Digi-Key Catalog

[GregS]

Well I like the new short form catalog, but why do companies make
magazines and catalogs out of the shiny thin covers that slip
all over the place, and very unfriendly. they are garbage.

I'm waiting for a catalog of things they stock.

greg

 

[Tim Shoppa]

I want to sort by price on the Digikey website.
iirc...long time ago, I think I was able to sort by price but that was
eliminated.
I'm guessing it pissed off some of the Digikey vendors that it was too
easy for designers to select parts by cheapest price.

Usually for me "in stock" is more important than "cheapest"... but I
would appreciate having both both. Right now Digikey has "in stock".

Mouser has "stocked" and "cheapest". But frustratingly "stocked"
doesn't mean "in stock", it also means "on order".

My feeling is that in general Digikey's search criteria are most
relevant (actually keying off real physical attributes and not just
text in the product description) to what I do but Mouser is catching
up.

Lots of times Mouser does not ship the same day I order. Digikey
always does.

It's a little frustrating that with both search engines, typing in
"47K" yields hits to 1.47K and 147K parts. It is fairly easy to narrow
down to only what I want via point and drool at that point, but I
already typed in exactly what I want!

Tim.

 

[Rich Webb]

Agreed, I've wanted that feature as well, and I'm sure it's a 'political' and
not technological choice that prevents it from happening.

Copy/paste into a spreadsheet, sort on the price. Not as handy as
clicking a widget on the Digikey page, but ...

 

[John Devereux]

Copy/paste into a spreadsheet, sort on the price. Not as handy as
clicking a widget on the Digikey page, but ...

If it fits on one page, you can "sort" them mentally. And if there are
many pages, it is correspondingly tedious.

I now use Farnell to find which are the popular, low-cost parts. They
let you sort on price. Then I could look for the part in Digikey in
case they are cheaper. (Which they tend not to be, nowadays).

Of course both are more expensive than non-catalog vendors.

 

[Frank Buss]

Of course both are more expensive than non-catalog vendors.

Do you have an example of a non-catalog shop, which has the same parts like
DigiKey or Farnell and which is cheaper?

 

[John Devereux]

Do you have an example of a non-catalog shop, which has the same parts like
DigiKey or Farnell and which is cheaper?

Not sure what you mean by "shop" but I was referring to, e.g. Future,
Avnet, Arrow, Abacus etc. Pretty much any of the other major
distributors in fact.

 

[David L. Jones]

Do you have an example of a non-catalog shop, which has the same parts like
DigiKey or Farnell and which is cheaper?

Try www.findchips.com
It's nothing short of brilliant.

Dave.

 

[Frank Buss]

Not sure what you mean by "shop" but I was referring to, e.g. Future,
Avnet, Arrow, Abacus etc. Pretty much any of the other major
distributors in fact.

Yes, sorry I mean a distributor. Looks like they are not always cheaper.
Just a random search for LM324 shows, that DigiKey is more expensive, if
you buy less than 100, but Future is more expensive for 100 and more parts:

http://search.digikey.com/scripts/dksearch/dksus.dll?Detail&name=LM324ADGOS-ND
http://www.futureelectronics.com/en/Technologies/Product.aspx?ProductID=LM324ADGONSEMI2517084

But looks like Avnet is even cheaper for this part:

http://tinyurl.com/bs2dk2

Avnet is not listed at www.findchips.com, looks like it is worth to search
this distributor, if I need larger quantities of a part.

 

[[email protected]]

Usually for me "in stock" is more important than "cheapest"... but I
would appreciate having both both. Right now Digikey has "in stock".

Mouser has "stocked" and "cheapest". But frustratingly "stocked"
doesn't mean "in stock", it also means "on order".

My feeling is that in general Digikey's search criteria are most
relevant (actually keying off real physical attributes and not just
text in the product description) to what I do but Mouser is catching
up.

Lots of times Mouser does not ship the same day I order. Digikey
always does.

It's a little frustrating that with both search engines, typing in
"47K" yields hits to 1.47K and 147K parts. It is fairly easy to narrow
down to only what I want via point and drool at that point, but I
already typed in exactly what I want!

Tim.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Mouser lets you sort by price...get in the ballpark, then go to
digikey to buy the part if you want..they dont always have the same
prices anyway, IMO mouser is surprisingly cheaper on the same parts
sometimes..and they have a different selection too..I always check
both digikey and mouser when selecting components

 

[Hammy]

Well I like the new short form catalog, but why do companies make
magazines and catalogs out of the shiny thin covers that slip
all over the place, and very unfriendly. they are garbage.

I'm waiting for a catalog of things they stock.

greg

What is it that you guys buy a Digikey that you find so cheap? I find
it to be the most expensive distributor out there.

I used to have about 5 distributors open in my browser comparing
prices and stock of stuff I'm buying and Digikey was always the most
expensive.

Example Canadian dollars

STP45NF06 MOSFET :N Channel ; Rds(on):0.028ohm ; Id:38A; Vds:60V;
TO-220

http://canada.newark.com/stmicroelectronics/stp45nf06/mosfet/dp/89K1624?_requestid=334170

Newark
1 - 9 $0.631
500+ $0.477

http://search.digikey.com/scripts/DkSearch/dksus.dll?Detail&name=497-3189-5-ND

Digikey
1-9 $2.46
500+ $1.37

This Mosfet is dirt cheap at all suppliers but Digikey the STN3NF06L N
Channel; Vds:60V; Id:4A; Rds(on):0.07ohm; SOT223

http://www.newark.com/89K1566/semiconductors-discretes/product.us0?sku=stmicroelectronics-stn3nf06l

1-9 $0.278
500+ $0.21

http://search.digikey.com/scripts/DkSearch/dksus.dll?Detail&name=497-3177-1-ND

1-9 $1.71
500+ $0.95556

It's the same with everything .The price they charge for PIC's is just
ridiculous! They are anywhere from 3 to 5 times more then anywhere
else. I don't know maybe it depends on where you live?

 

[Hammy]

This Mosfet is dirt cheap at all suppliers but Digikey the STN3NF06L N
Channel; Vds:60V; Id:4A; Rds(on):0.07ohm; SOT223

http://www.newark.com/89K1566/semiconductors-discretes/product.us0?sku=stmicroelectronics-stn3nf06l

1-9 $0.278
500+ $0.21

Sorry thats the US Newark site above for the STN3NF06L. Canadian
dollar prices are;

1-9 $0.328
500+ $0.248

The Canadian link Newark

http://canada.newark.com/stmicroelectronics/stn3nf06l/mosfet/dp/89K1566?_requestid=9209

 

[krw]

What is it that you guys buy a Digikey that you find so cheap? I find
it to be the most expensive distributor out there.

Yep. We generally take their prices (the online catalog is good)
and divide by two to estimate our production prices. For prototypes
cost is irrelevant and DigiKey is fast.

I used to have about 5 distributors open in my browser comparing
prices and stock of stuff I'm buying and Digikey was always the most
expensive.

We just use catalog prices for component selection and DigiKey is
good enough for such relative numbers. Purchasing does the
shopping.

 

[Hammy]

Yep. We generally take their prices (the online catalog is good)
and divide by two to estimate our production prices. For prototypes
cost is irrelevant and DigiKey is fast.

Well yes I guess that depends on what your prototypeing. Some RF and
RAD hard components get into the 3 digit priceinng,then maybe it is'nt
so irrelevant.

All major distrubuitors have over night delivery unless you live in
the sticks.

We just use catalog prices for component selection and DigiKey is
good enough for such relative numbers. Purchasing does the
shopping.

When you do large production,do you purchase TR from distrubutors like
Digikey or do you go right to the manufacturer? This is why I only
showed price comparisions to 500 when you get to TR it would be
cheaper to go to the Manufacturers directly.

I know Microchip will let you purchase large quantities directly but
will Manufacturers like TI ,IR etc.

 

[TheM]

Well yes I guess that depends on what your prototypeing. Some RF and
RAD hard components get into the 3 digit priceinng,then maybe it is'nt
so irrelevant.

All major distrubuitors have over night delivery unless you live in
the sticks.


When you do large production,do you purchase TR from distrubutors like
Digikey or do you go right to the manufacturer? This is why I only
showed price comparisions to 500 when you get to TR it would be
cheaper to go to the Manufacturers directly.

I know Microchip will let you purchase large quantities directly but
will Manufacturers like TI ,IR etc.

For most silicon stuff 500 isn't large enough quantity to go directly to
the manufacturer, IMO, unless you're buying something special and
expensive. They will ignore you or forward you to their distributer.

M

 

[krw]

Well yes I guess that depends on what your prototypeing. Some RF and
RAD hard components get into the 3 digit priceinng,then maybe it is'nt
so irrelevant.

Compared to my time, and more importantly time to market,
(difference in) prototype parts cost certainly is irrelevant.

All major distrubuitors have over night delivery unless you live in
the sticks.

If they have it, *maybe*. If I can wait I'll get freebies from the
disty.

When you do large production,do you purchase TR from distrubutors like
Digikey or do you go right to the manufacturer? This is why I only
showed price comparisions to 500 when you get to TR it would be
cheaper to go to the Manufacturers directly.

As I said, DigiKey is usually too expensive. OTOH, our numbers
aren't usually high enough to go directly to the manufacturer
either. We do use distys, though DigiKey is by far the most
expensive. They have no value add to justify the expense, either.

I know Microchip will let you purchase large quantities directly but
will Manufacturers like TI ,IR etc.

Certainly. The definition of "large" varies. ;-)

 

[Tim Williams]

Mouser lets you sort by price...get in the ballpark, then go to
digikey to buy the part if you want..they dont always have the same
prices anyway, IMO mouser is surprisingly cheaper on the same parts
sometimes..and they have a different selection too..I always check
both digikey and mouser when selecting components

Yeah I know... I feel kind of unfair to Digikey... their parametric
search is still better for the most part than Mouser's, but their
prices are much higher. I think the last couple of orders I've made
were from Mouser. And Allied, if they have some part I've found on
Mouser's or Digikey's search, are usually cheaper still. And Mouser's
search is still improving; used to be all out of order, with a lot of
parts missing key labels (so you search on one basic parameter and 90%
of the list just drops out!). Now they've got that mostly sorted out,
and they have a few more parameters than Digikey, like transistor f_T!

Tim

 

[John Devereux]

Yes, sorry I mean a distributor. Looks like they are not always cheaper.
Just a random search for LM324 shows, that DigiKey is more expensive, if
you buy less than 100, but Future is more expensive for 100 and more parts:

http://search.digikey.com/scripts/dksearch/dksus.dll?Detail&name=LM324ADGOS-ND
http://www.futureelectronics.com/en/Technologies/Product.aspx?ProductID=LM324ADGONSEMI2517084

I don't think the various "express" distys sites give the same pricing
as what we get when we ask the company for a quote. They will
generally give better pricing when asked, especially if you have a
"target price" to beat that you have been quoted elsewhere. Of course
this is a tedious process if you just want a reel of 0805 2k2s... So
you end up just using the disty that consistently gives the lowest
initial price for most things.

 

[krw]

IMO DigiKey has a huge "value add" in that they have one of the best search
engines on the web and one of the most well-stocked warehourses in the
country. And I'll second what Joerg has said about DigiKey being a good check
on how "generally available" parts are anyway.

Sure, their catalog is cheap. Their parts aren't. As I said, for
prototyping, who cares? The production people do care and don't
generally buy from DigiKey. They don't much care about the search
engine either.

They also don't have the "value add" of a free lunch. ;-)

I agree with you that for larger quantities one should start shopping around,
of course.

Where "larger quantities" > 3. ;-)

 

[Rich Grise]

Agreed, I've wanted that feature as well, and I'm sure it's a 'political' and
not technological choice that prevents it from happening.

Maybe they just didn't want to spring for the price of a competent
CGI script designer that would know how to do such a thing. ;-)

Cheers!
Rich

 

[John Devereux]

Maybe they just didn't want to spring for the price of a competent
CGI script designer that would know how to do such a thing. ;-)

You think they can sort by power, gain, voltage, current but not
manage price?

They presumably believe they will make more money by making it harder
for the customer to find the cheapest solution. I recently started
using Farnell just to do an initial "sort by price" - thinking I would
probably buy from DK or elsewhere later. Instead I dicovered that they
are now often better priced than DK, at least for in the UK.