New Video Available: TI's Chronos - MSP430 Sports Watch & Wireless Development System

Has anyone succeeded in ordering a Chronos from TI's online store?

I've tried for 3 days, with a Mac (Safari) and a Windows XP PC (MSIE 8), and always get the following error when I click

on "submit" after entering my credit card info:

Unable to authorize payment: Error reading from 'https://www.ti-estore.com/auth.asp': Invalid HTTP response 

All attempts at contacting a real live human at TI have failed ... from voice mail left on the phone number that the failure 

page suggest, to webmaster "there's a web problem" feedback.  TI's beginning to act like HP :(

(No, not behind a proxy or anything odd.)

thanks,

Stan

sieler@allegro.com

Hi Stan -

Thank you for bringing the issue to our attention!  We are working to correct the problem.  As a workaround, please call our Product Information Center at 972-644-5580 to order the Chronos from them. 

http://www-k.ext.ti.com/sc/technical-support/pic/americas.htm

-Russell Miller

Internet Marketing

TI Microcontrollers

Digi-Key will have the Chronos as well.

I got a nice email from someone at TI, pointing me to a phone number I could use to order the Chronos.  At that number,

I enquired and found out they were now aware of the web ordering problem, so I'm happy.  And, I've ordered a Chronos via

Digi-key.  Looking forward to it, thanks!

Stan

You are working to correct the problem !? Really? From what I could find on the Internet, this is both a "known problem" and quite an old one, too. I've seen records of it dating back to the beginning on 2009, and some people suggest it's even older than that. So, after wasting quite a significant part of the last two days trying to order an eZ430-Chronos kit (I'm in Romania BTW, and I don't feel like making international calls), I just have to ask this directly: what the *** is the matter with you people? You are TI, a huge company with huge resources, is it really that hard for you to make a webstore work? Or you just don't give a damn? All the signals seem to point to the latter. If you really cared about your customers, you'd probably have fixed this months ago (don't try to convince me that it's hard, I'm a programmer and I simply can't buy that). So, if you simply don't care, why the hell don't you just take down the whole site? It would save many of us lots and lots of wasted hours.

We do feel your pain. At TI, we do care passionately about customer service specifically meeting your needs. We are working diligently on the repairs which include a complete redesign of our eStore. As many of you software developers know, this process can take time. If you can bear with us for a little while longer, your patience is appreciated.

In the meantime,  eStore orders can be placed on the phone though the Product Information Center (PIC.) We have regional PIC spread out throughout the world. The information on the PIC near you can be found at the following link:

http://www-k.ext.ti.com/sc/technical-support/product-information-centers.htm?DCMP=TIHomeTracking&HQS=Other+OT+home_d_contact

Bogdan, your PIC can be found at this link.

http://www-k.ext.ti.com/sc/technical-support/pic/euro.htm

Please keep the feedback coming. We do listen and make decisions based on your needs.

Excuse me, I am from Hong Kong, China and would like to buy the ez430

When I finally reached the checkout of the estore,

I encountered the unsolvable error for the payment system.

It shown the error message for Unable to authorize payment: Error reading from 'https://www.ti-estore.com/auth.asp': Invalid HTTP response

Would you mind to tell me which phone number should I call to order the kit?

I am not willing to call IDD.

Does this number able to be called in Hong Kong Domestic phone?

Thank you for your attention

Cheung Siu Wa,

My apologies for your trouble with the TI eStore. The telephone number 800-96-5941 will put you in contact with the Texas Instruments Asian Product Information Center. I am attempting to find out if this is a domestic call for you. I will post a follow-up message as soon as verify this. However, TI Asia Product Information Center will be able to take your EVM order over the telephone. If you need additional help or information, please email me at TI_Store@ti.com.

Best Regards,

Bill Benson

Hi Cheung Siu Wa.

We are sorry you are experiencing difficulties. Please know that we are working to resolve this issue as quickly as we can.  

In the meantime, whenever you have any problem, please feel free to contact us directly. We will happily accept your orders and answer your questions over the phone. For Hong Kong, we can be reached at 800-96-5941, Mon. - Fri. 9:00-18:00 (Hong Kong/Taiwan Time). The agents speak English, Mandarin, Taiwanese, and Korean.

For future reference you can find our Asia contact information on our website at:

http://www-k.ext.ti.com/sc/technical-support/pic/asia.htm

For support in other parts of the world, you can find us by using the following link:

http://www-k.ext.ti.com/sc/technical-support/product-information-centers.htm?DCMP=TIHomeTracking&HQS=Other+OT+home_d_contact

Dear TI staffs,

Thank you again for your keen attention.

I had placed my order through Farnell Premier Hong Kong yesterday night.

Thank you for your fast and detailed replies.

Best Regards,

Cheung Siu Wa

Cheung Siu Wa,

I did find out that the Texas Instruments Product Information Center number for Hong Kong (800-96-5941) is a domestic call and is free.

Regards,

Bill Benson

Question 2

• The project that I am doing requires me to have a heart rate sensor in which right now I am considering to buy one that is compatible with the chronos eZ430. one of the external heart rate sensors is the Bluerobin, however, are there any other external heart rate sensors besides the bluerobin that is compatible with the chronos eZ430?

That is my question. Many thinks for reading and hope to see a reply to queries soon.

Sean Abdullah said:

• The Chronos has an integrated temperature measurement sensor. I would like to verify whether the sensor Chronos watch temperature sensor measures the body temperature or the ambient temperature?
• If it is ambient temperature then is it possible to switch the mode to sense body temperature?

the temp sensor measures the temperature of the MSP430 so if you're wearing the watch, the measured temp will be somewhere between ambient and your body temp.

Sean Abdullah said:

• The project that I am doing requires me to have a heart rate sensor in which right now I am considering to buy one that is compatible with the chronos eZ430. one of the external heart rate sensors is the Bluerobin, however, are there any other external heart rate sensors besides the bluerobin that is compatible with the chronos eZ430?

i'm not aware of any others.

You cant be serious. A couple ppl and I encounter this problem again today. After 7 hours' attempt, finally I get my order in.

I think TI really need to do something to fix the probelm, how can a company make it so hard to place an order?

I also ordered yesterday a 868MHz Version of the watch. At the time I ordered it the website says "in stock". Now when i check the status my order is backordered.

The wiki announces "late June" for new devices to arrive.

Will the orders placed in the last few days shipped soon?

Regards

sebr