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Re: Don't buy Advent (was [LUG] Debian and X)
Neil Williams wrote:
Just to make it clear, this isn't a problem with Debian or even with Linux.
It's a problem with Advent machines. Sorry Gemma, I hope yours is put
together better than mine! (You don't want two, do you?)
Are you kidding?
Both me and my ex-boyfriend bought the same model of Advent laptop two
years ago have had nothing but trouble from both of them. Despite being
extremely careful here is the list of problems:
- Cracked plastic around keyboard
Weaknesses appeared in both laptops within 6 months on the right hand
side of the keyboard.
- Broken battery clip
Badly designed batery clip snapped because the pin wich holds the
battery in place didn't clear the edge of the battery even when fully
retracted. Ended up holding the battery in with insulating tape.
- Intermittant screen problem
Occasionally the back light on the screen doesn't work, probably a loose
connection somewhere. Moving the screen backwards and forwards usually
corrects (although probably compounds) this problem but my ex's screen
went completely.
The laptops were then taken to PC World to be fixed whilst still under
the warranty. All except the intermittant screen problem on mine was
fixed. The service at PC world was terrible. It took the whole of the
summer holidays to get the laptops sorted even though PC world said it'd
be shorter (I can't remember exactly how long). Later the following
problems occurred (warranty had expired):
- Power plug
The socket where the power cable plugs into the laptop broke and I was
unable to charge the battery. The guy at the repair shop said this was
common in this brand. Apparently the power socket was not glued down
properly and was only kept in position by two thin pieces of solder
which snapped with normal use.
- Hard drive failure
My ex's hard drive failed.
- Unusual system slowdowns
Occasionally things just slow to a crawl I leave it for a while and it
sorts itself out. Very annoying when playing games which require timing
like KBounce (my favorite).
- Some programs just won't start
Sometimes I click on a program and it won't work. The program appears to
be running in the process list but is nowhere to be seen on the GUI.
- Sound goes strange
The sound sometimes glitches, I only notice this when I play KBounce.
- Cursor jumps around as I'm typing
Even as I'm typing this my cursor occasionally jumps to other places in
the text and continues typing there.
Stupid screen mode needed me to pass "vga=791" to the kernel when
installing Red Hat, I wouldn't have minded if the thing I had to type
had been less random.
Are you planning to to sell the laptop or do you think that yould be
unfair on the buyer? Time to use that Ferengi instinct?
Is it be possible to recycle any bits like the screen? (I might want to
disect this crufty laptop one day).
My advice is to avoid Advent laptops like the plague.
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