In article ,
hemyd wrote:
It's a cynical view, but one I fully agree with. When I started my job
as a typewriter technician at IBM in 1975 we were offering a
reconditioning service which involved the replacement of all wearable
components. The service was quite expensive, but you ended up with an
as-new typewriter.

At about that time some other companies offered a much cheaper
"refurbishing" service. They'd put the typewriter through a solvent
bath, then re-lubricate it - that was that! You ended up with a machine
which looked brand spanking new - but was a worn out old heap of junk.

Whatever the service being offered - refurbishing, reconditioning, etc.,
I'd want to know exactly what work was done, and some guarrantee of
such work.

The fact is that most things like consumer electronics these days are made
in near fully automated factories - and perhaps in low wage countries.

So to strip and fully recondition them then reassemble could well cost
more in labour than a new one. Some things you *know* will deteriorate
with age - CRTs etc. And capacitors. But much solid state electronics
doesn't have a defined life. The solder however may well have.

--
*Generally speaking, you aren't learning much if your lips are moving.*

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.