VOGONS


Retro Hardware Collecting rants

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Reply 560 of 934, by SodaSuccubus

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Warlord wrote on 2020-08-16, 05:47:

but awe64 gold is the only one people really want, becasue its the only one that is really good.

IDK...I'd say the grotesque prices and sheer raving online for Sound Blaster Pro cards say otherwise 😜

I wouldn't call allmost any old sound card "good", atleast as far as the audio quality goes. Maybe except a GUS but as far as the quality from most cards go, aging capacitors included...

Well, Modern audio and that clean hiss free output from emulators really get people spoiled. It sure does for me 🤣
Although after awhile the bus sounds and background hiss kinds grows on you. Part of the experience!

Reply 561 of 934, by Warlord

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ya I do not understand the SB Pro rage. An ESS 1688 sounds the same, has a IDE controller, not a proprietary and doesn't hiss or have bugs. I learned that a long time ago. Needless to say Id take a quality brand like BTC ESS 1688 Audio Drive with Proper jumper config and a IDE over any SB pro card that exists. Id even go for some other card with dual OPL or something if I wanted real OPL. Those cards have wavetable headers as well. Creative cards were actually horrible, with the exception of a few cards.

Last edited by Warlord on 2020-08-16, 08:11. Edited 4 times in total.

Reply 562 of 934, by Miphee

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Unknown_K wrote on 2020-08-16, 06:42:

Bubblewrap is the not the best packing material, foam is better. Peanuts are the worst.
Unless you owned a 9500 you have no idea how brittle that plastic is these days. I have snapped a power on button just by lightly pressing it.

I like bubble wrap better. Half the price, much more cushioning that is more effective against sudden kicks/drops, easier to handle and also lighter (3,1 kg vs 6 kg)/100m. Less reusable though.
To each their own.

Reply 563 of 934, by imi

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Miphee wrote on 2020-08-16, 05:18:

This still counts as poor packaging, the box is way too small and not enough bubble wrap.
I don't get people. A huge roll of bubble wrap is like $15 and using 10-20-30 layers of that prevents nearly every damage.

I disagree, too much soft padding (i.e. bubble wrap) can be bad, because then whatever is packed inside can move and bang around in the package, and in the case of heavy items screwed into brittle plastic break them loose.

the best practice when packing is to pack items so that they CAN NOT move, bubble wrap is not ideal for that, especially if you have multiple layers, medium hard foam is best for that, as it will cushion an impact and prevent whatever is inside from moving around too much.

wrapping the case tightly in bubble wrap is a good idea so nothing can shear anything off or scratch a surface, but the rest of the packing material should better be something harder imo.

in case of the apple not even that might have saved it though, as the drives inside the case still can break loose on a hard enough impact, so in that case filling up the case itself would be ideal so nothing IN the case can move.

happens to me regularly that heatsinks come off during shipping because they are not screwed in... I've even had cards that were actually screwed in come loose though... so stuffing the case itself tightly with bubble wrap might be a good idea (but antistatic one please ^^)

for example the broken 8" floppy I got recently was wrapped in a decent amount of bubblewrap, and the package itself wasn't really damaged either, but the drive clearly had a hard impact and got smashed "into itself"... would the drive have been wrapped tightly and then hard foam around it, nothing could have moved on the drive itself and it would have likely been intact in my opinion.

so in short... bubblewrap is surface protection, not impact protection.

Reply 564 of 934, by Repo Man11

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The story I heard via my brother who knew someone who worked at UPS is that one of the causes of damage is that in the bigger warehouses they have multiple floors. It's apparently common to load things into the freight elevator by tossing them in, but every now and then someone doesn't notice that the elevator is on the ground floor...

"I'd rather be rich than stupid" - Jack Handey

Reply 565 of 934, by Miphee

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imi wrote on 2020-08-16, 14:17:

I disagree, too much soft padding (i.e. bubble wrap) can be bad, because then whatever is packed inside can move and bang around in the package, and in the case of heavy items screwed into brittle plastic break them loose.

Okay, I accept your different opinion.
It's a pointless debate though, most sellers will use crumpled newspaper, old plastic bags and pieces of styrofoam in a tiny box because it's free.

Reply 567 of 934, by EvieSigma

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I understand your differing opinion on shipping, but I've gotten stuff packed far worse that only made it because it was new and robust enough to survive the trip. If that eBay seller had gone for the ol' "bubble wrap the item and fill in the rest of the box with brown paper fill/packing peanuts" approach like a lot of these eBay recycling facilities do, I wouldn't have had something intact enough to potentially fix.

Reply 568 of 934, by Miphee

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EvieSigma wrote on 2020-08-16, 17:18:

I understand your differing opinion on shipping, but I've gotten stuff packed far worse that only made it because it was new and robust enough to survive the trip. If that eBay seller had gone for the ol' "bubble wrap the item and fill in the rest of the box with brown paper fill/packing peanuts" approach like a lot of these eBay recycling facilities do, I wouldn't have had something intact enough to potentially fix.

How do you fix something like that?
I won't try to convince anyone about proper packaging, the pictures speak for themselves. It doesn't matter if it's brittle or not, that thing is fukd. It's the seller's responsibility as well because that padding was way too thin and the box way too small.
One of my sellers packed the plastic front bezel separately, that's an option to protect it.
I only bring this up again because people defend sellers too easily when it comes to poor packaging. A few dollars more could've saved this PC. Yes, that lowly bubble wrap could have done it but whatever.
And don't get me wrong it's not against you but I hate sellers who claim they packaged things properly and shift the blame to others. When even the buyers start to defend them I just get mad.
Fuk that, it's on them too.

Reply 569 of 934, by imi

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speaking of proper packaging... just unpacked a whole box of cards, each one wrapped in aluminium foil and then in bubble wrap, tucked neatly inside a box with thick cardboard at the edges as reinforcement 😀

as to have some positive examples too ^^

unpacking was hell... but rather spend some time unpacking than looking at scratched and broken cards.

Reply 570 of 934, by EvieSigma

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Miphee wrote on 2020-08-16, 17:37:
EvieSigma wrote on 2020-08-16, 17:18:

I understand your differing opinion on shipping, but I've gotten stuff packed far worse that only made it because it was new and robust enough to survive the trip. If that eBay seller had gone for the ol' "bubble wrap the item and fill in the rest of the box with brown paper fill/packing peanuts" approach like a lot of these eBay recycling facilities do, I wouldn't have had something intact enough to potentially fix.

How do you fix something like that?

Pretty easily, turns out. None of the actual computer bits were harmed, aside from that Jaz drive. And that broken power button is just a piece of plastic going to an actual physical switch mounted on the motherboard.

Kinda just the way it is with this era of Macs. You end up with a computer that works fine but is held together by friction and prayers.

Reply 571 of 934, by Miphee

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Another rant: seller is unreachable.

I won the auction so I sent an email to ask for payment info. No response after 5 days so I called him, phone was off. Tried again a few hours later, same thing.
Tried again the next day from a different number, nothing. Tried again the next day and he finally picked up, he told me he completely forgot about it (his only auction). Okay, no biggie, let's meet up at XY and I'll call him later to confirm.
On the day of the exchange I tried to call him, he didn't pick up once, his phone was off all day.
Should I risk the 2 hours drive?
I decided to risk it and he was there, the exchange went well. When I asked why his phone was off he just laughed.

Luckily most sellers communicate well but this guy got me nervous.

Reply 572 of 934, by EvieSigma

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I'm dealing with that right now with an eBay seller who just never sent the computer I paid for and hasn't responded to any correspondence. I'm hoping eBay can force him to refund me if he refuses to do it himself.

Reply 573 of 934, by Katmai500

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EvieSigma wrote on 2020-08-19, 01:09:

I'm dealing with that right now with an eBay seller who just never sent the computer I paid for and hasn't responded to any correspondence. I'm hoping eBay can force him to refund me if he refuses to do it himself.

If you open a case there’s a 99.9% chance eBay will side with you and you’ll get a refund. If the seller reaches out after you’ve opened the case and asks you to close it because they shipped the item or will be soon, don’t do it. Wait until you have the item. Once you close the case, you can’t reopen it or open a new one.

Reply 574 of 934, by appiah4

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EvieSigma wrote on 2020-08-19, 01:09:

I'm dealing with that right now with an eBay seller who just never sent the computer I paid for and hasn't responded to any correspondence. I'm hoping eBay can force him to refund me if he refuses to do it himself.

You can also take it up to PayPal and get it refunded pretty fast.

Retronautics: A digital gallery of my retro computers, hardware and projects.

Reply 575 of 934, by RaverX

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Warlord wrote on 2020-08-16, 08:05:

ya I do not understand the SB Pro rage. An ESS 1688 sounds the same, has a IDE controller, not a proprietary and doesn't hiss or have bugs. I learned that a long time ago. Needless to say Id take a quality brand like BTC ESS 1688 Audio Drive with Proper jumper config and a IDE over any SB pro card that exists. Id even go for some other card with dual OPL or something if I wanted real OPL. Those cards have wavetable headers as well. Creative cards were actually horrible, with the exception of a few cards.

Brand and compatibility. Plus the hype. It's like 3dfx, for example. Voodoo3 3000 vs TNT2 Pro. V3 has only 16 MB RAM vs 32 on TNT2. 16 bit vs 32 bit. Image quality. But the 3dfx rage means that V3 will be much more valuable.

Reply 576 of 934, by appiah4

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RaverX wrote on 2020-08-19, 08:22:
Warlord wrote on 2020-08-16, 08:05:

ya I do not understand the SB Pro rage. An ESS 1688 sounds the same, has a IDE controller, not a proprietary and doesn't hiss or have bugs. I learned that a long time ago. Needless to say Id take a quality brand like BTC ESS 1688 Audio Drive with Proper jumper config and a IDE over any SB pro card that exists. Id even go for some other card with dual OPL or something if I wanted real OPL. Those cards have wavetable headers as well. Creative cards were actually horrible, with the exception of a few cards.

Brand and compatibility. Plus the hype. It's like 3dfx, for example. Voodoo3 3000 vs TNT2 Pro. V3 has only 16 MB RAM vs 32 on TNT2. 16 bit vs 32 bit. Image quality. But the 3dfx rage means that V3 will be much more valuable.

In 3dfx's defense, Voodoo 3 can run GLIDE games. SB Pro has nothing going for it.

Retronautics: A digital gallery of my retro computers, hardware and projects.

Reply 577 of 934, by dr_st

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appiah4 wrote on 2020-08-19, 13:05:

SB Pro has nothing going for it.

Well... it's noisy and has the stereo channels reversed. That's gotta count for something. 😜

https://cloakedthargoid.wordpress.com/ - Random content on hardware, software, games and toys

Reply 578 of 934, by EvieSigma

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appiah4 wrote on 2020-08-19, 08:09:
EvieSigma wrote on 2020-08-19, 01:09:

I'm dealing with that right now with an eBay seller who just never sent the computer I paid for and hasn't responded to any correspondence. I'm hoping eBay can force him to refund me if he refuses to do it himself.

You can also take it up to PayPal and get it refunded pretty fast.

I might do that if another day goes by without me hearing anything. I didn't spend a ton but I'd like that money back.

Reply 579 of 934, by cyclone3d

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EvieSigma wrote on 2020-08-19, 15:15:
appiah4 wrote on 2020-08-19, 08:09:
EvieSigma wrote on 2020-08-19, 01:09:

I'm dealing with that right now with an eBay seller who just never sent the computer I paid for and hasn't responded to any correspondence. I'm hoping eBay can force him to refund me if he refuses to do it himself.

You can also take it up to PayPal and get it refunded pretty fast.

I might do that if another day goes by without me hearing anything. I didn't spend a ton but I'd like that money back.

Just go through eBay first. They will give you your money back. No need to do it through Paypal to begin with.

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