RE: Creative Labs 6 Gig MP3 Player

["Paul Gordon" <paul_gordon@xxxxxxx>]

I was gonna say guys....

Hey just how long ago must you be talking about!?? - BBC micro's!?!?

Not quite the same kind of thing at all really -

BBC micro's = proprietary closed design, specialist skills required to
repair them, specialist parts required to do it, limited supply choices for
parts. (OK I know there was a thriving after market for add-ons, but
no-one's going to try to argue that it was anything like as open or
intensely competitive as the IBM compatible market is are they?)

IBM compatible PC's = totally open design, a 5-year old could build one
from
standard parts, totally standardised component parts, a squillion suppliers
of said parts.

Don't get me wrong, - I'm >NOT< defending Watford. Like I said, I've
never
used them, so I have no opinion one way or the other, but after all this
time, the guy that gave you such obviously crap service has probably
left!!!

My point is (if there is one) is that in the current market environment, I
would think it likely that whatever supplier you use, the kit that you get
is more-or-less the same - IE whether you buy an ultra-cheapo from the
likes
of Watford, or (say) a Dell, the hard drive inside it is likely to be from
exactly the same manufacturer! - the same quite possibly applies to the
motherboard, DEFINATELY applies to the CPU!! (AMD or Intel). I therefore
submit that it's unfair to slag them off with blanket statements about the
kit being crap, cos its the same kit no matter who you get it from. The
differentiators are therefore the quality of service that you get from
them,
the feature set, and whether they use a lesser or greater degree of
integration.

Granted, there are cheaper or dearer components, but these generally tend
to
be priced by feature-set rather than quality, - with a few notable
exceptions, (such as the Wretched Highpoint ATA66 controller) - but again
this is a good illustration of my point, - that damn HPT366 chip is to be
found on motherboards produced by EVERY major motherboard manufacturer in
the world! - you don't have to buy a ultra-cheap PC to end up with one of
these inside it! (as I know only too well)

I guess what I am saying is that buying cheap does not >guarantee<
poor
quality, any more than buying expensive >guarantees< good quality. In
many
other things this effect is not so marked, but the compatible PC
marketplace
is very distorted.

£0.02 and I've nothing more to say on the matter ;-)

Paul G.



>From: "Phillip Harris" <phillip.harris1@xxxxxxx>
>Reply-To: ukha_d@xxxxxxx
>To: <ukha_d@xxxxxxx>
>Subject: RE: [ukha_d] Creative Labs 6 Gig MP3 Player
>Date: Tue, 27 Mar 2001 21:28:28 +0100
>
>I must say that the one time I dealt with Watford I had no end of
problems
>-
>it was about 13 years ago though.
>
>Phil
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Ant Skelton [mailto:ant@xxxxxxx]
> > Sent: 27 March 2001 20:13
> > To: ukha_d@xxxxxxx
> > Subject: Re: [ukha_d] Creative Labs 6 Gig MP3 Player
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > Paul Gordon wrote:
> > >
> > > How about this one - a quick scan in this months PCW has
thus
> > far turned up:
> > >
> > > Watford Electronics (www.watford.co.uk)
> >
> >    ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
> > There's yer problem right there ;) It won't turn up for weeks,
and when
> > it does it'll be broken and you'll practically have to take them
to
> > court to get a refund.
> >
> > ant
> > --
> > ant@xxxxxxx                   /\/\                  www.ant.org
> > ant@xxxxxxx          (`')         www.homewireless.com
> >                                ()
> >                     Megawatt Winged Avenger
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to
>http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
> >
> >
>

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