From: Frank Gruendel (newtontalk_at_pda-soft.de)
Date: Sun Dec 26 2004 - 13:21:19 PST
Hi all,
as I threatened, I herewith post the memory card FAQ again.
Although it isn't exactly short, it will (provided that you
read it) hopefully reduce list traffic considerably.
Please be aware that Russ seems to be unavailable at the
moment. If you want to buy from him and he does not answer your
mails, feel free to get in touch with me if you are in a
hurry.
Hi gang,
as we have mentioned a couple of weeks ago, Russ Bravo and
me have bought a batch of memory cards that we would like
to offer to NewtonTalkers.
I am pleased to announce that our card deals have resulted in
9 new members of the Worldwide Newton Association who thought
that getting a card for free was a good reason to join. Welcome!
Apart from that, both the WNA and NewtonTalk have lately seen
quite some additional income because of the discounts we offer.
Following is our attempt to answer the questions
we think you are likely to ask. I am perfectly aware that hardly
anybody reads FAQs, but please keep in mind that time spent on
asking questions that are answered in the FAQ is basically
wasted time. So is time spent on answering them. So please get
your favourite beverage, lean back, relax and read the following
from top to bottom if you are even remotely interested in a 20MB
memory card...
Q: What size in Megabytes are the cards?
A: They are 20MB cards
...........................................
Q: Are they new?
A: No. They are used. Of course I have asked my source where
they come from, and he assured me they were not used in routers.
They were used in medical instruments. He mentioned cardiac pacemakers.
If this is true, these cards have probably not seen many
write cycles. So far we haven't had a single complaint.
...........................................
Q: How much are they?
A: If you promise they won't end up at eBay or sold elsewhere for a
huge profit, they are 18 Euros apiece. Otherwise they are 30 Euros
apiece.
If I see them end up at eBay nonetheless, I will start appearing in
your dreams. The unanimous opinion of all in whose
dreams I am currently appearing is that this is something you do
not want.
...........................................
Q: Will you ship to where I live?
A: Yes. We ship worldwide. Three of these cards recently reached Brazil :-)
...........................................
Q: How can I pay?
A: PayPal or wire transfer. If you use PayPal, you will need to add
3.9% to the total price because this is what PayPal will charge us.
Another form of payment that a brilliant list member from Russia
brought to my mind is sending an Amazon gift certificate. It seems
that PayPal refuses to create accounts for people from certain
countries even if said people do have a valid credit card. For
sending an Amazon gift certificate, a credit card is all you'll need.
...........................................
Q: Are there discounts available?
A: Yes. For each 5 Euros (or USD) donated to NewtonTalk or the
Worldwide Newton Association you will get one card at 12 Euros.
Since they are 18 Euros normally, you will save one buck and
still help the Newton community if you decide
to donate.
You are, of course, encouraged and welcome to donate more.
NewtonTalk donations: http://www.newtontalk.net/donations/
WWNA donations: http://worldwide-newton.asso.eu.org
PLEASE SEE "HOW DO I PROVE DONATIONS OR MEMBERSHIP FEE PAYMENTS"!
...........................................
Q: Is there a warranty?
A: Yes. I have been using the cards without a problem for quite some time
now, so I don't really think a warranty will be required. Others on this
list who have already bought these cards might want to chime in here.
But since the cards are used, both Russ and me offer a one month
money-back-no-questions-asked warranty.
...........................................
Q: Is there a legal backing for the warranty you offer?
A: No. I am not a company. Neither is Russ. But I don't think you
need to consider legal issues when dealing with us. Vain as I am,
I think most of you have noticed by now that dealing with me is
fairly risk-free. You might not know Russ since he doesn't post very
often to the list, but from personal experience let me assure you that
he is a pleasure to deal with.
...........................................
Q: Talking of shipping: How much is it?
A: Only what we pay at our post offices. The following prices
assume a purchase of one card. Prices will be slightly, but not
much, higher, if you buy more than one.
If you buy from me, this means
Germany:
-------
1.44 Euros (no insurance, your risk)
5.29 Euros (insured)
Europe:
-------
2.50 Euros (no insurance, your risk)
6.35 Euros (insured)
World (air mail):
-----------------
4.00 Euros (no insurance, your risk)
7.85 Euros (insured)
Not surprisingly, Russ prefers being paid in GB, so if you
buy from him, shipping will set you back
United Kingdom:
---------------
GB 1.00 (no insurance, your risk)
GB 2.50 (insured)
Europe:
-------
GB 3.00 (no insurance, your risk)
GB 4.00 (insured)
World:
-----
GB 5.00 (insured). Russ will not send uninsured.
...........................................
Q: Can I get a card for free?
A: Yes. Until further notice new members of the Worldwide Newton
Association (WNA) will get a free card when they provide proof of
the membership fee payment. Sorry, only NEW members are eligible for
a free card.
As of today, "new" means "has joined later than December 6, 2004".
Be aware that becoming a WNA member has a couple of other
benefits. Joining the WNA is, for example, the only way to get the WWNC
DVD with all the presentations and photos. You can join here:
http://worldwide-newton.asso.eu.org/join/
PLEASE SEE "HOW DO I PROVE DONATIONS OR MEMBERSHIP FEE PAYMENTS"!
...........................................
Q: How do I prove donations or membership fee payments?
A: Both are usually done through PayPal. PayPal's online payment
form includes an (optional) note field. Please enter the text
"free or discounted cards sold by Frank and Russ", along with
whatever you consider appropriate to make this a decent sentence,
into this note field. Please forward PayPal's confirmation to
Russ or me. Do not edit it, and please do not send it as an
attachment to another mail.
...........................................
Q: Are you interested in a trade?
A: Well, why not make an offer? Something I (Frank) am especially
interested in at the moment is an English OMP or MP100, dead or
alive. Something I'm even more interested in is one of these old
airport cards that can be installed in a Pismo. An airport extreme
card won't work.
...........................................
Q: Will the card work in my eMate?
A: Yes, but you will not be able to write to it. The eMate will
mount it read-only.
...........................................
Q: Will the card work in my Newton?
A: Yes. We will test the card(s) in the Newton model(s) of your
choice before we send them. We have almost every Newton model there is.
The test will include formatting the card, loading a 2MB package
(OS 2.x models) or a 180kB package (OS 1.x models) onto it
and ensuring that said package can be opened. Please be fair and make us
test the cards only in models they will be used in. Testing a card in
all Newton models there are would take a very long time.
...........................................
Q: Can you install packages on the card before you send it?
A: I can, and I will. For the time being Russ doesn't want to
offer this service because he won't have the time. So if you
need anything other than Ethernet/BlueTooth/WLAN drivers on
the card, you will need to get in touch with me.
I will install additional packages on the card, provided that
they are freeware, shareware or from the public domain.
It'll be your job to prove this for every package you want me to
install. Don't waste your time asking for software that doesn't
meet the requirements above. I will definitely NOT put
it on your card.
It'll also be your job to send me a link from where I
can download the package. Please be fair and have me install only
packages that you really need. Package installation takes
time, and both family and the job that pays the rent have
higher priority.
...........................................
Q: I do not have a dongle, and I'd rather not buy one since they
aren't exactly cheap. Can you install Ethernet drivers and solve my
bootstrap problem?
A: Yes. Both Russ and me will do this.
...........................................
Q: Speaking of bootstrap problems: Can you install BlueTooth drivers, too?
A: Yes. Both Russ and me will do this.
...........................................
Q: Will you install the WLAN (WiFi) driver?
A: Yes. Both Russ and me will do this.
But we will only install the time and function limited demo version
unless you send us proof of payment (USD10.00) and the registration number
Hiroshi sent you. The driver can be registered via Kagi here:
https://order.kagi.com/cgi-bin/r1.cgi?LMK&&
or via PayPal using the following address:
ngc AT ff.iij4u.or DOT jp
(remove spaces and replace AT and DOT with the characters)
More info on the driver is here:
http://www.ff.iij4u.or.jp/~ngc/eng/newtwave.htm
...........................................
Q: Who should I buy from?
A: If you live in Germany, you should buy from me since shipping will be
cheaper and, in the unlikely case that one is required, there would be
less hassle with a warranty case. Likewise, if you live in the UK,
Russ is the man you should get in touch with. If you live anywhere
else, it doesn't really matter. Throw dice, or just buy from whoever
you feel more comfortable with or who happens to have any other stuff you
need in addition to the memory cards. There won't be any noticeable
difference.
...........................................
Q: If I buy a card, how long will it take until I have it?
A: This will depend on the amount of orders we get and to a certain
degree on the shipping type you choose. Neither me nor Russ are
mailing houses, and everything that has the word "Newton" in it
isn't part of the job that pays the rent and hence has lower priority.
If we are swamped with offers, which I don't really expect, we will
process orders as quickly as we're able, but list members are asked
to be patient. Testing each card in the Newton model(s) of your choice,
packing and sending them, installing packages etc. will require a little
time.
Shipping stuff inside Europe usually takes between a day and 10 days.
For air mail worldwide shipping it depends on where you live. The shortest
I had for air mail so far was two days to the US of A. The longest
I had for surface mail was about three months to Australia (unfortunately
that was a Christmas present, it arrived around Easter...)
...........................................
Q: May I answer this post by replying to the list?
A: Sure. Provided you don't mind hard objects moving at an alarming speed
towards body parts you'd rather keep intact.
If you are interested, please reply to Russ or myself. If you
just want to comment or praise or condemn or whatever, by all means
post to the list, but please oh please delete text passages you
aren't referring to before you click on the "Send" button. Be aware
that many NewtonTalkers read this list on their Newtons. Scrolling
heaps of quoted text on such a machine isn't exactly fun.
Russ' eMail address, by the way, is russbravo AT lineone DOT net
(remove spaces and replace AT and DOT with the characters)
Cheers
Frank
-- Newton Software and Hardware at http://www.pda-soft.de
-- This is the NewtonTalk list - http://www.newtontalk.net/ for all inquiries Official Newton FAQ: http://www.chuma.org/newton/faq/ WikiWikiNewt for all kinds of articles: http://tools.unna.org/wikiwikinewt/
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