[flecom]

a lot of these companies really dont care as long as you dont abuse the system...

i will give you an example, molex makes just about every kind of connector you can think of... and i needed one of their particular connectors to mate to a MiniPCI ethernet card... i asked them if they had any resellers for the part in the US and they said that they had only sold it to OEM's but if i wanted they could send me a few through their sample program. i told them that i wasnt a company and it was for personal use but i would really appreciate it if they could send me the connectors and pins... next day fedex guy at my door with a little box with the "MOLEX" logo on the side, they sent me not one but 10 of the connectors

i knew of a few people that were working on similar projects at the time and i gave away all 8 of them that were left over (screwed up on my first try

)

now, there are people out there that order excessive samples and then turn around and sell them, its these people that will ruin the free ride for us, and ruin the sample program for companies...

unfortunately this will probably continue until companies stop doing the free samples all together... but i dont think they will, really it dosent cost them more than a few cents to make these $30 opamps and such, so they can afford to give away 2 or 3 for anyone who asks... plus im sure they write it off as expense or advertising or something...


my $0.02 take it for what its worth (not much

)

 

[Edwood]

You can get samples for free?

Man, why the hell did I pay for that evaluation sample motherboard last time?

-Ed

 

[Edwood]

Quote:

Originally Posted by flecom a lot of these companies really dont care as long as you dont abuse the system... i will give you an example, molex makes just about every kind of connector you can think of... and i needed one of their particular connectors to mate to a MiniPCI ethernet card... i asked them if they had any resellers for the part in the US and they said that they had only sold it to OEM's but if i wanted they could send me a few through their sample program. i told them that i wasnt a company and it was for personal use but i would really appreciate it if they could send me the connectors and pins... next day fedex guy at my door with a little box with the "MOLEX" logo on the side, they sent me not one but 10 of the connectors i knew of a few people that were working on similar projects at the time and i gave away all 8 of them that were left over (screwed up on my first try ) now, there are people out there that order excessive samples and then turn around and sell them, its these people that will ruin the free ride for us, and ruin the sample program for companies... unfortunately this will probably continue until companies stop doing the free samples all together... but i dont think they will, really it dosent cost them more than a few cents to make these $30 opamps and such, so they can afford to give away 2 or 3 for anyone who asks... plus im sure they write it off as expense or advertising or something... my $0.02 take it for what its worth (not much )

For small inexpensive parts, it is most definitely worthwhile for manufacturers to send out samples. Even those who are only using it for a hobby project will remember that part. And if/when they come around to a professional project, guess which part they will remember?

But abuse does happen. coughBulginSwitchcough

-Ed

 

[Garbz]

Personally I use free samples. But this is for personal use only. If i ever sell something I sure as hell won't use a sample chip in it.

Although I technically abuse the system with the ammount of samples i've ordered, I sure as hell won't stoop low enough to make money from selling one!

 

[pabbi1]

This is a budgeted expense, and rarely exceeded. The day electronics manufacturers stop giving samples will be the day after bakeries stop giving free loaves of bread to school kids on field trips. These guys were once like all us, and loved getting a few freebie toys to piddle with, and understand there is intrinsic benefit/cost.

Giving away a tangible product is marketing an engineer can understand, except to facilitate reverse engineering. And, giving samples is better than whatever the marketing group (a necessary evil, emphasis on evil) comes up with.

Giving samples also yields potentially cheap testing and feedback, so there is a return in giving away some product you'd probably be grinding up anyway. Besides, that's so yesterday's design, and their focus is on the next version to get slicker, quicker and cheaper.

The larger manufacturers could not care if you gather a little coin off their freebies, so long as it's not from stealing their design, and then competing directly with them.

 

[gsferrari]

Its just a question of ethics. Do what is ethical...thats all...dont think about who doesnt care if you do the right or wrong thing...think about yourself and if you can live with the fact that you KNOWINGLY did something wrong.

Not specific to this case...life in general...

I am in a philosophical mood

 

[seiko_citizen]

I get samples to do some evaluation, never to resell to others. Whenever I want to resell anything it will not have any samples in it, should it have I will let the purchaser know

 

[drewd]

It is soooo tempting to head over to TI and start grabbing samples, particularly for the pricier opamps. The semiconductor company that I work for also sends out samples, although the market is much narrower in that business than in TI's, but it is considered a cost of doing business and is a very tiny percentage of that total cost, even for expensive chips.

I've gotten samples from TI and Analog Devices for my personal amps. But as soon as I started selling amps, I made the consicous decision to forgo that use of the sample programs purely for ethical reasons. I'm not tooting my own ethical horn and it honestly doesn't matter to me if anybody else uses the sample program for other than what it is intended for - after all, it would be hypocritical of me, seeing as I pretty much misused it for my personal amps.

I still do use the sample programs, particularly when a new chip is announced that I think might be worthwhile to use. If it works out, then I buy them. If not, well, that's what the sample programs are for.

-Drew

 

[Sovkiller]

This free sample programs also are use by them to get feedback on their products, and determine the reliability and future uses, they use the companies that are using their free samples ( and the DIYers) as beta testers sometimes, even before the final production is configured and released...unless of known products of course....

To the point, well, the only time I asked for samples, I never got them, not even an answer, from the manufacturer, and it was for my personal use, now for profits, IMO it is not right, to try them, and test them, it is a valid option, sometimes the IC is not what we are expecting, and we try it but finally decided for another, in that case what to do with the sample, throw it out, return them?

 

[rickcr42]

Just as an FYI-you can actually get into some serious trouble if you sell certain chips to specific foreign nations.
Proscribed by law and not available for sale

Off hand i can not remeber the details but i DO KNOW i had to agree to the terms with certain chips in the digital realm before i could have my order processed

 

[MisterX]

I always wonder about those Ebay sellers...
How else can they sell 5 OPA637s for 20$?
Something is just not right there.

 

[tkerby]

I work for an electronics manufacturer myself and we dont have a samples programme in the same sense as TI or Maxim. We tend to rely on marketing qualification, then we will happily give samples and applications support (my role). We are generally also more than willing to help the odd student or hobbyist if we have the time to support them. Sometimes a students idea will be sold and become a major project.

I will happily use sample programs of the major manufacturers because we do so much business with them already for EVKs etc. I've had many a distributor or samples person tell me that personal samples are no problem, its kinda just a sweetener for you to buy other components from them in the future.

I've also used samples programs for companies such as ON Semiconductor where you pay an admin charge on the cart. I sometimes feel this is fairer as each samples box posted costs around $30 for the manufacturer to ship.

I will generally ensure that I say quantity is <1000 and list in a description field 'Personal use - headphone amp project' or otherwise. That lkets the company make a decision whether they are happy to send samples. This has got me a phonecall or two to ask about the project before but the response is always positive.

I also feel that even if you dont intend a commercial device, but if you make an input to forums such as this with positive reviews of components or give schematics for devices using them then you are entitled to samples. 50 hobbyists ordering parts for your design more than makes up for the fact you didnt pay for parts

 

[ipodstudio]

Quote:

Originally Posted by JMT No, if I want to try it...I buy it.

My thoughts, exactly. This is actually a similar discussion to the wrongs and rights of ordering 3 different headphone cables (for example) and returning the two you don't like. I can't bring myself to accept that as right either, though I know many who can. Not grinding, just observing.

 

[Nisbeth]

I've gotten quite a few samples from TI, AD and National but only parts that were either impossible to source locally (good sources of parts are not exactly abundant here) or IMHO ridiculously overpriced. "Overpriced" is of course a matter of opinion, but $30 for an OPA627?

The 25% VAT is extra of course....

I have gotten a few emails/calls from manufacturers asking to clarify my request and if I write that the parts are unavailable locallly there are no problems whatsoever

/U.

 

[robzy]

I get free samples, but i do not abuse it. I am still deciding how seriously i want to get into DIY Audio.

I would not sell anything with these free samples in them either, because that isnt right.