all talk and no action
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
My dead laptop
My two-and-a-half year old Fujitsu Siemens gaming laptop has died.
Fortunately, the extended warranty hasn't, and I can get it fixed. Without wanting to jump too far ahead and tempt fate, here's what I've learnt so far:
1. Don't take it to PC World Tech Guys and say "I didn't buy it from you, but I think it's under warranty and I don't want to send it back. I'm pretty sure it's just a solder joint or cable from the graphics card that needs checking so I'll leave it here and you can have a look and call me with a quote by the end of the day". I didn't get a call and when I went in at the end of the day to collect my laptop they had diagnosed it without even looking at it. IT IS MAGIC! "Er, we've been really busy all day," they said, "but it will probably need a new screen or motherboard." Yeah, thanks for that.
2. Fujitsu Siemens' customer support is excellent. I called up, got through in seconds, said my laptop had died and I had no idea if it was under warranty and had no documentation. A quick read of the serial number and they said it was, and arranged a collection for the following day.
3. Never trust your neighbours. Not wanting to take a day off work, I asked my neighbours, who are home every day, if they could give my laptop to the courier. "No problem, we'll be here," they said. The next day I got a text message from the driver to say they were out and I needed to arrange another collection. When I got home and collected my laptop from my neigbours, they said "we just missed him by 30 minutes!" I wondered how they would know this if they were out when he called but decided not to ask.
4. Old Smokey rocks. Old Smokey is an ancient laptop from a company that went bust in 2005. This thing shouldn't even be running Vista, on its 786MB of RAM and 1.6GZ processor. But it even runs Aero, throwing dead monitor pixels, a dodgy space bar and a screaming fan into the mix. It's like Top Gear's Toyota Hilux in laptop form.
And now Old Smokey needs shutting down for a rest.
Fortunately, the extended warranty hasn't, and I can get it fixed. Without wanting to jump too far ahead and tempt fate, here's what I've learnt so far:
1. Don't take it to PC World Tech Guys and say "I didn't buy it from you, but I think it's under warranty and I don't want to send it back. I'm pretty sure it's just a solder joint or cable from the graphics card that needs checking so I'll leave it here and you can have a look and call me with a quote by the end of the day". I didn't get a call and when I went in at the end of the day to collect my laptop they had diagnosed it without even looking at it. IT IS MAGIC! "Er, we've been really busy all day," they said, "but it will probably need a new screen or motherboard." Yeah, thanks for that.
2. Fujitsu Siemens' customer support is excellent. I called up, got through in seconds, said my laptop had died and I had no idea if it was under warranty and had no documentation. A quick read of the serial number and they said it was, and arranged a collection for the following day.
3. Never trust your neighbours. Not wanting to take a day off work, I asked my neighbours, who are home every day, if they could give my laptop to the courier. "No problem, we'll be here," they said. The next day I got a text message from the driver to say they were out and I needed to arrange another collection. When I got home and collected my laptop from my neigbours, they said "we just missed him by 30 minutes!" I wondered how they would know this if they were out when he called but decided not to ask.
4. Old Smokey rocks. Old Smokey is an ancient laptop from a company that went bust in 2005. This thing shouldn't even be running Vista, on its 786MB of RAM and 1.6GZ processor. But it even runs Aero, throwing dead monitor pixels, a dodgy space bar and a screaming fan into the mix. It's like Top Gear's Toyota Hilux in laptop form.
And now Old Smokey needs shutting down for a rest.
posted by paul, 7:47 PM
