Futurlec ?

[petesz]

Yes, its true futurlec is often VERY slow.
Once i placed an order, waited it out for about a month, decided to email them and they replied saying one of the parts was out of stock indefinitely so they hadnt been able to complete my order... at least they told me though! so I just replied and said forget that part then they sent the package the next day

BUT i find the quality of the box caps, electrolytics, resistors, IC's all to be really good and they label all the values on the plastic slips which is super handy. you can buy "value packs" of the caps, resistors etc and yeah stock up on the box caps for sure.

[gtr2]

Yes, that's one thing I didn't mention.  With futurlec, for some reason they don't tell you when they don't have something in stock and you end up waiting until they get it.  I ALWAYS follow up with an email after about a week or two and the have ALWAYS responded.  You can ask them to ship the order incomplete and they will refund the parts they did not have.

Josh

[StompIt]

Thanks so much for the responses!   It looks like Futurlec and Tayda are both acceptable sources if youre willing to put up with the possibility of poor customer service. 

You know..I was googling some diodes and found a site that appears to be in the US and has great prices for transistors, caps and diodes... Its Newark.com.   And the shipping is reasonable too...

[bigmufffuzzwizz]

Newark does have good stuff, but I really don't like navigating through those sites. The transistors/ic section has so many options it can be impossible to find what you want without using the search function at the top. But I did find some cheap 0.1uf box caps. If you buy 50 they are $0.055 a piece!!! Not too bad but the other values are more expensive.

Does anyone know if I can pull up the datasheet and order using the parts numbers that are listed, or is that for ordering straight from the company that actually makes the capacitors?

[StompIt]

yes.. Newarks navigation is very similar to Mouser and takes MUCH longer to determine the right part.. but the selection and prices are great.   The electro and ceramic caps are a great deal.

I think Im going to have to pick and choose from Futurlec, Newark and Tayda!

[jstbrowsin]

The secret to ordering from futurlec is once you have placed your order wait a few days (I wait 3 days) and if you don't receive a status update get on to them straight away. They normally answer straight away (within 24 hrs) and it usually takes about two weeks from then for the order to land on your door. At least that is for for me here in NZ.
As far as the germanium diodes get them from somewhere else, as I have ordered a few in the past and ended up getting schottkys because they were out of stock.    Sad but true.

THE KEY IS TO STAY ON THERE BACK.  Sorry for shouting 
Apart from the hassles above I find the the quality of the products and cost effective shipping is well worth the wait. 

[StompIt]

The secret to ordering from futurlec is once you have placed your order wait a few days (I wait 3 days) and if you don't receive a status update get on to them straight away. They normally answer straight away (within 24 hrs) and it usually takes about two weeks from then for the order to land on your door. At least that is for for me here in NZ.
As far as the germanium diodes get them from somewhere else, as I have ordered a few in the past and ended up getting schottkys because they were out of stock.    Sad but true.

THE KEY IS TO STAY ON THERE BACK.  Sorry for shouting 
Apart from the hassles above I find the the quality of the products and cost effective shipping is well worth the wait. 

You are 100% correct.   Based on a tip I saw on another post, I emailed them the day after I ordered and they responded quickly with the backordered item list and ship date.

[nzCdog]

Thanks so much for the responses!   It looks like Futurlec and Tayda are both acceptable sources if youre willing to put up with the possibility of poor customer service.  

You know..I was googling some diodes and found a site that appears to be in the US and has great prices for transistors, caps and diodes... Its Newark.com.   And the shipping is reasonable too...

I shop for some parts with Futurlec... caps, resistors, pots diodes and ICs... all ok parts.  After shipping they are so much cheaper than the alternatives that the odd mistake factors in as part of the experience  I had two orders with mistakes in a row, but the other 3 were ok.  When the mistakes were raised, I got refund or replacement no questions asked... My cautions are that the toggle switches are pretty poor, they work but the lugs shift with even a little heat. And do not buy the jack sockets... utter rubbish.  Other parts are good tho.