Comments on: Never mind the quality, feel the price! http://dansdata.blogsome.com/2008/09/26/never-mind-the-quality-feel-the-price/ the blog that is not dansdata.com Fri, 10 Feb 2012 16:59:01 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=1.5.1-alpha by: willsjacks http://dansdata.blogsome.com/2008/09/26/never-mind-the-quality-feel-the-price/#comment-7978 Tue, 13 Dec 2011 14:12:54 +0000 http://dansdata.blogsome.com/2008/09/26/never-mind-the-quality-feel-the-price/#comment-7978 Before purchasing any items, getting knowledge regarding the best quality and affordable price are really needed things for every people. Before purchasing any items, getting knowledge regarding the best quality and affordable price are really needed things for every people.

]]> by: Changes http://dansdata.blogsome.com/2008/09/26/never-mind-the-quality-feel-the-price/#comment-3185 Wed, 01 Oct 2008 01:10:24 +0100 http://dansdata.blogsome.com/2008/09/26/never-mind-the-quality-feel-the-price/#comment-3185 I hate to rain on your parade, but the pig lights suck quite badly. I ordered a few, and I still have to see one with LEDs of matched brightness - plus the batteries are tiny and wholly unsuited to the job. The only good thing about the minipig light is that it contains a lot of empty space, so it's easy (relatively speaking) to mod it with a small rechargeable battery, and upgrade the LEDs. I hate to rain on your parade, but the pig lights suck quite badly. I ordered a few, and I still have to see one with LEDs of matched brightness - plus the batteries are tiny and wholly unsuited to the job.
The only good thing about the minipig light is that it contains a lot of empty space, so it's easy (relatively speaking) to mod it with a small rechargeable battery, and upgrade the LEDs.

]]> by: terrahwk http://dansdata.blogsome.com/2008/09/26/never-mind-the-quality-feel-the-price/#comment-3157 Mon, 29 Sep 2008 14:44:22 +0100 http://dansdata.blogsome.com/2008/09/26/never-mind-the-quality-feel-the-price/#comment-3157 Having just completed my first transaction with deal extreme I can honestly say that I am very happy with my "interesting pig shaped keychains". I wonder how I survived for so long without a pig-nostril equipped LED torch. http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.1138~r.24492410 Having just completed my first transaction with deal extreme I can honestly say that I am very happy with my "interesting pig shaped keychains". I wonder how I survived for so long without a pig-nostril equipped LED torch.

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.1138~r.24492410

]]> by: FuzzyPlushroom http://dansdata.blogsome.com/2008/09/26/never-mind-the-quality-feel-the-price/#comment-3152 Mon, 29 Sep 2008 05:25:09 +0100 http://dansdata.blogsome.com/2008/09/26/never-mind-the-quality-feel-the-price/#comment-3152 I have no problem with PayPal, Dan - I just don't have an account, and I openly admit to being Too Damn Lazy to set one up. If I ever do, though, they'll be my first stop for a bike light. Or two. I have no problem with PayPal, Dan - I just don't have an account, and I openly admit to being Too Damn Lazy to set one up.

If I ever do, though, they'll be my first stop for a bike light. Or two.

]]> by: Daniel Rutter http://dansdata.blogsome.com/2008/09/26/never-mind-the-quality-feel-the-price/#comment-3141 Sat, 27 Sep 2008 17:57:02 +0100 http://dansdata.blogsome.com/2008/09/26/never-mind-the-quality-feel-the-price/#comment-3141 They're cigarette-shaped heaters that vaporise some sort of tobacco/nicotine pellet, so you can get your nicotine hit as with normal smoking, but without inhaling (and sharing with others nearby) all of the other noxious but non-psychoactive smoke components. "Smokeless" cigarettes have been around for years in one form or another, but they've generally been a hideous market failure. Now that strong anti-smoking laws are spreading across the world and Chinese companies are pumping them out at low prices, though, it's possible that they'll finally catch on. (Unless, of course, the cut-rate Chinese manufacturers are making them in such a way that they're actually deadlier than <i>real</i> cigarettes...) There's a slightly elderly but very interesting documentary on this subject, called <a href="http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/cigarette/" rel="nofollow">Search for a Safe Cigarette</a>. They're cigarette-shaped heaters that vaporise some sort of tobacco/nicotine pellet, so you can get your nicotine hit as with normal smoking, but without inhaling (and sharing with others nearby) all of the other noxious but non-psychoactive smoke components.

"Smokeless" cigarettes have been around for years in one form or another, but they've generally been a hideous market failure. Now that strong anti-smoking laws are spreading across the world and Chinese companies are pumping them out at low prices, though, it's possible that they'll finally catch on.

(Unless, of course, the cut-rate Chinese manufacturers are making them in such a way that they're actually deadlier than real cigarettes...)

There's a slightly elderly but very interesting documentary on this subject, called Search for a Safe Cigarette.

]]> by: Red October http://dansdata.blogsome.com/2008/09/26/never-mind-the-quality-feel-the-price/#comment-3140 Sat, 27 Sep 2008 16:42:35 +0100 http://dansdata.blogsome.com/2008/09/26/never-mind-the-quality-feel-the-price/#comment-3140 Awesome stuff. I'm still trying to figure out what an electroinc cigarette is! Awesome stuff. I'm still trying to figure out what an electroinc cigarette is!

]]> by: bmorey http://dansdata.blogsome.com/2008/09/26/never-mind-the-quality-feel-the-price/#comment-3139 Sat, 27 Sep 2008 15:34:33 +0100 http://dansdata.blogsome.com/2008/09/26/never-mind-the-quality-feel-the-price/#comment-3139 I've got an order in with DX -- they are very popular with fellow bicyclists looking for super-high-power LED flashlights to use as bike lights. I got the LiOn batteries and charge quickly enough but have been waiting a month for the 700 lumen quad-die C7 torch. Must be a popular item -- I guess a small torch that puts out as much light as a car headlamp (low beam) would be. I've got an order in with DX -- they are very popular with fellow bicyclists looking for super-high-power LED flashlights to use as bike lights. I got the LiOn batteries and charge quickly enough but have been waiting a month for the 700 lumen quad-die C7 torch. Must be a popular item -- I guess a small torch that puts out as much light as a car headlamp (low beam) would be.

]]> by: Daniel Rutter http://dansdata.blogsome.com/2008/09/26/never-mind-the-quality-feel-the-price/#comment-3138 Sat, 27 Sep 2008 14:49:38 +0100 http://dansdata.blogsome.com/2008/09/26/never-mind-the-quality-feel-the-price/#comment-3138 I've got to say, I still don't know what the big deal is about problems with PayPal. No, it's not perfectly secure. But in this situation it is, as far as I can see, much safer than the alternative. I mean, as DealExtreme themselves <a href="http://help.dealextreme.com/Default.aspx?Page=Frequently%20Asked%20Questions&amp;AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1#Why_should_I_buy_via_Paypal_11">point out</a>, the only normal <b>alternative</b> to PayPal is to give <b>all of your credit card details to some random guy</b>, in this case some random guy who lives in Hong Kong. If you use PayPal, all a vendor gets to see is that yes, you've sent them the money, plus your PayPal mailing address. If you're <i>selling</i> things, then PayPal can be a pain; as with credit cards, a buyer can just claim you never sent them anything and get their money back. If you're <i>buying</i> things, though, PayPal will almost certainly never be a problem for you. (I'm not counting people who get phished, or set their PayPal <a href="/2006/10/22/nonsense-passwords/">password</a> to their user name with a 7 on the end, or something.) I've had my credit card details stolen - I think by an online store that I pissed off by complaining about a slow delivery - but the only problem I've <b>ever</b> had with PayPal, after receiving donations and buying stuff with it for several years, was one time when someone donated money and then claimed I never sent him "the product" which he pretended he'd bought with that money. I've got to say, I still don't know what the big deal is about problems with PayPal.

No, it's not perfectly secure. But in this situation it is, as far as I can see, much safer than the alternative.

I mean, as DealExtreme themselves point out, the only normal alternative to PayPal is to give all of your credit card details to some random guy, in this case some random guy who lives in Hong Kong. If you use PayPal, all a vendor gets to see is that yes, you've sent them the money, plus your PayPal mailing address.

If you're selling things, then PayPal can be a pain; as with credit cards, a buyer can just claim you never sent them anything and get their money back. If you're buying things, though, PayPal will almost certainly never be a problem for you.

(I'm not counting people who get phished, or set their PayPal password to their user name with a 7 on the end, or something.)

I've had my credit card details stolen - I think by an online store that I pissed off by complaining about a slow delivery - but the only problem I've ever had with PayPal, after receiving donations and buying stuff with it for several years, was one time when someone donated money and then claimed I never sent him "the product" which he pretended he'd bought with that money.

]]> by: FuzzyPlushroom http://dansdata.blogsome.com/2008/09/26/never-mind-the-quality-feel-the-price/#comment-3137 Sat, 27 Sep 2008 10:48:41 +0100 http://dansdata.blogsome.com/2008/09/26/never-mind-the-quality-feel-the-price/#comment-3137 Oh, they only take PayPal? That's out, then - sorry, Dan. Oh, they only take PayPal? That's out, then - sorry, Dan.

]]> by: n17ikh http://dansdata.blogsome.com/2008/09/26/never-mind-the-quality-feel-the-price/#comment-3136 Sat, 27 Sep 2008 08:16:33 +0100 http://dansdata.blogsome.com/2008/09/26/never-mind-the-quality-feel-the-price/#comment-3136 Unfortunately DX only accepts PayPal - which for us Americans has started enforcing an old regulation saying that you can't import lasers over 5mW which are not FDA approved. So, all the lasers I'd want to buy from there, e.g. the cheap-and-cheerful high-power green lasers, are no longer available to me. This situation is getting ridiculous - I can carry around a freaking handgun but I can't get a laser to point out stars or do experiments with? Gimme a freaking break. Maybe I'll have to learn glassblowing - I have some old DIY books from the 80s on how to build multiple-dozens-of-watts CO2 lasers. The best part: It's not illegal to own or build them, just to buy or import! Ugh. Unfortunately DX only accepts PayPal - which for us Americans has started enforcing an old regulation saying that you can't import lasers over 5mW which are not FDA approved. So, all the lasers I'd want to buy from there, e.g. the cheap-and-cheerful high-power green lasers, are no longer available to me. This situation is getting ridiculous - I can carry around a freaking handgun but I can't get a laser to point out stars or do experiments with? Gimme a freaking break. Maybe I'll have to learn glassblowing - I have some old DIY books from the 80s on how to build multiple-dozens-of-watts CO2 lasers. The best part: It's not illegal to own or build them, just to buy or import! Ugh.

]]>