Computer Glitches [F.A.O., vega]

[Maurice]

Thanks, realblackstuff, yes, I will use this fact if I take the matter further, in order to receive compensation, this now seems very likely, & as I have said, I am preparing to have a Solicitor's letter sent to him.

To he with the Aztec name!;- all laptop items needing replacements, are far more costly than for desktops, & I wouldn't even TRY to do these things myself, plus it wouldn't be worth it.
If the worst comes to the worst, I'll be getting a desktop with a TFT monitor

 

[Maurice]

The on-going repair saga

Could others read through my post of 9th May, above, here, & give me a clear opinion, if that's possible. [it is fairly complicated]

I know you'll give me an unbiased opinion, I'm NOT trying to get you people on my side, you may well decide that he has not been at fault, although one of the things that several have picked up on is that not getting on the i/net via my server is no reason to send my laptop back to the suppliers, if I can establish that as the main cause of his failure to repair it, it might just be the lever with which to get some compensation, I am, as I have said, out of pocket by around £900 [$1600?], & although I am on two good pensions, & am not pleading poverty, the loss of this amount would be substantial to anybody, no matter what their position, don't you agree?, Please give it your best shot, I expect you are as weary of the subject as I am, but I am the one who seems will lose out BIG time, if I don't nip this in the bud now. You know by now, that I value your opinions.
Thanks,
Maurice

 

[Masque]

Maurice, based "strictly" on his note to you, I'm of the persuasion that the only weekness from his end (but substantial) is the fact that he did NOT back up the BIOS before the flash as was stated earlier in this thread. For the most part, everything else looks to be on the up-and-up.

Just my $.02.

 

[Maurice]

Thanks for that, Masque, straight to the point, that's just what I wanted, no more, no less.

 

[Maurice]

To keep you up to date with my long running saga of the laptop repair that didn't happen, here is a copy of an email that I recently sent to the person attempting the repair.
Incidentally, I am told that he should have a "Liabilities Insurance" to cover an incident such as mine so any compensation would be paid by his insurance company. of course I don't even know if he is covered in this way, but it would, I feel make things a lot simpler for both him & me.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Carl,
I feel that the time has arrived for me to formally protest about the position regarding your attempts to correct the fault, or faults with my laptop.
To date, it is seven weeks since you took it away. I appreciate the fact that you have loaned me one in the meantime, but feel that this does not, in any way detract from the seriousness of the situation. If you have still not received the laptop back, I urge you to make continued efforts to do so, perhaps writing, or emailing them might be an alternative, I really think that the inability to contact them is preposterous, & must be resolved, if it has been received, or it is on the way back, then I think you should have informed me. If you have just got it, fine, but now let me know.
All in all, I think that I have been very patient, I think you have to agree, it was put in your hands in all good faith, & your ad does state "fast, efficient service".
Whilst trying to hold on to my trust in your prowess, it is wearing quite thin. As you can see, I am remaining polite & fairly calm, but this could change quickly, if things don't reach a satisfactory conclusion very soon, I have been in contact with various genuine IT experts, & the outstanding opinion of them all, is that the fault was a server problem, & there was no necessity to send it away to the importers, this, regardless of the fact that you had problems with the BIOS.
I take that to mean that they think that there was no need to go into, or investigate the BIOS at all, as the problem could have been resolved by other means.
I will conclude by reiterating that I am now asking for a definitive explanation of the present situation, & will not be satisfied with anything less, I need this to be made clear, again, by email. This is not to trip you up by you putting it into hard copy, I just need to see it there before me, to know why I should still expect a satifactory solution to this whole, messy affair.
Thank you.

 

[Maurice]

Sorry guys if it seems that I am giving you too much info on this subject, but I have to keep hammering him to keep me informed, he never contacts me first.
I would value your opinions on the situation to date, reading both my last post [above] & this one. I am inclined to ask him to return my laptop to me, & not for him to take it for independent assessment, unless he agrees that this would be carried out at no cost to me, or do you think it is best for him to go ahead?

I have spoken to the manager of the local branch of Maplins, who I know personally, [it pays to have plenty of contacts] he is around 40, & has been in electronics, including computers all his working life, & said that he knows Carl of old, & as good as said that he doesn't know what he is talking about in this instance.

Below is his response to my last email to him, [he is answering more quickly, seems I'm rattling his cage, & it's getting to him!]

Maurice



Maurice
Payment for the estimate has been sent and I am now awaiting delivery of the laptop,
These genuine IT experts are wrong about it being a server problem and I have confirmed with other independent laptop repairers that the laptop did need to be sent away as it is not possible to reload the bios easily.
Please tell me what you think I should do to bring this to a satisfactory solution.
Before returning the laptop I would like to take it to another reputable company on the island for an independent assessment to it’s present condition….
Regards Carl…



>
>


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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[RealBlackStuff]

Originally posted by Maurice
These genuine IT experts are wrong about it being a server problem and I have confirmed with other independent laptop repairers that the laptop did need to be sent away as it is not possible to reload the bios easily.

Ask your "techie", based on what evidence (his word?) did other laptop repairers confirm that id needed to be sent away.

If it is not possible to reload the BIOS easily, means: it can be done. (Only needs a startup-floppy with the BIOS program files on it).

And who would that independant assessor be, another of his mates? If he wants to do it, fine, but only at his expense, regardless of the outcome.

He is B/S-ing you, go for the jugular.

 

[Maurice]

Thanks for your comments, R.B.S., as to the BIOS update showing "update successful", I have been told that although this is shown, sometimes there is a glitch, & the update hasn't taken place, [not siding with him, just stating a possibility]
And, yes, even if he does tell me the name of the independent repairers, & I might know who they are, it still doesn't mean that he/they aren't in collusion with him, & yes, I'm watching him like a hawk, don't worry!! [ what the heck is B-s/ing?]or perhaps it's a word you can't use on this site.......oh, OK, just got it, & yes, I think he might be, too!
It seems that he is going to return it to me, unrepaired, I don't know how he can do this, without expecting me to ask for compensation, so my guess is he will try & pass the blame onto either the suppliers who had it in their possession & gave him, [he said,] a faulty code, or [god forbid!] Microsoft.
As I think I said earlier, I have a solicitor standing by, to send him a legal letter, but I think that this won't faze him, & he'll bluff it out to the end. Even if it gets as far as the small claims court, there is the chance that I wold lose, & be even more out of pocket than I am at the moment, so I'm in a cleft stick.

Glad that you've got your teeth into this problem, [thanks] as you understand British law to a degree, I guess, the law in the States & other countries can be so different, & I don't want blood, just a sensible compensation to cover, or mostly cover the cost of a new PC, which THIS time , will be a desktop, you get more for your money, & Maplins say that they can build me one, to my specs, with a half-decent configuration, & a TFT screen, for between £350 - £450, laptops, I've had it with them!!

 

[RealBlackStuff]

You must have heard of that famous Indian Chief, Sitting Bull.
Add an H and things should be clear as muck.

Don't let him get away with just returning the laptop to you and definitely do not pay him a penny. Worst case, you keep the laptop he loaned you, as compensation.

As to a possible laptop solution: if you can get hold of the real BIOS-files for your laptop, all is not lost yet.
Get someone else to fix the BIOS as described earlier in this post,
or contact the manufacturer directly, to send you a "loaded" BIOS-chip, which that someone then could place in your laptop.

Your harddisk should still be in the state it left you, unless your "techie" ballsed it up. A fresh re-install over the existing XP, or an install from scratch should sort the problems you had. Backup personal files just in case.

Only buy a Maplin-special if you know the people there, and you are sure they can do maintenance if required, and they give you a decent warranty. For £350-450 to include a TFT, they must be using the cheapest of the cheapest components. Get their full specs (brand-name and exact model of each item) and publish them here before you buy it.

PS: the latest issue of PCAnswers (issue 133, June 2004) contans a DIY report to build your own PC. Interesting stuff for a low budget.

 

[Maurice]

Thanks, once AGAIN, realblackstuff, of course I shan't pay him anything, & if I can get my laptop working again, I'll sell it, & put the balance towards the Maplin's build job.
Somewhere I sent TS his latest email, asking me what I think he should do, to bring things to a satisfactory conclusion, he suggests that he has the laptop assessed independently as to it's present condition, I said OK as long as I wasn't paying, also he was to tell me who was doing the asses.ing.
I also told him that it seems that his next move was to return it to me in non-working order, & if this was the case, how was he planning to compensate me, I was only seeking my rightful dues, & would not be satisfied with anything less. At this stage, I wasn't going to tell him that I had already seen a Solicitor, someone I knew when I worked in the same firm, & that I was going to have him send him a legal letter, if needs be, I thought I'd keep that as a last bombshell, to let him know that I mean business, taking him to the small claims court, if it came to that. [think I'm repeating myself here]
As to the "cheapness" of the Maplin's job, I've known him some years now, & I like to think it's why the good deal, but I will keep you informed. Lastly, as you said, do you think it would be good as part of a recompense, to let me keep his laptop? of course I would get it in writing, also all the disks that go with it.
Cheers, Maurice.

 

[Maurice]

Here we go again, RBS, I have just received this email from the people that he sent my laptop to, this is in response to a phone call I had made, asking them to verify that it was indeed sent to them, please let me know what you think of their comments, do they go against me, or for me, & if FOR me, should I send my repairer a copy? Can I ask if you would reply as soon as you can, I want to forward it on to him pronto, if you think that's what should be done.
----------------------------------------------------------

Dear Customer,
As requested, this is a run down of a events log for this call;

01.04.04 - Fault logged with support, problems reinstalling Windows,
informed machine would be sent in for repair, advised that a BIOS update had
been attempted which had resulted in main board failing completely

05.04.04 - machine received and examined, main board failed completely, also
problems with hard drive causing the original installation problems

16.04.04 - complaint registered, contact did not believe hardware faults
existed

25.04.04 - contact again advised that components are faulty and that the
machine is out of warranty, as a goodwill gesture a discount of £50 is
offered on the main board

28.04.04 - we are advised that repair is not wanted on this machine and are
asked to prepare the machine to be returned

11.05.04 - we are advised that we will recieve payment confirmation via fax
for just quotation charge and carriage

14.05.04 - this update is requested

If we can be of further assistance, please let us know.

Best regards

Technical Support /

Email : support@mobile-support.net
Website : www.mobile-support.net
Telephone : 08700 667 999 ( Monday - Friday, 9:30 to 17:00 )
Fax : 08700 667 888

Address: mobile-support.net
1 Collins Road
Heathcote Estate
Warwick
Warwickshire
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[Maurice]

Thought you'd like to know that "my" techie still reckons that he can get my laptop working again, & would you believe it, he has passed it on to someone else, yet again, this further genius says that he has come across this problem before, & can correct it, well, we will wait & see!, don't worry, he won't pull the wool over MY eyes, I shall not believe it until it is back here, & fully working.

 

[RealBlackStuff]

This case has probably become a challenge now to your "techie", to prove that he can still do it. If he can, so much the better.....

I just wonder what they did with the laptop at the factory. They were obviously not in a hurry to return it, and neither was your guy in a hurry to get it back. The factory sounds like it has this modern "replace-rather-than-repair" bad attitude.

A dead BIOS does not automatically make a mobo also dead. Replacing that BIOS-chip is what they should have done, unless it is soldered onto the mobo, in which case a BIOS-reload should have been attempted (would take less than 5 minutes). Was the factory only asked for a quotation?

Looks like you are very much depending now on any goodwill your "techie" might have left. By passing it on to someone else again, he is indirectly admitting that he cannot fix it himself.
I cannot (and will not) judge/condemn him from a distance, but I hope for your sake that he brings this farce to a speedy end, that will satisfy all parties.

 

[Maurice]

I like your principles, realblackstuff, I too will not judge him [yet!] at least he SOUNDED genuine when he phoned, he even said that he was losing sleep, thinking about it.......[oh yeah, sure]
As to what the "factory" did, see my post dated May 17th, above, it seems that they didn't do anything, except examine it. [ you asked, but I'm not sure if they were just asked for a quotation]
Yes, I guess that he seems to be painting himself into a corner, that's the aim of the exercise, it'll either result in him getting it right, or having to recompense me, he has nowhere else to go, his sweat is almost palpable.

 

[Maurice]

Realblackstuff, in your post of May 17th, you queried the Maplin's "special" as you put it, I might be old, but think that I am street-wise enough to sniff out a cheap & nasty deal when I see one, you asked me to check the quality of components before going ahead.
I have got a written quote today from a reputable Computer business on the island, the chap that runs it has three shops, one on the island, & two on the mainland, including one in Lincolnshire where he comes from. It is obviously a thriving business, he's always up to his neck, repairing & building PC's. People that I know, who have dealt with him, all sing his praises.
As my scanner is off-line, here are the specs, & where he states them, the make of components;

CPU; AMD Duron 1800 266FSB. Memory; 256MB DDR "Kingston". HD; 80Gb IDE UDMA "Maxstore". Graphics; 64Mb video system. M/board; "Asrock" K7S1GX. etc., etc
"Optowrite" CD ROM & Rewrite [burnproof IDE.
Intergrated "Soundblaster" sound card. Modem; Mentor 56K V92/XP hardware [ambient]. Monitor; 14" TFT [LM14XV]
Fan + heatsink; "Coolermaster" XP3200+ silent socket A
PS/2 mouse, PS2 keyboard, Windows XP installed. £499 incl VAT.

I've copied it "parrot-fashion", he put it down in capitals, so I think I've at least got trade names correct, where he has given them, & the descriptions etc., are word for word as he put them, so, what do you think?, can you tell from this if I would be getting a decent deal? I can have a larger monitor for around £40 - £50 more, & can you tell me, are all desktops ps2 orientated, my laptop connections are all USB's [I note that the motherboard specs state "USB2"]
Hope I have given you enough CLEAR info.
Thanks.
PS, does "Duron" relate to Intel, & if so, which "grade" ?

 

[Godataloss]

L499- that's about $750us, correct?
Doesn't seem like a fantastic deal, though you are getting an lcd monitor. The greatest benifit to you buying from a local shop will be easily accessable support ( when the uber-nerds here might not be able to talk you through something or other) . Have the people you've spoken with about this shop had problems with their machines? How has the shop handled it? This instance is what separates the good deals from the great. If your hard drive starts to fail10 months down the road will they start licking their chops about the great hourly rate they will get to charge you to swap it out or will they do it for the price of the drive and try to save your files in the process? If the former is the case, you might as well try your luck with puke:dell.

BTW- Duron is an AMD CPU- the other guys( not intel)- and the 1800 is kind of dated, but keep bending RealBlackStuff's ear and he'll have you over-clocking and cooling with liquid nitrogen:grinthumb

 

[Maurice]

Yes, Godataloss, that's about it in $$'s, as it's not Intel, think I might ask him how much more for Celeron or Pentium.
Yes, he has got a really good reputation for repairs, I know some people who have used him, & last year I myself had problems, which he sorted out quickly, not cheap, but not too expensive, & I would make sure that I got at least a year's warranty, there's no flys on me [but you can see where they've been been!!]
Thanks.

 

[RealBlackStuff]

Hello Maurice,
Have I turned into your personal Guru now? (Thanks, I guess...)
The AMD Duron is a sort of castrated Athlon with a small internal L2 cache.
It compares like Celeron (with small L2) to Pentium with full L2 cache.
The AMD Duron 1800 is similar in performance to an Intel Celeron 1.8
Nothing wrong with AMD (I have an AMD Athlon XP1900+ in my PC).
Ask your man to replace that Duron with an Athlon 1800/1900/2000/ or 2200,
should be no more than maybe £10-20 difference.
Here are your mobo-specs: http://www.asrockamerica.com/Products/K7S41GX.htm
It looks decent enough, and should work fine for your purposes.
If you are going to do more than Word and Internet, perhaps 512MB memory would be better, but you can live with the 256MB.
14" for a screen is well under the norm. If you have the space at home, opt for a 17" or 19" CRT monitor instead. The likes of Relisys or AOC should well be in the same pricebracket as that 14" TFT and your eyes will thank you.

Check that he does not sell you another XP, you can use the same as you have on your (far and away) laptop. If the modem is a so-called win-modem, I would be happy to send you an external full modem instead, free of charge.
Just send me your home-address by PM (the forum's Private Mail).

P.S.: I hope your "techie" is compensating you for this!

P.S.2: PS/2 ist still the norm for many mobo's but they are slowly being replaced by USB. Get a wheel-mouse, preferably an optical mouse, so you won't have a clogged up or dusty mouse-ball.
The Maxtor HD is fine with 80GB and 64MB graphics will also do well for your purposes (I only have 32MB).

 

[Maurice]

You're great, realblackstuff, sorry if I am pestering you TOO much, but as you are British, you seem to have viewpoints similar to mine [no offence intended to our U.S. friends!]
Did I not say that the Duron was an 1800? other CPU details are; 266FSB SKT-A OEM, I think that if the one he is offering is equivalent to an Intel Celeron 1800, I would be happy with that. I have Celeron 1.3 on my laptop, [if I ever get it back] & that suits me fine.
The XP he is installing is included in the price, & Iam happy with that,.....too much hassle tackling my techie, as I might have to drag him before a small-claims board, & he MIGHT conveniently "lose" it!
Very grateful of your offer of an free external modem, but think I think I'll stick with the one he said, it's 56k described as; "INT PCI V92/XP H/WARE [AMBIENT]", does this make it clearer what he is offering, & would I be OK with that?
As to compensation, it hasn't come to that yet, he now says he knows someone who can fix it, I only hope that he's not another w****r, either way, if he does fix it, I think I will sell it on, & put the cash towards the desktop, on the other hand, if he has to pay me compensation, I will probably do the same with that cash.
Almost forgot, I will ask him for a larger TFT monitor, perhaps a 15" or 17", I am used to a 14" on a laptop, but think it would look undersized on a TFT monitor.
Once again, my thanks, hope I'm not TOO much of a pain in the undercarriage!

 

[Maurice]

A note to Godataloss, I see that you have 29 computer repair places in Ohio, 3 of which in Lorain;
Computer Exchange on Broadway, Crisp Computing on East 33rd ST., & Howell at North Pointe.
Looked up your "hometown" & area on Google, [excuse me for doing this, I get interested in the kind of area that people live, I love searching/surfing, nothing else to do!] guess you have your favourite, or do you go further afield?
Didn't realilise that you're so close to Lake Eyrie, that must be great for fishing, you seem the right age to do that, in all that fresh air, am I right?

 

[Godataloss]

Why Maurice, you must be retired from Scotland Yard! I do indeed live about a mile from Lake Erie the site of Colonel Oliver Hazzard Perry's ***-whuppin' of you dirty English Imperialists during the war of 1812 I grew up on the lake. My first job ever was first mate on a sport-fishing charter called, no lie- The Master Baiter! Imagine getting paid to fish and get tanned...ah, those were the days!

end of flashback

Those 3 shops are indeed in Lorain, as well as several others- in fact I think your figure of 29 computer shops for Ohio would be several hundred shy of the true figure- almost 12 milion people live in Ohio. I have never done business with a local shop unless you count Best Buy. I am just knowledgeable enough to do my own upgrades and purchase all my equipment online.

My current pc was made by AlienWare and I bought it from Best Buy at a good discount because the person who ordered it never picked it up and forfeited his deposit. The monitor I also picked up there too- it was a floor model discontinued that again, I got a great deal on -18' sony lcd that was retaling for $599 I got for $340 with a 3 year Best Buy warranty included )

This is where IMHO buying locally pays off. You can bargain with these guys on anything, and if I have a problem with the PC or the Monitor, I can box it up and take it down to Best Buy and deal with them directly, not ship it to God-knows-where and hope that I don't get hosed. You really have to know what deals are out there (on the net especially) to know the premium you are paying by buying locally. In the US this includes sales taxes wich you can forego by buying online, but remember your shipping and handeling costs may be considerable.

And again, remember that ANYTHING is negotiable. Take Realblackstuff's advice and bargain for a faster processor (AMD's are fine processors), bargain for more ram or a bigger hard drive. When dealing with salesmen just repeat Colonel Perry's famous words of machismo "We have met the enemy, and they are OURS!" :hotbounce

 

[Maurice]

OK, Godataloss, I got the info off of Google, & I realise that Ohio covers a vast area, I guess that the 29 shops that they stated, were in the Lorain area, as I defined my search.
Oh, & I get the "masterbaiter" gag, it was bound to happen, wasn't it, among the guys, some smartass just had to put the twist on the words, I'm sure it was nothing personal!!
What a place to live, us Brits are always saying that everything the "Yanks" have, is bigger, the fact of the matter is, that taking the size of the States, it's logical, & living next to what is, in fact, an inland sea, must be incredible! & that's not counting the other Great Lakes. It goes without saying that I love England, but wish that I had travelled more, I have never been abroad, my late wife didn't travel well, but I can't blame her, it was our decision.
Well, it's great to chat, it was an educated guess that you had fished in the lake, but I never guessed just how much you were involved! and I don't take offence at the "dirty English imperialist" remark [although one of my ancestors might have been!!!]
Cheers, Maurice

 

[Maurice]

More stupid "ads"

Here we go again, guys, this message comes in daily via email, I got seven this morning, all exactly the same, all different names sending them, note the spelling mistakes, as usual with this type of message, as were the sex ads & the African offers of millions of $$$'s. To the best of your knowledge, are these all put out by the same source, & if so, what are they gaining, what are their purpose? nobody in their right mind will log on & see what they're trying to sell, but if somebody was dopey enough to do so, what would happen, would their PC crash, if it did, there would be a point to all this, in their twisted minds, but if not????? Myself, I just "double" delete, but it gets very tedious, 'spect when this type stops coming, another "series" will start, god knows what they'll be!, & yes, the AV is working, I run a check frequently, also this laptop which I have on loan has a firewall in place.
Guys, I know, from what you've told me previously, that they're harmless enough as long as I delete, but what's the bottom line here? >>>>>>>>>>>>> *In Mild Or Massive debt?
*Best Customer Service
*Zero Obligation And Zero Pressure
*Consalidate 10 bills into 1 small one
*Poor credit ok!
*Application takes only 1 minute without asking for any sensitive information


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take me off


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*Best Customer Service
*Zero Obligation And Zero Pressure
*Consalidate 10 bills into 1 small one
*Poor credit ok!
*Application takes only 1 minute without asking for any sensitive information


CLICK HERE TO GIVE US A TRY

take me off

 

[RealBlackStuff]

Originally posted by Maurice
You're great, realblackstuff, sorry if I am pestering you TOO much, but as you are British, you seem to have viewpoints similar to mine

I take umbrage to that remark. I am originally a Dutchman, but became an Irish citizen in 1996 (thanks to my Irish wife). Moved to Dublin in 1999 from Switzerland, where I had lived for the last 25 years.

Originally posted by Maurice
The XP he is installing is included in the price, & Iam happy with that,.....too much hassle tackling my techie, as I might have to drag him before a small-claims board, & he MIGHT conveniently "lose" it!

That original XP is registered in your name with M$, noone else can use it, so here is a bargaining chip to squeeze more hardware out of your new guy.

 

[Maurice]

Oops, sorry realblackstuff, I wasn't to know of your birthplace, was I?, but I'm sure you're kidding about taking umbrage, so I won't clog up this post by harping on it..........ged it? "clog" up?

Still speaking to me?, shan't call you "Irish" again, ever. As to the XP disc, I didn't realise that it is registered to me, I'll see that he gets the message, thanks again, you're a great character, seems that the Nederlands breed people with a good sense of humour, & being married to an Irish colleen probably helps.
Cheers,....by the way, mentioning no trade names, but did you get to like G******s quickly?