Anyone tried one of the cheapies? Are they any good? (Can't justify a proper
lab-type one)

In article ,
Newshound wrote:
Anyone tried one of the cheapies? Are they any good? (Can't justify a
proper lab-type one)

I've just ordered one (daily special so let's not hope of the Afur
variety) so I'll let you know.

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

In message , Newshound
writes
Anyone tried one of the cheapies? Are they any good? (Can't justify a proper
lab-type one)

Yeah, I've got one

I've cleaned my glasses, everyone's watches, and a few other things, now
what ?

It's the same question with any budget tool

what do you intend using it for ?


--
geoff

On Thu, 19 Jul 2007 12:44:03 UTC, "Newshound"
wrote:

Anyone tried one of the cheapies? Are they any good? (Can't justify a proper
lab-type one)

Yup.

Did a good job on my 5 pairs of glasses, on my wife's jewellery (and
she's fussy). Also on a couple of CDs.

Not bad for about 20 quid.

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Newshound wrote:

Anyone tried one of the cheapies? Are they any good? (Can't justify a proper
lab-type one)

Wife is one of those daft Scout leaders and took her digi camera to camp
last year. true to form, she dropped it into a stream.

View finder was left cloudy and the camera shop wanted to charge the
equivalent of a new camera to repair it.

I took off the back of the case and dropped it into my cheepo Maplin
cleaner 4 times ( warm water and a single drop of washing up liquid).
Each time I stood it up in a different plane and it worked fine after a
week's drying time.

I have cleaned some of her jewellery and that has come out much brighter
than it went in, so at a cost of less that £30-00 I am well pleased with
mine.

Dave

Thanks all, seems like worth a punt then

S

"Newshound" wrote in message
...
Thanks all, seems like worth a punt then

S

I have to show my ignorance by asking what the heck are you all talking
about? Link please ...

Keith

In article ,
Keith Dunbar wrote:
"Newshound" wrote in message
...
Thanks all, seems like worth a punt then

S

I have to show my ignorance by asking what the heck are you all talking
about? Link please ...

http://emarketing.premierfarnell.com/action/?v=%2Fc%2Fs%2F504705%2Ff%2F131778


Keith

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

On Fri, 20 Jul 2007 04:00:32 UTC, "Keith Dunbar"
wrote:

"Newshound" wrote in message
...
Thanks all, seems like worth a punt then

I have to show my ignorance by asking what the heck are you all talking
about? Link please ...

http://www.cpc.co.uk

and type: SA01944 into the search box.

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On 19 Jul, 13:44, "Newshound" wrote:
Anyone tried one of the cheapies?

They're great. Not very big internally, but plenty of power.

It's likely that compared to a "real" cleaner, it will be the service
lifetime that suffers. If the transducer technology is related to
those in the recent crop of ultrasonic mist generators and
humidifiers, they certainly have a finite lifespan. Fortunately it's
measured in running time, not age.

Bob Eager wrote:
On Fri, 20 Jul 2007 04:00:32 UTC, "Keith Dunbar"
wrote:


"Newshound" wrote in message
...

Thanks all, seems like worth a punt then

I have to show my ignorance by asking what the heck are you all talking
about? Link please ...


http://www.cpc.co.uk

and type: SA01944 into the search box.



Or SA0194467 for the identical item at a slightly lower price. But why
the price difference?

On Fri, 20 Jul 2007 19:42:28 UTC, Richard wrote:

Bob Eager wrote:
On Fri, 20 Jul 2007 04:00:32 UTC, "Keith Dunbar"
wrote:

"Newshound" wrote in message
...

Thanks all, seems like worth a punt then

I have to show my ignorance by asking what the heck are you all talking
about? Link please ...


http://www.cpc.co.uk

and type: SA01944 into the search box.


Or SA0194467 for the identical item at a slightly lower price. But why
the price difference?

I did realise that, but it was an illustrative example. I didn't know if
the lower price code would work if you weren't logged in as a customer.

The lower price is from one of the customer 'flyers' that they send out
every week. Add the correct, current (they are time limited) suffix and
you'll get one of what may be a variety of lower prices.

How did you know of the lower price if you didn't know about how it
worked? Just curious...

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On 20 Jul 2007 19:50:10 GMT, "Bob Eager" mused:


How did you know of the lower price if you didn't know about how it
worked? Just curious...

When did he say he diidn't know how they work?
--
Regards,
Stuart.

On Fri, 20 Jul 2007 22:01:02 UTC, Lurch
wrote:

On 20 Jul 2007 19:50:10 GMT, "Bob Eager" mused:


How did you know of the lower price if you didn't know about how it
worked? Just curious...

When did he say he diidn't know how they work?

I meant how the differential pricing system worked...
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On 20 Jul 2007 22:17:38 GMT, "Bob Eager" mused:

On Fri, 20 Jul 2007 22:01:02 UTC, Lurch
wrote:

On 20 Jul 2007 19:50:10 GMT, "Bob Eager" mused:


How did you know of the lower price if you didn't know about how it
worked? Just curious...

When did he say he diidn't know how they work?

I meant how the differential pricing system worked...

Ah, er, oops.
--
Regards,
Stuart.

In message , Richard
writes
Bob Eager wrote:
On Fri, 20 Jul 2007 04:00:32 UTC, "Keith Dunbar"
wrote:

"Newshound" wrote in message
...

Thanks all, seems like worth a punt then

I have to show my ignorance by asking what the heck are you all
talking about? Link please ...
http://www.cpc.co.uk
and type: SA01944 into the search box.



Or SA0194467 for the identical item at a slightly lower price. But
why the price difference?

That's CPC for you ...

--
geoff

Bob Eager wrote:


How did you know of the lower price if you didn't know about how it
worked? Just curious...


I think that Geoff's answer of "that's CPC" covers it.

But , as to how I knew that there was a different price: I looked at the
cleaner when it was advertised on an earlier email from CPC and when I
jumped from this thread using the CPC address only (without the link to
the cleaner) the earlier cleaner appeared in my basket on the CPC page.
Using the link including the cleaner takes me to a page showing the
cleaner at the higher price. er, does any of that make sense?

I have been wondering about buying one of these non-essentials ever
since CPC sent me the first mailing. It's interesting to note that
Maplin sent me an invite to buy pretty much the same item for a tenner
more barely a week after CPC's mailing.

Richard

On Sat, 21 Jul 2007 14:09:24 UTC, Richard wrote:

But , as to how I knew that there was a different price: I looked at the
cleaner when it was advertised on an earlier email from CPC

Ah, OK. Didn't know you'd had the email from CPC. My reasoning was that
if you were on theor mailing list, you'd know that they had differential
pricing and wouldn't have queried the different price, that's all.

Just off to clean my wife's specs...!
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Bob Eager wrote:
On Sat, 21 Jul 2007 14:09:24 UTC, Richard wrote:

But , as to how I knew that there was a different price: I looked at the
cleaner when it was advertised on an earlier email from CPC

Ah, OK. Didn't know you'd had the email from CPC. My reasoning was that
if you were on theor mailing list, you'd know that they had differential
pricing and wouldn't have queried the different price, that's all.

Just off to clean my wife's specs...!

Could you tell us the shape and dimensions of the tank, please?


--
Ian White

On Sat, 21 Jul 2007 14:35:33 UTC, Ian White wrote:

Bob Eager wrote:
On Sat, 21 Jul 2007 14:09:24 UTC, Richard wrote:

But , as to how I knew that there was a different price: I looked at the
cleaner when it was advertised on an earlier email from CPC

Ah, OK. Didn't know you'd had the email from CPC. My reasoning was that
if you were on theor mailing list, you'd know that they had differential
pricing and wouldn't have queried the different price, that's all.

Just off to clean my wife's specs...!

Could you tell us the shape and dimensions of the tank, please?

Vaguely oval in shape, 12cm x 14.5cm, by 4cm deep (approximate check
just now with a ruler). Big enough to take a CD (in fact they give you a
little spindle with a collar so that you can stack two of them).

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Bob Eager wrote:
On Sat, 21 Jul 2007 14:35:33 UTC, Ian White wrote:

Bob Eager wrote:
On Sat, 21 Jul 2007 14:09:24 UTC, Richard wrote:

But , as to how I knew that there was a different price: I looked at the
cleaner when it was advertised on an earlier email from CPC

Ah, OK. Didn't know you'd had the email from CPC. My reasoning was that
if you were on theor mailing list, you'd know that they had differential
pricing and wouldn't have queried the different price, that's all.

Just off to clean my wife's specs...!

Could you tell us the shape and dimensions of the tank, please?

Vaguely oval in shape, 12cm x 14.5cm, by 4cm deep (approximate check
just now with a ruler). Big enough to take a CD (in fact they give you a
little spindle with a collar so that you can stack two of them).

Thanks.

--
Ian White

Bob Eager wrote:

On Thu, 19 Jul 2007 12:44:03 UTC, "Newshound"
wrote:

Anyone tried one of the cheapies? Are they any good? (Can't justify a
proper lab-type one)

Yup.

Did a good job on my 5 pairs of glasses, on my wife's jewellery (and
she's fussy). Also on a couple of CDs.

Not bad for about 20 quid.

How well does it clean your glasses. No matter how thoroughly I clean my
specs by hand, even with cleaning fluid and a fresh clean cloth, I
invariably manage to end up with an almost microscopic oily residue on the
surface which gives a distracting "starburst filter" effect when I'm facing
the sun. I'd be tempted to get an ultrasonic cleaner if it could help
eliminate this.

--
Mike Clarke

On Sun, 22 Jul 2007 17:16:58 UTC, Mike Clarke
wrote:

Bob Eager wrote:

On Thu, 19 Jul 2007 12:44:03 UTC, "Newshound"
wrote:

Anyone tried one of the cheapies? Are they any good? (Can't justify a
proper lab-type one)

Yup.

Did a good job on my 5 pairs of glasses, on my wife's jewellery (and
she's fussy). Also on a couple of CDs.

Not bad for about 20 quid.

How well does it clean your glasses. No matter how thoroughly I clean my
specs by hand, even with cleaning fluid and a fresh clean cloth, I
invariably manage to end up with an almost microscopic oily residue on the
surface which gives a distracting "starburst filter" effect when I'm facing
the sun. I'd be tempted to get an ultrasonic cleaner if it could help
eliminate this.

I don't wear glasses much outdoors (if it's sunny, I wear sunglasses to
cut down on the risk of another tumour). I just tried, though, and don't
seem to get a starburst effect.

They recommend one drop of detergent for mucky things, so I guess that
would help with any residue. Or it might make it worse!

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On Sun, 22 Jul 2007 18:16:58 +0100, Mike Clarke wrote:

How well does it clean your glasses. No matter how thoroughly I clean my
specs by hand, even with cleaning fluid and a fresh clean cloth,

I wash mine with a spot of detergent(*1), warm water and my fingers. Then
throughly rinse glasses and fingers in running water. Finally drying with
a sheet of kitchen towel. Spotless, not residue or marking.

I invariably manage to end up with an almost microscopic oily residue on
the surface which gives a distracting "starburst filter" effect when I'm
facing the sun.

I adopted my daily morning washing routine after my first pair of glasses
with optical coating didn't last long. The coating wore off rather quickly
just cleaning dry with clean tissue or hanky.

Plastic or glass lenses? Plastic scratch very easyly, I had a pair with
plastic lenses once, never again(*2).

*1. Normally liquid hand soap, a tiny amount of washing up liquid will do
at a push. Do not use ordinary soap that will leave a nasty residue
behind.

*2. Unless plastic lenses can now equal the refractive index of high
refactive index glass. I'm -5 diopters so decent sized lens edges get
*very* thick when made from lower refractive index materials. Plastic
would also need to be equally hard.

--
Cheers
Dave. pam is missing e-mail

On Sun, 22 Jul 2007 19:27:28 UTC, "Dave Liquorice"
wrote:

On Sun, 22 Jul 2007 18:16:58 +0100, Mike Clarke wrote:

How well does it clean your glasses. No matter how thoroughly I clean my
specs by hand, even with cleaning fluid and a fresh clean cloth,

I wash mine with a spot of detergent(*1), warm water and my fingers. Then
throughly rinse glasses and fingers in running water. Finally drying with
a sheet of kitchen towel. Spotless, not residue or marking.

I now use the ultrasonic cleaner, no detergent, and dab dry with kitchen
towel too!

Plastic or glass lenses? Plastic scratch very easyly, I had a pair with
plastic lenses once, never again(*2).

Unfortunately my eys have radically different characteristics, and the
weight of glass lenses caused them to tilt all the time!

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On 19 Jul, 13:44, "Newshound" wrote:
Anyone tried one of the cheapies? Are they any good? (Can't justify a proper
lab-type one)

OT, but thanks for bringing CPC to my attention!

I was interested in these cleaners so bookmarked the site, as other
prices looked good. I have never heard of them before

Today I was gooling for a new oven fan, and after endless searches and
local phone calls, the fans are generally available at around £30 to
£35.

CPC do these at £10 - 1/3 of the other prices. Unbelievable

Cheers

dg

In article .com,
dg wrote:
I was interested in these cleaners so bookmarked the site, as other
prices looked good. I have never heard of them before

They are probably the biggest firm of its type in the UK - although that
might be RS Components. But they are basically a trade supplier so don't
advertise in the general press. They'll still supply direct, though.

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

On 2007-07-26 14:22:37 +0100, "Dave Plowman (News)"
said:

In article .com,
dg wrote:
I was interested in these cleaners so bookmarked the site, as other
prices looked good. I have never heard of them before

They are probably the biggest firm of its type in the UK - although that
might be RS Components. But they are basically a trade supplier so don't
advertise in the general press. They'll still supply direct, though.

On that subject, I had a delivery from RS today and asked the DHL guy
about delivery times. Apparently RS buy DHL's next day (meaning any
time next day) service for their "FOC" option.

On Fri, 27 Jul 2007 00:37:23 UTC, Andy Hall wrote:

On 2007-07-26 14:22:37 +0100, "Dave Plowman (News)"
said:

In article .com,
dg wrote:
I was interested in these cleaners so bookmarked the site, as other
prices looked good. I have never heard of them before

They are probably the biggest firm of its type in the UK - although that
might be RS Components. But they are basically a trade supplier so don't
advertise in the general press. They'll still supply direct, though.

On that subject, I had a delivery from RS today and asked the DHL guy
about delivery times. Apparently RS buy DHL's next day (meaning any
time next day) service for their "FOC" option.

In practice, that's what happens with CPC virtually all of the time. I
have had precisely ONE instance, in several years, where the goods took
two days to arrive.

--
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http://www.diybanter.com

In article ,
Andy Hall wrote:
On that subject, I had a delivery from RS today and asked the DHL guy
about delivery times. Apparently RS buy DHL's next day (meaning any
time next day) service for their "FOC" option.

Yes. Assuming I order during the working day I get their consignment from
DHL between 1215 and 1245 the next day - more regular time wise than the
post.

Other good delivery recently was for Colway tyres. My brother reckons on
these remoulds as being fantastic value for money and much better as a
tyre than budget types. My niece's husband also uses them for racing his
Mk1 Escort, so I thought I'd give them a try.

From Tyres Direct, 174.30 for 5 x 205/60R15 95 V including VAT and
delivery which was only 16 quid and they arrived the next day as promised.
In an unmarked van. ;-)

--
*OK, so what's the speed of dark? *

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

In message , Bob Eager
writes
On Fri, 27 Jul 2007 00:37:23 UTC, Andy Hall wrote:

On 2007-07-26 14:22:37 +0100, "Dave Plowman (News)"
said:

In article .com,
dg wrote:
I was interested in these cleaners so bookmarked the site, as other
prices looked good. I have never heard of them before

They are probably the biggest firm of its type in the UK - although that
might be RS Components. But they are basically a trade supplier so don't
advertise in the general press. They'll still supply direct, though.

On that subject, I had a delivery from RS today and asked the DHL guy
about delivery times. Apparently RS buy DHL's next day (meaning any
time next day) service for their "FOC" option.

In practice, that's what happens with CPC virtually all of the time. I
have had precisely ONE instance, in several years, where the goods took
two days to arrive.

Except that RS state "next day delivery", CPC only say "same day
dispatch"

Usually next day, unless you've ordered a toy you can't wait to play
with, in which case it takes about 3

The longest time I've had an item on back order with CPC was 9 months -
by which time, I'd forgotten all about it



--
geoff

On Fri, 27 Jul 2007 22:10:45 UTC, raden wrote:

In message , Bob Eager
writes
On Fri, 27 Jul 2007 00:37:23 UTC, Andy Hall wrote:

On 2007-07-26 14:22:37 +0100, "Dave Plowman (News)"
said:

In article .com,
dg wrote:
I was interested in these cleaners so bookmarked the site, as other
prices looked good. I have never heard of them before

They are probably the biggest firm of its type in the UK - although that
might be RS Components. But they are basically a trade supplier so don't
advertise in the general press. They'll still supply direct, though.

On that subject, I had a delivery from RS today and asked the DHL guy
about delivery times. Apparently RS buy DHL's next day (meaning any
time next day) service for their "FOC" option.

In practice, that's what happens with CPC virtually all of the time. I
have had precisely ONE instance, in several years, where the goods took
two days to arrive.

Except that RS state "next day delivery", CPC only say "same day
dispatch"

Usually next day, unless you've ordered a toy you can't wait to play
with, in which case it takes about 3

Exactly what happened in that one instance! I ask for next day delivery
in that case now, and pay for it. Quite often cheaper than RS overall.

The longest time I've had an item on back order with CPC was 9 months -
by which time, I'd forgotten all about it

BTDTGTTS.

My current gripe is that they still often 'pack' hard disks by chucking
them loose into the outer box with all the other stuff. I rejected one
such this week, and insisted on a replacement next day.

--
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In article ,
raden writes:
Except that RS state "next day delivery", CPC only say "same day
dispatch"

Usually next day, unless you've ordered a toy you can't wait to play
with, in which case it takes about 3

The two USB missile launchers I've ordered from CPC both
turned up next day.

--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]

In message , Andrew Gabriel
writes
In article ,
raden writes:
Except that RS state "next day delivery", CPC only say "same day
dispatch"

Usually next day, unless you've ordered a toy you can't wait to play
with, in which case it takes about 3

The two USB missile launchers I've ordered from CPC both
turned up next day.

So it was you that bought them


--
geoff

In message , Bob Eager
writes
On Fri, 27 Jul 2007 22:10:45 UTC, raden wrote:

In message , Bob Eager
writes
On Fri, 27 Jul 2007 00:37:23 UTC, Andy Hall wrote:

On 2007-07-26 14:22:37 +0100, "Dave Plowman (News)"
said:

In article .com,
dg wrote:
I was interested in these cleaners so bookmarked the site, as other
prices looked good. I have never heard of them before

They are probably the biggest firm of its type in the UK - although that
might be RS Components. But they are basically a trade supplier so don't
advertise in the general press. They'll still supply direct, though.

On that subject, I had a delivery from RS today and asked the DHL guy
about delivery times. Apparently RS buy DHL's next day (meaning any
time next day) service for their "FOC" option.

In practice, that's what happens with CPC virtually all of the time. I
have had precisely ONE instance, in several years, where the goods took
two days to arrive.

Except that RS state "next day delivery", CPC only say "same day
dispatch"

Usually next day, unless you've ordered a toy you can't wait to play
with, in which case it takes about 3

Exactly what happened in that one instance! I ask for next day delivery
in that case now, and pay for it. Quite often cheaper than RS overall.


Except that you have to be careful

e.g. I remember they were selling the microsoft microscope (in one of
their fliers) above the RRP

They can catch you out


The longest time I've had an item on back order with CPC was 9 months -
by which time, I'd forgotten all about it

BTDTGTTS.

My current gripe is that they still often 'pack' hard disks by chucking
them loose into the outer box with all the other stuff. I rejected one
such this week, and insisted on a replacement next day.

Don't EVER order light bulbs from CPC

I have !


--
geoff

In article ,
raden wrote:
The longest time I've had an item on back order with CPC was 9 months -
by which time, I'd forgotten all about it

I bought a soldering iron element from CPC which arrived smashed to bits.
It must have left them like that as the outer box was fine. They refunded
the money and promised a replacement. Nothing happened so I bought one off
the makers. About 3 months later they phoned me to say they had one in
stock...

--
*'Progress' and 'Change' are not synonyms.

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

On Fri, 27 Jul 2007 23:26:55 UTC, raden wrote:

Except that you have to be careful

e.g. I remember they were selling the microsoft microscope (in one of
their fliers) above the RRP

Absolutely. I always check...there have been several cases where it's a
lot cheaper somewhere else - in a couple of cases, at ebuyer.

Don't EVER order light bulbs from CPC

Too late....if you think that's bad, I once ordered a fluorescent
tube....

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In article ,
"Bob Eager" writes:
On Fri, 27 Jul 2007 23:26:55 UTC, raden wrote:
Don't EVER order light bulbs from CPC

Too late....if you think that's bad, I once ordered a fluorescent
tube....

I've had a few disasters in this area (box arrives with
powdered glass leaking out through the corners;-), but for
last 2 years, I'd have to say I haven't had any problems
in this respect, and have ordered lamps, although not very
long fluorescent tubes.

--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]

In message , "Dave Plowman (News)"
writes
In article ,
raden wrote:
The longest time I've had an item on back order with CPC was 9 months -
by which time, I'd forgotten all about it

I bought a soldering iron element from CPC which arrived smashed to bits.
It must have left them like that as the outer box was fine.

Like the car vacuum cleaner they sent me - still full of the crap
hoovered up by the previous person who had ordered it

I could go on ...

--
geoff

On 2007-07-28 13:03:26 +0100, Owain said:

Andrew Gabriel wrote:
The two USB missile launchers I've ordered from CPC both
turned up next day.

Microsoft Windows for Warships Home Edition?

Owain

Doesn't bear thinking about, does it?