A new card
Written by: adekun on 21 February, 2009 10:58 pm - Filed under: blog — No Comments »
I’m really happy to have received a replacement graphics card inside a week. I was entitled to a repair or replacement. Instead the supplier met my request to exchange it for one produced by Sapphire, another manufacturer. 
Japan gets an extra point. Continue reading
ASUS EAH4870 another dead fan
Written by: adekun on 15 February, 2009 7:25 pm - Filed under: blog — 2 Comments »
Three months have passed since I received my replacement graphics card. The fan on the first stopped spinning after a week causing the card to overheat. Despite an assurance from the manufacturer’s technical support, the same fate has befallen the successor. Reading similar stories elsewhere, there clearly is a problem with the particular model I have and I would hope a recall. Continue reading
ASUS EAH4870 dead fan
Written by: adekun on 17 November, 2008 7:22 pm - Filed under: blog — No Comments »
It would appear that Dell are not going to offer a satisfactory solution to address the many problems I have encountered since purchasing one of their high-end laptops. At the start of the month, I ordered the components to build a desktop which I hoped to reduce the risk of future troubles.
A week after assembling the new system it shut off in the middle of defragmenting the hard drive. 
Restarting the found that all the files were lost and that the fan was no longer spinning on the graphics card. 
Continue reading
Another cooked card
Written by: adekun on 18 August, 2008 4:20 pm - Filed under: blog — No Comments »
I can add a second whinge today. As I was publishing the last post some patterns appeared on the screen. Having to reboot, the only thing to reappear was a blank screen. I just popped the previous faulty card in, which at least brings up a garbled Dell logo. Seems as though the replacement graphics card is cooked along with the replacement battery. Maybe I should be sitting in an air-conditioned office or something? 
It didn’t appear to be running too hot and if it was shouldn’t there have been a warning? In a quandary, yet not flustered. There isn’t much I can do about it. Anyway, I hope to somehow continue posting every couple of days.
Dead battery
Written by: adekun on 16 July, 2008 8:34 pm - Filed under: blog — No Comments »
Well it has been six months without any laptop woes. Over the weekend I think Windows didn’t shut down properly. Having unplugged the power supply before bed, the battery was drained empty. That shouldn’t be a problem; even the BIOS and battery meter in Windows say it is charging and functioning normally. Only it isn’t. The charge indicator goes out shortly after connecting the power. Over the course of a few days, repeating the process several times has got the level to 3%. Throughout the time I’ve had the laptop it has been run on the battery seldom. 
I’m not going to bother contacting Dell. Continue reading
Out with the bad, in with the good
Written by: adekun on 5 January, 2008 7:04 pm - Filed under: blog — 2 Comments »
I hope I’m not jumping the gun.
The last couple of months have been far from the pick of the year. Perhaps the icing on the cake was the latest laptop misfortune, hence the lack of posts.
Some black vertical lines appeared on my screen whilst knocking up some New Year cards. Having rebooted the best I could get was the BSoD. After a few exchanges with Dell, the best they could come up with was a repair in their factory – fit a quickly superseded graphics card. For which I would have to pay dearly for, in both cases, and they would also not be liable for any damage caused etc.
Although difficult in Japan, I eventually found someone with a separate screen to test the output. Despite concerns about the motherboard, I pushed them to sell me a graphics card since you can’t buy them elsewhere, but to no avail.
Well there is always eBay. For a quarter of the price (again) I got the newer card I was after. It has two heat pipes and is currently running with the fans off, about 15 °C lower than the old Go 7800 with the fans on high. While I was shopping I got some thermal grease for the CPU, probably do the card as well when it gets de-furred before the summer. That will be the overheating test.
Return Of The Craptop
Written by: adekun on 23 March, 2007 6:54 am - Filed under: blog — No Comments »
A little reminiscent of Wolfgang Petersen’s outstanding Das Boot. Power has been restored and the Craptop has now floated to the surface.
Dell said they were happy to help, if I paid. I declined for two reasons, principle and cost. My parents bought a replacement off eBay for a quarter of the price the same day. Pity it took over a week for the company to manage the trip to the Post Office. I am glad nevertheless.
It is worth a mention that the power adapter I received is the third revision (A03). The system was shipped thirteen months ago with the original (A00). A little surprising?
Recent Comments
Japan Australia: I hear that it has been an extremely hot and dry summer this year in Japan and more extreme than ...
~fer: Hello my name is Fernando I am a fellow gardener from japan. I want to meet other people who share my passion ...
Gardening Guru: These are so delicious... I think the frozen corn won't be as tasty as that which has been freshly picked.
phil: i've also been looking for some rhubarb to grow. almost all seed companies sell starts, not seeds. besides the ...