The Consumer Warning thread

[jedd_kenobi]

Agreed about virgin media. Shit service, shit customer response and I'd recommend everyone staying the frak away from it.

 

[LP]

Any computer made by dell.

 

[rickhamilton620]

Any computer made by dell.

The consumer line...total shit and have been for quite some time. (although our 06 XPS 400 is still alive and kicking....)

The business line though...is amazing. I've had this shitbox Latitude for 5 years and the fucker just won't die.

 

[Eye-Q]

The business line though...is amazing. I've had this shitbox Latitude for 5 years and the fucker just won't die.

Same "problem" with Fujitsu-servers: they last longer than we'd like. Some customers have 6-7, sometimes 8 year old servers which are clearly outdated and the OS (Windows Server 2003) will be at the end of it's support cycle next year, but they don't realize that and keep telling us "it's too expensive yadda yadda"...

 

[Cryptopygia]

The consumer line...total shit and have been for quite some time. (although our 06 XPS 400 is still alive and kicking....)

The business line though...is amazing. I've had this shitbox Latitude for 5 years and the fucker just won't die.

Hook this PSU up, set it up outside, and wait for it to kill itself and the computer, either through being a truly awful power supply, or Dells stupid non-standard wiring if it has it.

That, or mail it to Spectre, and let him have some fun with it.

*This is also my consumer warning. Don't buy cheap PSUs, or you may end up buying a whole new computer (or more).

 

[LP]

The consumer line...total shit and have been for quite some time. (although our 06 XPS 400 is still alive and kicking....)

The business line though...is amazing. I've had this shitbox Latitude for 5 years and the fucker just won't die.

Oh absolutely. I had an XPS tower in 2006 (back when I had no idea what I was doing), and it was alive until I dismantled it in 2011 and "mantled" my new computer with the new components. So I guess they could last long, but generally I found it to be shittastic performance for the price you pay. However... their XPS laptop (one that my best friend had) lasted him 1.5 years before it started artifacting and running at 99C at bootup.

 

[rickhamilton620]

Hook this PSU up, set it up outside, and wait for it to kill itself and the computer, either through being a truly awful power supply, or Dells stupid non-standard wiring if it has it.

That, or mail it to Spectre, and let him have some fun with it.

*This is also my consumer warning. Don't buy cheap PSUs, or you may end up buying a whole new computer (or more).

That review was awesome, now i'm reading his other ones in the series. Good shit, thanks.

Oh absolutely. I had an XPS tower in 2006 (back when I had no idea what I was doing), and it was alive until I dismantled it in 2011 and "mantled" my new computer with the new components. So I guess they could last long, but generally I found it to be shittastic performance for the price you pay. However... their XPS laptop (one that my best friend had) lasted him 1.5 years before it started artifacting and running at 99C at bootup.

The performance is..well..indeed shite. This was bought back in the days of the Pentium D. I tried to convince my stepmom to go AMD, as they were kicking Intel's ass at the time, but because they weren't as good at marketing she wanted Intel.

 

[Cryptopygia]

That review was awesome, now i'm reading his other ones in the series. Good shit, thanks.

That site's one of the best for power supply reviews, mostly because they actually get into the finer details (i.e.: efficiency, ripple, stuff like that) rather than "Does it turn on? Does it power my equipment? Does it look cool? It does, so pass!"

 

[Hidden_Hunter]

acer business laptops are far worse, the one I've got for work is awful


Ryobi wet and dry, bag just tears with a tiny amount in it - bagless mode just exhausts dust everywhere

 

[argatoga]

This KVM.

http://www.amazon.com/2-Port-Switch...3?ie=UTF8&qid=1359041883&sr=8-13&keywords=kvm

Unless you want to use it something below 1080p. Even though it says it can do 1920X1440 @ 60Hz

My AOC display for the life of it could not stretch the image to the edge of the screen. I have no idea if it was me or the box...

But, when you open the box and most of the directions are in Mandarin and it smells of slightly burned plastic, I probably should not have trusted quality.

Why would you want to use VGA at that high a resolution? My eyes hurt when I run across machines at work doing less than that over VGA,

 

[Spectre]

Hook this PSU up, set it up outside, and wait for it to kill itself and the computer, either through being a truly awful power supply, or Dells stupid non-standard wiring if it has it.

That, or mail it to Spectre, and let him have some fun with it.

*This is also my consumer warning. Don't buy cheap PSUs, or you may end up buying a whole new computer (or more).

I already have a box of cheap crappy power supplies that that my clients have handed me when they failed (and often caused the computer they were connected to to fail. I don't need more and ammo is so expensive and scarce these days I can't use them as targets.

Consultant's tip: Don't buy any of the Dell consumer grade crap. Dimension, Inspiron, etc. - just stay away from that. Vostro, Optiplex, Latitude, Precision are all safe lines in general.

 

[93Flareside]

Why would you want to use VGA at that high a resolution? My eyes hurt when I run across machines at work doing less than that over VGA,

Well, the machines I were using only had VGA. I've since stopped using both machines on the single display, train computer uses that display now which is dvi.

I couldn't stand it either, it hurt my eyes too.

 

[NecroJoe]

Westinghouse TVs. Probably expand this to any of these legacy brands that don't mean anything these days like RCA. I got what I though was a good deal on clearance from Best Buy, and the damn thing wouldn't display a 1080p HD input from my computer.

I don't have too much issue with RCA...but Sylvania TVs are terrible.

 

[bone]

Same "problem" with Fujitsu-servers: they last longer than we'd like. Some customers have 6-7, sometimes 8 year old servers which are clearly outdated and the OS (Windows Server 2003) will be at the end of it's support cycle next year, but they don't realize that and keep telling us "it's too expensive yadda yadda"...

welcome to toshiba!
you call their helpdesk for a hardware question, they reply "the biggest problem we have, is that our hardware wont die and we have to keep giving support on dinosaurs!" :lol:

 

[93Flareside]

My work has an HP ProLiant server with that issue...

It's a file server and exchange server in one! All powered by Windows Server and Exchange 2003! 1GB of memory is all you need.

 

[73GMCSprint]

welcome to toshiba!
you call their helpdesk for a hardware question, they reply "the biggest problem we have, is that our hardware wont die and we have to keep giving support on dinosaurs!" :lol:

They used to be that way. My dad's Toshiba laptop died last year at ~2 yrs old, my brand new laptop had the hard drive completely fail after 2 months of use, and my wife's died 2 months ago (though hers was about 5 years old, and 3 of those were law school). My old dinosaur Toshiba laptop, nearly 9 years old now, still works perfectly.

 

[CrzRsn]

I need to keep telling myself "if its too good to be true, and from China, it most likely is garbage"

Just got my 12 grid watch case



Paid about $18 including shipping for it. Construction is terrible, hinges are near falling off, and not a single one of my watches fits with the lid down.

Going to try to get my money back.

Buyer beware
http://www.ebay.com/itm/400488862174?var=670094029124

Maybe it was in one of these boxes

 

[jibduh]

Ouch. You should make your own!

 

[Eye-Q]

There is a phrase for that here in Germany: he who buys cheaply buys twice.

 

[MWF]

We have the same phrase here too.