Hi Mike and all - You bring up a good point. I know, from working with equipment companies for many years, that used equpment bought on the open market is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it costs them money to support it when they didn't sell it a second (or third, fourth, etc) time but, on the other hand, if the machine turns out to be a clunker due to mis-use of a previous owner, it hurts their reputation. I've seen this happen quite a bit. There are some very good used equipment firms out there that will support the product fully and include manuals (or copies). They also have arrangements with the OEM regarding parts and software. This should be confirmed before buying from a used equipment firm. Because, nn the other hand, there are some proverbial used car salesman selling machines. I recommend that, if you are looking at the possibility of buying a used machine, for economical reasons, check with the equipment manufacturer first. All the major printer, pick and place, reflow and wave manufacturers take in older equipment on trade and refurb them. These machines will come with the best warranties, upgrades and software possible and prices may surprise you. It is rare that you ever see a used Mydata machine on the open market - they make a conscious effort to buy them back for refurb and re-sell. In the case of DEK, access to their wonderful knowledge base (subscription) is a valuable reason to try them first. Among the used equipment companies, there are some very good ones, as I mentioned. You should be able to get the serial number of the machine you are considering buying. If they won't give it to you, they are merely brokers and don't have possession of the machine, let alone upgrading, etc. Regards and Caveat Emptor! Phil Zarrow ITM Consulting Durham, NH USA _www.ITMconsulting.org_ (http://www.ITMconsulting.org) --------------------------------------------------- Technet Mail List provided as a service by IPC using LISTSERV 1.8e To unsubscribe, send a message to [log in to unmask] with following text in the BODY (NOT the subject field): SIGNOFF Technet To temporarily halt or (re-start) delivery of Technet send e-mail to [log in to unmask]: SET Technet NOMAIL or (MAIL) To receive ONE mailing per day of all the posts: send e-mail to [log in to unmask]: SET Technet Digest Search the archives of previous posts at: http://listserv.ipc.org/archives Please visit IPC web site http://www.ipc.org/contentpage.asp?Pageid=4.3.16 for additional information, or contact Keach Sasamori at [log in to unmask] or 847-615-7100 ext.2815 -----------------------------------------------------