Last year, as many of you know, I purchased a computer to help me with my studies as well as for personal entertainment. It is an Athlon 850 with 128 MB of RAM when I got it up and running. Things haven't been running so well ever since, mostly because of the incompetence of the guys who sold me the damned thing. Here is a list by list breakdown of what has transpired.
05/07/01- Bring brand spanking new computer to my home, put it together, and start it up. It appears to be working nicely. Unfortunately, the monitor that I had at the time is not functioning well with the graphics card that is integrated into the motherboard. Bleah.
05/10/01- I talk to the store owner and he says that my monitor is probably outdated. Takes me around trying to sell me a monitor which would drain about $200 to $300 of my money. No thanks, I say. Girlfriend helps me out, her company is giving away some used monitors, and gives me one. Works like a charm. Old monitor becomes new addition to dumpster.
06/29/01- Buy new stick of 128 MB of RAM from store, is presently inserting it into system. I unplug the power supply and open the case up to put the RAM in. Insertion of RAM is no problem, but Computer refuses to start up. This cannot be happening.
07/03/01- Bring my ailing computer to work. Boss is able to determine my Power supply is toast. Assists me in getting to the store where I advise the problem to the people in the store. First big shock: they tell me that they changed the warranty policy for power supplies to 30 days instead of the one year warranty that is printed on the receipt. I cram the receipt in storeperson's face. Am notified that "it's not their problem". Fortunately, my boss is there. He chews them out for a good half our before they give in to my demands for a power supply replacement. Also, I receive written confirmation on a new one year warranty for the new Power supply. I guess that was to shut me up and get me out of the store.
08/06/01- Buy Brand new network card.
09/17/01- Big project at college due in 2 months issued today.
10/02/01- Decide to do a little something extra for my project which will require installation of Windows 2000. Receive copy of Win2K Advanced Server edition and Win2K Professional from college. I decide to install Win2K ASE instead of PE. During installation, blue screen errors keep popping up. Realize that I do not have that much time to worry about whats going on. Decide that errors are due to Win2K not liking my motherboard. But I do not have much time to worry about that. Project comes first, so I decide to leave it alone.
12/03/01- Project finally done, so I start with the task of installing Win2K Professional edition. Things are fine at first until blue screen errors start popping up. Bleah. I think that my installation CD is crapping out on me so I decide to wait until I can borrow my friend's CD.
12/22/01- Buy new 40 GB Hard Drive. New removable hard drive rack so I can swap between Win2K and Win98 operating systems.
01/04/02- Friend loans me his Win2K Professional CD. Try installing it. Everything seems fine until blue screen errors are popping up. ARRGGHH!!!
01/11/02- Is advised by friend to swap the two RAM sticks on my Computer. Do so. Blue Screen errors go away. Whoo Hoo!!!!
01/25/02- For some reason, Freespace on my Win98 HD is crapping out on me while doing 3D graphics on my computer. Have no idea whats going on.
02/04/02- Swap Ram sticks back to their original positions. Freespace no longer craps out. But blue screen errors appear in Win2K. Grrrrr......
02/09/02- After some testing, it appears that the first stick of RAM that I bought when I received my computer is causing problems. Go back to store for a return. Find out that store is closed down. Grrr..... But also find out a second store is still in business, across town. Decide to go there and give my RAM stick in.
02/16/02- Go back to store and is advised that I will be getting a replacement. But replacement is same exact make and model RAM chip, and refuses to work on my computer. Discover difference between Buffered RAM and Unbuffered RAM. Discover that first stick and its replacement of RAM is buffered, while newer stick is unbuffered. Also discover that my Motherboard can only take unbuffered RAM.
02/22/02- Officially laid off from Work.
02/23/02- Go back to store again. Haggle about how its other store gave me a Memory Stick and a Motherboard which was never supposed to be compatible. Is advised that they "are not responsible for hardware incompatibilities". Especially since I bought the processor, Motherboard, Case, and RAM as a package. Waste a good hour arguing. No progress.
02/28/02- Go to nearby Futureshop and buy a new stick of unbuffered 128 MB RAM for $80 including tax. Sell my replacement stick of buffered RAM for $30. Buffered stick appears to be working properly.
04/01/02- Move to new place.
Yesterday- Power supply appears to be acting up, shutting down my computer prematurely. Decide to look at it tomorrow.
Today- Disconnect Power supply from all peripherals and motherboard and let it sit for a while. Hear a loud POP coming from the Power supply as well as some smoke. Take power supply to store. Show them written warranty. Am advised that THEY WON'T HONOUR IT. They claim that they are not responsible for what the old store did and refuse to issue me a replacement. Head off to different store, shell out $50 bucks for a replacement, a stronger, more reliable power supply. While on my way elsewhere, find out that the newer power supply doesn't exactly match specifications as the older power supply. Call this different store up, am given assurances that this power supply will work.
I am not at home right now, but when I do, I hope this new power supply works as it supposed to do.
Posted by Malnurtured Snay (Member # 411) on :
If you wind up getting rid of it, I wouldn't mind using it for target practice. Set it up on my uncle's farm, and blast away at 25 yards. Might be fun. Wanna come?
Posted by Ritten (Member # 417) on :
Man, I better knock on some wood......
Posted by DeadCujo (Member # 13) on :
Good luck! Computer problems can be a bitch. I've been having an annoying noise coming from my new box, unplugged every moving part and determined it's got to be a vibration. Too lazy to check for loose parts. Posted by Malnurtured Snay (Member # 411) on :
My comp is acting like such a bitch. I really DO want to shoot it. Too expensive ... getting it looked at on Monday with luck ... (yay me!)
Posted by Ulcer Mongoose (Member # 239) on :
I'd argue that HAL 9000 was concievably more peccant.
I am still smarting from a broken GeForce3. Like a loved one, it was.
Also:
quote:...No thanks, I say. Girlfriend helps me out, her company is giving away some used monitors, and gives me one. Works like a charm. Old monitor becomes new addition to dumpster
IWANG, most certainly sir. Can you tell me where they made yours?
[ May 24, 2002, 00:07: Message edited by: Ulcer Mongoose ]
Posted by Cartman (Member # 256) on :
This is why I build my computers from scratch with A-brand components. There's a lesson to be learned here, folks Posted by Tahna Los (Member # 33) on :
My CD Writer: a Panasonic 7585 8/4/32. Has now crapped out after installation of the power supply.
I don't get it. It is detected on all BIOS scans as well as on Windows 98 and 2000. It just won't open. I basically had to use a needle to extricate the CDthat was inside.
It is only six months old. Fortunately, I bought it from a different dealer, not that mickey mouse dealer that I bought the rest of my computer from. Let's just hope that this other dealer will actually HONOUR this warranty, which is one- year.
Posted by Grokca (Member # 722) on :
Tahna make sure that the pinouts of the jack you plugged into the burner are the same as all the other power jacks in the wiring harness, you wouldn't want to blow up another one. Also if you could ground yourself properly while installing things this might save you some trouble too.
Posted by Omega (Member # 91) on :
And I thought my crapped-out hard disk was bad. Good luck, Tahna.
Posted by Balaam Xumucane (Member # 419) on :
The two Macs I bought two years ago still seem to be working really well. Mind you they were a bit more expensive. Might I recommend a new iMac or G4 as a viable alternative for your next computer purchase?
*ducks* Posted by The Defiant (Member # 818) on :
Just remember, if anything physically breaks, use duct tape.
What I would suggest is that you get $1000 and wait for Dell or Gateway to have a special. But that computer, and set your old one in thier office and burn it. Or burn it in your backyard, your choice.
Posted by Tahna Los (Member # 33) on :
Brought Writer back to the store I bought it from. Seven months into a year warranty. The store tells me that they will send it back to the supplier and I should get a responsee in 2-3 weeks.
The bad news: This writer is a discontinued late model. Which means a replacement model may not be available.
The good news: They may give me an updated model instead, possibly a 24/12/48, which is standard now these days.
Finally, something good to come from this.
Posted by Matrix (Member # 376) on :
You could always go to the computer dumps and build a good computer from scratch. In my basement right now, my cousin is rebuilding two computers for my house using old parts. He said something about matching today's computers, but it will be big and heavy. He said it only would cost us about $200 per computer.
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