Registered: Dec 2000
Location: Philadelphia
Posts: 19

Radio Shack... the good, the bad, and the ugly

Aah Radio Shack, what would we do without you? Whenever I pop into the local mall-type Radio Shack I almost always come out with some nifty little something or other to try. Here's my list of great (and not so great) Radio Shack for your Visor. If anyone has anything to add to the list, that'd be great!

The Good:
Digital Media Storage Case
It's the perfect size for standard sized springboard modules! It's kind of small so you can only fit 2 (3 if you're adventurous) but I've attached the key ring to the little clamp on the inside of my laptop case so I always have my favorite modules with me. Great if your Visor's case is too small to fit anything but the visor!

The Bad:
Radio Shack Brand Rechargeable Batteries
I have never in my life heard of a set of Radio Shack batteries that actually did what they were supposed to do. My dad had some old school Purple C and D cell NiCad's when I was small and all they ever did was sit in the charger. No one in the house dared use them if they actually wanted their stuff to work. They had a tendency to explode Forgetting this briefly I purchased a set of NiMH AAA's to replace my year and a half old Maha Cells. The first set discharged in half the time of my Mahas and the second set split their outer casings in the charger during their first charge. Granted, I think it may be the charger (not a Radio Shack Product) but still...

The Ugly:
Personal Digital Assistant Cases
They're ugly... what can I say? Besides, any case that advertises itself as "universal to any handheld device" is something to be wary of IMHO.

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DLPanther
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Registered: Mar 2001
Location: Nebraska- the Good life
Posts: 695

Yeah, I have a real love/hate relationship with the Shack as well- they could/should be a pretty great place, but they seem to just keep missing the mark.

NIMH Batteries- I used these along with their 'portable charger/reconditioner' for over a year to use with my Deluxe- and never had a lick of problems. I would check the charger- it sounds like it is feeding in too much current and overheating the cells. Also- the Shack does not make the batteries, but buy them from someone else. Their alkalines are from either Duracell or Energizer (I forget which is making them now), and I know someone else makes the NiCads and NiMH's.

PDA Cleaning Kit- This is a real waste of money. It features a couple wet/dry towelette packets, a decent dry polishing cloth, a really odd folded 'washcloth' in a truely odd clip, and a small bottle of basic screen cleaner. The clip holds the washcloth in a neat package about as wide as a screen is. There are no enclosed directions.

Radio Shack Screen Protectors- eh. I found them to be crystal clear, minimalistically packaged, and decent enough. They come with the instructions printed on the 'installation squeegee card'. The downside is that they scratched and hazed over pretty quickly.

They offer a 'StickyPad' thing that makes a 'non-skid/sticky' place on your dashborard to keep your PDA, phone, etc. at hand. It works OK, but so would some non-skid shelf liner.

CD Scratch Remover Kit- This works, but it is pretty tedious. You can accomplish the same thing with white toothpaste and plastic eyeglass lense cleaner (which is what most of the CD, PDA, and screen cleaners are!)

Radio Shack earphones and headphones- Most of these are made by other companies, and Koss makes many of them. The Koss-made "In-Ear Noise-Reducing Stereo headphones #33-1167 are wonderful- as long as you pay less than you would for the Koss version at Target or somewhere. Their #33-1177 'wraparound style' is the same design that Innogear carries as their 'Backphones' I think.

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Registered: Jan 2001
Location: Misplaced Canuck in Charleston SC
Posts: 257

Re: Radio Shack... the good, the bad, and the ugly

quote:

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Originally posted by DLPanther
The Bad:
Radio Shack Brand Rechargeable Batteries
Forgetting this briefly I purchased a set of NiMH AAA's to replace my year and a half old Maha Cells. The first set discharged in half the time of my Mahas and the second set split their outer casings in the charger during their first charge. Granted, I think it may be the charger (not a Radio Shack Product) but still...
[/B]

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Registered: Dec 2000
Location: Philadelphia
Posts: 19

I got the charger when I got the batteries, it's past it's warranty and thus doomed :-) Maybe it's optimized for their own batteries. A big part of the decision to go to Alkalines for me is that the clip on battery cover (with the serial number on it) cracked and I'm deathly afraid it's going to break altogether if I keep replacing my batteries all the time. My next handheld will have an internal battery :-) Thanks for the confirmation on the charger though, I'll ditch it.

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DLPanther
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Registered: Dec 1999
Location: Connecticut USA
Posts: 2682

quote:

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Originally posted by DLPanther
the clip on battery cover (with the serial number on it) cracked and I'm deathly afraid it's going to break altogether if I keep replacing my batteries all the time.

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Two things:

First, write down your S/N and store it in a safe place.

Second, contact Handspring about the cracked battery cover. They replaced two for me free of charge (and well after the warranty period).

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Registered: Mar 2001
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quote:

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Originally posted by MarkEagle
Second, contact Handspring about the cracked battery cover. They replaced two for me free of charge (and well after the warranty period).

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Registered: Mar 2001
Location: Nebraska- the Good life
Posts: 695

Re: Radio Shack... the good, the bad, and the ugly

[QUOTE]Originally posted by DLPanther
[B]Digital Media Storage Case
QUOTE]

Do you have a part number on this? I can't seem to find it!

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Registered: Dec 2000
Location: Philadelphia
Posts: 19

The part number on that case is 44-694. Here's some photos of what it looks like:





I think it's a pretty new item, I hadn't seen it before I bought it last week.

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DLPanther
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Registered: Mar 2001
Location: Out of my skull, back in five minutes
Posts: 1435

that's soooo cute.

does it come in colors?

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Registered: Dec 2000
Location: Philadelphia
Posts: 19

This is Radio Shack not Apple... no, no colors.

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DLPanther
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Registered: Mar 2001
Location: Out of my skull, back in five minutes
Posts: 1435

well, sometimes they have stuff in black and also in white or beige.

oh well. thanks!

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Registered: Mar 2001
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Posts: 695

Thanks! the website lists it- but does not show a picture, AND I could not find it with a search the other day. Now, if I can just get one at the local shack!

You know- we so often belly ache here about Handspring, Best buy, etc., but if the Shack was really smart, they could really make some of those other places hurt!

USUALLY, Shack employees have some knowledge of what they are talking about- at least in some part of the store, and usually, the employees are more helpful than most in the mega-stores are.

If they would only stop marking the stuff up so much, and tune their selection a bit! Who the heck buys their TV's or big boomboxes, when the mall they are located in usually has 2-3 other stores selling virtually the same things cheaper?

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