DMK sent off

[Fay]

I have sent the dmk to Optic Star, where I bought it & they will check it out before sending it off for a potential repair. They are such nice men there, always so polite & helpful, never rude or impatient.

[Fay]

Oh well, bad news on the DMK.
=========================================================================

we inspected the camera. The reason why it is not detected, is a short-circuit on the so called
DSP-board and a blown component on the so called Power-board (please see attached bmp).

Destructions like these can only result from very high power e.g. by a short-circuit in the cable
that leads to an overvoltage on the data-line or maybe a self assembled cable that offers excessive
supply voltage.

Since the camera had been working faultlessly for some time, a defective cable is most likely the
reason for the breakdown. In these cases we urgently advise our customers to inspect and/or exchange
the cables in use.

This means we have to assume that the defect was (unintentionaly) caused by the user and is no
device error. Please note as well that the camera was deliverd in december 2007 and is hence out of
warranty.

We are able to repair the camera by exchanging the two defective boards. Therefore I asked my
colleague to send you an estimate of costs. He will contact you soon.

===========================================================================

Good afternoon Fay,

I am sorry as I do not have good news regarding the camera. Both boards inside the camera have been damaged an would need to be replaced.

IS has quoted us eu200 + shipping + VAT  for the repair, this amounts to around eu270 assuming 17.5% VAT. It seems that it would be wiser buying a new camera that would have a full 12 months warrantee instead.

I have included their emails below that outline the repair cost as well as a technical report.

Please let me know what you would like us to do.

[Rocket Pooch]

Ouch, sorry about that Fay.

[mickw]

DOH

Things that are black and can be plugged in should not necessarily be plugged in 

On the plus side - Time for upgrading 

[Fay]

Well I never used it much Mick. I did have a recognition problem with it before, that is why I changed the hard drive. It got going again & then Device not found happened again. Anyway, I was mucking about with cables & that is the reason it blew.

Oh well, what is a good AVI camera then?

[Ian]

Fay,

if you get it back from them, could I have it for parts? Or are you planning on selling it?

[Fay]

well I have asked them what I should do, don't want to spend too much on postage. I don't think there will be any parts left, as 2 boards not working. I am going away for a week, but will bear it in mind, Ian.

[Rocket Pooch]

Are you going away for a week Fay, blimey you must be loaded, as with all people who can offord to go away all the time 

[RobertM]

Fay,

Sorry to hear about that bad news Fay.  The repair cost sounds somewhat excessive but I guess they have to think about their profits.  At least it wasn't the Atik.

I think that's a bit of a wakeup call for all of us!

Are you going away for a week Fay, blimey you must be loaded, as with all people who can offord to go away all the time

or lounge around all day sipping beer and taking the forum in tangents talking about Essex snakes

Robert

[Rocket Pooch]

Still cheaper than a holiday

[Mike]

Yup. They said what I said.

[MarkS]

Sorry to hear that Fay - bad news.  That's an expensive bill - probably not worth it I guess ...

[PhilB]

Sorry to hear about your camera, Fay. The repair does seem a little uneconomic. Unfortunately, repair of electronics appears to have risen sharply. A friend with a laptop costing £500 when she bought it new a few months ago has just been quoted £784 to replace it's cracked LCD screen 

I have a DFK myself and did have cable problems with it. Fortunately it still works (luck of the draw I guess) I'll be a lot more careful with it in future. 

[Mike]

Modern electronics are not designed to be repaired. They simply replace nowadays.

[PhilB]

Yup, that's true, Mike, but laptop screens are held on by a couple of screws and there are usually no solder joints, just plugs. Further more the screen of this particular machine costs £89 and that's retail. Okay, this is just the screen and to fit it you have to open the top housing (lid). Perhaps it's me, but I feel that £700 labour for doing this is just a shade over the top!

[Rick]

Yeah. Priced firmly in "We can't be ***ed to fix this, so let's see if we can get the customer to buy a new laptop instead." territory.