Wow. Went to upgrade the firmware on my new Sony DRU800A DVD-Burner and when I went to do it, it said you don't have the right drive and I was like "WTF?!?"
So I checked my system's list of devices and found it was listing it as the Sony DRU710A! And needless to say I was like "woah, WTF?!?" cause I swore the box I bought said DRU800A and I swore the drive sticker said DRU800A. So I took my computer apart and slid out the drive to take a look at it more closely and found that although the manufacture date sticker said DRU800A, the main big large sticker had DRU__0A with the "80" scratched out, or in this case, you could see what probably started the number "7" and then the sticker was gone. There was one other area scratched out too. So my guess is someone bought the DRU800A and returned the DRU710A and got their money back. And I got screwed.
Well, not too screwed. I was able to exchange the drive, and this time I made sure I got a Future Shop 3 Year Product Service Plan on the device. Actually, in the last week the DRU800A had a huge price drop which basically covered the cost of the product price plan.
So in the end, things worked out ok. I brought it home (I made them let me check the drive before I left the store - the stickers said "800A" and nothing was scratched out. I've installed it, Windows and my motherboard recognize it as the "800A" and the firmware update worked just fine.
=)
I also dropped by the Virgin Megastore Vancouver, which is sadly closing on August 31. A staff member at the store said all the staff were sad and upset that corporate head office had decided to close the store. Despite the official line or what you may have heard in the news, Virgin's Vancouver store is actually one of the strongest stores in the chain, leading the North American stores in revenue and profit (this, despite the fact they are in one of the hotest and most fierce CD & DVD markets in North America - where prices are extremely reasonable). But Virgin's vast selection, great service and unique atmosphere gave it an edge in the Vancouver market. Sure, you pay more, but you get a huge selection that's hard to find anywhere else (besides going online).
When Virgin first opened in the mid-1990s, word was this was the first of a number of Canadian stores, with a Toronto and a Montreal store to follow. Unfortunately they never did open - and now they are closing the only Canadian store. It's too bad. I don't buy much at the store, but I like browsing and I usually do buy something when I go into the store - something rare or unique, or sometimes they do have a good bargain to be found (a few weeks ago they had a great buy 2 get 1 free sale on Criterion and other DVDs that are already very expensive. So I shelled out $100 to get $150 worth of product).
I guess Richard Branson is probably friendly with George W. Bush and Tony Blair, and they probably don't like the fact that we didn't fight in the Iraq war. So now we loose a megastore.
At least there's still Amazon.ca for finding hard to find stuff.
- Steve