My answer: Be like Dave, give up, and go to MSC. For the time I have been in FIRST, our team has dealt exclusively with MSC. Though they are very generous with their catalogs (we get a new one every year), you don't even really need one. You can just call them, literally. Whatever we need throughout the year, we tell our mentor, he calls them, and they find a solution
for us. Of course, its easier if you have something in mind, but they're wonderful. And if they
don't have it, which is a very rare occurrence, they will find it from someone else, and maybe even order it for you. I talked to a representative on one occasion, and it made absolutely no difference that I was a student he had never talked to. And, on top of that, they are reasonable, offer a FIRST discount, and ship
very quickly, although I have never found my part in the CD drive. Probably for the better...
I hope I've made myself clear. MSCDirect or Bust!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
__________________
Reading makes a full man, conference a ready man, and writing an exact man.
-Sir Francis Bacon
"Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius -- and a lot of courage -- to move in the opposite direction."
-Albert Einstein