[SirAlec]

1. search for spywares or rook kit. by a good antivirus software. i recommend Kaspersky
2. is the USB working. fine. i mean insert a pendrive or similar device and check.

[Sankar]

Reisntall itunes and try another USB port. Your iPod should charge even without itunes installed on your computer.

Google your netbook model to search for any known issues.

[h@r$h@l]

Originally Posted by SirAlec

1. search for spywares or rook kit. by a good antivirus software. i recommend Kaspersky
2. is the USB working. fine. i mean insert a pendrive or similar device and check.

I have a registered version of Quick heal and i scanned the system a couple of times. My cousin used some other stuff to check for spywares. The usb is working just fine. Use a printer, pen driver etc and no issues at all.

Originally Posted by Sankar

Reisntall itunes and try another USB port. Your iPod should charge even without itunes installed on your computer.

Google your netbook model to search for any known issues.

The ipod is charging even without itunes but cant sync or do anything else. Anways thanks a lot you guys, I will do more R&D on the netbook or else simply use some other PC to sync it.

[cpyder]

Okay now, read the following in context with discussions on extended warranties: my Dell XPS just stopped booting up day before yesterday. (No tbhp-ing for last two days - horrible days). Called up Dell, they asked for service tag and informed me that the warranty was over in Aug 09. No problems, they said, the call center guys told a few things to do on my lappy and the conclusion was that the Hard Disk has suffered a stroke. The good guys at Dell offered to enhance the warranty with something called 'Break-Fix warranty' wherein they would repair the existing problem and extend warranty for another one year for Rs 16,500/-. If did not want the warranty, they would send a new hard disk for Rs 8,000/- (250GB) and a technician to fix it for another 1000/-. I said thank you guys. Called up my contact and asked if he could deliver a 500GB HDD, which he did by the next day for Rs 4950/-. Popped it in my Lappy, Restored my disk image onto it and in less than one and a half hour my lappy was in full swing with all my applications installed and activated. So, conclusion is, if you try a little more, may be you can save a lot by not opting for extended warranties like these. In my case, I saved about 11k + upgraded my HDD with double the original capacity.

[akshay_b]

Could you guys tell me the best place to buy laptops in Bangalore with great offers?

[mohan41]

Originally Posted by akshay_b

Could you guys tell me the best place to buy laptops in Bangalore with great offers?

I have the same question. Right now my uncle wants to buy a laptop. His budget is Rs.30k (may be he can stretch by another 2k). He does not want to buy Acer. Any suggestions? He also suggested going to Reliance Digital but I am not sure if that is the best place.

[akshay_b]

Originally Posted by mohan41

I have the same question. Right now my uncle wants to buy a laptop. His budget is Rs.30k (may be he can stretch by another 2k). He does not want to buy Acer. Any suggestions? He also suggested going to Reliance Digital but I am not sure if that is the best place.

I'm thinking of buying DELL Inspiron 15 for around 37K with core 2 duo E6600 processor 2.2ghz. Dell is known for its quality and after sales support. Better than other brands IMO. Try ordering it from the dell website.
Dell Inspiron 15 Laptop Details

[prajwalkashyap]

Originally Posted by cpyder

Okay now, read the following in context with discussions on extended warranties: my Dell XPS just stopped booting up day before yesterday. (No tbhp-ing for last two days - horrible days). Called up Dell, they asked for service tag and informed me that the warranty was over in Aug 09. No problems, they said, the call center guys told a few things to do on my lappy and the conclusion was that the Hard Disk has suffered a stroke. The good guys at Dell offered to enhance the warranty with something called 'Break-Fix warranty' wherein they would repair the existing problem and extend warranty for another one year for Rs 16,500/-. If did not want the warranty, they would send a new hard disk for Rs 8,000/- (250GB) and a technician to fix it for another 1000/-. I said thank you guys. Called up my contact and asked if he could deliver a 500GB HDD, which he did by the next day for Rs 4950/-. Popped it in my Lappy, Restored my disk image onto it and in less than one and a half hour my lappy was in full swing with all my applications installed and activated. So, conclusion is, if you try a little more, may be you can save a lot by not opting for extended warranties like these. In my case, I saved about 11k + upgraded my HDD with double the original capacity.

You are lucky the problem was with the hard drive. Lets say that in 2 months time there is a problem with the mobo or the screen (I hope not). U'll end up shelling out half the value of the laptop to fix it, or shell out a lot more to get a new system. Either way, u shell out a lot. The warranty covers not just the hard drive, but the entire system. Hard drives and Ram modules are standard components and can be replaced easily, but not mobo's and screens.

I think warranty should have been around 8K for a year and 16K for 2 years. Recheck with that. Warranty on a laptop is absolutely critical, not so on desktops.

Prajwal

[zaks]

Originally Posted by prajwalkashyap

You are lucky the problem was with the hard drive. Lets say that in 2 months time there is a problem with the mobo or the screen (I hope not). U'll end up shelling out half the value of the laptop to fix it, or shell out a lot more to get a new system. Either way, u shell out a lot. The warranty covers not just the hard drive, but the entire system. Hard drives and Ram modules are standard components and can be replaced easily, but not mobo's and screens.

I think warranty should have been around 8K for a year and 16K for 2 years. Recheck with that. Warranty on a laptop is absolutely critical, not so on desktops.

Prajwal

On the contrary I feel this warranty other than 1 year are a waste of money because a good brand will not generally fail if it doesn't in one year, but there are exceptions.
I have a Dell Inspiron 6000 which I am using from past 3.5 years without any problem, of course the battery is dead which is expected but nothing more.

[prajwalkashyap]

Originally Posted by zaks

On the contrary I feel this warranty other than 1 year are a waste of money because a good brand will not generally fail if it doesn't in one year, but there are exceptions.
I have a Dell Inspiron 6000 which I am using from past 3.5 years without any problem, of course the battery is dead which is expected but nothing more.

Its not a rule that if the component wont fail within a year, it wont at all. Most mobo's are Intel manufactured, and they can fail anytime regardless of the brand. There are a myriad of factors to consider, especially with laptops because they r portable, taken everywhere, exposed to varied weathers, plugged in anywhere and everywhere and subject to a lot of physical shocks. The mobo's and LCD screens cannot take those strains and stresses for too long (although they "ideally" should) and they do fail quite often. When they fail, its a huge strain on the pocket. The screen and the mobo makes up about 80% of the value of the laptop.

Many times, the extended warranties are cheaper to buy at the time of purchase of the laptop rather than at the time of expiry. This depends on the offers by the manufacturers.

Prajwal

[SirAlec]

Originally Posted by prajwalkashyap

Its not a rule that if the component wont fail within a year, it wont at all. Most mobo's are Intel manufactured, and they can fail anytime regardless of the brand. There are a myriad of factors to consider, especially with laptops because they r portable, taken everywhere, exposed to varied weathers, plugged in anywhere and everywhere and subject to a lot of physical shocks. The mobo's and LCD screens cannot take those strains and stresses for too long (although they "ideally" should) and they do fail quite often. When they fail, its a huge strain on the pocket. The screen and the mobo makes up about 80% of the value of the laptop.

Many times, the extended warranties are cheaper to buy at the time of purchase of the laptop rather than at the time of expiry. This depends on the offers by the manufacturers.

Prajwal

Wrong. Intel just makes the SMD chips for north and south bridge. Most chinese (98%) and Taiwanese company makes the mobo. Like SHiba etc

They outsource it.

[cpyder]

It is all about probabilities. Hard disks/CD rom drives are by far the 'most failed' components, basically because they are the only mechanical parts. Next is the the mobo and lastly the screen. Or perhaps thier failure rate is similar.

Next assumption is that not all components will fail in a given unit.

Based on these two basic assumptions I still feel that extended warranties can very well be avoided if one has some knowhow about the system. Because every component is modular, be it mobo, screen, hdd or CD ROM Drive. Mobo and screen would cost you in the range of Rs 10-15k. In case of mobo, you might run into problem about replacing the CPU (for a laptop). I would take help of a local technician to do the job. I can almost sense some people asking about the competence of local tech and his guarantee. Well, it is difficult to say and varies from technician to technician and your own relationship with him. So, yes, it may not be a good alternative for someone not comfortable with the idea.

My reason to not go for repairs from the manufacturer is basically the exorbitant price that these manufacturers charge. Like in my case they wanted almost twice the price for half the capacity of HDD, effectively four times the correct cost!! For basic stuff like HDD, CD ROM drives, RAM upgrades/replacement, keyboard and WiFi cards, it is still better to do it yourself. All these parts can be changed quite easily by just opening 1 to 4 screws depending on model. For changing mobo, you might need a professional help.

Infact, if at all, instead of manufacturer's warranty, i would rather enter an AMC with a local vendor/technician.

[prajwalkashyap]

Originally Posted by SirAlec

Wrong. Intel just makes the SMD chips for north and south bridge. Most chinese (98%) and Taiwanese company makes the mobo. Like SHiba etc

They outsource it.

I should have said "most mobo's are Intel badged". When I meant that Intel manufactures the mobo's, I meant that all of them are under the same brand unlike the hard drives, optical drives, which are of various brands like hitachi, seagate, NEC, Western Digital, Maxtor, etc. These can be procured from the open market easily and for low price unlike in the case of mobo's & screens.

In case of cpyder's post, Dell encourages its customers to change the mentioned compoments like wifi cards, ram, hdd, etc. Changing just the CPU is also not too difficult by a fairly competent tech using proc's purchased from the open market. But its usually the charger board or the ports like usb, audio and LAN ports that go bad, and then that happens, the entire mobo will need replacement. Mobo's are custom designed for that particular laptop model. My recommendation comes from experience as a Tech in Dell. I have had customers crying on the phone due to this huge extra cost just coz they were out of warranty.

I always recommend buying extra warranty for laptops just for this very reason. It is not as critical for those who are tech-savvy, but for those who are not, this becomes a life-saver.

Just my 2 paise.

Prajwal

[SirAlec]

^^^ intel based mobos are very stable.

i have found many issues with the ones having nvidia or ATI chipset as subsystems, not necessarily as graphics only (for AMD offcourse).

[evil_e46]

Hey , I was looking out for a netbook.. which will basically be used to access the internet and use office 2007 apart from the occasional tv series watching while travelling.. I am confused here with the number of options available.. The Sony vaio W looked really good to me.. loved the styling and the screen resolution.. although the battery life of 2 hours is the factor that hampered my instant buy decision.. now i look forward to your suggestions.. on the vaio w and any other netbook that you particularly fancied.. and yes looks do matter to me..