krs@amdahl.UUCP (03/06/87)
After a year-and-a-half of usability, my mouse bit the dust. Not
because the ball corroded (or whatever they do) or because its PC
board failed, but because the typical-use flexing of the cable
where it enters the mouse-housing broke a wire in the cable. I
popped the bottom cover off and discovered that it's connected to
the PC board with a wire-wrap pin connector (good idea, that), so
I called my local distributor and asked how much they wanted for
a replacement cable. The response? "Apple doesn't supply them as
spares. They want you to replace the whole mouse."
I am not pleased. I *won't* spend around $90 to buy a replacement
mouse from Apple for a $20-including-markup replacement cable. I
can fabricate a new cable (simple), except that the strain-relief
(which didn't) is molded onto the cable, so I could expect damage
to the internal PC board, eventually; then I'd *really* need to
replace the mouse. In the meantime, I've spent the $100 to another
manufacturer and bought a trackball.
Dear Apple,
Please provide mouse cable spares through your service
centers and dealers.
Thanks,
...Kris Stephens
--
Kristopher Stephens, | (408-746-6047) | {whatever}!amdahl!krs
Amdahl Corporation | | -or- krs@amdahl.amdahl.com
[The opinions expressed above are mine, solely, and do not ]
[necessarily reflect the opinions or policies of Amdahl Corp. ]oneill@lll-lcc.aRpA (Neil J. O'Neill) (03/06/87)
In article <5813@amdahl.UUCP> krs@amdahl.UUCP (Kris Stephens) writes: >I can fabricate a new cable (simple), except that the strain-relief >(which didn't) is molded onto the cable, so I could expect damage >to the internal PC board, eventually; then I'd *really* need to >replace the mouse. In the meantime, I've spent the $100 to another >manufacturer and bought a trackball. Check the strain-relief again. I just checked 4 mouses and even though the strain-relief looks molded on, it isn't. If you pull hard enough the cable will slide through it. You can pull it down, cut out the bad wire, and then hook everything back up (might need a new internal cable connector, but it looks like a standard thing) for a very neat fix. Of course, if you have an honest-to-god really-molded-on strain-relief then the above instructions are just so much ka-ka and your complaints are justified. -- N. J. O'Neill Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (oneill@lll-lcc.arpa) {ihnp4, sun, pyramid}!lll-lcc!oneill