Author Topic: Digikey or Mouser?  (Read 17265 times)

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Offline HousedadTopic starter

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Digikey or Mouser?
« on: June 02, 2019, 06:05:34 am »
For small lot and single parts orders, which one is the one to go with nowadays? 
At least I'm still older than my test equipment
 

Offline JimS

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Re: Digikey or Mouser?
« Reply #1 on: June 02, 2019, 07:16:07 am »
I find Arrow & Newark to be on the expensive side.
 

Offline Dabbot

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Re: Digikey or Mouser?
« Reply #2 on: June 02, 2019, 08:03:10 am »
Any of the above are fine. It's all about what you want to order vs what each supplier has. Open an account at all of them.
 

Offline forrestc

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Re: Digikey or Mouser?
« Reply #3 on: June 02, 2019, 08:04:54 am »
For small lot and single parts orders, which one is the one to go with nowadays?

We find Mouser to be a bit cheaper typically at the lots sizes we buy (a few hundred to a reel or two of any given part).   But we also rely on findchips and similar for the more expensive parts.
 

Offline RES

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Re: Digikey or Mouser?
« Reply #4 on: June 02, 2019, 08:20:05 am »

Offline HousedadTopic starter

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Re: Digikey or Mouser?
« Reply #5 on: June 02, 2019, 03:58:10 pm »
Thanks for the info.  I'll check out Mouser and Arrow.  The shipping at Arrow seems interesting.
At least I'm still older than my test equipment
 

Offline rstofer

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Re: Digikey or Mouser?
« Reply #6 on: June 02, 2019, 06:01:36 pm »
DigiKey is FAST!  I always have them ship Priority Mail and I have my parts in about 3 days.  I'm old and I have a short attention span so speed is everything!
 

Offline particleman

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Re: Digikey or Mouser?
« Reply #7 on: June 02, 2019, 06:08:44 pm »
I think shipping speed has a lot to do with geographic location. Here in Az I get parts from Mouser in 2-3 days. When ordering from Digikey it can take up to a week.
 
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Offline MarkF

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Re: Digikey or Mouser?
« Reply #8 on: June 02, 2019, 06:39:10 pm »
DigiKey is FAST!  I always have them ship Priority Mail and I have my parts in about 3 days.  I'm old and I have a short attention span so speed is everything!

    :-DD            Me too!  :palm:

I tend toward Mouser.  But, put together your order in each and go with the cheapest or fastest.  Your choice.
I haven't seen much difference between them for my past orders.
 

Offline Johnny10

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Re: Digikey or Mouser?
« Reply #9 on: June 02, 2019, 06:41:37 pm »
Arrow

Can't beat free shipping.
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Offline KL27x

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Re: Digikey or Mouser?
« Reply #10 on: June 03, 2019, 04:56:25 pm »
Mouser has the best web store, IMO. Cleanest format for viewing past orders. Multiple ways to remember/identify/reorder parts from saving/sharing carts, assigning custom part names/numbers, creating projects, and even the ability to enter your own name of an order which gets saved to your order (I think the field is called "purchase order number" or something official-sounding. I use this as the laziest way to remember how to buy something again by entering some name or thing I will remember, here.

Digikey has the best search engine, last I have noticed. But it's been over 10 years probably since I have ordered from Arrow or Newark.

 
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Offline garethw

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Re: Digikey or Mouser?
« Reply #11 on: June 03, 2019, 05:02:33 pm »
I use Farnell and cannot fault them.
I’ve not used any of the others so can’t comment on them.


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Offline jpb

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Re: Digikey or Mouser?
« Reply #12 on: June 03, 2019, 05:07:19 pm »
My general experience in the UK is that Digikey has the most choice and is slightly cheaper (for the things I've bought).
I've used Farnell, Mouser, Digikey and RS. CPC is sometimes quite a bit cheaper but has a very limited range (it is part of Farnell but sells cheaper options).

Of course, in the States things may be different and it is also very dependent on what is ordered.
 

Offline boffin

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Re: Digikey or Mouser?
« Reply #13 on: June 03, 2019, 05:58:02 pm »
DigiKey is FAST!  I always have them ship Priority Mail and I have my parts in about 3 days.  I'm old and I have a short attention span so speed is everything!

Digikey is silly-fast to Canada; next day.   If I order by about noon pacific, I get it next day

It's an impressive bit of ballet, every about 4pm (digikey time - central), they truck all the Canadian orders to Winnipeg (about a 3 hr drive) and have them join the FedEx sort there (Winnipeg is in the middle of the country for the FedEx sort).


 

Offline djacobow

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Re: Digikey or Mouser?
« Reply #14 on: June 03, 2019, 06:16:34 pm »
I like that Mouser has a USPS super saver shipping rate. It's not fast, but I can usually get my order for $5. I often order parts at the same time I order a PCB from China, and my parts arrive a couple days before the PCBs. Lately, though, the Chinese PCB houses have gotten faster and now my custom PCBs are arriving from China to the US west coast before my Mouser order from Texas.

Also, I've been ordering more stuff from LCSC. Their search tools blow and their selection is meh, but when they have a part it can be significantly cheaper than the US distributors, particularly if the part is Asian in origin.
 

Offline TimFox

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Re: Digikey or Mouser?
« Reply #15 on: June 03, 2019, 06:28:57 pm »
In the US, with small orders, I take advantage of Mouser’s good rate on 2nd day FedEx shipment, equal to their rates on UPS and FedEx ground.
 

Offline Wimberleytech

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Re: Digikey or Mouser?
« Reply #16 on: June 03, 2019, 07:07:17 pm »
DigiKey is FAST!  I always have them ship Priority Mail and I have my parts in about 3 days.  I'm old and I have a short attention span so speed is everything!

Mouser is fast too.
I tend to prefer Mouser...not sure why...maybe it is the website layout.  Mouser does not always have what I want, so I use DigiKey also.
I don´t know who is cheaper...my client pays...not me.  They want solutions and dont quibble about price
 

Offline mrpackethead

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Re: Digikey or Mouser?
« Reply #17 on: June 03, 2019, 07:16:01 pm »
I think shipping speed has a lot to do with geographic location. Here in Az I get parts from Mouser in 2-3 days. When ordering from Digikey it can take up to a week.

I live half a planet away from DK, and i get my orders with freehshipping ( on DHL ) in 2 days.
On a quest to find increasingly complicated ways to blink things
 

Offline KL27x

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Re: Digikey or Mouser?
« Reply #18 on: June 03, 2019, 07:36:56 pm »
Quote
I take advantage of Mouser’s good rate on 2nd day FedEx shipment, equal to their rates on UPS and FedEx ground
I just noticed this option very recently. But at my location UPS delivers on the 2nd day, too, so I don't know the big difference. I don't have an account with FedEx. I also briefly wondered if FedEx might require a signature, in case no one was available. So I didn't opt for it.
 

Offline thinkfat

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Re: Digikey or Mouser?
« Reply #19 on: June 03, 2019, 07:57:58 pm »
It depends a lot on where you're ordering from, and what you typically buy.

For hobbyists and small business like me, the situation in Germany is quite dire. I don't need huge quantities, usually I buy active components in the 10's or 20's, and passives in the 50's or 100's to build a small stock (and because it doesn't make sense at all to buy 5 0805 resistors). There are just no decent local distributors that can deliver what I need.

The largest one is probably Conrad, but their catalog is basically useless when it comes to components. You can buy generic stuff like resistors and transistors and some popular ICs but that's about it. But try to get a particular STM32 MCU or a switching regulator or really anything out of the ordinary and they come up blank. Also their parametric search is rubbish.

Farnell doesn't sell to non-business customers and even if you have a VAT ID (I do), you need to apply for a business account and provide a lot of data that I'd need to lie about to provide it. Arrow only sells in 1000's quantities here.

RS I haven't tried yet, their catalog seems a bit better than Conrad but also not as complete as Mouser or DigiKey.

So, I usually end up buying from Mouser. I pool components until I'm eligible for free shipping and then their Fedex option delivers the order in a few days. A key reason for buying from Mouser is that I can order VAT-free, which is something DigiKey doesn't offer.

However, DigiKey seems to have an even wider selection of parts than Mouser. If I need anything that Mouser cannot provide (for example eMMC chips), I can be halfway sure to find it at DigiKey.

Lately I've been ordering from LCSC, too. As others have mentioned, their web shop is a real pain in the neck and their catalog is spotty, but they were unaffected by the capacitor crisis and you can buy generic stuff like LEDs and other popular ICs at exceptional prices. Also, for "Asia Brand" IC vendors they're a more reliable source than buying from Aliexpress. I sourced stuff like TP5400 from LCSC, which is not available from anywhere else.
Everybody likes gadgets. Until they try to make them.
 

Offline james_s

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Re: Digikey or Mouser?
« Reply #20 on: June 03, 2019, 09:00:41 pm »
Arrow has been the cheapest for me lately, and on top of that they offer free fast shipping. My only gripe is their inventory is less than Digikey, the parametric search is slow and cumbersome and the waste in packaging is absurd. If you need antistatic bags order a bunch of single 0603 resistors and each value will come in a separate bag with a separate printed invoice. Even sub-cent parts.
 

Offline Wimberleytech

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Re: Digikey or Mouser?
« Reply #21 on: June 04, 2019, 01:52:10 pm »
Quote
I take advantage of Mouser’s good rate on 2nd day FedEx shipment, equal to their rates on UPS and FedEx ground
I just noticed this option very recently. But at my location UPS delivers on the 2nd day, too, so I don't know the big difference. I don't have an account with FedEx. I also briefly wondered if FedEx might require a signature, in case no one was available. So I didn't opt for it.

As an aside...I do not like FedEx.  Where I live, FedEx sends a different driver every delivery almost.  For UPS, same guy all the time...we are best buds!
 
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Offline ratatax

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Re: Digikey or Mouser?
« Reply #22 on: June 04, 2019, 05:37:16 pm »

Farnell doesn't sell to non-business customers and even if you have a VAT ID (I do), you need to apply for a business account and provide a lot of data that I'd need to lie about to provide it. Arrow only sells in 1000's quantities here.

I can buy as a non-business customer at Farnell here in France, is this something specific to Germany ??
 

Offline cur8xgo

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Re: Digikey or Mouser?
« Reply #23 on: June 04, 2019, 11:38:55 pm »
No reason you can't use both or one or the other as needs dictate. Never had a problem with either. Customer service is great from both, shipping for small orders is cheap from both. Digikey used to win out slightly for literally shipping first class mail on tiny order and charging like $1.50 for that but USPS raised prices so I dont think that happens anymore.

Can get $7.99 2 day fedex from mouser on small orders. Not sure if you can from Digikey. Wouldnt be surprised if you could.

Digikey search engine seems a little more powerful and carefully organized so that parameters are in the right order.

But I do seem to find some great deals at mouser. I always check both when I'm doing a search for parts where I need to save money on something expensive. Or just want a "2nd opinion" about whats out there.
« Last Edit: June 04, 2019, 11:40:35 pm by cur8xgo »
 

Offline rdl

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Re: Digikey or Mouser?
« Reply #24 on: June 05, 2019, 03:47:32 am »
I've used both but prefer Mouser's web site. I also live only 400 miles from them and whether UPS or USPS, have rarely failed to get 2 day delivery from normal ground shipping. In the past I've never had to pay state sales tax from Mouser, but always did from Digi-key. I haven't actually ordered anything recently, so I don't know if that's still true.
 


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