Laptop issues and service record thread

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DarkAngel

DarkAngel

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  • Its a tricky job to recommend a laptop than say when it comes to desktop.
  • The main reason is the case, LCD, keyboard, touch pad varies from model to model and its difficult to comment about them unless there is a review about it on a reputed review site or unless one has had a hands on with the laptop.
  • Even after that the laptop service varies from region to region and from brand to brand.
  • So i would request laptop owners to use this thread to update their laptop models. The issues that they have faced with it (like overheating or bad hinges that breaks up after couple of years etc... ) and if they had got it repaired the repair details and how satisfied you are with the service of that brand.
  • This would help a lot of fellow TEians to decide their laptop based on whether they have good service in their area etc...
  • If members can stick to this Template then that would be great :)


Make & Model: Month & Year of purchase: Specs: CPU, RAM, GPU (You can get the Processor, RAM info from here -> Control Panel\All Control Panel Items\System). To get GPU info goto Run and type 'dxdiag'.

Major Issues faced(if any): Service record (if any): Please mention the place region where you serviced it since laptop service might vary from place to place

Other comments:

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Let me kick start this thread by commenting on the three laptops that i have owned.

Make & Model: Dell Inspiron E6400/E1505 Month & Year of purchase: June 2007 (Sold it off Jan 2011)

Specs: Intel C2D T5300 1.73GHz, 1GB DDR2 RAM, Intel GMA 950

Major Issues faced(if any): NA

Service record (if any): NA

Other comments: It was a rock solid laptop with excellent build and i never faced any issues with it. Had to sell it off since it had aged and batter backup was low. Also needed a HDMI port.

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Make & Model: Acer Aspire 5742z-4685 Month & Year of purchase: Dec 2010 from USA.

Specs: Intel P6100 2GHz, 4GB DDR3 RAM, Intel HD Graphics

Major Issues faced(if any): The WD Blue 320GB HDD conked off. Guess it might be due to a bad handling during flight (Just was kept inside a big bag wrapped in cloth) or my bad luck. Due to Acer's Intl warranty policies i didnt even visit their service center. Replaced the HDD to Seagate 500GB 5400.6 myself and working like a charm now.

Service record (if any): NA

Other comments:
  • The area near the right side of the touch pad gets a little warm after elongated usage.
  • Its a complete plastic build (matte).
  • I feel the screen wobbles a bit when i type fast and its placed on a table.
  • The screen is also very glossy.

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Make & Model: Dell Vostro 3500 Month & Year of purchase: : May 2011 from USA.

Specs: Intel Core i3 2310 2.1GHz, 2GB DDR3 RAM, Intel HD3000 Graphics

Major Issues faced(if any): NA

Service record (if any): NA

Other comments: Went for this laptop since i wanted a matte screen, USB 3.0 and also a better chicklet KB. Pretty satisfied with the laptop. Its got a good build and the area around the touch pad doesn't get warm. But on occasions the touch pad seems to freeze. Not sure what causes this though.
 
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Make & Model: Samsung N128 Month & Year of purchase: Dec 2009
Specs: Intel Atom N270 1.60GHz, 1GB DDR2 RAM, Intel GMA 950, 160GB HDD
Major Issues faced(if any): Hard drive developed bad sectors (around 15~20 of them) after a year of usage but the Samsung service centre denied replacing it suggesting the drive to crap out completely
Service record (if any): NA
Other comments: Replaced that drive with a WD 500 GB drive later. Otherwise the netbook works just fine.
 
Make & Model: Dell XPS 15z Month & Year of purchase: May 2011 , Dell India

Specs: i5 2410M, 525M, 4GB 1333Mhz RAM, 500GB 7.2k RPM HDD, 15.6in FHD Display

Quirk: The screen has a very thin edge and has a 1cm thick bezel running around the edge which is glued on with spots of glue at 2cm intervals, causing bezel to seperate from the display and collect dust. A replacement panel had the same issue

Service record (if any): Contacted Dell Support to see check if this could be resolved and was told that the only solution was to replace the entire display including screen and lid. Thought what the heck and gave them the go ahead. The service engineer who visited my place was severely incompetent and was unable to remove the bottom access panel and tried to force it open breaking the acess panel, palmrest and IO panel cover. A senior engineer visited the next day and acknowledged the damage to Dell. Was told by both of them that since it is a new model, they don't have too much experience with it. I really feel that isn't an excuse and not something a customer should deal with.

How this was resolved - I pushed for a replacement since I didn't want people who said they are not comfortable in working with a 'new model' dismantling my laptop. Was approved the same but finding that there is no advance RMA policy by Dell , cancelled the replacement request and returned it to Dell for a full refund. This took another 2-3 weeks to get completed giving me about a month of loss in productivity.

This shouldn't be taken as a judge of Dell's entire service team but people getting their laptops service should keep it in mind that things can go wrong and be alert for the same. In Chennai service was handled by Wipro.

Other comments:
  • Chiclet keyboard could do with a dedicated Page up/Down, Home etc keys since pressing FN is a slightly inconvenient at times
 
Make & Model: Acer D260 Month & Year of purchase: Jun 2010
Specs: Intel Atom N270 1.66GHz, 1GB DDR2 RAM, Intel GMA 3150, 160GB HDD
Major Issues faced(if any): No Major issues yet.
Service record (if any): NA
Other comments:
* The keyboard keys get stuck sometimes, and a hard tap sets it back right.
* Sometimes audio out port doesnt work after resuming from hibernation.(i.e speakers are still playing even after plugging headphones). Must be xp glitch. No idea.
Rest all awesome till now. :)
 
Make & Model: MSI X340 Month & Year of purchase: March 2010

Specs: Intel Core 2 Solo SU3500 CULV (1.4GHz), 2 GB DDR2 RAM, Intel X4500M , 320 GB HDD, 13"

Quirk: Sad battery life, track pad ain't good, paints around the screen edges are coming off after a year of usage, "e" seem to be bit hard now and then

Major Issues faced(if any): NA

Service record (if any): NA

Other comments: Very light and slim, can play 1080p videos using MPC
 
Make & Model: Lenovo R61

Month & Year of purchase: July 2008

Specs: C2D 1.8GHz T5670, onboard graphics. 160GB HDD (Upgraded to 500GB), 2GB DDR 2- 667 RAM (Upgraded to 4GB) , 3 yrs onsite warranty (upgraded to 5 yrs)

Major Issues faced: Motherboard failure

Service record :

DVD Drive, Keyboard, Motherboard,indicator panel replacements at Manipal (Campus helpdesk) -- each took around 10 days

Speakers, power adaptor replacements at Gurgaon -- each took less than 48 hrs, with technician visiting my home

Other comments: Built like a tank, the above failures are partially due to using it to the point of abuse

Has been dropped from bed/table multiple times, drenched in the rain, had chocolate shakes spilt on the keyboard

Has been infested by ants a few times as well

DVD Drives failed when I transferred 50+ DVD's to an external HDD back to back

Motherboard failed when I went from Ultra Dry (delhi winters to Manipal monsoons by flight - 2 times in 10 days)

Speakers: were broken from the beginning
 
Make & Model:

Dell vostro 1400



Month & Year of purchase:

Somewhere early 2009(not sure,got from dad)



Specs:c2d T6600,2GB,25OGB 5400 rpm

.

Major Issues faced(if any):Did not face any issue,gave to cousin..still working fine.



Other comments:Nice no frill machine

NOW THE WORST LAPTOP I HAVE EVER USED

Make & Model:HP dv6 2005ax



Month & Year of purchase:Nov 2009



Specs:AMD Turion X2 Dual-Core Mobile Processor M500,2.20 GHz,4GB DDR2,ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4650

Major Issues faced(if any): Display went kaput around May,replacement took 3 weeks,motherboard died exactly after 1 week,replacement in around another 3 weeks,display issue resurfaced-August..replaced..took 18 days(yeh!I remember)..now the best part..had a seminar in Delhi Sept 23rd..prepared for 3 months..lappy suddenly decided not to boot up 1hr before the seminer,had the presentation in a flash drive but made some final changes which were lost..great hp engineers took 5 days to diagnose..this time changed the RAM and some undisclosed components(the receipt I got had some cryptic letters which I didnot understand)(During my countless trips to the HP service centre I even hit one service engineer in his face)



Service record (if any): The great service centre was located beside St Xavier`s college kolkata,later shifted to upper wood street(the old address was not changed even after 6 months in HP India website)

Other comments:I have all those service records with me,if anyone is interested can pm me)
 
Make & Model: Dell Studio 1555 - Model: PP39L Month & Year of purchase: December 2009

Specs: Intel Core 2 Duo T6600 @ 2.20GHz, 4GB RAM, ATI Radeon 4500, 500GB HDD

Major Issues faced(if any): Overheats from day 1! Dell Support Sucks in my region!.

Service record (if any): Several calls made to Dell starting the 1st month. False promises. Could not pursue the matter for lack of time.


Other comments:

* Have 2 of these bricks. The one I am using right now is better off than the one my wife uses. Hers takes forever to start and shut down due to the heat. Products such as these give MS a bad name. Have had enough and am switching my loyalties to Apple. I will try and service these bricks once I have some time and have the Macbooks in hand. Till then, these are indispensable.

* Will not touch another Dell product with even a pole. My honest advice, never buy Dell till atleast their service support is at par with the US of A for all regions within the whole of India.
 
Make & Model: Dell XPS M1330

Month & Year of purchase: Aug 2007

Specs: T8300, 3 GB DDR2, 160 GB 7200 RPM drive, 8400M GS onboard

Major Issues faced(if any): Dead motherboards on 3 occasions, one keyboard replacement.

Service record (if any): The laptop came with worldwide NBD repair or replacement so I had it fixed at my home in Chennai, then in Mumbai, then in Chennai.

Other comments: This particular model is very well known for having the bad batch of Nvidia GPUs. As a result, the motherboard was doomed to die from the beginning. I haven't had a motherboard failure since my last replacement (in Jan 2010), though performance has tanked. Originally, I was able to play Battlefield 2 on all high and Warcraft 3: TFT for hours if I wanted. Now the device slows to a crawl and then shuts down. I have a feeling this is the BIOS throttling or something because I've taken the heating assembly apart to clean it since and there wasn't much to clean and because it's been this way since I got my last motherboard. It cost Rs. 60000/- when I bought it and if it lasts another 2 years I'll feel great about the purchase. Right now, I just feel good. On the bright side, the aluminium + plastic case seems fairly stable. I dropped it once on the corner of the screen from a 4-foot-high table with no damage. I dropped it again a few weeks ago from 4-foot-high-table on the left-bottom edge of the side with the keyboard and the case has flexed open a bit there.
 
Make & Model: Compaq 6102AU Month & Year of purchase: Feb 2007
Specs: AMD Turionâ„¢ 64 X2 TL-50 (1.6GHz); 15.4"; 1 GB DDR2; 100GB Serial ATA; Nvidia GeForce Go 6150; 5 in 1 Media Card Reader; Bluetooth; Wifi.
Major Issues faced(if any): At the start of 2010, i faced with the very famous "no display" issue and approched HP for repair. They quoted Rs.15,000/- for MB replacement and i had to escape from there. Searched youtube and finding a solution i bought a gas cigarette lighter for Rs.20/- and torched the video chipset for 30 seconds (this is called balling). Till now this lappy works like a charm.
Service record (if any): 15,000/- my assssss.
Other comments: I am still using it because i love its aspect ratio and it gives 3.5-4 hrs of backup with a 12 cell battery.
 
Make and model: Compaq C702 TU

Specs: Intel Celeron 530M@1.73GHz, 2GB DDR2 667MHz@533MHz(upgraded from 512MB), Intel GL960 Express chipset, Intel GMA x3100 IGP, 80GB Fujitsu SATA HDD, Samsung TSST-L632H PATA, RTL8139 Ethernet port, Broadcom 802.11b/g wifi, Alps touchpad.

Month and year of purchase: October~November 2007, Dubai.

Issues faced:
1. Within 1 yr the card reader died on me as i and a friend were experimenting with an unsupported Sony memory stick card which bent the pins inside.
2. Next in 2009, did a bios mod, which caused the laptop not to boot, but managed to salvage it. finally re modded the bios, added slp2.1 support, even though i have an original copy of w7U.
3. Next problem was with the keyboard. On starting, the laptop would not boot sometimes, and sometimes make loud beeps. the problem was that the ctrl key got shorted inside. cleaned the keyboard with alcohol, and problem solved.
4. As of May 2011, the laptop would become very hot to touch, and would shut down of its own. opened up the laptop and cleaned it, changed TIM. will have to open it again soon to put better TIM + mesh.
5. Battery now gives only 20~30 min of backup.

Servicing record: None. Asked a HP rep about the card reader and he said that if you have inserted the card wrong way, warranty will not be provided for the item if pins are found to be bent, and did not have any use of card reader at that time, so did not take up the issue.

Usage: Am using it as a download rig+surfing+ebook reader. Also used it for my W7 party, as a tool to show ease of networking. Have already tried using a custom ChromiumOS image on it and its good, except for the touchpad.

Plans for the future: Will be changing the battery, upgrading the b/g card to a Intel 6230 for wifi n+BT support. Also plan to use it as a chromebook if i get a newer laptop.
 
Make & Model: HP Pavilion DV 6767tx Thrive Special Edition
Month & Year of purchase: April 2008
Specs: Intel Core2Duo T5550 1.83GHz, 3GB RAM, Nvidia 8400M GS, 250GB HDD
Major Issues faced(if any): Speakers, DVD drive and Caps lock LED conked off only about a month ago. But no other problems whatsoever since the time of purchase.
Service record (if any): None so far. Will try to get the speakers done when I'm free.
Other comments: 1. When I'm at home then its ON and downloading 24X7 for several months at a stretch without restarting.
2. The finish on the body still looks pretty much brand new.
3. KB, track pad and all ports have been working flawlessly.
4. Gives a battery backup of around 1 hour on Power Saver mode (the same old battery).
5. Tends to heat up slightly at the bottom but never had any issues as such.
6. Never had to format since the date of purchase.
 
Make & Model: Dell Studio XPS 1640 Month & Year of purchase: December 2009

Specs: Intel C2D P8700 2.53GHz, 4GB DDR3 RAM, ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4670 (1GB)

Major Issues faced(if any):
  • After two months of purchase, BOD was occurring frequently. Heat sink, RAM, etc.. was changed since I had 1 year complete cover.
  • Few months after had issues with display. The panel was changed completely.
  • No issues whatsoever apart from the above. Working like a powerhouse.
Service record (if any): NA

Other comments: An awesome handsome laptop with great sound mainly for gaming and multimedia. The keyboard texture and also its back-lit feature has been always a plus point.
 
Updating details on 4 of my laptops:-

====================================================================================================

Make & Model: [font=arial, sans-serif]MSI CR400x [/font][font=arial, sans-serif]Review - [/font]http://www.techenclave.com/topic/464686-msi-cr-400-x-review/

Month & Year of purchase:[font=arial, sans-serif] Jan 2010[/font]

Specs:[font=arial, sans-serif] Intel Core 2 Duo T 6500(2.1 Ghz), 4 Gb DDR 2 800Mhz (Corsair), Nvidia 8200M 256MB dedicated + 256MB system shared, 250 Gb 5400 RPM WD Scorpio, 6 cell 48 Whr battery, 14 inch glossy screen @ 1366x768, bluetooth 2.1, dvd writer, webcam, Windows 7 Ultimate 64 Bit[/font]

Major Issues faced(if any):[font=arial, sans-serif] No Major issues yet.[/font]

Service record (if any):[font=arial, sans-serif] NA[/font]

Other comments:[font=arial, sans-serif] [/font]
  • Brilliant build quality and very good performance
  • Battery has degraded over 35% over 26 months with very heavy usage
  • MSI has a very good service back up team and are quick to react
  • I used it for a year and my father has been using it for more than a year now.

====================================================================================================

Make & Model: [font=arial, sans-serif]HP DM1z (First Generation) [/font][font=arial, sans-serif]REVIEW -[/font][font=arial, sans-serif][/font]http://www.techenclave.com/topic/494568-hp-dm1-z-the-fusion-intervention/

Month & Year of purchase:[font=arial, sans-serif] April 2011[/font]

Specs:[font=arial, sans-serif] AMD Fusion E-350+ Ati 6310, 6 GB DDR3 1333 Mhz (2 Gb HP Samsung + 4 Gb GSkill), 320 Gb 7200 RPM Hitachi, 6 cell 55 Whr battery, 11.6 inch semi glossy screen @ 1366x768, bluetooth 2.1, HDMI, webcam, Windows 7 professional 64 Bit[/font]

Major Issues faced(if any):[font=arial, sans-serif] No Major issues yet.[/font]

Service record (if any):[font=arial, sans-serif] NA[/font]

Other comments:
  • Brilliant build quality - survived two major bike accidents
  • Good performance
  • Extremely customizable and upgradable
  • 6-7 Hours battery life on heavy usage
  • Sold it on 15 Dec 2011 for 22k.

====================================================================================================

Make & Model: HP 431-452TX

Month & Year of purchase:[font=arial, sans-serif] September 2011[/font]

Specs:[font=arial, sans-serif] [/font][font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]Intel Core i5-2430M (2.4GHz), 4GB DDR3, HDD 750GB,HD 6470M 1 GB, 6 Cell battery,[/font][font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif] 14 inch semi glossy screen @ 1366x768, bluetooth 2.1, HDMI, webcam, Windows 7 professional 64 Bit[/font]

Major Issues faced(if any):[font=arial, sans-serif] No Major issues yet.[/font]

Service record (if any):[font=arial, sans-serif] NA[/font]

Other comments:
  • Brilliant build quality - being used by my sister
  • Good performance
  • 4 Hours battery life on heavy usage

====================================================================================================

Make & Model: Thinkpad x220

Month & Year of purchase:[font=arial, sans-serif] December 2011[/font]

Specs:[font=arial, sans-serif] [/font][font=arial, helvetica, sans-serif]Intel Core i7-2620M (2.7GHz Turbo to 3.4 Ghz), 8 GB DDR3 (Corsair 4Gbx2 ), Hitachi 320GB 7200 rpm,HD 3000, 9 Cell battery 94 Whr,[/font][font=arial, helvetica, sans-serif] 12.5 inch matte IPS display @ 1366x768, Integrated Ericsson 3g broadband module, USB 3.0 Display port, 720p webcam, Windows 7 professional 64 Bit[/font]

Major Issues faced(if any):[font=arial, sans-serif] No Major issues yet.[/font]

Service record (if any):[font=arial, sans-serif] NA[/font]

Other comments:
  • The BEST business ultraportable ever built !
  • Thinkpad build quality with a magnesium frame and solid metal hinges - built like a tank
  • EPIC endurance @ 14 hours with the 9 cell battery
  • The best keyboard in a laptop. Its a full sized keyboard in a 12.5 inch frame!
  • Excellent performance and amazing features provided by the Thinkvantage Utilities
  • Expensive @ 1200$ but the best purchase ever made by me
  • Thin and light @ 1.6 kgs with the 9 cell battery which is good for a frequent flier/traveller like me.
  • Brilliant 720p webcam and very good noise suppression features for the MIC
  • Extremely customizable and upgradable

====================================================================================================
 
Boy o boy am I gonna have shit to say once Dell fixes my laptop. Dell technicians seem to be utter shite. Many who have come to 'service' my laptop are opening the model for the first time. All problems have been caused either because of the incompetence of the previous engineer or overheating issues on the laptop.

Dell stuff seems to be hit or miss. If you are lucky and there's no issue with your system then GREAT. But once one of their idiots opens your system that's the end.

There better be good PC laptops by the end of 2013 or I'll reluctantly end up getting those fruity Macs

Sent from my GT-N7000 using Tapatalk
 
^

dafreaking said:
Boy o boy am I gonna have shit to say once Dell fixes my laptop. Dell technicians seem to be utter shite. Many who have come to 'service' my laptop are opening the model for the first time. All problems have been caused either because of the incompetence of the previous engineer or overheating issues on the laptop.

Dell stuff seems to be hit or miss. If you are lucky and there's no issue with your system then GREAT. But once one of their idiots opens your system that's the end.

There better be good PC laptops by the end of 2013 or I'll reluctantly end up getting those fruity Macs

Sent from my GT-N7000 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

Yeah I had the same problem which I mentioned in Post 3.
 
Make & Model: Dell Mini 10 1012

Month & Year of purchase: 08/05/2010

Specs: Intel Atom N450 1.66GHz, 2GB RAM (came with 1GB, I replaced with 2GB)

Major Issues faced(if any): None

Service record (if any): None

Other comments: I opened this laptop after the warranty expired, and to my surprise this laptop did not have a cooling fan.

The laptop started heating and Speedfan showed processor at 65 C.

Bought CM Notepal U2 and since then it hasn't crossed 45 C. This is my 9-9 download rig, and it has downloaded >5TB of data in its life time.
 
1.
Make & Model: compaq C773TU

Month & Year of purchase:2008

Specs: Intel core2duo 1.83GHz, 2GB RAM

Major Issues faced(if any):Keyboard not working properly

Service record (if any): None

Other comments: Over heating occured after 2yrs of heavy usage which is common due to dust accumulation. Still using it. Average build quality. Battery now gives a back up of around 30~40 min. I think compaq is as good as hp.

2.
Make & Model: Lenovo G series(cant remember the exact model )

Month & Year of purchase:2008

Specs: Intel dualcore 1.66GHz, 2GB RAM

Major Issues faced(if any):Screen is now flat along with keyboard (parts that hold screen are broken inside),Battery is dead.

Service record (if any): None

Other comments: Poor build quality.Expensive parts.


 
If you are using a high end product,then you should get good support too.

As i have used HP premium laptops( worst service for premium laptops.) Dell, (Best service so far, They are quick in response, they even take calls at 3 in the night.There service team is worthy of the name.Dell service guys are knowlegeble, not like other service center fools,who fumble around windows 7 & 8.)
I'll tell you my story of the service center guys.
1. My first laptop
Model & Make :compac 17in ,
Year of purchase: 2008
Problem: it had a problem of sudden shutdown.
Service Record : The service was provided by the so called HP service center.It was a regular low budget laptop. the hp center guys were fooling me, that it has no problem a tall..The service engineer was trying to teach me how to clean the temp files..
Ok leave it. it had some issue with the dust, so after opening the system and cleaning it the problem was gone.
2.. My second Laptop
Make &Model : HP dv5,
Year of Purchase : 2009
Specs : core 2 duo , 320 gb, 2 gb ram ,9600gt gpu,. costed me around 70k. so was a premium laptops at that time.
Service records : Again it started giving me problems with the screen, i got it replaced from delhi service center, but it took me around 2 months, and several fights with the service center guys to solve the problem.
3. My 3 rd and 4th laptops were dell xps 14 and 15 L502x,
In the L502x, had faced some issue with the fan, and motherboard, got it replaced in 3 working days.
I had some problem with the drivers in installing windows 8 got it fixed @ 3am by the service guys, My L502x laptop, is still under warranty, as bought an extended warranty pack or 8k.But, it was worth every penny..The peace of mind..........
4. My 5 th laptop is lenovo y510p,Don't know about the service, but i had a funny experience with the sales guys.
I wanted to purchase an extra gpu ultrabay for my laptop.But this fellow being ignorant of the facts , was insisting me that laptop graphics can't be extended..
And the lenovo service center guys don't even bother to talk to the customers. and reply to the mails.
Worst sales team seen anywhere. A lenovo dealer told me that they don't bother about there sales even.
Seems Lenovo thinks only making good product they can survive in the indian market.
They dont spend on there sales & service team.

The moral behind me boring with all the details is that kindly buy a product that gives you better service, as its very much needed in the high-end used laptops.
 
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