Why I dont like laptops

J

Jabberwocky

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Have this acer travelmate that didn`t want to boot, reinstall windows, or run in safe mode. Think it was caused by a power spike or something.

Searched online forums for similar problems. Somoene told me its the motherboard so i took it to computer corporation(only pc shop in town) to verify the problem.

They sent it off to acer. acer confirms the problem is the motherboard and says it will cost R10 000 to fix.
I explain to them how silly that is. They tell me i must pay R460 to get my laptop back, its ok to buy my broken laptop back for R460 as the parts inside is it at least worth more than that.

When they gave it back they forgot to swop the diagnoses hard drive they relaced with mine. It boots now, and the only problem is 30something defective network cards showing up in my hardware profile.
 
I also hate laptops. I see no reason ever to buy one except if it's necessary for business.
 
I've managed to be desktop free for almost a decade now :D
 
You have to grant that they had to spent a few minutes to diagnose the laptop. Dont mind paying for the labour.. Hardware technicians are overworked and underpaid.

The fault is at computer corporation's side for not telling me what acer charges for harware diagnosis.
 
The reason is that many manufacturers charge a "quote rejection" fee. It's lame, but it happens. Usually only with out-of-warranty parts, though.
 
It sounds to me if was just the harddrive. Theres prob a load of drivers loaded on the system during testing. See if you can get another Harddrive and load Xp/Vista/Linux from start and it will prob solve your prob.

From what ive seen on notebooks the 2 things that goes the quickest is the harddrive and screen.
 
kaaskop said:
It sounds to me if was just the harddrive. Theres prob a load of drivers loaded on the system during testing. See if you can get another Harddrive and load Xp/Vista/Linux from start and it will prob solve your prob.

From what ive seen on notebooks the 2 things that goes the quickest is the harddrive and screen.
Click to expand...

nah, I put the HDD in a usb casing to back it up, and remove some sensitive content. And it wouldnt POST without me disabling some onboard bios features like bluetooth and NEC.

oh... i forgot to mention that my laptop was away for about 3 months.

Dont know if its the same with other brands. imo Acer makes decent laptops. just pray that it never breaks when out of warranty.
 
I feel your pain with these laptops. I had a problem with my old one sent to to ICSS (NEVER DEAL WITH THEM AGAIN) and they kept it for 3 months. They didn't fix it... finally when i go pick it up they wanna charge me 500 bucks, as they tell me they had to take a look... they then tell me the gfx card is faulty but they can't replace it! After a lot of screaming i get it release for free, and take it to a guy my dad knew that knows a guy that does laptop repairs. He told me the wireless card in the back was damaged and got me a replacement and fixed the laptop for 300 bucks... Took him 2 days...

This laptop that i currently have is an HP, and i got an 8400 GS M in it as I thought i would be able to atleast play a few games on low gfx, but it seems nvidia doesn't support the graphics drivers for this card and HP's last driver update was in 2007....
 
dablakmark8 said:
You surely do crave for hyperspeed someday.:D
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That's what Lenovo and AlienWare are for. You get some beastly laptops if you have the funds for 'em.:D

I've switched to laptops only, fairly recently. I only play games now and then, on my xbox. The laptop with a wireless keyboard and mouse, and an extra screen, is perfect for what I need. Mostly stationary with it, but now and then I need to be able to show a client something, and that's where the laptop's very useful.
 
bwana said:
My Macbook Pro is pretty fast. TBH I do have a couple PCs in the office but even there I rarely use them.
Click to expand...

At double the price of any other laptop, its better be pretty fast!
 
phiber said:
At double the price of any other laptop, its better be pretty fast!
Click to expand...
I refuse to buy them locally - therefore they're nowhere near double the price, in fact they quite comparably priced to similarly spec'ed Dells and HPs.
 
Yes, Alienware machines are surprisingly affordable if you're able to get someone to bring one in for you from the US or bring it in yourself. The UK's prices are rather insane as well.
Still, number one on my list, is a 17" Lenovo. Can't remember the model number now, 1900x1200 res and 500gb RAID array is AWFULLY tempting. Too bad you pay a premium for everything top end.
 
Messugga said:
Yes, Alienware machines are surprisingly affordable if you're able to get someone to bring one in for you from the US or bring it in yourself. The UK's prices are rather insane as well.
Still, number one on my list, is a 17" Lenovo. Can't remember the model number now, 1900x1200 res and 500gb RAID array is AWFULLY tempting. Too bad you pay a premium for everything top end.
Click to expand...

It depends what you call TOP END. A laptop is meant to be portable, a huge power hungry screen, 500GB RAID and a 3D GPU will give you about 10 minutes power on batteries using all of that. Why not just pay less and get a full desktop instead of a DTR with superior specs - desktops beat laptops for
performance pricepoints.

Ultraportable, long battery life (say 8 hours under full load), yet still enough power to run every app possible is what I call a laptop. :)
 
yeah peter u have a point

only use laptops 4 wardriving

who needs the best 3d graphix and 17"?

lol
 
Hmmmmm... this is why programming for The Man is fun. I get the latest laptops every 3 months... For FREE. Well, I have to give it back afterwards... and they keep ignoring my requests for some Alienware laptops...

Here's a random thought... If you strip a laptop for it's keybord and screen, and you skillfully and creatively integrate it onto a PS3... and you somehow find a battery pack for it... It will work you out a LOT cheaper and you'll have the best laptop on the block.
 
Lord Fubar said:
yeah peter u have a point

only use laptops 4 wardriving

who needs the best 3d graphix and 17"?

lol
Click to expand...

Not everyone needs to work on the go ;) Desktop real estate is a VERY important commodity and battery life, frankly, just isn't to me. My laptop's plugged into a power point 99% of the time and I generally have presentations in a building. Should I ever need to go out in the field more often, for work, I'll demand one of those Toshiba's IIRC, with the 24 hour battery life, and keep a powerhouse at the office.

Ps. I need to take my computer somewhere at least once a week. Carting around a desktop that often, would be a pain in the neck.
 
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