You’re doing it right If you get a few orders together make sure to ask Smash if the stuff you want is stocked [before ordering] and (if it’s a lot of stuff) give him a warning early on
You can save a little bit of money by ordering the core32 parts directly from a german electronics store - but smash has them sorted very nicely, so it is a time vs cost tradeoff… I would suggest, that you buy from him, as he does all the heavy lifting and provides PCBs in very good quality.
I can’t believe how excited people get from saving a few Euro and depriving SmashTV of a few bucks for his efforts of finding the best parts that fit the PCB… and how much you people bitch about high postage costs. Get over it, already. This is a hobby (or should be), and a pretty cheap one compared to others, and you’d rather waste your time sourcing parts locally instead of just get the good stuff from SmashTV.
I think I should recommend SmashTV double his Core32 PCB price and offer free parts kits as an optional extra.
Sourcing your own parts is fun and DIY. Buying locally also helps to keep the customs fees low - this is money that doesn’t go to Smash or anyone active in the community, but to the authorities. So it is not about depriving anyone from what they deserve.
i can see an advantage in combining orders, for example when what you need for yourself already requires registered shipping and customs declaration, because you need so much and all.
it might be also not interesting for some people to have full parts kits of everything when they have most of the parts already in stock or prefer e.g. machined sockets over regular ones etc.
i’d like to try Smash’s DIN and DOUT pcbs, as they really look more comfortable to deal with than the regular design, not only because of the blocking caps on the top side but also w/r/t terminating and cascading, which turned out to be a pain in the ass with the ucapps design, at least for me (i.e. the termination in the Seq V3 cascades). but for only some pcbs it’s surely easier to just go ahead and order for myself.
i’ve ordered from smash in the past and will do in the future. maybe not as much as others might have, as i live pretty much in the 30km range of Mike’s. so the big advantage for ME in buying there is instant access, i.e. if available i can have what i need on the same day. but even though i have most standard parts in stock i still buy full kits, as i’m even too lazy sometimes to go and search for one or two missing components or wait for a reichelt order the next week to be able to complete a module.
well after all i don’t have an opinion about where people should buy their things. i’d even recommend etching your own boards and/or modify the existing to personal needs, as a very good learning experience, and it would be cool to be able to talk about such things without necessarily having the feeling that something’s not ok, or not fair.
lets agree to bitch on customs, shall we for my part i hate them guys… c´mon its 2011 and only a small world they should concentrate on taxing aliens err australians muahar
@csc: i think they just wanted you to tell, that starting a bulk order for saving ~ 10EURs isn’t worth the effort. you have to wait until ppl get busy (mostly they don’t), you have to deal with strangers and discuss unnecessary things in the forum. just order your core32 module today and save yourself some time and nerves. ordering today will get you the module most quickly, and yes $31 for shipping is high but nobody except smashTV is selling these, so we all have to deal with it.:yes:
my tip for you: if you think you’ll need a crimp tool in the future, get it from smash. i needed one and then i thought: aww come on, too expensive with shipping and custom duties, but then i realized, that getting a proper crimp plier here in germany is more expensive than ordering one from smash (checked everything from ebay to reichelt.
I would like to buy 2 32cores as well - and I’m not only interested in saving the postal fee. For me the most annoying issue with the order would be the procedure with the duty. If you don’t want to spend another 10 Euro or more you have to go to the next duty office, which for me would mean 25 km to the next big city. And there you need more than 30min for filling out the right papers.
If you get a few orders together make sure to ask Smash if the stuff you want is stocked [before ordering] and (if it’s a lot of stuff) give him a warning early on 
for my part i hate them guys… c´mon its 2011 and only a small world 
Is here another Member who wants to buy Parts from SMASH TV?