[Elecraft] Experience with off brand memory cards

[Ron D'Eau Claire]

Joe, AA4NN, wrote: 

I'm guessing, then, the 1GB PC2700 333MHz memory card
I purchased from an internet site $40 cheaper than same spec memory card on
the Dell site is inferior and could fail soon? de Joe, aa4nn
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
---
Do you always get more if you pay more? Absolutely not.
But that doesn't make the corollary true. You don't get the same quality
when you pay less. Even if you know the part came from the same plant. Ron
AC7AC

--------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------

It might. It might not. You left out the other sentence:

"Do you always get more if you pay more? Absolutely not." 

My point was that the fact that many products come from the same
manufacturers does not mean they are equal. 

What we often don't know is whether a cheaper product isn't just as good for
the intended purposes. 

Years ago John Glenn, talking about having ridden a Mercury capsule aloft
for America's first orbital flight in space, observed that he was placing
his life in the hands of those who made millions of parts "..all supplied by
the lowest bidder..." 

What he left out was that those parts were bid, tested and supplied by
manufacturers working to very complete and exacting specifications. That was
my work in the early 60s: "Component Engineering", writing component
specifications for programs including some of the stuff going into the
manned space program. The trick was to pin down every important criteria a
part had to meet: whether it was a nut, or a battery, or the turbine that
pumped fuel into a rocket motor. 

The "lowest bidder" Glenn referred to was the one who could supply parts
meeting *every* specification at the lowest cost. 

Unfortunately, when we're standing in the aisle at the discount store, we
don't have a complete set of specifications with us for our "intended use"
nor do the manufacturers offer any detailed specifications or warranties. A
long time ago one manufacturer (Ray-O-Vac??) offered to replace any
flashlight ruined by a leaking battery. I haven't seen anything like that in
years! 

Still, I buy name brand batteries because I "feel" more confident using
them. 

And that speaks to something else I learned a long time ago: I, and everyone
I've known, makes choices for emotional reasons. We choose what we do based
on how we feel about it. Only after doing that do we apply "logic" to
justify the choice!

Ron AC7AC