ASUS Canada RMA review.

Okay so I just got my G51jx back from the RMA centre in Markham, ON, Canada.



Here's a quick write up of my experience.



Problems:

My LCD had 4 bleached white dots only visible on a white background on it that were getting progressively worse (more were showing up since the purchase).



The headphone jack got stuck (speakers didnt work) cause they were detected as always plugged in.



RMA:

Dropped off at the depot Monday morning (Apr. 18th). Told the guy at the desk about the screen problem and showed him the spots. He marked the areas with stickers. Also informed him about the audio jack.



Called Tuesday afternoon to check status (Apr. 19th). It was already in the final testing phase he said. It should be done by the next morning.



Called Today morning (Apr. 20th). They said it was ready for pick up and everything was clear. Went there and picked up.



Results:

They gave me a report on what was replaced. They replaced the LCD and audio board, checked it out on the spot. No more white dots and speakers were working again. Perfect . Walked out a happy customer.



I went in there expecting the worst, hearing about all the horror stories about screwups. I was expecting a screen replacement but them giving me the wrong resolution screen. They didn't. It was a brand new 1080p LCD screen (AUO made). No more annoying white dots = yay.



So a pretty good experience for my first RMA. The Canada facility is on top of things it seems.

A 2 night turnaround time is very good IMO. I also hear they do same day service for stuff like hard drives or keyboard problems.

Reply 1 : ASUS Canada RMA review.

Asus Canada repair facility has been known to be top-notch for a while. Glad to hear their quality of service hasn't declined.

N53SV: Blu Ray Drive + Blank DVD issue

Hey all



I've just been backing up a load of data onto DVD's and an issue has come up where my Blu Ray drive on the ASUS N53SV can no longer "read" them as being blank dvd's.



The discs I burnt earlier can still be read with the data on them, but blank DVD's just give me an error message about them not being formatted



I've tried with about 8 DVD's to make sure, of which there are 3 different brands - Verbatim DVD +R's, Memorex -R's and some crappy Smartbuy DVD-R's.



I've googled a bit but couldn't find any posts mentioning this....



I'm wondering whether the drive is dead due to the whole Sandy Bridge thing but then again it can still read discs with data on it so I'm confused



Any ideas?



Thanks very much for your help in advance!

Reply 1 : N53SV: Blu Ray Drive + Blank DVD issue

You can check to see if you N53SV is affected:



http://forum.notebookreview.com/7245303-post545.html



If not then it could be just a bad drive.

messed up windows install (CF28)

aight, so i've exhausted all the options my sleep deprived brain could think of and i'm still screwed.



i dont have a cd rom drive for my toughbook cf28 but i figured i'd run the bootdisk install (i386 folder to hdd, boot with bootdisk and start winnt.exe) done it so many times that i've lost count.



now here's the thing. the files are copied and everything, but when the gui install part i supposed to start, all i get is s blinking cursor. and i have no bloody clue how to get it running.



any ideas?



EDIT: i give up... unless someone can think of something else, this machine will be scrapped. i get the bloody operating system not found error whatever the hell i do...

Reply 1 : messed up windows install (CF28)

Try making the HDD bootable first. In the olden days we used sys.com. Made the HDD bootable in the new OS before I actually installed it. What version of Windows are you trying to install?

Reply 2 : messed up windows install (CF28)

its Windows XP SP3. but i have five other discs with different version i can try.



my problem is this. during the first stage of the install, the computer copies files to the hdd. then it reboots and runs the files from the hdd. shouldn't the drive be bootable then? cause this is the first time its not bootable. at least what i've seen.



thrid this as well: Installing XP on Old PC!



still a nogo



EDIT: gotta redo everything. sys.com doesnt work cause dos doesnt support NTFS. trying fat32 atm

EDIT2: sys.com did nothing at all. (fat32)

EDIT3: possible success. however smartdrv.exe crashed so it'll take approx 4 hours until i know if it worked or not

Reply 3 : messed up windows install (CF28)

Quote:

Originally Posted by ares93 its Windows XP SP3. but i have five other discs with different version i can try. my problem is this. during the first stage of the install, the computer copies files to the hdd. then it reboots and runs the files from the hdd. shouldn't the drive be bootable then? cause this is the first time its not bootable. at least what i've seen. thrid this as well: Installing XP on Old PC! still a nogo EDIT: gotta redo everything. sys.com doesnt work cause dos doesnt support NTFS. trying fat32 atm EDIT2: sys.com did nothing at all. (fat32) EDIT3: possible success. however smartdrv.exe crashed so it'll take approx 4 hours until i know if it worked or not

I have had this very problem before. I can not remember the exact solution at the moment. How sure are you that the HDD is good? I seem to think it was a HDD error. I believe I repartitioned the drive and did a custom partition. Not using the first gig or so of the drive. It seems to me my most recent occurrence of the flashing cursor, non boot was when I reformatted an OEM Mac drive for Windows in a Toughbook. I made the 40g drive a 38g drive and it worked. Something was written in the boot sector that Windows refused to erase. It was a new drive so I doubt that it had a bad spot, but you never know.

Reply 4 : messed up windows install (CF28)

i'll try hat partition trick momentarily.



regarding he harddrive, i've tired two 120gb seagate drives, two 100gb fujitsu drives and a 20gb IBM travelstar. same issue on all of them. and all work splendidly in other machines.



the drives are from two different hp pavilion dv8000 notebooks and the travelstar is a replacement drive from my powerbook pismo, i uhm... liberated.

Reply 5 : messed up windows install (CF28)

I recall that there is a program that will make a usb bootable, even in PC's that don't support booting off of usb such as the CF-28. I can't remember what it's called though.

Reply 6 : messed up windows install (CF28)

Quote:

Originally Posted by eno801 I recall that there is a program that will make a usb bootable, even in PC's that don't support booting off of usb such as the CF-28. I can't remember what it's called though.

plop boot manager? cause i'm trying that out atm





i managed to get it running now. i ran fdisk BEFORE i started winnt.exe. and now i'm at the gui install stage. problem solved



EDIT: Writing this on the toughbook. wlan is ty though. sitting 5 meters from the access point and i get barely 20% signal...

Reply 7 : messed up windows install (CF28)

Your problem is simple: you are trying to read from an NTFS formatted partition before Windows has installed the drivers for NTFS support.



When you do a remote deployment install (that's what the i386 install is meant for) you have to format the HD as FAT32 and leave it as FAT 32 UNTIL THE INSTALL IS COMPLETE.



Once you've completed the install and the chipset drivers (hence support for NTFS) are installed, THEN you can convert the filesystem to NTFS at the command prompt using convert.exe :



How to Use Convert.exe to Convert a Partition to the NTFS File System



As for the poor WiFi signal, it's prolly because your antennas are inside a magnesium housing; there are only a few areas where you can install the flag antennas in a CF-28 and have them work. Otherwise, you can do the WiFi antenna hack shown here:



Built-in Wireless Advanced Mods



Good luck,



mnem

Systemic.

Reply 8 : messed up windows install (CF28)

yeah that was it plop boot!

Reply 9 : messed up windows install (CF28)

Quote:

Originally Posted by mnementh Your problem is simple: you are trying to read from an NTFS formatted partition before Windows has installed the drivers for NTFS support. When you do a remote deployment install (that's what the i386 install is meant for) you have to format the HD as FAT32 and leave it as FAT 32 UNTIL THE INSTALL IS COMPLETE. Once you've completed the install and the chipset drivers (hence support for NTFS) are inmstalled, THEN you can convert the filesystem to NTFS at the command prompt using convert.exe : How to Use Convert.exe to Convert a Partition to the NTFS File System

mate, i've done this dozens of times on the most obscure of computers. and this is the first time it bugged out on me like this. although, your explanation has merit and makes a lot of sense.

Quote:

As for the poor WiFi signal, it's prolly because your antennas are inside a magnesium housing; there are only a few areas where you can install the flag antennas in a CF-28 and have them work. Otherwise, you can do the WiFi antenna hack shown here: Built-in Wireless Advanced Mods Good luck, mnem Systemic.

yeah, well basically i took the wifi antenna of a dead zepto 6615 and taped it into the case itself with electrical tape. it's far from optimal, but it'll do until i get the parts for it. temporary solution at best.





However, there was one thing i was wondering. i've got the drivers and all installed but the colors have gone to hell. i've got a blue wallpaper (same as on my asus) and the bloody thing is green. is this a side effect of the touchscreen panel or is something broken?



the settings are correct. i have yet to try out via VGA however.

HP dv6t, dv7t Select Edition / Quad Edition (6XXX series) order status discussion

The reason i created this is cause no one else has created it and the mods haven't really bothered. Have been going through the owners lounge to find out about any issues the laptop might have and other details on it but all i really found was people discussing delays, and it is really annoying.

Reply 1 : HP dv6t, dv7t Select Edition / Quad Edition (6XXX series) order status discussion

I agree, you did the right thing creating this post



On the side note: Mines is coming on the 22nd hope there is no delays

Reply 2 : HP dv6t, dv7t Select Edition / Quad Edition (6XXX series) order status discussion

oh well, 2 more months till summer...i can wait till summer

Reply 3 : HP dv6t, dv7t Select Edition / Quad Edition (6XXX series) order status discussion

Mine's delayed until the 21st... But I did get the 10% off

Reply 4 : HP dv6t, dv7t Select Edition / Quad Edition (6XXX series) order status discussion

I'm currently on my first delay, expected the 22nd of this month and I recieved the useless 15% off coupon for a later order. Has everyone prettymuch gotten the 10% off coupon for their current orders on the 2nd delay?

Reply 5 : HP dv6t, dv7t Select Edition / Quad Edition (6XXX series) order status discussion

I got the 10% off coupon after the 2nd delay. But I finally canceled it and moved to Lenovo W520, which is so cool,

Reply 6 : HP dv6t, dv7t Select Edition / Quad Edition (6XXX series) order status discussion

Quote:

Originally Posted by ecost I got the 10% off coupon after the 2nd delay. But I finally canceled it and moved to Lenovo W520, which is so cool,

Hey can you tell me the specs? Thanks

Reply 7 : HP dv6t, dv7t Select Edition / Quad Edition (6XXX series) order status discussion

Has anyone asked to upgrade to expidited (2day) shipping for having so many delays? I'd think thats a reasonable favor to ask.

Reply 8 : HP dv6t, dv7t Select Edition / Quad Edition (6XXX series) order status discussion

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bag3l Has anyone asked to upgrade to expidited (2day) shipping for having so many delays? I'd think thats a reasonable favor to ask.

Yes, and they made it 2-day shipping without arguments.

Reply 9 : HP dv6t, dv7t Select Edition / Quad Edition (6XXX series) order status discussion

Quote:

Originally Posted by satire99 Yes, and they made it 2-day shipping without arguments.

How many delays have you had? I've had one, and got talked into circles with an online chat trying to get upgraded to 2nd day shipping. Maybe I ought to try it again.

DELL: WORST WOORST WOOORST Technical Support EVEEEEEEEEEEEER

To whom considering buying DELL's laptop:



I am writing this post to share my experience with DELL technical support.



I bought a Latitude E6500 from dell 3 months ago, but for the past month, I have been dealing with technical support and sent my laptop back 3 times.



This is my first time using Dell's Laptop, after using Thinkpad for more than 10 years I decided to give DELL a try. However the technical support is the worst one in my life ever. I believe somebody works in DELL exchange my machine. I got a very BAD BAD screen, and lost my Windows 7 serial number sticker, I cannot re-install windows 7.



Here are the sequences of my experience with the technical support:



1. My battery was dead after about 2 monthes of use, won't charge.

2. I called technical support for a new battery

3. The motherboard was electronic shocked after I use the new battery from DELL

4. I sent the laptop back to DELL to replace the motherboard.

5. I recieved the laptop with new motherboard, but the fingerprint censor was damaged.

6. I sent the laptop back to DELL again to fix fingerprint.

7. THE WORST PART: I got the laptop back and a letter. The letter says there were nothing done with my laptop, the fingerprint is still not working. But I found out my screen was exchanged. My old screen was bright and had no dead pixels, but the new one is dark and has A LOOOOOOOOOOOOT of dead pixels. These are even two big dead pixel spots, I can't count how many dead pixels in those spots. My Windows 7 serial number sticker lost as well. It seems somebody works in DELL exchanged my laptop.

8. I sent the laptop back to DELL again.



I don't know when the DELL's technical support would END.............

Reply 1 : DELL: WORST WOORST WOOORST Technical Support EVEEEEEEEEEEEER

I am sorry you've had a poor experience but I suppose that happens with everything. Some people have nothing but good experience and others not so much.



I have owned in excess of 10 dell units over the years. All replaced when I was able to upgrade. The majority of my units have not had any issues at all and the ones that did, dell responded quickly to repair them. I typically have on-site repair but I did have to send in one of my units. The first time, they sent it back because they could not find the issue I had discussed with my screen. The 2nd time, I sent them pictures with the unit showing the issue, by that time I also had a dvd drive that was not functioning properly. I got the unit back with a new lcd, new dvd drive, and new palm rest.



Dell uses 3rd party repair sites in most cases to fix their units so it may be that the location they have you sending your notebook isn't the best. Perhaps if Dell has enough complaints from that company then they will give the contract to someone else.



At any rate, good luck with getting your issue resolved.

Reply 2 : DELL: WORST WOORST WOOORST Technical Support EVEEEEEEEEEEEER

I've also had a lot Dell notebook systems through the last ten years. If it's possible I take always In Home Service warranty and sometimes next business day. This way I can observe the tech like a hawk about his activities.



I think because of all the trouble you're going through, you have to explain and demand Dell a replacement system for all this. This rig has been so much crippled by mala fide service techs, you lost confidence in Dell's technical support. So it's up to them to solve this issue.



Good luck.

Reply 3 : DELL: WORST WOORST WOOORST Technical Support EVEEEEEEEEEEEER

After about three major system repairs I start asking them to replace the system with a non-outlet machine. Sad that I've done that a few times and gotten my way each time.



That being said I've never had a problem with their technical support staff on the phone. It is just the people that fix the laptops I have problems with.

Reply 4 : DELL: WORST WOORST WOOORST Technical Support EVEEEEEEEEEEEER

Quote:

Originally Posted by Greg Ross After about three major system repairs I start asking them to replace the system with a non-outlet machine. Sad that I've done that a few times and gotten my way each time. That being said I've never had a problem with their technical support staff on the phone. It is just the people that fix the laptops I have problems with.

I totally agree.

Reply 5 : DELL: WORST WOORST WOOORST Technical Support EVEEEEEEEEEEEER

Thanks everybody for encouraging.



Yes, this time DELL did say they will send my machine to another depot. I don't know if that means they will use non-outlet machine to replace.

Reply 6 : DELL: WORST WOORST WOOORST Technical Support EVEEEEEEEEEEEER

Quote:

Originally Posted by boymonkey I don't know when the DELL's technical support would END.............

i had a Dell XPS with them, the support was actually fast, i gave them a call and they are right in front of my doorstep the next day. (i'm still under warranty period)

my motherboard was overheating. it has been replaced once by Dell technicians but the problem stil persist

what i'm unhappy was that they couldn't solve my problems, and told me that i have to change the motherboard every few months or so. (it means $$$ to them)

sigh

now i'm planning to get rid of my XPS, and maybe go for a Mac

Reply 7 : DELL: WORST WOORST WOOORST Technical Support EVEEEEEEEEEEEER

What type of warranty do you have? If it is the basic mail-in warranty, consider upgrading to next-business-day on-site service. Who knows what happens when you mail it in, I would never do that.



As for the XPS issue, which model is it? It sounds like the Nvidia GPU issue, in which case it's not Dell's fault and there's also no fix.

Reply 8 : DELL: WORST WOORST WOOORST Technical Support EVEEEEEEEEEEEER

Man, I wish you luck. And all, please wish me luck to as I am in limbo right now also!



AHHH, DARN YOU DELL!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Reply 9 : DELL: WORST WOORST WOOORST Technical Support EVEEEEEEEEEEEER

So, if you are sending it to the depot, that isn't the same thing as replacing the unit. The depot will go through the system and repair what issues they find with it.



If you have issues once it get back, I would suggest asking for an exchange.



If needed, you can submit an escalation here: https://support.dell.com/support/top...=us&l=en&s=gen

HP 8560w built-in Compact Flash slot

Anyone seen this? The new 8560w Elitebook has a native CF card slot

Source: http://hpfansite.com/hp-elitebook/hp...lash-card-slot

Reply 1 : HP 8560w built-in Compact Flash slot

I think at these (pre-production) models in this video the slot can also be seen as a part of the 8760w and 8560w



HP EliteBook 8760w Details, Specs and Pricing (Hands On Video)



however, it is not mentioned in the QuickSpecs...

Reply 2 : HP 8560w built-in Compact Flash slot

It looks like 8560w only because I don't see it in the 8760w pics (you may be looking at the Express card or SD card slot?)

Reply 3 : HP 8560w built-in Compact Flash slot

I meant the video, the 8760w is shown at the last 5 minutes or so





e.g. 13:56 -14:02



better: 13:03 - 13:07 you can see two slots

Reply 4 : HP 8560w built-in Compact Flash slot

It's CFast -- a SATA-based CompactFlash.



The PDF doesn't mention it, and the front stock shots on notebookreview lack it... but the second photo of the bottom group on that other site definitely shows it.

Reply 5 : HP 8560w built-in Compact Flash slot

I hope HP will give the elitebook 8540w owner with NVIDIA card issues to exchange it for a little price to the newcoming elitebook 8560w :-)



Thank you.

Reply 6 : HP 8560w built-in Compact Flash slot

Potentially nice addition because CFast cards could reach 300MB/s transfers.

Envy 15 high pitched sounds

I get an almost constant high-pitched noise coming from what sounds like the left side of the Envy15. The sound is probably in the 16khz range, probably goes undetected by a lot people but I always pick up on it. I've noticed the sound is interupted when I scroll a webpage so I thought it was crappy power regulation for the display or something. However, when same effect is there when using an external monitor and the laptop lid closed.



I've heard this is a "common" problem for other users. Does anyone know what the source of the sound is?

Reply 1 : Envy 15 high pitched sounds

Also, the (gpu?) fan on the right side of the laptop seems to run constantly at an audible level. Not loud but more noticeable than the previous i5 420m envy15 I returned (the 420m was almost silent). Is this normal? The current 530m seems twice as warm as the 420m when feeling the case.

Reply 2 : Envy 15 high pitched sounds

I get the high pitched sound too...its annoying as heck...

Reply 3 : Envy 15 high pitched sounds

Quote:

Originally Posted by chimera27 I get an almost constant high-pitched noise coming from what sounds like the left side of the Envy15. The sound is probably in the 16khz range, probably goes undetected by a lot people but I always pick up on it. I've noticed the sound is interupted when I scroll a webpage so I thought it was crappy power regulation for the display or something. However, when same effect is there when using an external monitor and the laptop lid closed. I've heard this is a "common" problem for other users. Does anyone know what the source of the sound is?

I get that noise on the right side coming from the front opening which is the hard disk. Note that I have an SSD. Im not sure that the noise was there before I replaced the hard rive with the SSD. Again, the problem could be unrelated to the SSD but its annoying very much.

Reply 4 : Envy 15 high pitched sounds

weird, i had a high frequency squeal from the hard drive but its gone now that i went to SSD.

Reply 5 : Envy 15 high pitched sounds

im really trying my best to avoid sending back for repair given the horror stories of how they come back.

Reply 6 : Envy 15 high pitched sounds

I have this too so I opened the computer up to see where it was coming from but I could not locate it. I took the hdd out to make sure that wasn't the source.

Reply 7 : Envy 15 high pitched sounds

There is a BIOS CPU power saving feature that causes a high pitched noise to be emitted from the CPU itself. Happens even in desktops. Google for specifics but I fixed mine on a desktop by turning off the feature.



But I'm only 75% sure that your issue is even related to this.

Reply 8 : Envy 15 high pitched sounds

Just played around in BIOS saw no option for cpu power saving or anything even remotely related

Reply 9 : Envy 15 high pitched sounds

Quote:

Originally Posted by dapreview weird, i had a high frequency squeal from the hard drive but its gone now that i went to SSD.

nevermind, i still have annoying high frequency sound, now that i turned off the fans i can hear it again.