The world beyond Jameco, Digi-Key and Mouser

[Peter S. May]

Okay, so I was just snooping around trying to figure out what the
cheapest PIC is that will run the application I'm working on. In
general, it seems like, of my already memorized options, Jameco has good
prices but less selection, and Digi-Key and Mouser have the opposite
problem. A cursory search yielded Allied Electronics (alliedelec.com),
which pretty much beats all of them in terms of PICs. In particular,
their cheapest PIC in a DIP case with USART appears to be the 16F688,
coming in at $1.47. Jameco and Mouser want over a dollar more for the
same thing.

It sounds like a good deal, so, naturally, I'm skeptical. Has anyone
ever dealt with them? Are they legit?

Thanks
PSM

 

[Winfield Hill]

Okay, so I was just snooping around trying to figure out what the
cheapest PIC is that will run the application I'm working on. In
general, it seems like, of my already memorized options, Jameco has good
prices but less selection, and Digi-Key and Mouser have the opposite
problem. A cursory search yielded Allied Electronics (alliedelec.com),
which pretty much beats all of them in terms of PICs. In particular,
their cheapest PIC in a DIP case with USART appears to be the 16F688,
coming in at $1.47. Jameco and Mouser want over a dollar more for the
same thing.

It sounds like a good deal, so, naturally, I'm skeptical. Has
anyone ever dealt with them? Are they legit?

Is Allied Electronics legit? ROFLOL, now that's funny!

 

[Peter S. May]

Is Allied Electronics legit? ROFLOL, now that's funny!

I swear I'm not dumb...just very, very ignorant and inexperienced!
Would you please humor me and explain?

 

[James Beck]

Okay, so I was just snooping around trying to figure out what the
cheapest PIC is that will run the application I'm working on. In
general, it seems like, of my already memorized options, Jameco has good
prices but less selection, and Digi-Key and Mouser have the opposite
problem. A cursory search yielded Allied Electronics (alliedelec.com),
which pretty much beats all of them in terms of PICs. In particular,
their cheapest PIC in a DIP case with USART appears to be the 16F688,
coming in at $1.47. Jameco and Mouser want over a dollar more for the
same thing.

It sounds like a good deal, so, naturally, I'm skeptical. Has anyone
ever dealt with them? Are they legit?

Thanks
PSM

We buy from Allied, Mouser, Jameco, Digi-Key, Future Electronics, and
lots of independent brokers. They have all delivered the goods. Allied
is a big company that has done business for years.

Jim

 

[Joerg]

I swear I'm not dumb...just very, very ignorant and inexperienced!
Would you please humor me and explain?

I guess Win hinted that asking whether Allied is legit would be like
asking whether General Motors is legit ;-)

 

[Peter S. May]

I guess Win hinted that asking whether Allied is legit would be like
asking whether General Motors is legit ;-)

That's obvious now, but it was ambiguous. I figured it was possible
that he meant that asking whether Allied is legit is like asking whether
Alex Chiu is legit. :-/ Anyway, color me informed.

Thanks
PSM

 

[Spehro Pefhany]

Okay, so I was just snooping around trying to figure out what the
cheapest PIC is that will run the application I'm working on. In
general, it seems like, of my already memorized options, Jameco has good
prices but less selection, and Digi-Key and Mouser have the opposite
problem. A cursory search yielded Allied Electronics (alliedelec.com),
which pretty much beats all of them in terms of PICs. In particular,
their cheapest PIC in a DIP case with USART appears to be the 16F688,
coming in at $1.47. Jameco and Mouser want over a dollar more for the
same thing.

It sounds like a good deal, so, naturally, I'm skeptical. Has anyone
ever dealt with them? Are they legit?

Thanks
PSM

Allied is a well-established supplier. What about shipping charges and
minimum order/handling?

Best regards,
Spehro Pefhany

 

[Jonathan Kirwan]

Allied is a well-established supplier. What about shipping charges and
minimum order/handling?

To save time:

http://www.alliedelec.com/CustomerService/ShippingInfo.asp
http://www.alliedelec.com/CustomerService/LegalTerms.asp

If no credit is set up first, looks like $50 minimum as they go COD.
With acceptable credit in place, doesn't seem to say. Shipping is out
of Fort Worth, Texas, and although I've ordered mouse microswitches
from them some time back for repairs, I don't recall the shipping
being other than 'as reasonable and expected.'

Jon

 

[Winfield Hill]

I swear I'm not dumb...just very, very ignorant and inexperienced!
Would you please humor me and explain?

I'm sorry Peter, but I was bad, hard day -
couldn't help myself I guess.

 

[Joerg]

To save time:

http://www.alliedelec.com/CustomerService/ShippingInfo.asp
http://www.alliedelec.com/CustomerService/LegalTerms.asp

If no credit is set up first, looks like $50 minimum as they go COD.
With acceptable credit in place, doesn't seem to say. Shipping is out
of Fort Worth, Texas, and although I've ordered mouse microswitches
from them some time back for repairs, I don't recall the shipping
being other than 'as reasonable and expected.'

Brings up a question: Is there a large place where hobbyists can buy
tools and all kinds of parts, like what Conrad is for Europe? I get
asked a lot but only know Jameco which doesn't carry that much stuff.
It's strange, Europe has lots of large hobby suppliers but no Digikey or
Mouser. Here in the US it seems the other way around.

 

[Peter S. May]

To save time:

http://www.alliedelec.com/CustomerService/ShippingInfo.asp
http://www.alliedelec.com/CustomerService/LegalTerms.asp

If no credit is set up first, looks like $50 minimum as they go COD.
With acceptable credit in place, doesn't seem to say. Shipping is out
of Fort Worth, Texas, and although I've ordered mouse microswitches
from them some time back for repairs, I don't recall the shipping
being other than 'as reasonable and expected.'

Jon

The legal terms don't seem to say anything about paying with one's own
credit card (unless that's the same as setting up credit with them) but
their site seems to be perfectly willing to go all the way up to the
"Place Order" page for a ridiculously small order (the cart is 1 ct.
16F688 currently) with shipping and tax pending. Firstly, I wonder what
would happen if I actually hit it, but I won't...yet. Secondly, I
wonder if the case would be different if I tried debit instead of credit...

Still, great to be a hobbyist and not someone with a development budget,
eh? :-/

Thanks
PSM

 

[Peter S. May]

I'm sorry Peter, but I was bad, hard day -
couldn't help myself I guess.

A little derisive laughter never hurt anyone... >

Thanks
PSM

 

[John Larkin]

Okay, so I was just snooping around trying to figure out what the
cheapest PIC is that will run the application I'm working on. In
general, it seems like, of my already memorized options, Jameco has good
prices but less selection, and Digi-Key and Mouser have the opposite
problem. A cursory search yielded Allied Electronics (alliedelec.com),
which pretty much beats all of them in terms of PICs. In particular,
their cheapest PIC in a DIP case with USART appears to be the 16F688,
coming in at $1.47. Jameco and Mouser want over a dollar more for the
same thing.

It sounds like a good deal, so, naturally, I'm skeptical. Has anyone
ever dealt with them? Are they legit?

Thanks
PSM

Allied was *the* first big electronics distributor. I think I have
their 1964 catalog. I had a "revolving credit account" with them when
I was a kid.

The one I might suspect is Jameco. They claim to have a gazillion
semiconductor lines, and I suspect they are not authorized
distributors for many, so who knows where they get their parts from.

Anybody have experiences?


John

 

[linnix]

Allied was *the* first big electronics distributor. I think I have
their 1964 catalog. I had a "revolving credit account" with them when
I was a kid.

The one I might suspect is Jameco. They claim to have a gazillion
semiconductor lines, and I suspect they are not authorized
distributors for many, so who knows where they get their parts from.

Perhaps Digikey.

Anybody have experiences?

Yes, we have been shopping around for 5000. Digikey had 2000 until we
try to get more from another distributor. All of a sudden, some took
1700 from Digikey and that distributor promises instant delivery of
1000 (at high price of course).

We might have to redesign with another part and/or change schedule for
it.

 

[DJ Delorie]

The one I might suspect is Jameco. They claim to have a gazillion
semiconductor lines,

The few I've looked at were sparsely filled. For example, they "carry
Renesas" but they really only have a few SH cpus, no M32C at all.

 

[Jonathan Kirwan]

Brings up a question: Is there a large place where hobbyists can buy
tools and all kinds of parts, like what Conrad is for Europe? I get
asked a lot but only know Jameco which doesn't carry that much stuff.
It's strange, Europe has lots of large hobby suppliers but no Digikey or
Mouser. Here in the US it seems the other way around.

I really don't know, but what the heck. I'll take a shot at it.

In Europe, there are much longer vacations, as a norm, than in the US
and that allows more time for hobby interests. I don't know what the
situation is like regarding watching TV in Europe, probably not that
much different than here perhaps, but TV really sucks away hobby time,
as well, whenever it is available. So I'd guess that TV time nearly
zeroes out what little vacation time we have left for hobbies,
speaking broadly as an average, but still leaves some non-zero time in
Europe. So that probably suggests a hobby market would be stronger
there.

As has also been mentioned, hobbies in general don't flourish when
there are simple products cheaply available in the form people want to
have. It reduces the motivation needed to climb over the bottleneck
in learning about it. So perhaps the US has lower prices for things?
I've no idea on that score.

There may be a small additional bias, at least for Germans, from my
modest experiences. I'm sure they vary about as much as the next
person, but there seems to be a bit of a cultural aspect. Those I've
known really thought that the insult of 'stupid' was worse than
telling them they were screwing their mothers. In the US, that is
probably turned around. Because of that dislike, they will go to some
lengths to rise above some basic level of ignorance in their hobbies.
And that may mean some extra knowledge, again broadly speaking in
averages, that plays into caring a bit more about serious hobby
interests, as well, and thus a somewhat better hobby market. But that
may be just a prejudice born of my ignorances. I really have no idea
about that, either. Just a random thought crossing my mind from past
experiences I remain curious about and haven't put into context, yet.

Jon

 

[Joerg]

I really don't know, but what the heck. I'll take a shot at it.

In Europe, there are much longer vacations, as a norm, than in the US
and that allows more time for hobby interests. I don't know what the
situation is like regarding watching TV in Europe, probably not that
much different than here perhaps, but TV really sucks away hobby time,
as well, whenever it is available. So I'd guess that TV time nearly
zeroes out what little vacation time we have left for hobbies,
speaking broadly as an average, but still leaves some non-zero time in
Europe. So that probably suggests a hobby market would be stronger
there.

I guess by now they are watching almost as much TV as people here.
Almost. Vacations are usually not spent at home but the minute they are
off on Friday, they pack and Saturday at the crack of dawn they head out
to the airport, train, travel trailer or whatever. Upon which the
autobahns will totally clog up.

As has also been mentioned, hobbies in general don't flourish when
there are simple products cheaply available in the form people want to
have. It reduces the motivation needed to climb over the bottleneck
in learning about it. So perhaps the US has lower prices for things?
I've no idea on that score.

Things are certainly a lot cheaper in the US. Except sometimes
commodities such as RAM or USB memory.

There may be a small additional bias, at least for Germans, from my
modest experiences. I'm sure they vary about as much as the next
person, but there seems to be a bit of a cultural aspect. Those I've
known really thought that the insult of 'stupid' was worse than
telling them they were screwing their mothers. In the US, that is
probably turned around. Because of that dislike, they will go to some
lengths to rise above some basic level of ignorance in their hobbies.
And that may mean some extra knowledge, again broadly speaking in
averages, that plays into caring a bit more about serious hobby
interests, as well, and thus a somewhat better hobby market. But that
may be just a prejudice born of my ignorances. I really have no idea
about that, either. Just a random thought crossing my mind from past
experiences I remain curious about and haven't put into context, yet.

They do take hobbies rather serious over there and open their wallets
wider than for other stuff. To me it still doesn't explain the market
situation though. I mean, we are >250M people.

 

[Leon]

Brings up a question: Is there a large place where hobbyists can buy
tools and all kinds of parts, like what Conrad is for Europe? I get
asked a lot but only know Jameco which doesn't carry that much stuff.
It's strange, Europe has lots of large hobby suppliers but no Digikey or
Mouser. Here in the US it seems the other way around.

We have Farnell and RS here in the UK, both are massive operations
similar to Digi-Key.

Leon

 

[Tim Williams]

They often have good deals (ha, I recall browsing across *RoHS* IGBTs at
like half price), but it's hard to find anything in their inventory. I've
seen their catalog, and it's just as hard to navigate. They don't have
parametric search. You're probably better off browsing a transistor/IC
vade mecum, or using someone else's parametric search, then seeing if
Allied sells it for cheaper.

Speaking of RoHS IGBTs, well hmm I think I'll just have to start a new
thread on that.

Tim

 

[Joel Kolstad]

Brings up a question: Is there a large place where hobbyists can buy tools
and all kinds of parts, like what Conrad is for Europe?

Large place, no. But lots of small places... besides Jameco, there's All
Electronics (http://www.allelectronics.com/) and Marlin P. Jones
(http://www.mpja.com/) for lots of "general purpose" electronics (these folks
have both been around for decades). For nichier applications, places like
Ocean State Electronics (http://www.oselectronics.com/) is good for RF &
robottics. Opening up a copy of Nuts & Volts magazine lists dozens of other
such places, and when you throw eBay into the mix, you can get just about
anything you want today far more readily than, say, 20 years ago.