No Fault Found

I'm completely unsurprised.

I now have my little lappy back from the clutches of PC Worst - and they say that after two days of tests, they weren't able to find any fault with the box.

In their defence, however, they've agreed (in writing) to replace it immediately if it shuts down unexpectedly once more. So I don't suppose I can complain too much.

So....because I say there's a fault and they say there isn't, the plan is simple. The laptop will stay powered on (with the power management set to never turn off either monitor or PC) for a few days, and we'll see if it manages to stay upright.

If it does - great. If not....well, you can guess the outcome.

In other news, I'm soon to be the proud owner of an iMac. Only an old one, I grant you, but it's been upgraded and runs OSX so it'll be a good learning box for me. I'm looking forward to collecting it!

Two Months old, and it's already FSCKED

Bloody, sodding, pile 'o' junk PC World crap.

My blasted laptop - as purchased just two months ago and lauded by me in an earlier Blog post is currently sitting in the Oxford PC world while I fight for a replacement.

Leaving aside the problems with some of the software - most notably the integrated webcam, which doesn't actually integrate with any known application AT ALL - the laptop's developed an annoying tendency to shut down, with no warning whatsoever.

Imagine - working away, laptop on power and fully charged - and then *click*. Nothing.

So...Saturday saw me dragging myself into PC World, laptop and receipt in hand.

Explain situation to droid on 'Tech Guys' helldesk. "OK", says he. "We'll need to do some diagnostics - leave it with us for ten minutes".

"OK - given that I've told you the symptoms, and that it's manifesting as an intermittent hardware problem, what is a 10-minute diagnostic check going to prove?"

"Well, " the droid replies. "It's probably just a virus so it'll show up on our basic tests".

I resist the urge to batter the droid's head against the counter repeatedly, and Gerry and I head off to do other things for a while.

One hour later, we're back. And nothing AT ALL has been done.

Thankfully, G steps in at this point as I'm looking to maim someone.

So.....trip forward to this morning, and I call the Tech Guys.

They're still doing tests (thankfully now the ones I originally requested) and the box is in a thermal test now. Interestingly, it actually DID what I said it was doing - though there's much wriggling going on to try and say it isn't the laptop.

Tomorrow a decision will be made - and I'm pushing for replacement or refund. We shall see.

But so far, I have to say I'm not impressed with PC World's warranty support!