AU sellers who give refunds (and those who don't)

JohnR

I guess I assume that historically Australian vendors don't take returns/give a refund. This is part of the reason I often figure I may as well import, since you only lose the postage. HOWEVER I'm starting to see some Australian vendors that DO give a refund, and I think this is a good trend. I'm talking about a reasonable satisfaction period and full refund (less postage).

Good

minidisc.com.au - I haven't returned anything but their policy allows it and they have been really helpful with this issue I'm having with my Hifiman headphones. And also with Gopi's noise-cancelling headphones.

gpio.com.au - I bought a miniature computer and it just wasn't what I expected. They are providing a full refund including postage! (In process, will update when it completes)

Bad

addictedtoaudio.com.au - returns only within 7 days, even then you get hit with 20% fee.

headphones.com.au - no refunds at all, exchange only. Talk about lock-in.

GeeEmm

Interestingly, I don't consider this when I make a purchase.

I did buy my NC headphones from addictedtoaudio.com.au

Fortunately I'm happy with them.

JohnR

I didn't used to. But recently I find that quality of things seems to be going down. Also, when buying online, it's a bit of a safety net.

JohnR

I did end up asking GPIO about the status of my refund and they processed it straightaway.

BTW minidisc is truly awesome. If you need headphones and stuff, call Wing.

Seano

Which mini-computer did you get, John? And what wasn't expected? I'm curious about getting something like a Pi or (more likely) a CuBox as a basic home computer so your thoughts might be helpful...

JohnR

Hi Seano, a Cubox i4 Pro. To be honest, my take on it is that while it's a valiant effort, for the end user it's not really worth it. Depending on the specifics that you are after, $240 (from the AU dealer) could be compared to:

• For a dinky Linux (match)box to play with, Raspberry Pi from gpio.com.au is $67 with a case. Assuming you have a 5V power supply and SD card handy. I have an older one that I was given and didn't run into the same type of issues as I did with the CuBox... One big advantage of the RPi may be that the software updates seem to be much quicker (huge user community).
• For a media gizmo to plug into your TV and watch Netflix, an Apple TV for $109. I realized that I had one, actually, which never got used much, but now we use it for Netflix most days.
• For Android (which is what I booted the CuBox from to watch Netflix on it), a Nexus 7 tablet from Amazon for USD165 plus postage, say $220 all up. (To get HDMI out of it, I think there's some sort of adapter cable, or it may be that adding a ChromeCast for $49 would be the way to go there.)
• For... a more expensive media box, a ChromeBox, which apparently goes for around $250. The thing with these is they have an SSD in them, not a SD card, so should be much zippier. Proper USB3 ports too. I decided against getting one as it wasn't clear to me what exactly you can and cannot do with them.
• For a real computer that does all of the above and more (except Android), a used Mac mini 2012 model for ~$500 on eBay. For about twice the price of the CuBox you get a proper computer, a proper OS, etc. With a hard drive. The 2012 model is the one to get because it is the only one that you can replace the hard drive (not easily, but doable) and the RAM, and which has USB3 ports.

More on CuBox... While the CuBox is very small, it's a bit pointless, as when you plug HDMI and Ethernet cables into it, it won't even sit on the desk. I found the software dists to be a bit buggy. I tried both the XBMC/OpenELEC dist and Android. In one case (I forget which) I couldn't get video on my desktop monitor, although it worked fine on the TV. File transfer over SSH (to OpenELEC) was very slow, file transfers using the Mac Finder would usually just hang. Running Netflix on Android, the picture quality was quite poor (compared to running on my laptop and outputting to the TV). I just gave up on it. I thought it would be neat and something I could also try experimenting with as a file server, but to use external drives you need a powered USB hub, not so neat any more. (And by the time you pay for the hub and external drive, you are getting up there into used Mac mini territory anyway...) Part of the reason for the CuBox "upgrade" was to get better USB audio which the RPi didn't do well, but I never even got that far with the CuBox.

Yikes!! Well, hope that helps. I'm sure it has its uses but it didn't find any kind of sweet spot with me.

Seano

That helps heaps...

We can't get Netflix and don't do much (if any) media serving at all.

And our desktop Mac is getting long in the tooth (so long it isn't supported anymore).

Given that we already have a Nexus 7...all we were after is a basic laptop or desktop to do the simple surfing, emails and file management. And I though one of these micro boxes might be the go for this...seems not quite yet.

JohnR

If you're not in a hurry, it might be worth setting up some searches on ebay for distance < 150 km (say). Things like iMacs seem to be often listed for local pickup only, which keeps the price down. I know you're not metro but you never know. (Just a thought )

Seano

Been through the 2nd hand iMac experience...not keen to repeat as you never seem to be able to completely wipe away the previous occupant.