather oddity in pricing at this point... nearly $50 USD for a device that has 32 bytes of RAM. But way back when Parallax got started with the BasicStamps, nobody else was providing software for free. And even a somewhat suspect version of PIC Basic might cost you $150 if you wanted find a cheap hardware alternative.
I think that the bottom line is that Parallax has always tried to offer a greater value than their competitors. And the value has been a combined basket of hardware, software, and support.
The core items that are currently revelevant (the core of the Propeller product line) are appropriately priced. Other stuff just depends on the trade off between building yourself or wanting an item that will resolve all that for you.
Damaged Propellers? I have one with a lot of flakey i/o that I mangled. For the most part, the Propellers are difficult to kill if connect all the Vdd and Vss properly.
At the rate im going, im more than making up for the abusers. I've killed over 50 props in a single week timeframe, didn't break a sweat. ... but i think I shed a tear possibly...
Nor did I or would I attempt to RMA them. I killed them ... fair and square.
For every 1 prop chip, someone kills and gets free, I kill 50 props and order 100 more. The 50 dead props land in my relic pile, some of them still twitch, ...mostly...
Kens right, see, most of our time is more valuable than 8$ it takes to order and 3 days delivery time. By the time an RMA gets back, you are 2 weeks+ later round time.
You burnt through any savings in wasted wait time.
This policy is best because it supports the hobbyist, the poor student(who killed an 8$ chip, dosen't know how, and can't afford a new one till next semester)
Really, the parallax policy covers people who were dumb with their new toys, most of us eventually learn to be more careful, and "disappear" from the RMA users list quite rapidly.
I am very curious what you did to kill 50 props in 1 week!
I agree with Loopy on the BS2 product-line but I am guessing it must be a "cash cow" for Parallax. Parallax financials are not publically available but there must not be a lot of debt.
I don't think that the BS2 is so much of a 'cash cow' for Parallax as the reality is that there are customers that have made something with a BS2 inside and are selling their product at a profit. They re-order and keep the devices in production.
Parallax wants to make sure that enterprises that depend on them, don't have the rug pulled out from under by removing their supplier. The device is expensive to produce in California, so it retains its high price.
I've been doing my best to stay out of this thread since I got to it late and most of what I want to write has already been written it also appears that the OP has left the thread. However like others I have to ask how a person can "kill" 50 props in a single week! I've personally never damaged one and it certainly wasn't do to a lack of trying on my part!
As to the price of Parallax I have to say that when I first started using Parallax "stuff" I was amazed at how cheap their prices were! I guess it's all a matter of perspective. :-)
I don't think that the BS2 is so much of a 'cash cow' for Parallax as the reality is that there are customers that have made something with a BS2 inside and are selling their product at a profit. They re-order and keep the devices in production.
Parallax wants to make sure that enterprises that depend on them, don't have the rug pulled out from under by removing their supplier. The device is expensive to produce in California, so it retains its high price.
Yup... I have several products in the field that use BS2 chips. While $50 may seem like a lot if you're just doing a small hobby one-off, it's actually just a drop in the bucket for a large project for a paying client where total hardware winds up being less than 10% of the overall cost - and that hardware often includes several high $$ items, like 60A SSRs, etc. Development and coding is where most of the project cost comes from, and being able to design with such a friendly, reliable, robust product as the Basic Stamp makes it much more enjoyable. Plus a lot of the stuff I make - despite monitoring or controlling literally 100 or more other devices - very rarely requires more than a single processor, so an 8-core propeller would get bored!
It is with great shame, the company will buy freescale. To program in OOP and events, simply the best (P8X32). But the boss, does not want Parallax. Cuts in electronics. Developers are in the business, and have to be paid, so it cuts the rest. Aliatron sells very expensive. Congratulations, who designed the chip.
It is with great shame, the company will buy freescale. To program in OOP and events, simply the best (P8X32). But the boss, does not want Parallax. Cuts in electronics. Developers are in the business, and have to be paid, so it cuts the rest. Aliatron sells very expensive. Congratulations, who designed the chip.
Can I ask which Freescale chip your company is going with?
After I got it I found out "support" only lasted a year, after that they expected me to purchase a "support" contract. "Support" in this case meaning problem resolution, software updates, etc. I never looked at another product from them again. Not that my tiny amount of hobbyist business would have made much difference to them.
Funny thing, after almost 6 years of them ignoring me, I've started to get promotional e-mails from them again.
Sounds impossible, but I have seen, from time to time, that when engineers come up with cheap and simple solutions to problems that were said to be "impossible" by the company eventually they get their way and the old bosses are out.
I have worked with Japanese, British, German, Netherlands, Spain engineers.
But the worst are the French and the Belgians. And this time, I write code in assembler (love) for French mechanical engineers. They only see money, nothing more. When I spoke in P8x32, no problem. The problem started exactly
"Why, the parallax products are too expensive?" Undoubtedly, the Parallax, earning much money, if he could slightly adjust the price. I'm sorry, I am not the boss. But the P8X32 is a star in the sky.
I have worked with Japanese, British, German, Netherlands, Spain engineers.
But the worst are the French and the Belgians. And this time, I write code in assembler (love) for French mechanical engineers. They only see money, nothing more. When I spoke in P8x32, no problem. The problem started exactly
"Why, the parallax products are too expensive?" Undoubtedly, the Parallax, earning much money, if he could slightly adjust the price. I'm sorry, I am not the boss. But the P8X32 is a star in the sky.
In the case of the propeller my bet is that it's an expensive chip to make which translates into high per chip cost. With 8 cores each running at up to 80mhz and 32 general purpose IO pins it rates as a high end chip (well above average at least). While I sometimes wish Parallax made a low end pic type of chip they've made it clear that they're not interested in doing so.
Comments
- Any product that I have ever received from Parallax, has always been of the highest quality.
- The support for the product they offer is almost unparalleled, with the exception of Igus Inc., which is also a great company.
- Parallax makes every attempt to satisfy the needs of their customer base with respect to new products
- Parallax does the best job possible to educate the public about their product and encourage the youth of the world to learn robotics, electronics, and programming.
- And in my opinion, Parallax is a generous company, as far as freely giving away their products, and their unbelievable warranty policies.
- With regard to the public forum they offer as a service, they are almost always patient and kind to obvious idiot (which has been me on numerous occassions)
I am very content with purchasing and using Parallax products, because of the unsurpassed quality and support that I receive for my hard earned dollars.Bruce Drummond
Novel Solutions
Why do I never get invited to parties like that?
So I looked them up... and I found the perfect set of end bearings for my project! Thanks.
LOL Glad it helped. While you are poking around, take a good look at their cable chains and flex cable..... There is a lot to choose from for automation projects.
Bruce,
Good to see you're still around.
Jim
I think you better have your eyes checked. I am almost always a square, and on rare occassions a rectangle, but under no circumstances have I ever been a round.
He can buy the JTAGulator board from OSHPark and build it himself, for "far less" than the retail cost.
I encourage anyone who thinks an FOSS product is "too expensive" to take this approach.
OT. I have plans to use IGIS round cable chains for a Doc Oct costume after one day a IGIS rep was at work during lunch. .
Parallax has a Very good standing for ethics . There respect to the end user is un-paralleled by any other Micon manufacture
At the rate im going, im more than making up for the abusers. I've killed over 50 props in a single week timeframe, didn't break a sweat. ... but i think I shed a tear possibly...
Nor did I or would I attempt to RMA them. I killed them ... fair and square.
For every 1 prop chip, someone kills and gets free, I kill 50 props and order 100 more. The 50 dead props land in my relic pile, some of them still twitch, ...mostly...
Kens right, see, most of our time is more valuable than 8$ it takes to order and 3 days delivery time. By the time an RMA gets back, you are 2 weeks+ later round time.
You burnt through any savings in wasted wait time.
This policy is best because it supports the hobbyist, the poor student(who killed an 8$ chip, dosen't know how, and can't afford a new one till next semester)
Really, the parallax policy covers people who were dumb with their new toys, most of us eventually learn to be more careful, and "disappear" from the RMA users list quite rapidly.
We should figure out what you're doing to destroy so many Propeller chips, if you don't already know.
Call our tech support and start with a question or two to David Carrier. If needed we can elevate to Jeff Martin, too, and even talk with Chip if needed.
Let's reduce your mortality rate, Clock Loop!
Ken Gracey
On the other hand, I am alwaysam happy to see Ken Gracy jump in with a clearly open-minded stance and ready to resolve any flaw in Parallax's operations.
For someone new to Parallax, there are items that may seem excessive; and yet there are others that huge bargains. The Propeller chip at less than $10 USD is a great bargain. So is the Propeller ProtoBoard at roughly $25 USD. The Quickstart is another excellent value. Other stuff begins to offer more niche features and prices climb.
The BS2 is a rather oddity in pricing at this point... nearly $50 USD for a device that has 32 bytes of RAM. But way back when Parallax got started with the BasicStamps, nobody else was providing software for free. And even a somewhat suspect version of PIC Basic might cost you $150 if you wanted find a cheap hardware alternative.
I think that the bottom line is that Parallax has always tried to offer a greater value than their competitors. And the value has been a combined basket of hardware, software, and support.
The core items that are currently revelevant (the core of the Propeller product line) are appropriately priced. Other stuff just depends on the trade off between building yourself or wanting an item that will resolve all that for you.
Damaged Propellers? I have one with a lot of flakey i/o that I mangled. For the most part, the Propellers are difficult to kill if connect all the Vdd and Vss properly.
I am very curious what you did to kill 50 props in 1 week!
Parallax wants to make sure that enterprises that depend on them, don't have the rug pulled out from under by removing their supplier. The device is expensive to produce in California, so it retains its high price.
As to the price of Parallax I have to say that when I first started using Parallax "stuff" I was amazed at how cheap their prices were! I guess it's all a matter of perspective. :-)
!?! So my car was made by trolls?
Yup... I have several products in the field that use BS2 chips. While $50 may seem like a lot if you're just doing a small hobby one-off, it's actually just a drop in the bucket for a large project for a paying client where total hardware winds up being less than 10% of the overall cost - and that hardware often includes several high $$ items, like 60A SSRs, etc. Development and coding is where most of the project cost comes from, and being able to design with such a friendly, reliable, robust product as the Basic Stamp makes it much more enjoyable. Plus a lot of the stuff I make - despite monitoring or controlling literally 100 or more other devices - very rarely requires more than a single processor, so an 8-core propeller would get bored!
Are you talking about a 40pin DIP that had some surgery done to it?
Yup
http://forums.parallax.com/showthread.php/149255-P8X16A-DIP24-16xI-O-Propeller-now-working-)
Can I ask which Freescale chip your company is going with?
After I got it I found out "support" only lasted a year, after that they expected me to purchase a "support" contract. "Support" in this case meaning problem resolution, software updates, etc. I never looked at another product from them again. Not that my tiny amount of hobbyist business would have made much difference to them.
Funny thing, after almost 6 years of them ignoring me, I've started to get promotional e-mails from them again.
Find a way to fire your boss!
Sounds impossible, but I have seen, from time to time, that when engineers come up with cheap and simple solutions to problems that were said to be "impossible" by the company eventually they get their way and the old bosses are out.
But the worst are the French and the Belgians. And this time, I write code in assembler (love) for French mechanical engineers. They only see money, nothing more. When I spoke in P8x32, no problem. The problem started exactly
"Why, the parallax products are too expensive?" Undoubtedly, the Parallax, earning much money, if he could slightly adjust the price. I'm sorry, I am not the boss. But the P8X32 is a star in the sky.
Nice chip. I hope it works well for you.
In the case of the propeller my bet is that it's an expensive chip to make which translates into high per chip cost. With 8 cores each running at up to 80mhz and 32 general purpose IO pins it rates as a high end chip (well above average at least). While I sometimes wish Parallax made a low end pic type of chip they've made it clear that they're not interested in doing so.