is it possible to get a full refund on the basis of a faulty laptop?

I have a thinkpad edge 14. To be honest, it's not as great as I thought it would be...

The laptop, with a i3 m370, opens up applications slower than a m330 at Best Buy. I've tried to uninstall McAfee and put in MSE, no dice.
The hard drive makes quiet clicking noises sometimes. Though it may seem normal for a hard drive to do that, my hard drive does it repeatedly, and in segments.
The processor heats up very fast, while I'm doing very basic tasks like web surfing
I found this out when playing FIFA 09. When I press up and left arrow simultaneously, the spacebar doesn't work. I've tried it with other combinations of arrow keys, but as long as the up and left are pressed down, the spacebar doesn't work.
The battery (9 cell) doesn't last as long as I thought. I run on eco mode at all times. The battery would say it has ~5 hours left. But an hour later, that number jumps down to 2-3, and then it may spike up to 4 and down to 1.5. I haven't actually tested the battery life, but I doubt that it'll last more than 4 hours on eco mode.

To be honest, I found another deal with a Toshiba that's much cheaper and about just as good. So I want to try to get a RMA. Are all these points valid in supporting my argument that my laptop is faulty?

 

I doubt that the PC would be considered faulty except for the keyboard issue. Support should be able to fix that, but you might want to try the latest BIOS update to check it doesn't fix it already.

Lenovo Support & downloads - BIOS update utility - ThinkPad Edge 14, Edge 15, Edge E40, Edge E50

I've read there is a 15% restocking fee for returning laptops, but again, support would be best placed to answer that one.

You could check the SMART data for errors on the drive... that might be causing clicking and slower operation.

 

Clicking sounds from a hard drive mean that the HDD isn't very healthy.

 

^^except it's normal for the hdd to click as it parks it's *something* for the purpose of saving energy (someone else told me).

Except mine isn't just 1 click. It's multiple clicks, sometimes one right after the other.

btw. it's not 15%. It's 20% restocking fee, according to their website.

Tell me what I should do that would maximize my chance of getting a RMA.

 

one more possibility. I check the lenovo website, and it sets their laptop (the one I have) at $849 right now. After tax and shipping, it'll cross over into 900+. Plus, it's the standard 6 cell battery.

I believe my laptop has the same specs: i3 m370, 2GB, etc. Plus, my laptop has a 9 cell battery. It cost me $677 to buy it. Maybe I can retail it and sell it used for just as much. I've only had it for 3 weeks, and I barely used it. What do you think?

 

More than likely they’ll work with you to fix whatever they deem to be a problem—they’ll want to keep the sale rather than return your dollars.

 

you would have to build a better case for a full refund. There must be some sort of significant fault that would make repair difficult.

 

tell me what I should break, and I'll make it look like it came like that.

no really, what kind of significant fault are you talking about? If I can't get a full refund, can I send this one back for another one without restocking fee? I feel like the one I have doesn't live up to my satisfaction. I'd like to be able to score goals in the second half in FIFA 09, and I can't really do that without a fully functioning spacebar.

 

Generally, I don't think refunds are given very often, certainly not for those small issues that you have (software performance, higher operating temperatures that are still within design specifications, mediocre battery life). The only thing that could be a flaw in the actual hardware is the keyboard issue, and they may just send you a replacement keyboard to resolve that.

They would also rather replace the entire machine if they believe your problems are unfixable (and they aren't) than give you a full refund. You can try to work your magic with the tech support folks at Lenovo, and you may just get lucky.

 

I called tech support, telling them about my keyboard problem. The guy told me a box will arrive at my address. I would ship my laptop to them, and they would ship it back to me with a new keyboard.

I told him about my hard drive sounds, and his response is consistent to what I've been reading on this forum.

I didn't really ask him about my computer seemingly being slower than it should be. I mean I really feel like it should take no time at all for firefox or internet explorer to open, but there is a moderate delay. I'm suspicious about that. Should I look into it?

 

What was his response?

I would try and get them to look into everything since you are going through the trouble of shipping it. In fact, I would make of list of things for them to check and tape it to the machine.

Testing the hard drive is pretty easy, especially if you have another one that is similar. You could restore your factory disk image to a different hard drive and pop it in. If it makes a material difference, then you have a good data point.

 

They sent me a box and a sheet for me to list all it's problems. Here's what I'm putting down:

keyboard spacebar doesn't work when left and up arrows are pressed together

left mouse button not responsive in certain situations. Have to press more than once or hold it for it to work.

hard drive clicks continuously sometimes when not in use.

screen grows dimmer when computer is running on battery. It happened randomly on 2-3 occasions

Computer is unusually slow sometimes. Other times, it's normal. When it's slow, it takes a long time to open applications like Firefox, when nothing else is using up significant CPU usage.


Other than the keyboard, and maybe the screen, the rest seem kind of trivial, and I think tech support may just assume the computer is fine, and leave it alone. Will they listen to me if I ask for another machine entirely?

 

Is that something you do in normal usage?

That is likely your power settings.

I have to say that I certainly hope they just replace the HDD and send it on back to you. Most of what you've said since the beginning of the thread has sounded more like buyer's remorse rather than actual problems with the system.

 

They'll run their checks and see if the machine is failing. If they find a defective part, it'll get replaced. If not, the machine will be sent back. Like it or not, after the return period is over you only have two choices. Keep and enjoy the machine (recommended) or sell it.