Tim Shoppa wrote:
For the past several years I've irregularly posted my experiences
ordering over the web from several catalog houses/surplus suppliers
with online ordering.

My hope in doing this was not just to give pointers to other
small-timers like myself as to which ones are the best sites, but to
give feedback to the companies to get them to improve their interfaces.

But since my first online order (1997 or so) one outfit has risen way
above the others: Digikey. Digikey's website leaves all the others in
the dust. Their search engine and selection forms for picking out
components is simply superb, and is getting better all the time. If I
want to know what X5R dielectric capacitors are available in 0402 form
factor, the answer is just a couple of clicks and a few seconds away.
This is simply amazing.

Semiconductor search is not quite so slick, but I cannot blame Digikey
for not trying. They do a good job, especially seeing as how 7
different vendors describe their similar parts with slightly different
wording.

Yes. For this, they might benefit from hiring a person with some real
electronics knowledge, who might be able to standardize the terms used
in the database, and thus would have to translate any non-standard
compliant terminology from their vendors into the terms used in the
database. That would make even the semis consistent.



Good day!

--
__________________________________________________ _____________________
Christopher R. Carlen
Principal Laser/Optical Technologist
Sandia National Laboratories CA USA
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