Lifetime Device Support

Some companies are advertising that they provide “lifetime” device support. This sounds very good, but what does it really mean?

Users reading this will think that they will be able to get requested device support on their programmer as long as they own the programmer.

Manufacturers, on the other hand, have following constraints:

1. Hardware limitation: Not all devices will be programmable on all types of programmers. Obviously, more expensive programmers are designed to support more devices. If you are concerned with future device support, choose from high-end programmers.


2. Time constraint: Semiconductor devices advance in technology so that a new chip may not be programmable on an old programmer. For example, a 1.2 volt device will not be programmable on a 5 volt programmer.


3. Warranty period: Service period for most products are bound by the manufacturer warranty period.


4. Manufacturer resource: Device update is a time consuming task and the number of devices supported and supportable in the future are directly related to ompany’s ability to allocate such a resource. Larger company can provide more resource and vice versa.

Most companies are bound by all 4 constraints mentioned above. So, what does it mean by “lifetime device support.” All of above constraints, which is a “limited support”. Don’t be fooled by the word.

If you are interested in getting future device support, please check the following factors:

1. How many devices are currently supported? SuperPro 5000 supports 58,000+ devices, the largest in the industry.


2. How many new devices has the manufacturer added yearly? Xeltek has added 10,000+ devices yearly, again the largest in the industry.


3. Trade-in policy: In the event that the user requested device is not updatable on the user programmer, is there an easy way to trade up? Yes, Xeltek offers between 30% - 75% trade-in value for trading up to one of Xeltek models.

In summary, Xeltek SuperPro 5000 programmer offers most current and future benefits of all the programmers in the market today.