The Gang of Five
Beyond the Mysterious Beyond => The Fridge => Topic started by: Malte279 on September 26, 2012, 09:55:13 AM
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Those of you who chat with me on MSN or got access to the staff room announcement of the chance of temporary absence for technical reasons combined with the shortage in supply of "temporary replacements" in computers are already aware of the fact that I have been having some troubles with my computer; which have become a repairing matter since the early days of August.
I would not usually make this kind of a drama of it, but by now the whole matter has gone beyond the usual degree of bad luck. Due to the fact that so far it has not been gnawing on my short supplies of money I can still appreciate the degree of comedy that comes with the observation of the misfortune of others (Laurel and Hardy based much of their comedy on that) and invite everyone to laugh about it and will therefore try to word the long chain of events with the purpuse of achieving the highest degree of comedic quality in the presentation of a :bang :bang :bang :bang :bang kind of matter.
Ouverture:
In Februrary 2011 after the sudden, unforeseen, unexplained and tragic death of the laptop that had accompanied him since late 2007 Malte purchases a new laptop (HP G 62). Fortunately he also obtains an insurance for 100 Euro that expands the warranty from one year to four years. On independence day 2011 the computer crashes for the first time for no reason, but mercifully the damage is limited ant the original warranty works. Throughout the following year the computer keeps annoying by overheating when running programs that include some graphics, but most of the time the problem can be met with a ventilation board the laptop is placed on.
Act I: On August 3rd Malte hands the laptop in for repairs. The mouspad is no longer working properly. It suddenly started behaving like the mouse keys were pressed all the time causing the drawing of frames and the moving around of windows, the marking of text etc. without anything of that being intended. The computer can still be run with an external mouse, but having paid for an intact computer and an insurance to keep it intact Malte wants to see the computer repaired. For his presentations at the VHS (Volkshochschule = Education center for adults) Malte needs to use a computer almost every day and is therefore relieved to receive a temporary replacement from the store where he handed in the computer for it to be sent to a repair shop.
Act II: After some two weeks the computer was returned "repaired". However, after a few days it turns out, that the problems have not been solved but rather been changed from being a permanent issue to being an issue 80% of the time. That's not good enough, so Malte returns the computer and receives a temporarry replacement. Sadly the temporary replacement is a netbook that can work the most basic programs but lacks a CD-Rom drive and a port required for the cable one needs to show presentations in the VHS. Luckily a different replacement becomes available after a few days.
Act III: After some three weeks the computer is returned. However, after less than 24 hours the keys of the mouse of the "repaired computer" stop working altogether. Malte wants to return the computer to repairs, but since no temporarry replacement is available at the time and the computer is required for the work he waits until a replacement becomes available on September 18th to hand the computer in for repairs. On September 19th the temporarry replacement computer crashes for no apparent reason and in spite of many attempts to restore it it remains dead. No other replacement is available and with this forced break in work that must be done Malte runs into town frustratedly, purchases a couple of canvas and starts painting them to to just something (no LBT motives involved). With the uncertainty on when a different replacement may be available Malte asks for the provision of a laptop from the VHS for the impending courses. On September 21st a replacement becomes available some 40 minutes prior to the start of a presentation. Malte rushes to get it set up just in the nick of time (the laptop the VHS had promised to provide for the presentation had not been provided).
Act IV: The new temporary replacement computer (the third by now) is working properly over the weekend and having booted and rebooted it multiple times in the process Malte assumes for most of the important updates to be installed by now. On the 24th of September Malte conducts an excursion for the VHS and when he returns home at about 17:40 he just wants to check out his mail before rushing to the VHS with the laptop where the next presentation will start at 18:30. When shutting down the computer it says: "Please wait, windows updates are being configurated. Don't shut down the computer." It doesn't matter much to Malte. It is not a long way to the VHS and after all there are about 40 minutes left for the computer to finish and for it to be packed and taken to the VHS. So Malte waits... and waits... and waits...
At about 18:10 Malte rushes out of the house leaving the laptop behind which continues to ask for Malte to wait and not turn it off. Arriving at the VHS (a different one than the afforementioned where the computer signed up for had not been provided) Malte gets his hand on a VHS computer and starts setting it up frantically all the while summarizing above events to the audience who is kind of confused about the ever so calm lecturer's look of someone who is being chased. As the computer is started Malte realizes that it is run with Windows XP and that windows XP does not support the software which he had been using to prepare the presentation. A loud and shrill sound sounds through the VHS. Unlike what some readers may assume the sound is not some kind of scream uttered by Malte, but much rather the sound of the fire alarm which seems to react sensitive to the old computer. It turns out, that the fire alarm ring will turn off every time Malte presses a mousekey on the old computer, but will start again the moment Malte let's go of the key. And most disappointingly the computer is not burning, it isn't even smoking at all to justify such a reaction of the fire alarm bell.
In the evening of September 25th (yesterday) Malte summarizes the above events in a chat to Hrvoje (jansenov) concluding with the statements that after these four acts he dreads the fifth...
Act V:
Malte is pleasantly surprised to receive a text message telling him that his computer is repaired. Malte had not expected this earlier than Monday or Tuesday of the next week (after all these repairs had lasted only one and a half week). Happily he returns to the shop to finally pick of the computer and return the replacement. For a short time the hope comes up that perhaps this could indeed be the end of it and that everything might turn out to be fine after all.
When Malte opens up his returned computer in the store a crack running all across the computer screen is glaring at him! Further tests in the store reveal that all of the fn command keys are no longer functional. Moreover the USB ports of the laptop do not work every time a USB stick is linked anymore. Malte returns home leaving the computer in worse shape than it had ever been before for the next round of repairs taking along the replacement computer he had been using since last friday. As Malte is typing this (and seriously, I am NOT making this up!!!) an occasional light, stripped flickering is running from the top of the screen to the bottom time and again and Malte prays that this is not going to develop into something serious all the while he is glimpsing out of the window time and again half expecting for some deep black thunderstorm cloud to appear ready to strike him with a lightning the moment he opens the door...
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Computer problems can be annoying, definitely.
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This is causing more of a problem than it ever should have. To be very honest, I'd get a new laptop. This one has been crappy since the start. The store is breaking it more than fixing it (however the FN keys can be fixed by installing your computer's software, they probably removed it for one or another reason), you should really ask your money back if you paid them anything at all and get a new, more reliable one.
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Get used to it. ALL laptops are like this nowadays. Your next one will be no better even if you spend $2,000+. The average laptop I see in my shop is 4 months old. They're made like such shit nowadays there's no way around it. Get a desktop. At least you can buy decent parts and repairs are super cheap (max of $50 for a desktop part) as opposed to laptops which can reach $400+ if the motherboard is involved (which it usually is nowadays). Either that or buy a laptop and replace it every 2 months by selling it on Craigslist then go buy a new one. Don't wait 3 or 4 months because I guarantee you the buyer will call you back all pissed because it died the minute you sold it to him.
Laptops now come with a 3 month warranty. It says 1 year on the box but it's bullshit. Read the included "warranty booklet" that they stuff between the cardboard, hoping you won't find. It reads something like this:
Limited *1 Year Warranty
BS BS BS about satisfaction being a guarantee and how wonderful Dell/HP/Gateway/Toshiba/Samsung/etc. is...
BS BS BS about satisfaction being a guarantee and how wonderful Dell/HP/Gateway/Toshiba/Samsung/etc. is...
BS BS BS about satisfaction being a guarantee and how wonderful Dell/HP/Gateway/Toshiba/Samsung/etc. is...
BS BS BS about satisfaction being a guarantee and how wonderful Dell/HP/Gateway/Toshiba/Samsung/etc. is...
BS BS BS about satisfaction being a guarantee and how wonderful Dell/HP/Gateway/Toshiba/Samsung/etc. is...
BS BS BS about satisfaction being a guarantee and how wonderful Dell/HP/Gateway/Toshiba/Samsung/etc. is...
BS BS BS about satisfaction being a guarantee and how wonderful Dell/HP/Gateway/Toshiba/Samsung/etc. is...
*Limited 90 Day Warranty on the Following Components:
*Motherboard
*Keyboard
*Mouse
*LCD Display/Bezel
*CD/DVD Drive
*Hard Drive
*Random Access Memory
*WiFi Card
So basically the battery and power cord are covered for a year. The rest is just 90 days. A second option is to buy a used laptop that's been gone through by a component-level technician like myself. I'll actually REPAIR the motherboards and replace garbage components on them so the laptop won't die in a few months. Unfortunately technicians like myself are difficult to find.
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He can't bring his desktop to work every day, can he now ? :p
I have an assembled laptop, has been working just fine so far.. Except for dead pixels which were under warranty.
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A friend of mine told me that laptops typically only last..2 or 3 years. I forget exactly, but it wasn't a long time frame. I'm not too keen on laptops myself. Yes it is nice to carry them around and not worry about power outages (cause of the internal battery) but I never felt the need to get a laptop. I'm fine with my desktop.
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^ As Iris said, I need to bring that computer to work every day to hold presentations. I don't have the money to spend to just get a new one and just because they are breaking the computer ever more appart, cracking the screen and stuff doesn't mean that the repair shop must pay me anything. The bizzare part about it is that the insurance has to pay the repair shop and so long the repair shop continues to not fix the damage but increasing it they get the cash forked over by the insurance.
Weird world.
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A friend of mine told me that laptops typically only last..2 or 3 years. I forget exactly, but it wasn't a long time frame. I'm not too keen on laptops myself. Yes it is nice to carry them around and not worry about power outages (cause of the internal battery) but I never felt the need to get a laptop. I'm fine with my desktop.
Yup. 2-3 years used to be a pretty accurate estimate. But nowadays (2011 onward) things have changed. I just bought a brand new HP laptop for $700. Had a fast i7 processor, 8GB of ram (upgraded to 16GB), and a 640GB hard drive. I ripped the unit apart the day I got it and had to replace 27 components on the motherboard. If I hadn't done that, it would be dead in a couple of months. I guarantee it. I voided the warranty of course, but the warranty is just BS anyway.
As for needing the laptop at work, I understand that. Laptops DO have a purpose. But they were NEVER intended to replace desktops. They're mobile supplements. Nothing more. The less you use a laptop, the longer it will last. It would be a very good idea for you to get a desktop to use as your primary computer then a laptop to use ONLY at work and only for presentations and stuff that you need to do mobile. As for not being able to afford both a desktop and a laptop, keep going down the road you're on and do the math. The average client I talked to spent $500/year on laptop repairs since 2011. Use the laptop 1/4 the time you currently do and that price drops to $125/year. Use the remaining money to buy a desktop. The desktop will just go and go and go and won't need any repairs for a long time. Just pick up a used desktop on Craigslist for $150 (do your research). Make sure it's a Core2Duo with 3GB of RAM or above. Even though it's a 3 year old computer out the door, it will be twice as fast as a new $300 laptop.
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Yup. 2-3 years used to be a pretty accurate estimate. But nowadays (2011 onward) things have changed. I just bought a brand new HP laptop for $700. Had a fast i7 processor, 8GB of ram (upgraded to 16GB), and a 640GB hard drive. I ripped the unit apart the day I got it and had to replace 27 components on the motherboard. If I hadn't done that, it would be dead in a couple of months. I guarantee it. I voided the warranty of course, but the warranty is just BS anyway.
Ouch. It was defective when you first bought it?
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Ouch. It was defective when you first bought it?
It depends on what you mean by defective. Seeing as they are ALL like this (they all have those really crappy quality components on the board), technically they aren't "defective." Made like crap is a more accurate way to say it. If I had sent it into HP, they would have given the computer a clean bill of health and charged me for sending in a "perfectly working computer."
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Ouch. My mom had a problem like this once when her car kept making this grinding sound and the stupid pepboy's dealership fixing it just enough to break again so she had to go back ten times to get it fixed. Anyway, I am typing from a new laptop to, my old one died in early June, which I had since 2009, and all my favorite games on it. Sorry about your laptop.
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Shoulda taken a sledgehammer to it. Just kidding :p. Sorry to hear that. It sounds like you should get all your files off your current laptop and then get a new one.
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^ I know that sledgehammer sentiment quite well ;) All my important data are saved elsewhere, but as I said, I don't have the money to just goand buy a new laptop.