Need help from Phonak Perseo 211 DAZ Owner

[CJ60]

Well it looks like due to one great human being on this board, my troubles are solved.... Man there are some great people in the world... Thanks for all the help folks!

[barterpc]

Originally Posted by Um bongo

Manufacturers have 'current' and 'legacy' models. If I ring up Phonak today, I can order both: however the only one I would be buying is the current model: as this offers the best to my customers. The legacy models aren't officially discontinued until a period afterwards, to cover insurance replacements/ warranty failures etc.

In any case you misquoted what I said: I didn't use the word 'discontinued' in relation to 2004, you edited that into your 'quote' to suggest that there was an inconsistency that supported your argument.

Sorry, but that's not on.

You actually did say 2004 Um Bongo. It's in your original post on page 1. You may have mistakenly said it or you may not remember but it's there in print for the rest of the Internet to see. As for the technology / electronics bit goes, even though 10 years is a long time you can (if you look hard enough) always find people proficient enough to help. CJ60 it's an unfortunate fact that while dealing with audiologist should be at least as easy and quick as dealing with an opthamologist, the fact is that people with hearing loss as a marginalised group biased against with massive price gouging and such. The disgusting part is most people (even audiologists) act as if hearing aids are luxuries not necessities such as glasses and crutches. Which for someone with lifettime hearing loss like me is a betrayal of interests.

Quote:

Originally Posted by CJ60
Not to sound rude, but c'mon now, really?
The Phonak Company Rep told me they were discontinued late 2009... Hmmm, that seems to be less then 3 yrs ago? How many electronic items less then 3 yrs old after end of production is it nearly impossible to find people to work on them, or even find a manual?
I have TV's, MP3 players, etc., etc., that I can still find places to repair, manuals, etc. for...
But hey, who's going to buy a new $5000 pair of aids if they can get their 5 yr old "ancient" ones fixed?

And lastly, BEFORE I bought these, I called two authorized Phonak dealers in town and asked them if they would be able to tune, and make ear molds for me... Both said "no problem"... Both have also tried talking me into the new technology ones... Sorry, I don't want, or need, Bluetooth....

>>> This was when the parts bin was discontinued: the actual product stopped shipping 'new' when >>> the Claro/Perseo series of Chips was replaced by the Palio circuit in 2004.
>>>__________________

[CJ60]

Thanks BarterPC!
Glad someone besides myself stood up and corrected him.
Although the Internet and its anonymity(?) doesn't mean squat in the real world, it still stings a tad when people call you a liar....
Still loving the "hearing" world, but have to admit, it's nice to also be able to mute it every now and then by taking the aids out...
But I guess I would rather have great hearing and just use ear plugs...

[Doc Jake]

Originally Posted by CJ60

The Audiologist that is working hard on helping me was actually #3 I went to, guess I failed to mention that? He is a great guy, and retuned my single Intuis that I had just had retuned by one of the other Siemens specialists... It would not quit screaming feedback even on the lowest setting...
Anyway, thanks for the manual link, really appreciated... I have been a PC nut for decades... Maybe apples and oranges, but I can STILL find parts for PC's I built for people back in the early 90's, not easy, but very doable... I even got my Grandaughters iPod from 2002 repaired, again, not easy but got it done.
My Intuis has been discontinued for quite a few years, but I easily find people to work on it.. Seems that you can still buy brand new ones from Asian markets, FDA certified authentic, but they wanted $400 for one. Probably should have gone that route, but it is only 4 channel, the Perseo is 12 channels I believe?
Anyway, thanks for the help with the manual, and I hope my new Audiologist has luck getting the program. He has the cable but said he could not communicate with the aids, so probably the wrong software...

Regards,

CJ

you may be able to find a few parts for a PC that is 10 years old but Microsoft for a fact is no longer supporting the operating system. why anyone would spent 10 cents trying to fix a 10yo PC is beyond me. what could they do with it?

[CJ60]

Originally Posted by Doc Jake

you may be able to find a few parts for a PC that is 10 years old but Microsoft for a fact is no longer supporting the operating system. why anyone would spent 10 cents trying to fix a 10yo PC is beyond me. what could they do with it?

I kinda steered this thread off-topic, but I agree with your point. Some people use their PC for nothing but word processor, email, and browsing the web. Actually more than a few... So a machine that is 10 yrs old works well enough for that. My ex-father in law, and sister in law, are still both using the systems I built for them in 1998.... Ex father in law still uses dial up 56k if you can believe that... Last June at my sons graduation barbecue, my ex's sister wanted to "upgrade" her memory from 512k to 1 gb, and asked me what kind of memory she needed... It had been so long, I had to go to her house to see what kind I had put in it... Man, what a dinosaur! I asked her why the heck she hadn't upgraded, fast desktops are so cheap, and her answer was quite simple. It does all she needs, and she likes the system... Still using Win 98, and not sure exactly what you mean, but she says she still gets windows update notices... So either she doesn't know what she's talking about (she could be meaning who knows how far back is "still getting notices), but if she's right, that would mean they are still supporting that OS... My wife hated Vista, and wanted XP back, and Vista would NOT let me roll back... BUT.. I was able to roll it back to Win 98 from an old disk (how can that be, I have no idea), and then "upgrade" to XP for her... The real biatch was figuring out what drivers I needed, and finding them for her configuration. That's the problem with the way they sell PC's now, no install disks anymore, just the damn partitioned "restore" drive...
Point being, in the electronics world, with effort and patience, "Dinosaurs" can still be used and repaired... Not in the world of Hearing Aids though....

Oh, and not sure I covered this, but the deal with the Perseo's ended up being VA proprietary chip... So only the VA could program them.

And the guy I was complaining about being a shady seller (and someone slammed me for criticizing someone trying to help) was the same guy that charged me $50 for one earpiece (the simple cone kind) and "cleaning"... When my cat again chewed up that one, another dealer gave me 3 of them, and did an audiogram, AND re-programmed the aid for free!!
I told them what the other guy charged for the one, and "cleaning" an aid that I keep meticulously clean, and their response was "you're kidding, right?".... So the guy IS a ripoff artist, and I can only imagine how many old folks the guy has scammed...

But just like any other business, you have great people and you have scum. It's too bad the great hearing aid folks can't or wont weed out the scammers... But I think it's kind of like Lawyers and Police.... No one wants to "Rat Out" "One of our own"...

Whew! Long post... Sorry...

[Doc Jake]

surfing the the web with a 10yo computer? wow! they still use a 9.6 modem and dial-up?

don't know about those old aids but current product is not 'locked' down so only VA can configure them. but you won't be able to get service or repairs.

[DocAudio]

Originally Posted by CJ60

Oh, and not sure I covered this, but the deal with the Perseo's ended up being VA proprietary chip... So only the VA could program them.

The VA doesn't lock down their software like that. If someone told you they couldn't program the hearing aids because of that then I also have a bridge I'd like to sell you.

Originally Posted by CJ60

And the guy I was complaining about being a shady seller (and someone slammed me for criticizing someone trying to help) was the same guy that charged me $50 for one earpiece (the simple cone kind) and "cleaning"... When my cat again chewed up that one, another dealer gave me 3 of them, and did an audiogram, AND re-programmed the aid for free!!
I told them what the other guy charged for the one, and "cleaning" an aid that I keep meticulously clean, and their response was "you're kidding, right?".... So the guy IS a ripoff artist, and I can only imagine how many old folks the guy has scammed...

Charging someone for supplies and performing a service isn't a scam...although I think $50 is a bit much, he has every right to charge you for his time and supplies he provides you.

[Golf-a-Little]

CJ60, I don't know if you are still using your Perseo(s) are not. I have a Perseo 211 dAZ. Color is silver. It is red for right but can be programmed for either side. Serial number is 051H41247. I'm assuming Phonak shipped it in 2005. It not stolen or reported lost. If you are interested in having this as a backup or for whatever let me know.

I did a little research and according to Phonak's specs, it requires PFG 8.1 or later (which is downloadable on their web site), a HIPRO and a programming cable. I don't have that cable (no plans to find one) and will never use it.