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My New Toy Is Sick

My two-week-old toy is sick. It's having trouble POSTing properly, and will randomly just shut down and not turn back on. There's obviously some sort of funky hardware issue with the thing, so I'm sending it back and nipping it in the butt before it becomes a major issue. Just waiting for my RMA before I send the thing off via UPS. I have a feeling that it's probably the RAM, but I don't have a gig (or any, for that matter) of DDR2 SODIMM RAM stick sitting around (they're not the easiest thing to get a hold of and I don't keep them handy).

In the nine Sager notebooks I've personally dealt with, this is the first time I've had this happen. That being said, I was able to very easily open the thing up and get to the RAM, CPU, Hard Drive, MiniPCI cards, Video Card, and everything else so if I have a problem or want to upgrade in the future to new video, RAM, or CPU, it's going to be stupidly easy.

Meanwhile, I'm back on my old laptop (P4 1.6ghz with 4200 RPM hard drive and 512 megs of RAM that's shared with the video card). It'll get the job done, but I certainly do miss my baby.

Posted by Jake on 02/07/06 @ 03:06 PM
Posted in Geekdom, Jake | 9 Comments | Permalink
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9 Comments

Rick said on 02/07/06 @ 03:16 PM:
I have a gig (2x512) of DDR2 that I could mail you. Probably would get there tomorrow, and you could send it back when you were finished.

If you wanted to test beforehand... i believe Sager will just send you the memory to replace it if that is what is wrong.

I decided against Sager after they refused to respond to any of my phone/email messages.

Jake said on 02/07/06 @ 03:25 PM:
Well, they're a small shop, really, and refuse to outsource and send overseas their customer support, so it usually takes a day or two to get back with a reply. Popularity is getting the best of them, I guess.

But next time if you need something, let me know. My sales rep usually gets back to me the same day.

If you want to send the DDR2 my direction so I can try it out (though I have a feeling there's more to this than just the RAM), that'll be fine, and you'll get it back when I'm done with them. I think you still have my mailing address, Rick. It'll take a day or so before I get my RMA anyway.

Jon said on 02/07/06 @ 04:49 PM:
"nipping it in the butt"...

I believe the usual phrase is "nipping it in the bud".

Just FYI.

:)

Jake said on 02/07/06 @ 05:09 PM:
Oh, I know what the saying is -- I just choose to ignore tradition whenever possible and make things up as a go :-)

Rick said on 02/08/06 @ 04:40 AM:
Sent yesterday by priority mail. Hope you get it sorted out quick.

Jake said on 02/08/06 @ 09:02 AM:
Sorry I didn't get ahold of you sooner, Rick. I just got an RMA from them this morning and the thing is boxed up and ready to send off via UPS. Crap...oh well. If you don't mind, I'm going to hold onto your RAM until they get me my computer back and if I *still* have issues, I'm going to try the RAM. Otherwise, if things work fine, I'll send it right back to you.

Thanks for your help, just the same! If I had a use for the DDR2 otherwise, I'd pay ya for it, but this laptop is the only thing I have that takes it and it obviously only has two slots.

Rick said on 02/08/06 @ 09:35 AM:
no problem, hope you get it sorted out.

David H. said on 01/18/07 @ 07:21 PM:
Jake, I stumbled onto your blog well over a year ago and have been reading it ever since--so I'm hoping that you wouldn't mind giving some advice to one of your regular readers.

I've recently begun shopping for a laptop and I remembered that you posted a while back about getting a new one. That led me to Sager's website, and it seems like their prices are pretty good. I'd much rather go with something like this as opposed to something like an HP or Dell.

One thing I'm wondering about is the build quality of Sager's notebooks. Is it a good sturdy feeling plastic? Are the hinges sturdy? --stuff like this

Also, I've read a few complaints of Sager's customer service. Did they do a good job taking care of your problem?

Thanks in advance for any help. This is going to be a big purchase for me so I'm trying to gather as much information as I can.

Jake said on 01/18/07 @ 11:21 PM:
They took great care of my laptop. I shipped it back to them as the motherboard needed to be replaced, like I had thought. It was back in my hands in less than two weeks with standard shipping.

Their build quality is fine. My 5320 that I'm using to write this is still in great shape, and I use it as part of a full-time job and in the evening as well as my primary computer. It gets beat up and holds up great. The few times I've had to deal with tech support, they've been helpful, but I'm not your typical guy that calls support -- I just am calling usually to get a specific answer.

But I would highly recommend them, especially for high-end laptops.

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