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laptops
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Free WiFi Continues To Pop Up In Odd Places
By Phil Villarreal on March 30, 2012 9:45 AM
55 Comments
These are boom times for heavy WiFi users. Free WiFi is so ubiquitous that it's gotten to the point that it's almost shocking to sit down in public and not be able to pick up a signal. More »
(Razor512)
Upgrade Your Laptop's Hard Drive In 3 Easy Steps
By Phil Villarreal on January 16, 2012 10:15 AM
66 Comments
If your laptop goes kablooie, or you just run out of space by filling it from totally legal downloads, it's probably time to swap it out. The operation may sound difficult, but it's deceptively easy. If you can handle a screwdriver, you're more than capable. More »
Dell Outlet Sent Me A Barf-Covered, Gum-Filled Refurb Laptop
More »
By Laura Northrup on January 6, 2012 11:30 AM
71 Comments
Frank ordered a refurbished laptop from Dell Outlet last week, and got a great deal. He hadn't anticipated that the machine would come with extras: some gum in the CD drive and an unidentified substance that we can only hope is soup, but looks more like vomit.More »
Staples Recycles Laptop By Cracking Its Screen
By Laura Northrup on December 30, 2011 9:00 AM
34 Comments
When you trade in your old electronic device for "recycling" while buying a new one, does that device have to work? Staples offered a $100 rebate this holiday season to customers who sent in their old computers after purchasing a new one. "Recycling" is in quotes because computers traded in had to be running, and include the charger, so they were bound for re-use rather than recycling. That was no problem for George, though — he traded in a working computer. Only the screen was cracked when it reached the center, and he didn't get the full rebate. More »
(misterjt)
Consumerist Post About Broken Laptop Gets Reader Full Refund Within 3 Hours
By Laura Northrup on December 15, 2011 4:00 PM
28 Comments
Once again, Costco saves the day. Last week, we posted the story of Tom, who bought a Sony Vaio laptop from Costco only to have it malfunction a little more than a year after purchase. Sony didn't seem to want to fix the problem at all, and Costco employees were very kind but couldn't intervene. Only a few hours after that post went up, Costco contacted Tom, and gave him a full refund for the computer's purchase price. More »
Buying Laptop From Costco Extends Your Warranty And Your Aggravation
By Laura Northrup on December 8, 2011 9:33 AM
47 Comments
Last year, Tom bought a Sony laptop from Costco. Part of the reason why he chose Costco to purchase a computer was the warehouse club's famed extension of manufacturers' warranties: more warranty protection on a portable computer can't be a bad thing. Except when it is. In Tom's case, having another company involved just means that he can always get a very nice person on the phone at Costco who isn't able to help him at all. More »
(bigpresh)
Laptops May Slaughter Sperm In More Ways Than One
By Phil Villarreal on December 1, 2011 9:15 AM
37 Comments
As we've previously pointed out, research has shown the heat from laptop use can raise the temperature of the testes and damage sperm of users who place the machines on their lap. Now researchers have found that a laptop's WiFi signal is also a member of the sperm assassination squad. More »
If ASUS Installs Your Hard Drive Backwards, Your Computer Can't Overheat
By Laura Northrup on November 30, 2011 8:00 AM
37 Comments
Perhaps it was naive of reader A. to think that sending his overheating computer back to ASUS would end with him receiving a functional computer back. He did expect them to at least put the hard drive back facing in the right direction, though. Or maybe that was the outsourced repair depot's idea of a fix for his problem. A computer that can't boot can't overheat. More »
Detect Hardware Trojans With "Singing Rings"
By Ben Popken on November 10, 2011 1:00 PM
15 Comments
Researchers have proposed a new method for detecting trojan viruses embedded into hardware chips by using voltage detectors that "sing out" in a different frequency when they're used on a tampered circuit. More »
Michael Dell Replaces High-End Laptop Previously "Fixed" With Black Marker, Crumbs
By Ben Popken on November 4, 2011 11:00 AM
52 Comments
Jeremy's 3D Alienware gaming laptop from Dell didn't work right from its first bootup. It had blue screens of death and the video card needed swapping out. When he sent it in for repair, he got it back with crumbs in the keys, and a crack on the side someone tried to hide with black marker. When we posted his story on Consumerist, we gave him CEO Michael Dell's email address to go tell his story. Now Jeremy writes that after he emailed Mr. Dell, the CEO intervened and made sure Jeremy got a brand-new laptop, along with a free memory and CPU upgrade. More »
The 4th Replacement Laptop HP Sent Me Doesn't Work, Either
By Laura Northrup on October 27, 2011 11:30 AM
61 Comments
John bought a rather nice HP laptop for his business, and it would be nice if it would work. Ever. Every time they boot up one of the replacement machines HP has sent, it crashes. They're now on laptop #5. More »
Only Samsung Has The Power To Reinstall Windows On Your Laptop
By Laura Northrup on September 16, 2011 8:30 AM
165 Comments
When the hard drive of Joseph's Samsung laptop began to make clicking noises, he thought it would be simple enough to make a backup image of his hard drive, install a shiny new solid-state drive, and put the backed-up image on his new drive. This didn't work, and he's stuck without Windows on his drive. Now he yearns for those long-ago days when computer manufacturers actually shipped copies of the software installed on computers with those computers. More »
(Dell)
Alienware Laptop "Fixed" With Black Marker, Food Crumbs
By Ben Popken on September 2, 2011 3:00 PM
66 Comments
Jeremy's 3D Alienware gaming laptop from Dell hasn't worked right from its first bootup. It had blue screens of death and the video card needed swapping out. Then when he sent it in for repairs, he got it back with food crumbs between the keys. The side panel was also cracked, and someone had tried to hide the crack by coloring it in with black marker. More »
(buyalex)
$250 Laptop Turns Out To Be Made Of Paper
By Ben Popken on September 2, 2011 12:00 PM
140 Comments
Two women bought what they thought was a laptop for $250. Upon opening, it it turned out to be a packet of paper wrapped in black tape. More »
Toshiba Considers Using Your Laptop Mouse 'Abuse'
By Laura Northrup on August 24, 2011 5:03 PM
73 Comments
Even though his Toshiba laptop is less than a year old, Toshiba won't repair the touchpad of Justin's computer. He doesn't think that he's done anything out of the ordinary with the machine, but Toshiba insists that the button won't work because of "accident, misuse, abuse, neglect, improper installation, or improper maintenance." They're happy to sell him an extended warranty that will cover the repair, though. More »
EECB To Sony Turns Lemon Laptop Into New Laptop
By Laura Northrup on July 28, 2011 9:30 AM
8 Comments
Aaron's Sony VAIO has failed a few times too many. He faithfully sent it back for repair or had a technician visit his home four times, believing Sony's promise that the repairs would fix the issue. The last time, it failed during finals week at his college on the East Coast. Sony's repair depot kept the machine for a month, yet the issue still wasn't fixed for good. The laptop is now out of warranty, but Aaron had the law on his side. He launched an executive e-mail carpet bomb to some Sony contacts, copying Consumerist. The next day, he heard back from two different people at Sony, offering him a new machine comparable to the one that had failed him. More »
Fighting For A Working HP Laptop For 8 Months
By Ben Popken on July 25, 2011 2:45 PM
28 Comments
Try as they might, HP just seems to be incapable of getting David's repair right. When repairing his wireless card that was damaged in a previous repair, they broke the motherboard. Fixing the motherboard, they broke the screen connector. And so on. Even the replacement computer they gave him started to fail, and then they failed at fixing that correctly. This ridiculous dance has been going on for 8 months. More »
Best Buy Replaces Deaf Bed-Bound Girl's Laptop After Holding It Hostage
By Ben Popken on July 22, 2011 12:00 PM
48 Comments
After the story of a deaf and bed-bound girl whose laptop had been bouncing back and forth between Best Buy Geek Squad repair for 3 months went up on Consumerist, the ambassador for Geek Squad City, Randy Ratliff, reached out to help. "The buck stops here!" he said in his email. And of all the many who say that, he's one of the few to mean it. He investigated the issue and now Jenni's sister has a new laptop. More »
Man Wrests Free Repair From Acer's Claws
By Ben Popken on July 21, 2011 10:00 AM
42 Comments
Acer is infamous for its inferior or nearly non-existent customer service. Long are the annals of history filled with the tales of those who have thrown themselves against Acer's ramparts and disintegrated on impact. But reader PW shares how he was able to get his 6 months out of warranty Acer laptop replaced after it died. The secret is to look for the email address with .tw after them. That's right, email addresses leading back to the mothership in Taiwan. More »
(ismh_)
Best Buy Holding Deaf Bed-Bound Girl's Laptop Hostage Since May
By Ben Popken on July 13, 2011 5:00 PM
139 Comments
Jenni's sister is disabled and bed-bound, and her laptop is her portal to the world. So when her HP laptop had to go in for repair, it was a big deal. It was an even bigger deal after the Geek Squad spent over a month dickering with the repair and while it was in their hands, the warranty ran out. Now Geek Squad won't give it back unless the full out of warranty price is paid, and HP says it's not their problem, it's Geek Squad's. Meanwhile it's been almost three months and Jenni's sister has no computer. More »
