My new computer

[brownknees]

Bought in July this year,In September the screen changed to negative colours .Took it back to the shop and on booting up it performed OK!!Shop assistant gave me a service number to call in BKK if it should go wrong,well it has ,now the screen goes a funny opaque colour of pale grey colours and is doing it intermittently but stays on the greys for long periods .

Same shop tells me to call BKK service centre and they will come and fix it,NOT replace it.Is this correct?Can they get away with replacing parts etc to fix it ?The PC is a Dell inspiron,anyone else had problems with this type?

[Richard-BKK]

You will be in for some fun, they come but cannot find your address, they say they come in the morning and arrive late in the afternoon... Everywhere in the world the same stories, so nothing about Thailand...

If I was you I would check if the cable from your monitor to the computer is still okay, as I had some problems with monitor cables that caused similar problems as you describe...

[Somtamnication]

Plug another monitor using the same cable. Monitor cables are cheap. Video is built in or is it a card? Pins bent on the cable?

[Chicog]

Is it a laptop or a desktop?

[Pib]

You ask will they just repair it or replace it? Could be either depending on what your warranty says? But typically for a "standard" warranty it gives the manufacturer the option of either repairing your current computer or replacing it with a refurbished or brand new one.

In Thailand, my guess it would be sent in for repair if they do come and can't repair it onsite (like it was a hard drive or RAM problem since they can usually be quickly/easily replaced...but your problem don't sound like a RAM/hard drive hardware problem). So if there is any way to backup your hard drive important/personal data you may want to do that. And personally I would then delete any personal data from the hard drive if the computer "with hard drive" must be sent in for repair/replaced. Good luck.

P.S. By the way, my 7 year old Toshiba Pentium Core Duo laptop is in the repair shop as we speak...it broke for the first time in over 7 years about 40 days ago...it just would not start-up...pretty much dead...it was repaired in 2 days for 3000 baht...supposedly some motherboard component replaced (not warranty repair as that has long expired)...worked great for 31 days and then broke again but this time with a display problem with scrambled/distorted colors on the screen....back to the same shop since they guaranteed any repair for 90 days...it's now been in that Bangkok shop (I live in Bangkok) for 8-9 days undergoing repair...Thai wife called at the 5 day point to ask repair status and they just said they needed more time....I wouldn't be surprised if they don't have a whole motherboard on order...repair is supposedly on their dime....time will tell. However, in both cases my laptop went in for repair I removed the hard drive....they didn't need hard drive as in both cases as it was obvious the problem was not hard drive related. I'm now using my other 8 year old Toshiba laptop which has never broke but its a low-power Celeron CPU and kinda slow....I'm pretty close to buying a new, whiz-bang laptop as my Christmas gift but I still want my 7 year Pentium Toshiba repaired if possible as it would serve as my backup computer if I do buy a new computer....I guess i will just keep my 8 year old Toshiba as backup to my backup computer (or give it to some relative who would break it within a week or sell it for 500 baht...it deserves better than that so I'll probably keep it...heck, both of my Toshiba laptops are almost like family to me).

[Netizen]

You ask will they just repair it or replace it? Could be either depending on what your warranty says? But typically for a "standard" warranty it gives the manufacturer the option of either repairing your current computer or replacing it with a refurbished or brand new one.

In Thailand, my guess it would be sent in for repair if they do come and can't repair it onsite (like it was a hard drive or RAM problem since they can usually be quickly/easily replaced...but your problem don't sound like a RAM/hard drive hardware problem). So if there is any way to backup your hard drive important/personal data you may want to do that. And personally I would then delete any personal data from the hard drive if the computer "with hard drive" must be sent in for repair/replaced. Good luck.

P.S. By the way, my 7 year old Toshiba Pentium Core Duo laptop is in the repair shop as we speak...it broke for the first time in over 7 years about 40 days ago...it just would not start-up...pretty much dead...it was repaired in 2 days for 3000 baht...supposedly some motherboard component replaced (not warranty repair as that has long expired)...worked great for 31 days and then broke again but this time with a display problem with scrambled/distorted colors on the screen....back to the same shop since they guaranteed any repair for 90 days...it's now been in that Bangkok shop (I live in Bangkok) for 8-9 days undergoing repair...Thai wife called at the 5 day point to ask repair status and they just said they needed more time....I wouldn't be surprised if they don't have a whole motherboard on order...repair is supposedly on their dime....time will tell. However, in both cases my laptop went in for repair I removed the hard drive....they didn't need hard drive as in both cases as it was obvious the problem was not hard drive related. I'm now using my other 8 year old Toshiba laptop which has never broke but its a low-power Celeron CPU and kinda slow....I'm pretty close to buying a new, whiz-bang laptop as my Christmas gift but I still want my 7 year Pentium Toshiba repaired if possible as it would serve as my backup computer if I do buy a new computer....I guess i will just keep my 8 year old Toshiba as backup to my backup computer (or give it to some relative who would break it within a week or sell it for 500 baht...it deserves better than that so I'll probably keep it...heck, both of my Toshiba laptops are almost like family to me).

Nature is trying to tell you your 7 year old computer is obsolete and wants to die naturally.

Anybody who repairs a computer that old is taking a risk that they wasted their money and time.

[Pib]

Many times computers (and other equipment) can be economically repaired and last a long time...or a person can use go buy a new one. Each situation will be different.

Sent from my Onda V971 tablet

[DogNo1]

Struggling with 7-year-old computers is not worth the time and money it would require. All hardware has a MTBF rating (maximum time before failure) and your equipment may be approaching the end of its life. Do yourself a favor and buy the newest computer with the latest CPU, motherboard, video and ports (USB 3, Bluetooth 3 or 4.0 and DVI video interface.). You will thank yourself down the road because you will delay your computer's future obsolesence. The frustration of trying to make faulty hardware work can be severe. Good luck!

Edited December 8, 2013 by DogNo1

[mgjackson69]

Struggling with 7-year-old computers is not worth the time and money it would require. All hardware has a MTBF rating (maximum time before failure) and your equipment may be approaching the end of its life. Do yourself a favor and buy the newest computer with the latest CPU, motherboard, video and ports (USB 3, Bluetooth 3 or 4.0 and DVI video interface.). You will thank yourself down the road because you will delay your computer's future obsolesence. The frustration of trying to make faulty hardware work can be severe. Good luck!

Good points all, but MTBF is Mean Time Between Failures

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[sniffdog]

For most products in Thailand you may exchange a faulty unit within 7 days. After that, the will repair it if it is within the guarantee period.

[sniffdog]

Is it a laptop or a desktop?

Dell Inspiron ... What do you think it is, IT expert?

Edited December 8, 2013 by sniffdog

[Chicog]

Is it a laptop or a desktop?

Dell Inspiron ... What do you think it is, IT expert?

What an entirely pointless post that is.

http://www.dell.com/us/p/inspiron-660/pd?oc=FDDORX358&ST=pla&dgc=ST&cid=262076&lid=4742362&acd=1230980731501410

http://www.dell.com/us/p/inspiron-15-3521/pd

When you feel like joining in with something useful to add, please PM me.

[ignis]

Had the same problem, Not a Dell, took it to the repair shop, so say wanted new Motherboard, as the PC was old no motherboard the same made anymore = would need new Ram and CPU as well total 8,500 baht.. did not think it was worth spending that sort of money on a old PC..

I took it home and played around myself, having lots of old odd PC bits could check myself, was the Graphics card only.. So have the PC repair shop done what they said would still have been the same.

[brownknees]

I take it the computer companies have no further interest after they pass on to the wholesaler!!? Is there a different standard for the USA or Europe?My old PC is a Toshiba satellite which still works but is slow (5 years old),never gave any problems though!!

[Chicog]

If it is a Desktop, then can you still boot into the BIOS? If so, and you have a spare graphics card around, follow ignis' advice and disable the onboard video and give that a try.

It's a stretch but you could also try going to support.dell.com, banging in your Service Tag and installing the very latest drivers available for your model and OS.

[schondie]

Had the same problem, Not a Dell, took it to the repair shop, so say wanted new Motherboard, as the PC was old no motherboard the same made anymore = would need new Ram and CPU as well total 8,500 baht.. did not think it was worth spending that sort of money on a old PC..

I took it home and played around myself, having lots of old odd PC bits could check myself, was the Graphics card only.. So have the PC repair shop done what they said would still have been the same.

I've heard this time and time again. Many Thais I've worked with were burnt time and time again by this motherboard, RAM and graphics card need replacing scam. The cost of maintaining an old PC costs far more than buying a new one. Then they reformat the HD without permission as the need to install the drivers etc. A sucker is born every minute, as is a tech guy without any skills.

Where I live there's only one computer shop that is staffed by competent staff. If I can't get my PC running with parts from my obsolete PCs, I take it there and they show you the problem and only charge for the parts.

[Aachen]

already answered before...

Edited December 10, 2013 by Aachen

[Pib]

You ask will they just repair it or replace it? Could be either depending on what your warranty says? But typically for a "standard" warranty it gives the manufacturer the option of either repairing your current computer or replacing it with a refurbished or brand new one.

In Thailand, my guess it would be sent in for repair if they do come and can't repair it onsite (like it was a hard drive or RAM problem since they can usually be quickly/easily replaced...but your problem don't sound like a RAM/hard drive hardware problem). So if there is any way to backup your hard drive important/personal data you may want to do that. And personally I would then delete any personal data from the hard drive if the computer "with hard drive" must be sent in for repair/replaced. Good luck.

P.S. By the way, my 7 year old Toshiba Pentium Core Duo laptop is in the repair shop as we speak...it broke for the first time in over 7 years about 40 days ago...it just would not start-up...pretty much dead...it was repaired in 2 days for 3000 baht...supposedly some motherboard component replaced (not warranty repair as that has long expired)...worked great for 31 days and then broke again but this time with a display problem with scrambled/distorted colors on the screen....back to the same shop since they guaranteed any repair for 90 days...it's now been in that Bangkok shop (I live in Bangkok) for 8-9 days undergoing repair...Thai wife called at the 5 day point to ask repair status and they just said they needed more time....I wouldn't be surprised if they don't have a whole motherboard on order...repair is supposedly on their dime....time will tell. However, in both cases my laptop went in for repair I removed the hard drive....they didn't need hard drive as in both cases as it was obvious the problem was not hard drive related. I'm now using my other 8 year old Toshiba laptop which has never broke but its a low-power Celeron CPU and kinda slow....I'm pretty close to buying a new, whiz-bang laptop as my Christmas gift but I still want my 7 year Pentium Toshiba repaired if possible as it would serve as my backup computer if I do buy a new computer....I guess i will just keep my 8 year old Toshiba as backup to my backup computer (or give it to some relative who would break it within a week or sell it for 500 baht...it deserves better than that so I'll probably keep it...heck, both of my Toshiba laptops are almost like family to me).

Nature is trying to tell you your 7 year old computer is obsolete and wants to die naturally.

Anybody who repairs a computer that old is taking a risk that they wasted their money and time.

Got my computer back today...repaired after 11 days being in the shop (most of that repair time was awaiting a repair part)...they replaced a Regulator IC (i.e., motherboard power supply related). "They" being a repair shop in the The Mall Bangkhae over here in western Bangkok where I live. No charge since this repair was still covered under 90 day warranty for the first repair about 45 days I talked about above. How long will it last...7 more years, 7 more months, 7 more days, 7 more hours, I couldn't say...but I do know many of the electronic items I repaired while I was a young man in the military went on to live many more productive years until something new replaced them.

Although my 2nd 8 year old Toshiba laptop keep me computering over the last 11 days while its younger & stronger bother was in the repair shop I did get close to buying a new laptop over the last few days...I was narrowed down to a particular Lenovo I7 CPU model and a Samsung I5 CPU model but neither fully satisfied what I really wanted but they came the closest...unfortunately, I couldn't find any Toshiba model that interested me.

Anyway, laptop repaired...only time will tell how long it will last....last until it breaks again and I don't attempt repair...or lasts until I just get the uncontrollable urge to upgrade...but a new one would be a nice Christmas present to myself.

[sniffdog]

He said it was a Dell Inspiron PC .... a laptop is not a PC. A PC is considered a desktop .... Dell never refers to their 'PC' to be a laptop, only desktops and tablets. Only a minority of people would think PC stands exclusively for 'Personal Computer'. Even noobs would refer to their desktop as a PC and to a 'laptop' as their laptop.

Now please don't PM me if you have any useful to say. Which, I expect, is never. But what do you expect from someone who thinks that an Apple TV and a Roku serve the same purpose?

Is it a laptop or a desktop?

Dell Inspiron ... What do you think it is, IT expert?

What an entirely pointless post that is.

http://www.dell.com/us/p/inspiron-660/pd?oc=FDDORX358&ST=pla&dgc=ST&cid=262076&lid=4742362&acd=1230980731501410

http://www.dell.com/us/p/inspiron-15-3521/pd

When you feel like joining in with something useful to add, please PM me.

Edited December 12, 2013 by sniffdog

[BuddhistVirus]

Call Dell Thailand, provide service tag, your name and address...if within warranty, they will come with replacement part and replace the monitor.

Happened to me twice. But beware, they will say morning and show up in the evening.

[Chicog]

He said it was a Dell Inspiron PC .... a laptop is not a PC. A PC is considered a desktop .... Dell never refers to their 'PC' to be a laptop, only desktops and tablets. Only a minority of people would think PC stands exclusively for 'Personal Computer'. Even noobs would refer to their desktop as a PC and to a 'laptop' as their laptop.

Now please don't PM me if you have any useful to say. Which, I expect, is never. But what do you expect from someone who thinks that an Apple TV and a Roku serve the same purpose?

Really, this was another pitiful attempt at getting one over or something?

Get a life, chump.

[sniffdog]

He said it was a Dell Inspiron PC .... a laptop is not a PC. A PC is considered a desktop .... Dell never refers to their 'PC' to be a laptop, only desktops and tablets. Only a minority of people would think PC stands exclusively for 'Personal Computer'. Even noobs would refer to their desktop as a PC and to a 'laptop' as their laptop.

Now please don't PM me if you have any useful to say. Which, I expect, is never. But what do you expect from someone who thinks that an Apple TV and a Roku serve the same purpose?

Really, this was another pitiful attempt at getting one over or something?

Get a life, chump.

Why don't you admit making silly questions and/or answers? With that concrete slab in front of your eyes, I've already given up to explain something to you.

Stated: 'The PC is a Dell inspiron'

Your question: 'Is it a desktop or a laptop?'

Fill in the blanks ...

Edited December 12, 2013 by sniffdog

[Chicog]

As I pointed out, Inspiron make both laptop and desktop PCs. I don't really care what you think of my question. What I do care about is you offer nothing to this thread or any other you've posted in reply to me. If you have nothing worthwhile to offer the OP other than childish carping, stuff a sock in it.

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