Time for a bit of rambling, me thinks.
Just received a new Keil development board.
Two of the DSub connectors was pointing 45 degrees off.
No damage in transport. Box is intact and the plastic bag doesn't show any mark on it.
So the factory Keil is using is managing to stomp (?) on boards, and then pick them up and bag them and send out, even when the damage is instantly visible.
Last eval board I bought was ok, but the board before had a SMD chip with a number of pins in the air, functioning as antennas.
So of the last three boards, two have contained problems that should have been easy to catch at the factory.
I have seen more than one thread here about people having received faulty ULink adapters too, in ways that should have been easily caught at the factory.
I think it's time that Keil considers switching their hw production to a factory that is a bit more concerned about quality. The design of the Keil eval boards is very good, which is a reason why I prefer Keil boards. But the bad difference is that the competitors boards are showing a better probability of actually working.
The goodwill loss should not be ignored. The cost for the customers do quickly add up, and we don't like to have wasted time with faulty equipment. In this case, I will get a replacement board tomorrow, but where will I get another working day?