Sawasdee Khrup, TV CM Friends,

It's always a pleasure to share information here about those (rare) times when things go "right," here in Amazing T., and you get the feeling you have been extremely well-treated in some personal, or business, transaction.

About six years ago I was in Amsterdam, and purchased an Acer 17-inch-screen notebook (lapdesk ? notedesk ?) computer that, at the time, was state-of-the-art, and expensive.

About six months ago it failed to power up, and even though I checked that the "brick" power supply was providing the right voltage with a volt-ohm-meter, not even an indicator light on the notebook would come on: I assumed a high probability of possible motherboard failure.

So, I took the notebook to Acer Chiang Mai's service center out on Huay Kaew Road.

I don't want to go into details here about why I found their service questionable, but, after some insistent demands from me that they contact Acer Taiwan, and get a definitive answer on whether a motherboard replacement was available or not, they finally quoted me a price of 16k+ baht for the motherboard, with no warranty of any type ... and of course no guarantee that just replacing the motherboard would, indeed, make the notebook usable.

Of course, for 16k baht these days you can get a new notebook with warranty that would be much faster, and have much more memory than the Acer, etc., etc. although not, perhaps, with a seventeen-inch high-quality screen.

But, I negotiated a price with Chiang Mai Acer for their ... err ... ahh ... "inspection" one-eighth of that I had agreed to in writing: so I shouldn't complain ?

So, I figured I'd perhaps have to wait, and take the Acer back to the US, where there are companies that will guarantee repair of such notebooks, or you pay a minimum fee if they can't repair (and that have the specialized technology to extract and replace chips in the tiny BGA form factor from "delicate" complex motherboards, such as those found in notebooks ... they advertise on eBay: one quotes a price of US $175 if repaired). Or, just junk it, sell it for parts for satang per Euro.

But, then last week, I was in Pornthip Plaza on Changklan Road, and came across a second-floor shop (on the Office Depot and Japanese restaurant side of the building), that appeared to specialize in notebooks.

I talked to the owner Khun Khong, was impressed with his stories of other old notebooks he had "resurrected," and he quoted me 250 baht if he could not fix the notebook, and 2500 baht if he could, which seemed very reasonable to me.

Well, I'm happy to tell you he was able to repair the Acer, and at the 2500 baht price he quoted.

So, I'd like to give a strong recommendation you consider Khun Khong's shop as a resource if you have problems with a notebook, laptop, etc. Khun Khong speaks English very well.

PW Shop, 2nd. floor Pornthip Plaza, Chiang Mai

Khun Khong: 089-560-2584

best, ~o:37;

Thanks for sharing good to know as it is hard to get all laptops repaired, as you stated it that it can be cheaper to buy a new one.