Safe to Buy?

Hey guys, I might have a chance to go to Bellingham tomorrow in the states to buy the 7811 FX. I was wondering if now was a good time to buy these things and hopefully they won't be defective. If this is stilla defective period, is there any way I can guarentee myself that the machine I am about to buy has the new bios or some kind of fix so that my laptop is in good shape and that I won't have to return it?

 

The question you need to ask yourself is do you need it right now or can you wait?

I'm holding out another month or two for the bad units to filter out of inventory. If you do decide to buy now, your checklist should read as follows:

1. On the outside of the box, make sure the serial number begins as P2888 xxx xxxxx.
2. Ask Geek Squad you want to open it up in store and make sure you get a unit with the latest bios - 9c.08.00. They should be cool about it if you explain to them you're from out of town and cannot return...
3. Check the date on the white sticker on the accessory box inside to see it reads 8/25/08 or newer.
4. Carefully examine the screen during boot-up when it is black that there is no white "bleeding" along the bottom edge or right edge.
5. If you've got a USB thumbdrive, I definitely recommend you load up some game demos and try in store (Crysis,GRID).
6. If you can, plug in a mouse on the right USB port and run some games - I read somewhere that there's an ACPI issue that may cause lock-ups when USB devices are plugged in.

That's the best advice I can give you. If anybody else out there knows anything else or wants to correct me post your info here.

 

Right, and to add to Luscious great points, make sure you get to know your machine before you leave the States.

-Do some extensive tests, benchmarks, stress tests on the CPU. Make sure everything is sound, and where it should be.
-Make sure the screen is evenly lit, no white patches or blemishes or light bleeding.
-Monitor your GPU temps, and make sure they don't exceed above 90*C consistently, if they do return it while you can.
-Play all sorts of Demo Games, or full retail games for a couple hours, and make sure your P-7811FX doesn't constantly lock-up, or blue screen
-If your power brick is sizzling / hissing very loud, try to get a replacement or buy a spare. Many users here (including myself) purchased an extra 180W AC adapter, because then original one Gateway provides is very cheap, and causes worries.

 

Could you explain a little better on that? Dang, because I believe I have "light bleeding" on the bottom of my LCD. Guess I should of went with Sager for a better chance of no issues.
I didn't think it was anything out of the ordinary as it's a very dim light bleed which I thought was common in most LCDs these days. It's barely noticeable along the bottom, but it is there.

 

I'm not the expert on LCD manufacturing technology - anybody with better knowledge feel free to jump in.

Backlight bleeding is when the white backlight that is used to illuminate your LCD screen creeps out or "bleeds" along the edge of the display. It is a manufacturing defect that should not show up on a quality display.

You'll notice it first during the boot-up screen when the monitor shows a simulated black screen. Look closely and you'll see a fine white line across the bottom edge that fades as you look away from the edge. That's backlight bleeding. On a proper display it will be all black, solid black everywhere, with no edge visible.

Another way to check is play a dark DVD scene at fullscreen. The white line or faded light along the edge of the screen will be a dead giveaway.

I don't have my unit with me any longer and cannot snap a picture of it, but perhaps you or someone can post a picture up here to show.

If you've got a display with the above problems - take it back. As I said, it is a manufacturing defect that should not be present in a properly built display.

 

Well, I have the fine white line. It doesn't fade as I look away from the edge, though.
**** I just installed everything on here too.

 

Well, there is a nearby Best Buy, Staples, and Futureshop which sell laptops at the 1300 price point, but they arent really as good. Their processor is probably the same, the graphic card is way worse, the screen isn't a WUXGA, no 7200 RPM hard drive. It is just if I buy it from the states, I am unsure if I can go back to return it. It isn't like I can stay there for 3 nights and stress it out to see if it works, lol.

You guys think I should just buy a regular HP from my local store?

 

Of the four laptops I've gone through, I haven't seen one that didn't have a tiny bit of bleed...some have been worse than others, so you'll have to judge for yourself how bad it is.

Compare yours to others and see if it's bad enough to risk exchanging it for a potentially worse 7811.

Google Image Search of Backlight Bleed

 

I wouldn't worry about the hard drive, it's easy to replace the hard drive with a faster hard drive. In fact, the hard drive the 7811 comes with (Seagate Momentus 7200.2 200GB) is only a little faster than some of the 5400rpm 320gb hard drives out there (google search for more info, but it comes down to the number of platters on the two drives).

As far as WUXGA, you can probably order a build to order laptop that features a WUXGA screen. Like you said, the processor will probably be the same.

However, finding a laptop in the $1300 range with a Geforce 9800 - or even a 9700 AND that's WUXGA could be very difficult. Most laptops in that price range are coming with a 9600GT - average, but not even close to a 9800.

That being said, if you really want a high end video card, stressing the heck out of a 7811 for a few nights might be your best bet.

 

As many have noted, these forums are skewed towards defects. The vast majority of us, including myself, have had no defects at all and generally don't bother posting.

That being said, if they're letting you test out the laptop before buying, I'd bring a dead pixel locating program on a USB drive and check the screen out.

 

Agreed, I don't have any problems with my P-7811FX, which I just bought on Friday (9/26). I was worried about it from hearing about the problems on this forum, but that's pretty much what it's for: seeing answers to fix the issues. The people with defect-free notebooks are probably busy, and usually don't come on here unless they need something, like answers for a new issue.


That being said, just pay for the thing, and let the Geek Squad open it up for you at the counter. If there's something wrong, they'll exchange it right then and ther (that's what they told me). The date on my unit was 8/25, which had the new BIOS. Fire it up, inspect everything, and be on your merry way.

 

Right, and that's why I still would recommend the P-7811FX to any budget gamer. The reason you hear so much about its defects are because people who received a perfect unit, won't create a new thread, so all you see are those threads against the P-7811FX.