Dick Smith: 189 of 386 stores set to close

[felix_unger]

On 25-January-2012 4:22 PM, bristan wrote:

"Don McKenzie" wrote in message news:9o44epFahrU1@mid.individual.net...
Off with Dick’s head: 189 stores set to close

Its just evolution.
I just had a Samsung led tv repaired because the earphone socket had
broken. The whole board was replaced and it only had two boards
inside. Even techs are not using many components

That's all they do now -replace the PCB. and they don't repair the old
board. it's just case of replace with new.

Silicon chip is full of arduino and picaxe as well as other
microprocessor projects.
Components will probably only be available from niche suppliers in the
future.

Many businesses have come and gone/going due to changing technology.
Kodak being a prime example







woolworths’ strategic review of Dick Smith is drawing to an end, and
CLSA analysts predict 189 of the retailers’ 386
stores could close as a result.

Parent company Woolworths is reviewing the electronics retailer due to
underperforming sales, and CLSA analysts believe
the best option is to reduce store numbers.

"We believe that Woolworths will close up to 189 stores (out of 386)
that are deemed unviable and invest significant
effort in pursuing an online strategy to support the 'bricks and
mortar' presence," analysts David Thomas and Richard
Barwick wrote in a report entitled "Off With Dick's Head".

"While some may see this as a band-aid measure, we believe it will
give Woolworths an ability to improve profitability,
continue to be a relevant player in consumer electronics and allow it
to minimise the initial liability-writedown,” the
report read.

Full Story:
http://www.connectedaustralia.com/News/BreakingNews/tabid/119/ArticleId/6643/Off-with-Dick-s-head-189-stores-set-to-close.aspx


Cheers Don...

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

--
rgds,

Pete
-------
“If Julia is the answer, then what was the stupid question?!”

"Julia finally got something right. Older people don't vote Labor, because they have seen too many incompetent, mismanaging, money-wasting Labor governments"

"I regard the prime minister to be in breach of the written agreement she signed, leaving me no option but to honour my word and end my current relationship with her government. We should be able to trust our politicians to keep their word. Frankly a deal is a deal" - Andrew Wilkie, Federal Member for Denison

“All that's needed now is a small miracle to rid us of the worst prime minister and the worst government in Australia's history”

"If the WORLD as a whole cut ALL emissions tomorrow, the average temperature of the planet's not going to drop for several hundred years, perhaps over on thousand years" - Tim Flannery, Climate Commissioner

 

[Clocky]

felix_unger wrote:

On 25-January-2012 4:22 PM, bristan wrote:



"Don McKenzie" wrote in message
news:9o44epFahrU1@mid.individual.net... Off with Dick’s head: 189
stores set to close Its just evolution.
I just had a Samsung led tv repaired because the earphone socket had
broken. The whole board was replaced and it only had two boards
inside. Even techs are not using many components

That's all they do now -replace the PCB. and they don't repair the old
board. it's just case of replace with new.

Wrong. Samsung do repair boards where it is economically viable (like
replacing the caps in the power boards in some of their TV models) but it's
not done by the partswapper but by a service and repair centre.

I know this for a fact as I have a friend who is a service tech with
Samsung.

 

[felix_unger]

On 28-January-2012 9:50 PM, Clocky wrote:

felix_unger wrote:
On 25-January-2012 4:22 PM, bristan wrote:


"Don McKenzie" wrote in message
news:9o44epFahrU1@mid.individual.net... Off with Dick’s head: 189
stores set to close Its just evolution.
I just had a Samsung led tv repaired because the earphone socket had
broken. The whole board was replaced and it only had two boards
inside. Even techs are not using many components
That's all they do now -replace the PCB. and they don't repair the old
board. it's just case of replace with new.
Wrong. Samsung do repair boards where it is economically viable (like
replacing the caps in the power boards in some of their TV models) but it's
not done by the partswapper but by a service and repair centre.

I know this for a fact as I have a friend who is a service tech with
Samsung.

well maybe they do with the older stuff, but not with Plasma / LCD
panels. at least that is what two Samsung techs have told me


--
rgds,

Pete
-------
“If Julia is the answer, then what was the stupid question?!”

"Julia finally got something right. Older people don't vote Labor, because they have seen too many incompetent, mismanaging, money-wasting Labor governments"

"I regard the prime minister to be in breach of the written agreement she signed, leaving me no option but to honour my word and end my current relationship with her government. We should be able to trust our politicians to keep their word. Frankly a deal is a deal" - Andrew Wilkie, Federal Member for Denison

“All that's needed now is a small miracle to rid us of the worst prime minister and the worst government in Australia's history”

"If the WORLD as a whole cut ALL emissions tomorrow, the average temperature of the planet's not going to drop for several hundred years, perhaps over on thousand years" - Tim Flannery, Climate Commissioner

 

[Clocky]

felix_unger wrote:

On 28-January-2012 9:50 PM, Clocky wrote:

felix_unger wrote:
On 25-January-2012 4:22 PM, bristan wrote:


"Don McKenzie" wrote in message
news:9o44epFahrU1@mid.individual.net... Off with Dick’s head: 189
stores set to close Its just evolution.
I just had a Samsung led tv repaired because the earphone socket
had broken. The whole board was replaced and it only had two boards
inside. Even techs are not using many components
That's all they do now -replace the PCB. and they don't repair the
old board. it's just case of replace with new.
Wrong. Samsung do repair boards where it is economically viable (like
replacing the caps in the power boards in some of their TV models)
but it's not done by the partswapper but by a service and repair
centre. I know this for a fact as I have a friend who is a service tech
with
Samsung.


well maybe they do with the older stuff, but not with Plasma / LCD
panels. at least that is what two Samsung techs have told me

No, they do that with LCD's.

It's exactly what they did when they fixed my TV last year, under warranty.

My friend said that is what they would do, and the part-swapper who came out
to fit the "new" board confirmed it was reworked. He pointed out the
capacitors that were replaced.

 

[bristan]

"Clocky" wrote in message
news:4f256073$0$29896$c3e8da3$5496439d@news.astraweb.com...

felix_unger wrote:

On 28-January-2012 9:50 PM, Clocky wrote:

felix_unger wrote:
On 25-January-2012 4:22 PM, bristan wrote:


"Don McKenzie" wrote in message
news:9o44epFahrU1@mid.individual.net... Off with Dick’s head: 189
stores set to close Its just evolution.
I just had a Samsung led tv repaired because the earphone socket
had broken. The whole board was replaced and it only had two boards
inside. Even techs are not using many components
That's all they do now -replace the PCB. and they don't repair the
old board. it's just case of replace with new.
Wrong. Samsung do repair boards where it is economically viable (like
replacing the caps in the power boards in some of their TV models)
but it's not done by the partswapper but by a service and repair
centre. I know this for a fact as I have a friend who is a service tech
with
Samsung.


well maybe they do with the older stuff, but not with Plasma / LCD
panels. at least that is what two Samsung techs have told me

No, they do that with LCD's.

It's exactly what they did when they fixed my TV last year, under warranty.

My friend said that is what they would do, and the part-swapper who came out
to fit the "new" board confirmed it was reworked. He pointed out the
capacitors that were replaced.



Before the serviceman would start I had to sign a form agreeing to accept
"second hand " parts or whatever Samsung sent out in the words of the repair
guy.
He also said that the old board had to be sent back to Samsung. Sounds like
they may well repair boards and reissue. This was under warranty btw.

 

[Clocky]

bristan wrote:

"Clocky" wrote in message
news:4f256073$0$29896$c3e8da3$5496439d@news.astraweb.com...

felix_unger wrote:
On 28-January-2012 9:50 PM, Clocky wrote:

felix_unger wrote:
On 25-January-2012 4:22 PM, bristan wrote:


"Don McKenzie" wrote in message
news:9o44epFahrU1@mid.individual.net... Off with Dick's head: 189
stores set to close Its just evolution.
I just had a Samsung led tv repaired because the earphone socket
had broken. The whole board was replaced and it only had two
boards inside. Even techs are not using many components
That's all they do now -replace the PCB. and they don't repair the
old board. it's just case of replace with new.
Wrong. Samsung do repair boards where it is economically viable
(like replacing the caps in the power boards in some of their TV
models) but it's not done by the partswapper but by a service and repair
centre. I know this for a fact as I have a friend who is a service
tech with
Samsung.


well maybe they do with the older stuff, but not with Plasma / LCD
panels. at least that is what two Samsung techs have told me

No, they do that with LCD's.

It's exactly what they did when they fixed my TV last year, under
warranty.
My friend said that is what they would do, and the part-swapper who
came out to fit the "new" board confirmed it was reworked. He pointed
out the capacitors that were replaced.



Before the serviceman would start I had to sign a form agreeing to
accept "second hand " parts or whatever Samsung sent out in the words
of the repair guy.
He also said that the old board had to be sent back to Samsung.
Sounds like they may well repair boards and reissue. This was under
warranty btw.

With the right equipment replacing caps and SMT components, even IC's, takes
a few minutes so it would be economically viable to do so especially with
common faults. (like the dodgey caps in the power supply board causing the
click of death which affected nearly every Samsung LCD a couple of years
ago)

 

[Jeßus]

On Sun, 5 Feb 2012 16:09:02 +0800, "Clocky" <notgonn@happen.com>
wrote:

With the right equipment replacing caps and SMT components, even IC's, takes
a few minutes so it would be economically viable to do so especially with
common faults. (like the dodgey caps in the power supply board causing the
click of death which affected nearly every Samsung LCD a couple of years
ago)

Another 'click of death', albeit different. I well remember the Iomega
Zip drive 'click of death'... those drives were a complete PITA but
was better than using a floppy, I suppose. When they worked, that is.

 

[Krypsis]

On 6/02/2012 9:17 AM, Jeßus wrote:

On Sun, 5 Feb 2012 16:09:02 +0800, "Clocky"<notgonn@happen.com
wrote:

With the right equipment replacing caps and SMT components, even IC's, takes
a few minutes so it would be economically viable to do so especially with
common faults. (like the dodgey caps in the power supply board causing the
click of death which affected nearly every Samsung LCD a couple of years
ago)


Another 'click of death', albeit different. I well remember the Iomega
Zip drive 'click of death'... those drives were a complete PITA but
was better than using a floppy, I suppose. When they worked, that is.

Err, they "were" a floppy albeit with a much greater capacity than the
useless 1.44 MB jiggers! I have a number of them around here and have
experienced few issues with them in recent years. I have 4 x 250 MB IDE
internal drives, 2 or 3 250 MB USB externals and 2 750 MB externals, one
USB, the other Firewire. The Firewire 750 lives on one of my Macs. Lost
count of the number of disk I have. No shortage however. The cheapness
of CDs and the proliferation of USB devices has rendered them all
somewhat redundant but they still find uses around here.

--

Krypsis

 

[Jeßus]

On Mon, 06 Feb 2012 19:02:26 +1100, Krypsis <krypsis@optusnet.com.au>
wrote:

On 6/02/2012 9:17 AM, Jeßus wrote:
On Sun, 5 Feb 2012 16:09:02 +0800, "Clocky"<notgonn@happen.com
wrote:

With the right equipment replacing caps and SMT components, even IC's, takes
a few minutes so it would be economically viable to do so especially with
common faults. (like the dodgey caps in the power supply board causing the
click of death which affected nearly every Samsung LCD a couple of years
ago)


Another 'click of death', albeit different. I well remember the Iomega
Zip drive 'click of death'... those drives were a complete PITA but
was better than using a floppy, I suppose. When they worked, that is.

Err, they "were" a floppy

We quibbble on terms then...

albeit with a much greater capacity than the
useless 1.44 MB jiggers! I have a number of them around here and have
experienced few issues with them in recent years. I have 4 x 250 MB IDE
internal drives, 2 or 3 250 MB USB externals and 2 750 MB externals, one
USB, the other Firewire. The Firewire 750 lives on one of my Macs. Lost
count of the number of disk I have. No shortage however. The cheapness
of CDs and the proliferation of USB devices has rendered them all
somewhat redundant but they still find uses around here.

Yep, I've pretty much gone to hard drives and USB memory sticks for
most things now.

 

[felix_unger]

On 05-February-2012 7:09 PM, Clocky wrote:

bristan wrote:
"Clocky" wrote in message
news:4f256073$0$29896$c3e8da3$5496439d@news.astraweb.com...

felix_unger wrote:
On 28-January-2012 9:50 PM, Clocky wrote:

felix_unger wrote:
On 25-January-2012 4:22 PM, bristan wrote:

"Don McKenzie" wrote in message
news:9o44epFahrU1@mid.individual.net... Off with Dick's head: 189
stores set to close Its just evolution.
I just had a Samsung led tv repaired because the earphone socket
had broken. The whole board was replaced and it only had two
boards inside. Even techs are not using many components
That's all they do now -replace the PCB. and they don't repair the
old board. it's just case of replace with new.
Wrong. Samsung do repair boards where it is economically viable
(like replacing the caps in the power boards in some of their TV
models) but it's not done by the partswapper but by a service and repair
centre. I know this for a fact as I have a friend who is a service
tech with
Samsung.

well maybe they do with the older stuff, but not with Plasma / LCD
panels. at least that is what two Samsung techs have told me
No, they do that with LCD's.

It's exactly what they did when they fixed my TV last year, under
warranty.
My friend said that is what they would do, and the part-swapper who
came out to fit the "new" board confirmed it was reworked. He pointed
out the capacitors that were replaced.



Before the serviceman would start I had to sign a form agreeing to
accept "second hand " parts or whatever Samsung sent out in the words
of the repair guy.
He also said that the old board had to be sent back to Samsung.
Sounds like they may well repair boards and reissue. This was under
warranty btw.
With the right equipment replacing caps and SMT components, even IC's, takes
a few minutes so it would be economically viable to do so especially with
common faults. (like the dodgey caps in the power supply board causing the
click of death which affected nearly every Samsung LCD a couple of years
ago)

not possible with the design of many circuit boards today with the
components printed on the boards and the chips too small to de-solder,
and not to mention the time troubleshooting. cheaper/easier just to
replace the board

--
rgds,

Pete
-------
“If Julia is the answer, then what was the stupid question?!”

"Julia finally got something right. Older people don't vote Labor, because they have seen too many incompetent, mismanaging, money-wasting Labor governments"

“It doesn't matter [who the leader is] the Labor Party is rotten, the policies stink, the lies insufferable, and the waste intolerable. The Muppets could do a better job!”

“All that's needed now is a small miracle to rid us of the worst prime minister and the worst government in Australia's history”

"If the WORLD as a whole cut ALL emissions tomorrow, the average temperature of the planet's not going to drop for several hundred years, perhaps over on thousand years" - Tim Flannery, Climate Commissioner

"It is a remarkable fact that despite the worldwide expenditure of perhaps US$50 billion since 1990, and the efforts of tens of thousands of scientists worldwide, no human climate signal has yet been detected that is distinct from natural variation" - Bob Carter, Research Professor of Geology, James Cook University, Townsville

"Currently, China and India combined emit 20 times as much as Australia each day, and that factor is increasing rapidly. Australia's annual savings by 2020 could be emitted by China and India within five days" - Dr. David Evans former Govt Climate Adviser.

“What I see is a country bravely beating along to the agenda of some ideological people, in this case the socialist left of the ALP and the Greens, to take away what is a natural advantage. At the end of the day, we are paying someone else to use our coal” - Peter Costello, former Federal Treasurer - http://tinyurl.com/costello-carbon-tax

 

[geoff]

Jeßus wrote:

On Sun, 5 Feb 2012 16:09:02 +0800, "Clocky" <notgonn@happen.com
wrote:

With the right equipment replacing caps and SMT components, even
IC's, takes a few minutes so it would be economically viable to do
so especially with common faults. (like the dodgey caps in the power
supply board causing the click of death which affected nearly every
Samsung LCD a couple of years ago)


Another 'click of death', albeit different. I well remember the Iomega
Zip drive 'click of death'... those drives were a complete PITA but
was better than using a floppy, I suppose. When they worked, that is.

I think that was the Jaz - Zips were much more reliable.

geoff

 

[Krypsis]

On 9/02/2012 6:36 AM, geoff wrote:

Jeßus wrote:
On Sun, 5 Feb 2012 16:09:02 +0800, "Clocky"<notgonn@happen.com
wrote:

With the right equipment replacing caps and SMT components, even
IC's, takes a few minutes so it would be economically viable to do
so especially with common faults. (like the dodgey caps in the power
supply board causing the click of death which affected nearly every
Samsung LCD a couple of years ago)


Another 'click of death', albeit different. I well remember the Iomega
Zip drive 'click of death'... those drives were a complete PITA but
was better than using a floppy, I suppose. When they worked, that is.

I think that was the Jaz - Zips were much more reliable.

geoff


It definitely was the Zip that was afflicted with the click of death.

Had one myself many years back. It was, if I recall correctly, a 100 Meg
USB external drive, one of the later slimline case models. The 250 Meg
and larger zip drives didn't seem to be as badly afflicted.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Click_of_death

The Zip used floppy disk technology (a PET film disk) whereas the Jaz
used a rigid platter. Because the Zip used a "floppy" medium, it was
more rugged than the Jaz system. We had both forms of drives at my
workplace years back. I always carried a Zip drive and a few Zip
floppies to and from work in my briefcase. I was very reluctant to do
the same with the Jaz drive or media.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iomega_Jaz_drive

There is no reason why the Jaz drive could not develop a "click of
death" fault however. The term was originally coined to refer to the
action of the heads on a hard disk seeking to track zero repeatedly when
reference information on the platters was unable to be read. This
resulted in a clicking noise. Since the Jaz is effectively a removable
platter hard disk, it should be prone to exhibiting the same click in
similar circumstances. I never had the experience with a Jaz though had
it often on hard drives in the 90s.

--

Krypsis

 

[felix_unger]

On 09-February-2012 6:36 AM, geoff wrote:

Jeßus wrote:
On Sun, 5 Feb 2012 16:09:02 +0800, "Clocky"<notgonn@happen.com
wrote:

With the right equipment replacing caps and SMT components, even
IC's, takes a few minutes so it would be economically viable to do
so especially with common faults. (like the dodgey caps in the power
supply board causing the click of death which affected nearly every
Samsung LCD a couple of years ago)

Another 'click of death', albeit different. I well remember the Iomega
Zip drive 'click of death'... those drives were a complete PITA but
was better than using a floppy, I suppose. When they worked, that is.
I think that was the Jaz - Zips were much more reliable.

geoff

No, Zips were infamous for the COD


--
rgds,

Pete
-------
“If Julia is the answer, then what was the stupid question?!”

"Julia finally got something right. Older people don't vote Labor, because they have seen too many incompetent, mismanaging, money-wasting Labor governments"

“It doesn't matter [who the leader is] the Labor Party is rotten, the policies stink, the lies insufferable, and the waste intolerable. The Muppets could do a better job!”

“All that's needed now is a small miracle to rid us of the worst prime minister and the worst government in Australia's history”

"If the WORLD as a whole cut ALL emissions tomorrow, the average temperature of the planet's not going to drop for several hundred years, perhaps over on thousand years" - Tim Flannery, Climate Commissioner

"It is a remarkable fact that despite the worldwide expenditure of perhaps US$50 billion since 1990, and the efforts of tens of thousands of scientists worldwide, no human climate signal has yet been detected that is distinct from natural variation" - Bob Carter, Research Professor of Geology, James Cook University, Townsville

"Currently, China and India combined emit 20 times as much as Australia each day, and that factor is increasing rapidly. Australia's annual savings by 2020 could be emitted by China and India within five days" - Dr. David Evans former Govt Climate Adviser.

“What I see is a country bravely beating along to the agenda of some ideological people, in this case the socialist left of the ALP and the Greens, to take away what is a natural advantage. At the end of the day, we are paying someone else to use our coal” - Peter Costello, former Federal Treasurer - http://tinyurl.com/costello-carbon-tax

 

[geoff]

Krypsis wrote:

On 9/02/2012 6:36 AM, geoff wrote:
Jeßus wrote:
On Sun, 5 Feb 2012 16:09:02 +0800, "Clocky"<notgonn@happen.com
wrote:

Another 'click of death', albeit different. I well remember the
Iomega Zip drive 'click of death'... those drives were a complete
PITA but was better than using a floppy, I suppose. When they
worked, that is.

I think that was the Jaz - Zips were much more reliable.

geoff


It definitely was the Zip that was afflicted with the click of death.
Had one myself many years back.

I have several Zips and 4 Jaz drives. The Zips still work (though not much
use for them nowadays), and all but 2 of my dozen+ Jaz cartridges died long
ago, most with the famous Click Of Death.

In the day it seemed the Jaz most vulnerable.

geoff

 

[felix_unger]

On 12-February-2012 9:55 AM, geoff wrote:

Krypsis wrote:
On 9/02/2012 6:36 AM, geoff wrote:
Jeßus wrote:
On Sun, 5 Feb 2012 16:09:02 +0800, "Clocky"<notgonn@happen.com
wrote:

Another 'click of death', albeit different. I well remember the
Iomega Zip drive 'click of death'... those drives were a complete
PITA but was better than using a floppy, I suppose. When they
worked, that is.
I think that was the Jaz - Zips were much more reliable.

geoff


It definitely was the Zip that was afflicted with the click of death.
Had one myself many years back.
I have several Zips and 4 Jaz drives. The Zips still work (though not much
use for them nowadays), and all but 2 of my dozen+ Jaz cartridges died long
ago, most with the famous Click Of Death.

In the day it seemed the Jaz most vulnerable.

Yes, but before there was Jazz there was Zip!, possibly around the
Mesolithic era , and the Zip's had the COD before Jazz even saw the
light of day. I can remember writing about it in the days before Jazz .
btw.. I still have Zips and use them! However, Win7 does not support the
Iomega tools software, so you can't password protect them, unless there
is some other way of doing it.

geoff

--
rgds,

Pete
-------
“If Julia is the answer, then what was the stupid question?!”

"Julia finally got something right. Older people don't vote Labor, because they have seen too many incompetent, mismanaging, money-wasting Labor governments"

“It doesn't matter [who the leader is] the Labor Party is rotten, the policies stink, the lies insufferable, and the waste intolerable. The Muppets could do a better job!”

“All that's needed now is a small miracle to rid us of the worst prime minister and the worst government in Australia's history”

"If the WORLD as a whole cut ALL emissions tomorrow, the average temperature of the planet's not going to drop for several hundred years, perhaps over on thousand years" - Tim Flannery, Climate Commissioner

"It is a remarkable fact that despite the worldwide expenditure of perhaps US$50 billion since 1990, and the efforts of tens of thousands of scientists worldwide, no human climate signal has yet been detected that is distinct from natural variation" - Bob Carter, Research Professor of Geology, James Cook University, Townsville

"