In the world of computers there are innumerable small devices which cost practically nothing to make and which typically cost a ton of cash when you buy them retail, especially adapters and cables. The internet has driven down the price of such devices by making them more readily available, and you can get widgets to adapt all kinds of signals into all kinds of other signals. Still, there are low prices, and there are really low prices, and there are really low prices with no shipping charges, which brought me to DealExtreme. The story, unfortunately, is not entirely a happy one.
So anyway, let's cut to the chase. Why take a chance on some janky internet retailer in Hong Kong? Here's why:
| Shipment # | SKU | Product or Service Name | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 7791 | PS/2 Keyboard and Mouse Y-Cable | $2.11 |
| 10309 | CompactFlash CF Card to IDE Hard Disk Adapter Card (IDE-40) | $2.64 | |
| 10573 | IDE CD/DVD Device to Laptop Connector Adapter (2-Pack) | $4.75 | |
| 2 | 8181 | LCD MP3 Player Car FM Transmitter with IR Remote and USB Port | $12.20 |
This is what this kind of stuff ought to cost, right? The only thing that even has a substantial amount of silicon (like, more than a couple square millimeters) is the mp3 player, which doesn't have much under the hood. I haven't tested that yet, by the way.
So what's the problem? First of all, DealExtreme ("DX") typically sits on your order for a few business days before processing. Shipping is free as previously mentioned, but it's a low-grade air mail that takes seven to ten days, no joke. My packages have definitely taken over a week to process so far. I'm currently waiting on a cable ordered (separately) on February 5, over three weeks ago - but I've got most of my other goodies.
Note that I did have two shipments; they had one backordered part and actually broke the order to ship it, so their head isn't totally up their you know what.
However, my CF to IDE adapter doesn't work with either known-good CF device I have, either the 32MB SanDisk or the 8GB microdrive. I wanted to use the latter of these in an ammunition-box server I'm building right now, which ended up with a 2" disk instead of the 1.8".
Anyway, the synopsis here is that you should never buy anything you can't wait for from DealExtreme. I've reported that the CF device doesn't work, so soon perhaps I'll have some information on their replacement process. (If it STILL doesn't work, I'll collect even more useful information. Oh, joy.)
Update 20080305: I finally got my VGA to component video cable, which I got from a separate order. Does not play well between my Xbox and Dell 1800MP projector, but there's no real way to tell whose fault that is.