Fun with retail
Jan. 7th, 2006 04:54 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
katyism.livejournal.com posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
techrecoveryI always have to hold my tongue when I encounter clueless techs in a non-work situation. Today I went shopping for wireless webcams and/or remote camera surveillance equipment. (Would have shopped online first, but have no privacy to do so at home today)
So I didn't get a chance to do much research before I hit Best Buy, Circuit City, Radio Shack, and the various other crappy stores in this small town. I found a couple of promising items that use 802.11b which I'd prefer since it's already in my residence and totally open, but I decided to look into other options just in case it becomes not an option (yes, being vague, sorry)...
Anyway I found another almost-promising kit, but the reciever unit is meant for video input rather than a standard form of PC input, but would work with a capture card according to the package. Being the paranoid shopper I wasn't 100% sure that referred to a video capture card... who knows, maybe these cheap no-name brands include their own proprietary device that roughly translates to "capture card" in English. So I asked a salesperson about it.
His reply? "Oh, a capture card, yeah that's just some software that you put on your PC and it's on the disk that comes with the camera system."
Uh...software? Okay. I stared at the package some more and found another salesperson, to ask if I could read the manual inside the package. She opened the package for me and handed me a 2-page manual which confirmed that it would indeed require a regular old video capture card or the like. The package contained no disk. I resolved not to buy it since it would really be more trouble than it's worth.
But I checked at a couple of the other stores because I was still comparing 802.11 cameras, and based on the response of the first salesperson at the first store, I wanted to see if any salespeople anywhere else might have a more clued response to my inquiries about the shitty camera's reciever output. Nope, although none were quite as shocking as the first.
At store #2, he simply stated he wasn't sure what a video capture card was or whether they carried any. He then walked away to help someone buy a large TV. Maybe I just picked the wrong guy at the wrong time, but oh well.
At store #3, he insisted that a video capture card was included, and pointed at the reciever unit (which just has power out and video out and is a small, heavy box). i told him that i read the manual for it at another store and he was wrong. he called the section manager to be sure, who then confirmed i was right and offered to browse video cards with me. "Eh, not today thanks." The end!
So I didn't get a chance to do much research before I hit Best Buy, Circuit City, Radio Shack, and the various other crappy stores in this small town. I found a couple of promising items that use 802.11b which I'd prefer since it's already in my residence and totally open, but I decided to look into other options just in case it becomes not an option (yes, being vague, sorry)...
Anyway I found another almost-promising kit, but the reciever unit is meant for video input rather than a standard form of PC input, but would work with a capture card according to the package. Being the paranoid shopper I wasn't 100% sure that referred to a video capture card... who knows, maybe these cheap no-name brands include their own proprietary device that roughly translates to "capture card" in English. So I asked a salesperson about it.
His reply? "Oh, a capture card, yeah that's just some software that you put on your PC and it's on the disk that comes with the camera system."
Uh...software? Okay. I stared at the package some more and found another salesperson, to ask if I could read the manual inside the package. She opened the package for me and handed me a 2-page manual which confirmed that it would indeed require a regular old video capture card or the like. The package contained no disk. I resolved not to buy it since it would really be more trouble than it's worth.
But I checked at a couple of the other stores because I was still comparing 802.11 cameras, and based on the response of the first salesperson at the first store, I wanted to see if any salespeople anywhere else might have a more clued response to my inquiries about the shitty camera's reciever output. Nope, although none were quite as shocking as the first.
At store #2, he simply stated he wasn't sure what a video capture card was or whether they carried any. He then walked away to help someone buy a large TV. Maybe I just picked the wrong guy at the wrong time, but oh well.
At store #3, he insisted that a video capture card was included, and pointed at the reciever unit (which just has power out and video out and is a small, heavy box). i told him that i read the manual for it at another store and he was wrong. he called the section manager to be sure, who then confirmed i was right and offered to browse video cards with me. "Eh, not today thanks." The end!
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no subject
Date: 2006-01-07 10:51 pm (UTC)Still have one of those Black Shirts kicking around somewhere in my closet.
Also, it's not a mistake to hire Best Buy Techs - we've ALL got to start somewhere. The thing is to hire them on two-week-probation, and make sure they know something. I know the store I came from had excellent techs (for the most part - there's a few who were ... well ... iffy at best).
no subject
Date: 2006-01-08 12:20 am (UTC)The inital recommendation was for a Pinnacle Systems device that plugged into USB. I did my research and found nothing but problems with those units. We decided on the Plextor unit primarily on my research (which also stated nothing but good reviews), and as we were running a reasonably spec'ed machine with it, figured that we could get away with an external USB device. (that, and we also thought that the training person was going to capture the video on his rather high end laptop as well, which made a USB device a requirement.)
I don't talk to sales people anymore for buying stuff. I do the research online and either buy it at a brick and morter shop, or online as well. But then, I'm a geek and I have a reasonable clue.
Hmmmm.... I wonder if Linux will talk to a DV camcorder via a firewire connection...
no subject
Date: 2006-01-08 12:23 am (UTC)Hard lesson learned in our office.
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Date: 2006-01-08 06:05 am (UTC)I think I've diagnosed the problem.
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Date: 2006-01-08 06:56 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-01-09 01:07 pm (UTC)