SINGAPORE EXPATS FORUM
Singapore Expat Forum and Message Board for Expats in Singapore & Expatriates Relocating to Singapore
Computer Repairs
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sundaymorningstaple
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Have only had Dell come out and replace the entire motherboard on my old Inspiron 9300 17" just a month before it's 3rd birthday! (3 year warranty) Did the whole job & tested in 30 minutes. Worked perfectly. But have never used a local company, sorry.
SOME PEOPLE TRY TO TURN BACK THEIR ODOMETERS. NOT ME. I WANT PEOPLE TO KNOW WHY I LOOK THIS WAY. I'VE TRAVELED A LONG WAY, AND SOME OF THE ROADS WEREN'T PAVED. ~ Will Rogers
Must be very careful, when having computers repaired, ALWAYS ask for the parts to be returned.
Reason is, my wife took my laptop in for repair as it was freezing, I knew exactly what was wrong, because i had done tests and found many viruses on the hard disk, however I was in UK at the time. When she told me on the phone, that she had taken it for repair, i told her there was nothing wrong with the hard disk. It was too late the repair man had sold her a new one and said he had thrown the old one away.
I went down to the repair shop and asked why he had thrown it away when it was only infected, he was insistent that the hard drive wouldn't start up. I gave up discussing and left. So always if possible make a note of your system information, and request all parts to be returned, to ensure it is more difficult for them to exchange the parts for cheaper second hand, hardware. Most repair shops collect the spares, for repairs to older computers, not all items are compatible, and it's difficult to understand what is going on if you are only a novice.
There are good people and bad around everywhere and business is business, though integrity and honesty is fundamental for customer satisfaction, so always get an estimate of repair too before allowing the work to be done.
Most work involved is time consuming, has it's a process of elimination which the standard charge fee for taking a look should cover, but you want feedback with an estimate for repair.
The standard fee shouldn't be more than 50$ max, that is working on western fees of course, with people holding degrees in computer science. It's a shady industry if you do not know your way around it. Quickest and most costly is to return it to the service desk, though you do get a guarantee of 3 months on the labour, parts should still carry the manufacturers guarantee if new, if the counter says, no only 3 months on the parts, then it's more than likely a second hand spare has been used.
When i was in the component industry all parts carried a full year manufacturers guarantee, in Singapore is very different has guarantees effect price, so it's likely importers reduce the purchase price in the negotiations, by not sending returns and giving 3 months. It can vary for different reasons.
I recall that returns of components were an actual nightmare, as it doesn't pay to return them until you have a significant amount from one supplier, it's too costly and you must abide by the RMA policy with the manufacturer. as they pay one way postage only. I have seen 30k £ of components in our RMA department, money just tied up and difficult to sort out if you are buying in from many suppliers of the same component. Matching the S/n is a real pain in the butt, without a scanning system in place.
Just a little more useless information for you all, that are unaware of the industry, I spent 3 year in customising desk tops for business solutions, as many businesses had no idea what they wanted. It's pointless buying a Lamborghini if you only need a mini, so we specialised in giving good advice, rather than selling you something you have no use for.
We used to run them in for bench marking for 24 hrs, before sending them out, though we wasn't a big company in building them as components was the core business.
Reason is, my wife took my laptop in for repair as it was freezing, I knew exactly what was wrong, because i had done tests and found many viruses on the hard disk, however I was in UK at the time. When she told me on the phone, that she had taken it for repair, i told her there was nothing wrong with the hard disk. It was too late the repair man had sold her a new one and said he had thrown the old one away.
I went down to the repair shop and asked why he had thrown it away when it was only infected, he was insistent that the hard drive wouldn't start up. I gave up discussing and left. So always if possible make a note of your system information, and request all parts to be returned, to ensure it is more difficult for them to exchange the parts for cheaper second hand, hardware. Most repair shops collect the spares, for repairs to older computers, not all items are compatible, and it's difficult to understand what is going on if you are only a novice.
There are good people and bad around everywhere and business is business, though integrity and honesty is fundamental for customer satisfaction, so always get an estimate of repair too before allowing the work to be done.
Most work involved is time consuming, has it's a process of elimination which the standard charge fee for taking a look should cover, but you want feedback with an estimate for repair.
The standard fee shouldn't be more than 50$ max, that is working on western fees of course, with people holding degrees in computer science. It's a shady industry if you do not know your way around it. Quickest and most costly is to return it to the service desk, though you do get a guarantee of 3 months on the labour, parts should still carry the manufacturers guarantee if new, if the counter says, no only 3 months on the parts, then it's more than likely a second hand spare has been used.
When i was in the component industry all parts carried a full year manufacturers guarantee, in Singapore is very different has guarantees effect price, so it's likely importers reduce the purchase price in the negotiations, by not sending returns and giving 3 months. It can vary for different reasons.
I recall that returns of components were an actual nightmare, as it doesn't pay to return them until you have a significant amount from one supplier, it's too costly and you must abide by the RMA policy with the manufacturer. as they pay one way postage only. I have seen 30k £ of components in our RMA department, money just tied up and difficult to sort out if you are buying in from many suppliers of the same component. Matching the S/n is a real pain in the butt, without a scanning system in place.
Just a little more useless information for you all, that are unaware of the industry, I spent 3 year in customising desk tops for business solutions, as many businesses had no idea what they wanted. It's pointless buying a Lamborghini if you only need a mini, so we specialised in giving good advice, rather than selling you something you have no use for.
We used to run them in for bench marking for 24 hrs, before sending them out, though we wasn't a big company in building them as components was the core business.
Last edited by ksl on Sat, 28 May 2011 12:07 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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sundaymorningstaple
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so I never play with those Bios and config things. Is it virus problem?Normally bad or very bad. The problem is probably still there but now you have no symptoms so no easy means to diagnose anything.adumponti wrote:Thanks ksl. Surprisingly the problem solved without doing anything. I don't know how this happen, no idea at all. Is it a good sign or bad?
Sometimes it could be as trivial as an overheating of your CPU so your PC may happily start up in a bit colder days and freeze when a bit hotter - just an example not necessarily cause of your problems.
X9200 is correct, and you should follow his suggestion on the fan, if it's getting too hot, it could effect the start up.x9200 wrote:Normally bad or very bad. The problem is probably still there but now you have no symptoms so no easy means to diagnose anything.adumponti wrote:Thanks ksl. Surprisingly the problem solved without doing anything. I don't know how this happen, no idea at all
Sometimes it could be as trivial as an overheating of your CPU so your PC may happily start up in a bit colder days and freeze when a bit hotter - just an example not necessarily cause of your problems.
An intermittent fan is just one of many problems, that needs checking out!
You didn't mention if it was a laptop or desk top.
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fullhouseboy246
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sundaymorningstaple
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