Power supply

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bastard
 
Posts: 54
Joined: Tue Aug 25, 2009 7:10 am

Power supply

Post by bastard »

When your kits are sold worldwide you have to think about power supplies. If you deliver power supplies like this one, all goes well. If not, what should your customer do with the useless power supply?

I think it would be better to seperate a kit from its power supply. One who has already a power supply will be fine. One who needs one orders it.

What do you think?
Stefan

adafruit
 
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Joined: Thu Apr 06, 2006 4:21 pm

Re: Power supply

Post by adafruit »

hi stefan,

we think a lot about power supplies - we also release different versions of kits, updates and "packs" after an initial kit release - we appreciate the suggestions, keep in mind a kit is not "set in stone" - we may offer options later. if you'd like to wait until we have more options for a specific kit that's an option too :)

thanks,
adafruit

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westfw
 
Posts: 2008
Joined: Fri Apr 27, 2007 1:01 pm

Re: Power supply

Post by westfw »

Nowdays most power supplies (regulated DC switching supplies) will accept a full international voltage range, so it's just a matter of physical adapters to allow things to plug in to the wall. I'm sort-of in favor of those supplies that use a standardized ("IEC"?) cord; it's not like the average hobbyist doesn't have lots of those lying around... (but the ultra-mini supplies that come with cellphones and such are so cute...)

I have a freescale CPU eval board that came with a full set of plugs, but it was not quite so clever as the one you link to, and the collection of plugs was larger in both mass and volume than any other part of the development kit. Which is quite a waste, especially since shipping costs can already dominate international shipments.

adafruit
 
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Re: Power supply

Post by adafruit »

Our regulated 9VDC supply works from 110V to 220V 50Hz or 60Hz so it works everywhere in the world, all you need is an inexpensive adapter found in any hardware store to convert the prongs. This keeps our kit prices low, but makes sure that users have the right adapter. We have experimented with kits that do not come with a plug and it turned out to be extremely frustrating for users, as they couldn't find any good ones locally, or bought the wrong thing...

bastard
 
Posts: 54
Joined: Tue Aug 25, 2009 7:10 am

Re: Power supply

Post by bastard »

adafruit wrote:Our regulated 9VDC supply works from 110V to 220V 50Hz or 60Hz so it works everywhere in the world, all you need is an inexpensive adapter found in any hardware store to convert the prongs.
It may sound crazy for you, but there is NO hardware store in Germany selling an adapter for US (or any other country) prongs.

I have routinely worldwide guests here at the corporation headquarter. They all can buy an adapter for Germany in their country. And I can buy here an adapter for every country I want to travel.

Thus a foreign plug/power supply is useless for me. Sorry.

adafruit
 
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Joined: Thu Apr 06, 2006 4:21 pm

Re: Power supply

Post by adafruit »

bastard wrote:It may sound crazy for you, but there is NO hardware store in Germany selling an adapter for US (or any other country) prongs. I have routinely worldwide guests here at the corporation headquarter. They all can buy an adapter for Germany in their country. And I can buy here an adapter for every country I want to travel. Thus a foreign plug/power supply is useless for me. Sorry.
hi, phil from adafruit support here. i've spent a lot of time in berlin and in germany, i found one in like 2 minutes at "media markt". this is one of the most common things for most stores to carry. we've asked you in the past about having a positive tone here. i'll keep this message published at this time, but this is the second reminder :)

if you don't want to order our kit or would like a refund because we do not have the options you like, we can do that and you can wait - we will likely have additional options down the road, but for now this is what we are launching with. we appreciate your orders and support and your helpful, polite comments in the forums. more of the nice and helpful :)

thanks,
adafruit (pt)

bastard
 
Posts: 54
Joined: Tue Aug 25, 2009 7:10 am

Re: Power supply

Post by bastard »

adafruit wrote:hi, phil from adafruit support here. i've spent a lot of time in berlin and in germany, i found one in like 2 minutes at "media markt". this is one of the most common things for most stores to carry.
Thank you very much for telling me what was available at "media markt" right after WW2 when Germany was full of US soldiers. It could be that Berlin might be an exception but that's not true for any store I was in the last 30 years. Anyway I cannot prove it. And it doesn't matter. I totally understand you. Thank you for making that clear.
adafruit wrote:we've asked you in the past about having a positive tone here. i'll keep this message published at this time, but this is the second reminder :)
Please accept that english is a foreign language for me. I try to write in a positive tone, but I'm not able to write the tone inbetween the lines. I learned, that positive is mostly not to criticize your products. Nor discuss them. Positive means that I have to praise them. I understand you now. Discussing a power supply is not positive. You're joking. But I understand.
adafruit wrote:if you don't want to order our kit or would like a refund because we do not have the options you like, we can do that and you can wait - we will likely have additional options down the road, but for now this is what we are launching with. we appreciate your orders and support and your helpful, polite comments in the forums. more of the nice and helpful
Thank you for making me feel as I were in school again. Or back in the army. For a long time I missed that special feeling. Thank you very much. I understand you now. You mean "buy & pay, or go away". Very short.

Refund ... I made already clear that to save the environment is more important for me than paying less for a kit without a power supply. Again: Kepp it I'l still pay it. Only remove it from the box. Or just do not put it in the box. Give it to the next customer. If you can't do it - o.k. never mind. This is only a discussion abaut possibilities. If your customers arn't able to order a power supply seperately - o.k. never mind.

adafruit
 
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Joined: Thu Apr 06, 2006 4:21 pm

Re: Power supply

Post by adafruit »

bastard wrote:Thank you for making me feel as I were in school again. Or back in the army. For a long time I missed that special feeling. Thank you very much. I understand you now. You mean "buy & pay, or go away". Very short. Refund ... I made already clear that to save the environment is more important for me than paying less for a kit without a power supply. Again: Kepp it I'l still pay it. Only remove it from the box. Or just do not put it in the box. Give it to the next customer. If you can't do it - o.k. never mind. This is only a discussion abaut possibilities. If your customers arn't able to order a power supply seperately - o.k. never mind.
more push ups! stefan - we've explained what we're doing for the launch, we hope this brings this thread to a conclusion, thanks! :)

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