Check this out...
Tonight I went by Fry's in Wilsonville, Oregon.
Get my slip for a Intel 733Mhz Celeron.
Make it to the checkout counter, and this kid
comes back from the cage with my CPU (the cage
guy was Jim Boxrie-or so I was later told.)
The tag looks a little dirty, and is falling off.
I ask the Sales Associate, Forest Reed if this is
a brand new CPU. He said yes. I look at it again,
and it has thermal phase change compound stuck to the
core (that stuff that is pre-applied on some
heatsinks to replace Thermal Joint Compound.)
I look at him and told him this is B.S. and I want to
talk to the manager immediately. The manager is not
in, so John Poot, a supervisor comes over. I ask him
if this is a new CPU, he says, yes it is. I proceed
to open the plastic case and show him the phase change
compound that is stuck to the core, and the substantial
layer of dust covering the CPU, and the slight
discoloration of the green on the top. I tell him that
it is against the law to sell a used CPU as new without
telling the customer. The box is not marked with the
"re-tested" sticker. He said it is fine, and it was
certified as good. Yeah, right bud. I had a friend
with me, who knows nothing about computer hardware, and
even she can tell that it is fried, or at least very,
very well abused, and where the thermal phase compound
isn't present, the core lost its blue color, and
it had changed to black. John Poot proceeds to try
to convince me that it is perfectly fine, and tells me
it is the very last one in the store.
I don't go for it, and he is completely unwilling to
work with me. So I go back and get a new slip for a
700Mhz retail celeron, and they command a very pretty
penny for it-gotta have it. Couldn't get them to drop,
even one cent.
Buyer beware!
Tonight I went by Fry's in Wilsonville, Oregon.
Get my slip for a Intel 733Mhz Celeron.
Make it to the checkout counter, and this kid
comes back from the cage with my CPU (the cage
guy was Jim Boxrie-or so I was later told.)
The tag looks a little dirty, and is falling off.
I ask the Sales Associate, Forest Reed if this is
a brand new CPU. He said yes. I look at it again,
and it has thermal phase change compound stuck to the
core (that stuff that is pre-applied on some
heatsinks to replace Thermal Joint Compound.)
I look at him and told him this is B.S. and I want to
talk to the manager immediately. The manager is not
in, so John Poot, a supervisor comes over. I ask him
if this is a new CPU, he says, yes it is. I proceed
to open the plastic case and show him the phase change
compound that is stuck to the core, and the substantial
layer of dust covering the CPU, and the slight
discoloration of the green on the top. I tell him that
it is against the law to sell a used CPU as new without
telling the customer. The box is not marked with the
"re-tested" sticker. He said it is fine, and it was
certified as good. Yeah, right bud. I had a friend
with me, who knows nothing about computer hardware, and
even she can tell that it is fried, or at least very,
very well abused, and where the thermal phase compound
isn't present, the core lost its blue color, and
it had changed to black. John Poot proceeds to try
to convince me that it is perfectly fine, and tells me
it is the very last one in the store.
I don't go for it, and he is completely unwilling to
work with me. So I go back and get a new slip for a
700Mhz retail celeron, and they command a very pretty
penny for it-gotta have it. Couldn't get them to drop,
even one cent.
Buyer beware!
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