Dead TS-l802a in Aspire 5920G..

Hi all,

I've looked all round the forums/google, but can't find any problem similar to mine. I've recently (last month) purchased an Aspire 5920G with DVDW/HD drive, and have just purchased my first HD DVD, King Kong. It ran well for a few minutes, then seemed to hang for a bit.

Took it out, tried it again. This time, nothing happened - but when I took my HD out it was full of scratches! Tried putting in my immaculate HD Demo disk, but it resulted in the same thing - not being recognized, and coming out all scratched and horrible.

Now DVDs and CDs are read perfectly - so I'm not sure what to do. I'd like to update firmware, but I don't want to void my warranty, and there's so many of them that I'm not sure what to use (it's a Toshiba drive on an Acer laptop..) - any ideas? Can someone point me in the right direction? Should I ask for a replacement drive, just dig money out of my own pocket and go for something better, or can this be fixed?

Thank you

 

Thought I'd keep you all updated on my problem, since if anyone ventures here with a similar problem I want to provide as much help as possible.

Tried everything from upgrading firmware, to uninstalling the drive, to removing it, to putting AnyDVD HD and Nero on, etc. Finally gave in and phoned Acer, who said they 'never heard of the problem' and told me to send the laptop to some warehouse in Plymouth for repairs. Waiting for DHL to come pick it up right now, in fact..

Has anyone ever sent a laptop to the repair centre? How have their experiences been? I was torn between buying a replacement drive myself for £49 off eBay, or sending it off to be repaired under warranty - but figured out that if I can get it repaired for free, then those £49 can go towards getting something more useful.. hmm.

(Also- on an unrelated topic, I have the 8600M GS, which seems to be quite rubbish for playing games. Is this just me, or have people managed to get stuff like Assassin's Creed actually look good?)

 

the free repair was the way to go.... i'm not familuar w/ euro repairs,, but in the US they are decent... a DVD swap could be done by my mentally challenged dog... so you should be in good shape... just pack it good... shippers can be a bit rough..

no clue about the 8600.. have you tried drivers from www.laptopvideo2go.com

 

I will as soon as I get my machine back. I've been reading horrible reviews about the UK repair centre (scratched laptops, components that used to work return failing..), so I'm slightly apprehensive.

Thanks

EDIT: Agree 100% with your sig btw. It's my motto.

 

just package it good and hope for the best!

i know the US repair site sent me a replacement HDD w/o having to send my unit into them... i did have to give a CC # to get the drive sent before sending the old one back (advanced replacement is what they called it)

but if the shipper is on the way it's too late to try that angle... just say a little prayer

good luck,

bigO

 

Tried that on the phone, but.. I don't know. If anyone asked me about optical drive issues, I would ask how many disks were tried, how scratched they were, etc etc. This was our conversation:

*exchange of serial numbers and all that*
- Hi, I recently bought an Aspire 5920G and my HD DVD drive does not read, um, HD DVDs.
- Oh. Okay. Have you tried a system restore?
- Yes.
- Oh. Hold on. We never had that problem, it's not critical. You'll need to send your laptop in for repairs.
- Ah. Of course. Is it possible to get another drive sent out instead?
- No, we only accept full products. *exchange of info*

My laptop was picked up yesterday (on contract under warranty, which is fine) and the DHL site lists it as 'out of delivery' right now. As promised, will keep you all updated about my saga.

EDIT: Just delivered, signed to by an "L MARKER". Hoping that repairs will start today - it should be as straightforward as just taking my drive out and replacing it with a new one, so hopefully won't have to wait for two weeks.

I sent them a huge note detailing everything I tried and describing the symptops in detail, and my copy of the HD DVD for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (brand new, not working on my laptop), so they can try it out themselves. Also asked them to keep me informed about developments, but I doubt they will.

 

Right - received an email from Acer:

--
Hello, Thank you for contacting Acer.

Regarding your enquiry,

The details has been confirmed as correct, and your machine has been assigned to an engineer. so next stage will be testing ,and if the test passes the machine will be ready for shipping

Regards

Wayne
--

Very speedy of them - so quite pleased. Hopefully my HD-DVD won't decide to work in the hands of the engineer - I really just want it replaced.

 

well if nothing else,,, you are getting speedy responses from them...

may by tonight or tomorrow you'll get an email saying it's fixed and shipping back!!!

 

Oh I wish! To add insult to the injury I got Stardust on HD yesterday in the post.. really want to watch it! Been reading horrifying accounts re: Acer from people, so I'm trying to be as nice as possible. Who knows.. maybe karma will do the trick!

 

i think you have done an execllent job of informing ACER exactly what the issue is and you will more than likely have a good outcome...

alot of people who complain and gripe are sending thier PCs back everytime they turn around just because they have a warranty and think they have a problem... which causes extensive wear and tear both from shipping and from being repetedly assembled and disassembled so often

 

Thanks That gives me confidence!! I just need to wait and hope for the best and keep my hands off the phone

 

Just got an email back from Acer; I had asked them to give me an estimate of how long repairs would take:
--
Hello, Thank you for contacting Acer.

Regarding your enquiry,

We would send you a notification email when the machine is ready to be shipped out.

Regards

Ryan
Acer Technical Support Team
--

I'm not quite sure he understood what I meant/is not a robot.

 

well it may take a few days to have the laptop "checked by and engineer"

if you don't here something by tomorrow afternoon i'd email or call them

 

Called on Friday, and they said they ordered (and received) the part they required, which was my optical HD drive. Which means - I'm getting the faulty HD-DVD drive replaced! Was really scared they wouldn't find anything wrong with it.

Apparently it's gonna be fixed some point this week.. I hope. Should only take 5 minutes to install a drive, really..

 

true.,,, 10 at the most.... and that includes testing it!!

 

Will phone tonight or tomorrow to check the progress. What the woman said on Friday was "an engineer will be reallocated to your machine". I was very impressed by the speed they got their parts sent in - they got my machine on Tuesday, and by Friday they had ordered and received the new drive. Which means they're quite fast at allocating resources.

By the way - for any UK warranty sender, keep on phoning till a woman replies. So far, I spoke to two or three men and one woman, and she was the most helpful - she actually gave me information, unlike the men, who were stock robots.

When all this is finished I might consider writing up a review for Warranty Support (UK), as before I sent my laptop off I scoured all the internet for one but couldn't find it. Would anyone be interested in reading?

 

Right - got home after a bad day at work last night, and the doorbell rang. Expecting my SO, I opened, but then found myself face-to-face with a DHL guy - carrying my laptop. It was boxed immaculately, no scratches, worked perfectly, and- get this?

I CAN NOW VIEW HD DVDS!!! There's some stagger, but I'm very sure this is cos of Arcade Deluxe, and look forward to getting an alternative viewing product soon (Nero's ShowTime is really slow).

All in all, 10/10 for Acer UK Warranty Support

 

Congrats,, glad to hear you got such good service.