[Official] Questions for the MSI Rep!

Thanks Kevin, at least all the facts are out there now and people can be informed if they do a little selective searching on Google. It would be helpful if an admin would post this information as a sticky so it is easier for ppl to find. This was a 3 week process for me...

 

It was recommended by MSI that let resellers perform the upgrade to avoid future issues. If you can install it yourself then we have no problem sell you just card.

 

Hey everyone, and Geno. My name's Rob. Brand new to the forums. I found this thread during a Google search for some MSI information. I'm hoping getting my story and questions out here sheds some more finite answers/opinions.

So here goes the story. A couple years back I bought a GT70 MSI laptop from ProStar. Here's a link to a screenshot of the model number, specs, etc. http://puu.sh/gGsjk/6e2e29328e.png . I apologize ahead of time if this is hard to read. It was a challenge getting the entire spec sheet into one screenshot. Anyhow, from the day I unboxed the laptop, there was pretty bad flickering on the screen. Here's the information I gathered through trial and error about this flickering:

1. The flickering was absolutely severe, to the point where everything shown on the screen was completely distorted and it looked like lightning bolts shooting across the screen. Here is a quick video I took of this flickering when I first received the laptop. http://puu.sh/gGsVh/30a4aa2122.mp4

2. This flickering would -immediately- cease if I was able to launch a game. As long as I kept any game running, even alt-tabbed in the background, the flickering would not occur. As soon as the game was closed out, the flickering would start immediately.

3. This flickering would -immediately- cease if I uninstalled the drivers for the Nvidia dedicated graphics and used only the integrated graphics.

4. This severe flickering would occur endlessly until one of two things happened. The entire screen would go entirely black with traces of white noise along the edges, forcing a manual reboot. And/or, the flickering would start, go on, randomly stop, and the laptop would reboot itself.

This all being said, my main theory is that there is either an issue with the dedicated graphics, integrated graphics, or both considering the graphics in this laptop uses Nvidia Optimus. I contacted Prostar and they referred me directly to MSI. Upon contacting MSI, I was created an RMA but told near the end of the call that I would be responsible for the shipping charge. Considering I had just shelled out 2,000 dollars for this unit, I became instantly irate. I hung up and gritted my teeth through the graphical problem for about year and a half, keeping it at bay by running games in the background as I carried on with normal usage. At the year and half mark, a relative of mine was using the laptop, curled up in a blanket playing a game, without the laptop cooler (My throat hurt after dishing out the stupidity of that one). All of a sudden smoke starts billowing from the laptop, and we immediately turn it off. I let it sit for about an hour, booted it up, and everything seemed fine. Used it for about a half hour until I went to plug it in for charging, and I noticed it wouldn't take the charge. Regretfully, I let the unit sit in a corner for a few months until recently.

I finally told myself it was time to get this thing fixed, so I planned on opening up the unit to assess the damage. When I removed the battery, I saw the MSI tech number and said, what the heck, might as well call them before I go digging in here. To my surprise, I was still within 2 weeks of my warranty. The rep I worked with and the experience I had this time around was MUCH different, to my satisfaction. The rep was very empathetic and understanding. I was provided with a pre-paid shipping label and a new RMA case. As of right now, the laptop has been delivered to MSI in California (per UPS' tracking), and I am awaiting an email from MSI to let me know they've received the unit and that I can start tracking the RMA status.

This all in consideration, I have a few questions.

The symptom remarks stated on my RMA are DC JACK burning, and Video flicker, freezing/crashing, also happens with external monitors. I recall that before the laptop became completely unusable, I uninstalled the drivers for the Nvidia dedicated graphics. If they are able to boot into the laptop after fixing the power issue, they will not see any of graphical issues I described above.

1. Do I need to call someone at MSI and ensure they can fully replicate this issue from their end, or am I worrying for nothing? I guess my main concern is that I am not familiar with how thorough MSI is when repairing/locating/replicating issues. I'd hate to get my unit back only to find the same graphical issues are present.

2. Is there anything I described that would render MSI unable to repair the laptop? Everything i've described here was described to the rep I worked with when creating my RMA, and I was told everything should be covered, but I'd like to make sure anyway.

3. Is formatting the SSD's and HDD's of a unit standard practice for the RMA process? I am actually interested in having all the drives inside the unit formatted, with a fresh install of Win 7 on the RAID'd SSDs. If this is not standard, should I contact someone at MSI and specifically request this to be done during my RMA process?

I appreciate any insight, opinions, and/or answers that can be given. I know this post is of short-story proportions and I apologize in advance, and thank in advance for any patience and consideration given to this.

Regards.

 

Rob, MSI should take care of this issue for you. There should be no cost to you at all because it is still under warranty. In response to your first question, your laptop was smoking! That means something is fried in there. Odds are you are not likely to get your laptop back, it will most likely be replaced and if they do repair it, you will probably get all new components. You should have sent your laptop either back to the peopl you bought it from, which was what I would have done or just ate the shipping cost and sent it to them. Because your received a lemon... Also, do not contact the RMA department about your laptop status unless for these circumstances because you will get absolutely nothing from them, trust me.... If your status doesn't change after one week of them receiving the laptop, call them back and request it to be updated. If your laptop doesn't ship by the recommended repair time frame then call them. Don't take no for an answer either they need to update your status so you know what is going on and they need to repair your laptop in the time frame that they give you, but it is pointless to call until that time frame expires because they are still within their time frame to repair it. in other words, be patient.

Question #2. As long as you are being honest and not attempting to commit some type of warranty fraud, your unit should be repaired or replaced. But if you spilled water on it or something and didn't tell them about it you might incur additional costs. I am not accusing you btw, I am just letting you know what could happen if you were dishonest. Again, you should not expect to receive your original laptop back considering it was fried...

Question #3. If you do receive your computer back I would not expect your hard drives to be the same, if you do get the HD's back they will most likely be formatted. Sometimes companies will send back the original hard drives so you can salvage the information yourself. Again, there should be no cost to you on any of this.

AS SOON AS YOU GET YOUR LAPTOP BACK, run every diagnostic/benchmark utility you can on it to make sure it is running perfectly if it is not call them back immediately and send the unit back for them to repair it again, remember you are at the end of your warranty! If you receive your laptop back again and it is still screwed up, call back and RESPECTFULLY demand a replacement. Remember a little honey on the tongue will get you what you want more often, and always request to speak with a manager if things aren't getting done.

I hope that helps Rob, just remember be patient and don't expect your computer back any time soon, you have no idea what the work load is going to be like for them so just have some compassion ok?

 

I appreciate that, unfortunately right now it is being RMA'd so when I do get it back I'll take another look at updating and my finances to see if I can still afford it. Thank you very much for your engagement on this situation and I hope more people will take advantage of the upgrade program now that the facts are out!

 

Couldn't have said it better myself.

Rob, Please take note of floydstime's advice. Our customer support team handles requests all the time and like floydstime said, please be respectful, but assertive of what you are looking for. As long as you are within your warranty and the requests follow our policy, there should be no problem. if there is something that the rep cannot help you with, ask to politely speak with one of our tech support managers. In the end, if you have an issue and cant get it resolved, PM me with the issue, and i will do as much as i can for you. Just understand that i don't have any final say in how the RMA department works and that they have to follow their guidelines.

 

'

Thanks Kevin, i'll let our notebook marketing guy know about this so that there will be less confusion in the future.

 

Geno and Floyd. Thank you very much for your responses and helpful information. I am posting this as a update, hoping to get some more feedback.

Last Friday, MSI updated my RMA tracking page with "RMA Receiving", indicating they received it and most likely unboxed it at the RMA department. Yesterday, being Monday, the status did not change at all. Today, being Tuesday, it was updated with WIP (Work in Progress). About an hour later, it was updated with Repair-ok, and then RMA Shipping. It's been assigned a shipping date of today, pending a tracking number.

I was very skeptical of the turnaround time, especially because I was told this would take anywhere between 10-25 days. I immediately called MSI to get some details about what was repaired/replaced. I was told that the entire mainboard was replaced, along with the LCD cable and the CPU fan. Additionally, they fixed some hinges. I was also told they found an issue with the RAM. Here's the entire story.

Upon calling MSI, I spoke with a gentleman who tried to convince me that the RAM within the laptop was generating errors, and that was the cause of the screen flickering mentioned in my first post. I could not help but laugh at first. After attempting for 5 minutes to argue that this wasn't possible, I hung up. During the last 3 minutes of going back and forth, the agent repeated over and over "The memory is bad and it's not OEM, you have to fix it yourself." That being said, I called ProStar, the authorized reseller I purchased the laptop from. I told them this experience I had with the MSI agent and he had to stifle a laugh as well. Ultimately, and very reasonably, we both mutually agreed that bad RAM causing the screen flickering was almost if not 100 percent unfeasible. The agent with ProStar said they'd have no issue receiving the laptop, fully benchmarking/testing it, and replacing any after market parts within the laptop that they customized for me if need be. But the agent also recommended that I call MSI back and request a supervisor/manager.

So, I did just that. I called MSI back and immediately requested a supervisor. However, and I commend this agent I got on the line, he did a successful job of deescalating my request and satisfying my arguments. I was told, in much more detail than the previous MSI agent, everything that was replaced/repaired inside the laptop. He also clarified that the bad memory was not the issue causing the screen flickering. He said it could have been the integrated graphics (which got replaced when they replaced the mainboard), the LCD cable (which they replaced), or the dedicated graphics (which I was told they benchmarked with 3dMark and no issues were found). I was also apologized to for the misinformation and the terse attitude of the previous agent.

So, all being said, I guess my laptop is already back with UPS and on its way to my house. Considering I received very different information and claims from two different MSI agents, I'm not really holding my breath here. I was happy with the information received by the second agent, but I'm still skeptical of the turnaround time and discrepancies between information I was given. I have a creeping suspicion that they found the after-market RAM in the laptop, immediately blamed all my issues on that, and boxed it back up. Atleast that's what the first MSI agent made it sound like, which is completely unacceptable and I hope I'm proven wrong. I'm not going to be happy if the graphical issue is still present when I get this back, but I've been assured by the second MSI agent that if any of the same or even new issues occur after getting it back, I'd be fully covered to have it sent back to them again. I also have the choice to send it to ProStar instead, who has elected to deal with MSI on my behalf in getting the laptop fixed. If my issue is still present when I get the laptop back, I'll probably go this route. Based on my experiences with talking to agents from both MSI and ProStar, ProStar wins the credibility award in my book as of right now.

Anyway, sorry for another long post. Just trying to be as informative and thorough as possible about my experience. Ultimately, my mind set is here: Based on what the last MSI agent told me, all my issues should be fixed, minus whatever RAM errors they encountered. (This is after-market overclocked RAM that was installed by ProStar.) But I'm not putting much stock into this because of my experience with the first MSI agent. And, worst case scenario, I have ProStar to fall back on if all else fails.

Thanks for reading.

 

All in All, i just want to make sure that your laptop is fixed and in working condition. we usually give a longer estimate time, to be safe on our part. We dont want to over promise anything and have the customer blame us if we don't have it shipped out by then.

Let me know if there is any issues down the line and i will see what i can do to help the process.

Thanks!
Geno

 

Geno,

One more question for you. I bought a gt72 dominator pro 2pe. It did not come with any accessories besides the power adapter. From what I have gathered, it should have came with a recovery cd, a manual, a protective sleeve and a screen protector/microfiber cloth. I know I can create a recovery did and download the manual online, but I was really excited about the protective sleeve and microfiber cloth. And it would be nice to have a manual that is a book I can flip through. I contacted the support team through the support forum and they keep giving me the run around. I had to send my laptop in to get RMA'd because of a hardware issue and it was repaired. When I requested the accessories they keep responding with, "the repair center did not receive any accessories from you." And I have told them multiple times that I didn't send the items because I never had them, because they didn't come with the computer when I bought it. I am getting really frustrated with the support department. Can you help please? I will pm you my model/serial number.

 

Recovery discs do not come with any purchase but some reseller may create a set for customers. The recovery partition is integrated in the system on HDD or SSD that allows you to generate a set on your own. Manual is available as in PDF file form located in User's Manual folder on the desktop.
Protective sleeve is just to protect the screen from scratches during transportation which will be discarded after unboxing.
Also, screen protector and micrfiber cloth are not included as well, unless offered by a reseller separately as bonus.

You can also refer to Newegg's pictures for actual items that came with the package in the URL below, anything else are not included.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...4152688&cm_re=msi_gt72-_-34-152-688-_-Product

 

***Disregard double post***

 

I really appreciate you trying to help me out on this, however I did see it in about 3 or four unboxing and review videos. I don't have proper backpack for it yet, which is why I want the protective sleeve, so my kids don't put their gritty little hands on it and one other reason I choose not to make public here on the forum, but I pmd to Geno. Also I really like the idea of the microfiber cloth in between the keyboard and the screen because I travel, ALOT! Even if MSI chooses not to correct this minor issue, I will most likely try and track down something very similar and I'll have to work out something else to keep it protected until I get a decent bag that will fit this monster. Oh and I bought it from Amazon, did I say newegg? Sorry if I did. It was Amazon and it was on their hot deals list, got it for $1050! Great deal, but it came in amazons "frustration free" packaging, which turned out to be frustrating because all it came with was a power cord and the notebook. All in all the computer is freaking amazing so even if MSI won't hook me up, the money I saved on it could easily buy me a decent bag and a microfiber screen protector, but, I am saving up for the 980m upgrade, and I might have to do one or the other first. I figure, if I get called away to travel, then I'll just pick up the bag and screen protector first. Honestly, if they just had it in their accessories page, I'd save the trouble and buy it straight out, but it doesn't look like its for sale. Either way, I'm rambling, but I really love this forum and I love helping people out when I get the chance, so thanks for letting me drone on! Lol

 

Hey rob, no problem, that's what these forums are for! As far as the WIP to RMA ok, I work as a Quality Assurance supervisor in an electronics maintenance department (completely unrelated to computers). Each one of my personnel may have 3-4 jobs to do in any given day and these jobs can take anywhere between 2-8 hours of work. Sometimes they'll put an item in work, complete it and start right on the next one before signing off the previous one off in our computer system. Sometimes they'll complete the work then "forget" to log the in process inspections and go home because it's quitting time! Then next day they'll sign off the in process inspections, then put it on a test bench to test their work and when the test is checked ready for issue, they will sign the whole maintenance action off. So it looks like they have only been working on it for an hour when in fact they spent 6 hours on it the day before! It's a very bad habit, but us QA personnel tend to fix that issue when we see it. Mainly because it causes a lot of rework. If a person completely repairs the item, then checks out and goes home without signing it off, another person on another shift might tear the piece back down, or test it and sign it off as could not duplicate problem. Also, most maintenance actions are tracked and that allows the production control supervisors and the customers to know what is going on at all times with their equipment. Not logging maintenance actions causes problems for the whole repair facility and the end user... So that is probably what happened, I wouldn't worry about that. If MSI would give me 2 months to supervise in the RMA department, these kinds of issues would never come up!

The problem you had on the phone with the MSI rep was just bad business communications. Often times, the person answering the phone is no where near the gear itself and they can only rely on what the the maintenance personnel who were working on the gear put in the system. So there may have been some vague note about bad memory and a statement that it wasn't MSI RAM. So the person on the phone can only tell you what they read in the system. I had a recent issue when I called the MSI Technical support line as well. It was when I was inquiring about the 980m upgrade I discussed earlier in the forum. I tried to ask the guy who I would talk to if I wanted to order a part direct. Well, the guy kept sighing after almost every one of my sentences and replied with, "We don't do upgrades here, this is strictly RMA." Even though I kept reiterating that I was only inquiring about a part he kept responding with the same phrase, "we don't do upgrades here this is RMA only." At one point, the guy said, "Let me ask another department," there was about a 3 second pause, then he comes back on the phone and said, "I called the other department and we don't do upgrades here, it is RMA only." I almost laughed out loud! Maybe you got the same guy I did! All in all, what you experienced was bad business communications and bad customer support. This is what I would have done/said. "Sir, I am sorry but it appears that the notes the technician gave me state that the memory was causing the issue. I understand your concerns and how you feel about the RAM not being the main issue, but let me assure you that we replaced the motherboard, the LCD cable and the CPU fan. We also found that your hinges were faulty and went ahead and replaced those for you as well. But let me do this for you, I am going to take down your phone number, call the technician that worked on it and speak to my supervisor to make sure that I am giving you the right answer, because I feel strongly that your concerns should be adequately addressed." Instead of taking 5 minutes to argue with you they could have spent 2 minutes on the phone with the tech and 2 minutes with his supervisor to get you properly taken care of.

If the supervisor stated that the guts were replaced and the MSI tech on the phone, you are probably good to go! So I wouldn't worry about getting your laptop back the same. I just recently RMA'd my laptop and it was repaired and back to me the same week, so it appears that the RMA department is very efficient, but could probably use a little supervision when it comes to logging your information. If two things had happened, you probably wouldn't have had this issue in the first place.

1. The technician signed off in processes immediately after the work was completed, prior to testing.
2. The technician left more detailed notes, something along these lines, "Received computer. Was able to duplicate gripe. Replaced Motherboard, VGA, LCD cable, (QA check). Tested memory. Memory failed test (QA check). Memory is faulty, but is not OEM, can not replace under warranty as it is aftermarket. Inform End user that the memory will need to be replaced after he receives the system. Found faulty hinges. Replaced faulty hinges (QA check). Tested system with known good RAM. Test and check passed, ready for reissue (QA check). Reinstalled aftermarket RAM (QA check). Although the RAM was faulty, it did not seem to have an impact on the original video gripe, please inform End user.

I am really sorry that your situation was handled in that way. Unfortunately some companies, some departments of companies and some employees don't understand how valuable good customer service is. If the customer is happy, they will spend 1000 to 2000 dollars on their next laptop and might spend 15k to 20k on products within their lifetime. This creates more equity for the company, which means more jobs and higher salaries/benefits for the employees. But unfortunately, the customer service representative that is rude to people day in and day out, doesn't usually understand how their behavior can negatively impacts their company and eventually their salary, quality of life and upward mobility in the company. For example, when I sent my laptop in for RMA, I googled MSI RMA and it came up with very bad negative reviews. Mind you, most of these negative reviews were years old, but that just says how long peoples memories are! As old as the internet! If a person has a bad customer service experience, they generally won't buy from the company again and will also tell their friends about their experience or post it on a forum like this, and it becomes a Domino effect. A computer manufacturer can loose 100K in sales over the course of a few years just because of ONE incident with a customer service rep not caring or being rude to a customer.

They guy who sighed at me on the phone every time I spoke, well, he should be retrained, reprimanded or let go. No customer service rep should ever make a customer feel like they are annoying. Honestly, I was about to throw in the towel with MSI. But, I did speak to a a different, very courteous MSI rep, the RMA was efficient and the repair was done quickly. I also LOVE my laptop, so all in all I am a happy customer. However, I do hope that someone, *Cough Geno*, looks into how the customer service reps are dealing with their customers. It seems to be hit or miss, but it should be a pleasant experience every time.

And Rob, please let us know how the whole thing pans out, I hope your laptop comes back working better than when you got it. MSI in general makes a really good laptop!

 

Floyd,

Your issues regarding our customer support have been duly noted. One of the things i come across on the forums and the community is our tech support/ customer support. I have already relayed it to my higher ups and i know that they have had a couple meetings about it in the past month.

We want to be able to provide the best customer support possible and let our customers feel that they have purchased a product that is both awesome in quality and has the support to go with it. Just know that these kind of things take time to improve.

 

I absolutely agree. I believe that MSI does care about its customers otherwise, they wouldn't have sent you here! I completely understand that things take time. People are resistant to change and most of the time you have to force feed them that change b fore they say, "Oh yeah. That's not as bad as I thought!" like I said before, MSI had a bad rap a few years ago, but that is no longer the case. You guys have come along way and I am happy to support this company and they're products!

 

So is the 4K screen on the GE62 locked to 48Hz? That's really the only thing keeping me from buying this laptop. It's the
GE62 2QE-034NE

https://www.komplett.no/msi-ge62-156-4k/836815

If it is locked, are there any other laptops that are thin and with decent performance to can recommend I'm the same or lower price point? I'm currently looking at Asus G501, but keep in mind that I live in Norway and prices are generally higher here, and not all products are available, I. e the razer blade. Thank you

 

thuan, yes, the 4k screen is locked to 48hz. unfortunately, that is just a limitation of the display itself.

Are you specifically looking for a laptop with a 4k screen? our 1080p panels support 60hz.

 

No, I don't need 4K, but I can't seem to find the same laptop with 1800. Any suggestions?

 

http://www.msi.com/product/nb/GE62-2QF-Apache-Pro.html#hero-specification

im not too sure if this exact SKU will be available in your region, but this is the GE62 with a 1080p display

 

Can't seem to find it, but thank you guess I'll have to keep looking, or wait until someone releases a laptop that satisfies my needs then

 

Hey Geno,

So I just got my gt72 in the mail(IPS yes!!) and this thing beautiful and sexy! One problem though the bottom of it creaks when you push on it really bad its the bottom left middle. Is this normal and dose anyone else have this and is it ok if I open it up and check to see if I can fix it? Also is the bottom of the laptop supposed to be flush with the rest of the laptop?

 

Then don't press on it hard! Lol try and post some pics so we can look at your issue. If it's messed up RMA it immediately, they seem to have Very quick turnaround time lately.

 

Found it on eBay, ships to Norway. 1599 USD plus about 100-150 usd for shipping. Here is the link

http://www.ebay.com/itm/MSI-GE62-Ap...-DDR3-NV-GTX-970M-Gaming-Laptop-/161586480822

 

=) That's the thing I don't have to press very hard at all on it to creak, I really like this laptop! Its very slick, I had bought a Aorus X3 plus but I had to return it cause NewEgg lied on their website and said it had a dvd drive. I'm glad I did cause this MSI is sweet! Bigger but not heavy as I thought it would be.

I'll post some photos of the bottom and let you guys tell me if its supposed to be flush with the rest of the laptop or if its supposed to be like this. The creaking only happens when I press on the middle left bottom, the rest of the bottom is solid and doesn't make a sound.

Edit: After checking it out, the bottom seems to be more flush then I thought(its still not flush), it looks fine. I was just going by touch.

 

http://imageshack.com/a/img538/6747/qoXIdJ.jpg
http://imageshack.com/a/img673/7922/Zf6oHV.jpg
http://imageshack.com/a/img538/5152/vXzbKG.jpg
http://imageshack.com/a/img538/6445/i684CF.jpg

All the spots I'm touching cause the Laptop to creak and crack, even if I move the laptop it will creak and crack on that side sometimes. I would really hate to RMA for such a reason though, maybe it would be possible for MSI to send me out a replacement bottom that doesn't creak? Its just annoying to me...

Edit: NVM I just got an email from MSI and they're telling me this is normal and there is nothing wrong with the laptop. I can live with it, I just was worried it might be hitting something or brushing up against something and a replacement wouldn't do any good if this is normal.

Dose anyone else have a gt72 and can confirm this? Not that I don't trust MSI, I just want to make sure.

 

kickback,

i just took out a gt72 and im pressing in those same spots, i can hear a slight audible creak, im pretty sure that's just the plastic bending and flexing as you push up against it. no need to be worried

if you dont believe me since i work for MSI, i can take a video clip of it as well

 

Thanks! But I haven't bought anything expensive over eBay, ever. How safe is it? And what about warranty and such?

 

LOL! Creak? I have never noticed this, but suddenly I feel an urge to start pressing all over my GT72..... and I want to do it HARD, LOL!

 

Well I have had only 2 incidents over ebay in 15 years. The first one was when I got a brick instead of something ... I don't remember what. and another time when I sold someone a laptop and they manipulated the bottom of the box, bypassed the tamper seal and claimed that they didn't receive a laptop. Both of which I filed paypal claims for and won. In the link I gave you, the seller has a 99.6% positive review rating and has had over 12,000 sales, so that usually tells me that you are dealing with a reputable business. As far as warranty is concerned, I know MSI is one of the more lenient companies when it comes to warranties or in other words, they are generally just concerned about your product functioning as intended and not worried so much about where you bought it from. I say go for it! If it is what you want then the risk is worth the reward. Also, I have bought some pretty awesome stuff from some pretty sketchy places before. I bought a Mercedes Benz for 6,000 dollars from a little used car lot that looked like they were swindelers, but I still own it and it runs like a top. Never had a problem with it! I bought a set of Definitive Audio 7.1 surround sound speakers off this crazy guy from craigslist for 500 dollars, yeah, My house sounds like a movie theater. It was like a 3000 dollar set. The guy looked like he was addicted to buying and selling home audio speakers. He had like three sets and there was showing me his new set he had just bought for like 6000. I bought a handmade Japanese knife that costs 500 dollars in a store here in the U.S. on ebay for like 90 dollars. I have 2 R9 290x's in Crossfire in my PC here at my house I got both off ebay for 400. Both of them were used in a bitcoin setup and when bitcoin took a dive, I got a steal. SO yeah, in a nushell. Ebay is relatively safe and so are most people out there sellin their stuff to make a buck. So I say go for it. Buy that sucker and let us know on the forum how much you like it!

So to put it in perspective, this seller had 909 sales last year and only 4 negative reviews, which none of them state they even tried to contact the seller about the problem. And two neutral, one where the guy didn't get his download code (and also didn't indicate that he contacted the seller either...) and the other one was a slow shipping complaint. So all in all I think buying from this seller is pretty Low Risk.

Hope that helps!

 

You will want to use Paypal for sure as they offer buyer protection - if you are really concerned then I would read up about what you are covered for in your country with it and the ins and outs. There is also the option that if you have a credit card that it will have built in protection for purchases. I have sold really expensive stuff on there so I know using Paypal helps buyer and seller ( sold a $9K fountain pen and sell lenses $1200+ often on there )

 

Alright. So here I am again. This time I am posting to express my complete dissatisfaction with MSI right now.

I am beyond infuriated. For Floyd and Geno, you guys have been following my posts about RMA'ing my laptop, so you understand where I am at right now. I just got the laptop back today. Unboxed it. Along with the laptop and the power charger/adapter, I received a small plastic bag with my memory in it. As stated in the last post, they said this memory was bad and non-OEM, so I guess they left it uninstalled from the laptop.

So, the first thing I do is open up the back panel and installed all of my memory. Just out of curiosity, I ran a windows memory diagnostic upon first booting. Low and behold, there was no memory issue detected. Strike 1. I proceed to boot into Windows. As you guys know, I sent this in for a graphical flickering problem and a power problem. The power problem was obviously fixed, as I could boot the laptop up. However, as soon as Windows booted up, bam, there is my screen flickering problem just as before. Immediately infuriated me.

I'd really like to know is how neglectful can the technician(s) be that they could sign off on a laptop with the SAME EXACT ISSUE it came under RMA for. For real? If ANYONE in the RMA department bothered to boot this machine into the OS, they would have immediately saw the issue. So that poses two logical possibilities.
1. The RMA department's testing process does not include booting the computer into the OS, which is completely and utterly asinine.
2. My RMA repair was handled with blatant neglect.

Both possibilities? Completely unacceptable. This issue was described in full and IMMENSE detail to the rep I created the RMA with, there is absolutely NO reason why this should have came back to me with the same problem. Anyway, that's strikes 2 and 3.

As of now, to my great displeasure, I have to send it back in for another RMA. I spent over an hour on the phone with the rep performing redundant troubleshooting, such as updating the graphics driver for the dedicated and integrated chips, doing an F3 reset, etc. Of course, none of this rectified the issue because it's a blatant hardware issue. Not to mention the rep I worked with didn't show an ounce of empathy for my problem. Complete robot reading-a-script typical crap. I don't know what kind of QA standards you guys got over there for customer service/handling and RMA, but if this is the average, then it needs a serious revamp. So now it's being RMA'd under the conclusion that the GPU is bad. WOW, DO YOU REALLY THINK SO, GENIUS? It's not like I theorized that in COMPLETE detail the first time around. Unbelievable.

At the end of the day, you end up with a very unhappy customer and your company incurs more charges on my behalf to get it shipped back and pay for redundant manpower to fix the issue again. It's a lose-lose and unacceptable situation.

Quick update, as I received a call from a supervisor while composing the majority of this post. The supervisor is just as lost as I am on the fact that the laptop was signed off with this issue still blatantly present. And he did confirm that booting the computer into the OS is part of the troubleshooting/testing process, so that makes this a case of straight-out neglect which makes me even more mad. Whoever that tech is should be seriously reprimanded for obvious and previously stated reasons. Anyhow, he assured me that he'd contact me personally when the laptop is received and being worked on, and the continuously contact me with updates about what they've found, fixed, and tested. I'm glad that atleast the supervisors know how to handle a customer. I'm a bit less frustrated now but still extremely unhappy.

I run a business myself and I am seriously considering submitting a formal complaint with the BBB against MSI right now. A part of me wants to hold back on that because I don't believe one bad egg should ruin an entire batch, but MSI customer handling obviously needs some well-deserved attention and there's no proof other than the word of front-line reps that it's being addressed.

I apologize for my aggressiveness and hostility, but I am well within my right to be at this point. Anyway, that's how my Monday has been so far. Thanks for reading.

 

Ilumini,

i spoke with the supervisor that is handling your case and he assured me that you will be taken care of. Just let me know if there is any issues that come up.

Thanks,
Geno

 

Have you tried the PC without your memory when you got it? Because the symptom seems associated with defective memory modules, and Windows Memory Diagnostics doesn't do well since most of us use memtest86 to verify related issues.
MSI's RMA team is usually pretty reliable from the past experience working with them.
1. They do fully test the PC fully, including booting to OS.
2. They follow standard operating procedure in terms of RMA testing and repair process for every unit, and there may be few special units with exceptional attention and extraordinary testing steps due to their special requirement.
Hopefully the supervisor can get to the bottom of the issue for you.

 

I have not. I don't have any other ram module to test with. But to be honest, given the symptoms, I don't really think it's defective memory causing this issue. For the following reasons. The flickering doesn't occur in any of the Safe Modes, and the flickering immediately stops when the Nvidia driver for the dedicated graphics is uninstalled. As soon as the driver is installed and you boot up into Normal mode, the flickering starts. Also, if you look at my first post a few pages back, you'll find a video of how severe the video flickering really is. I have experienced screen flickering in the past due to bad memory, but I've never seen something this egregious. I mean, if you really think there's a good chance that bad memory is causing it, I'll be more than okay with driving 5 minutes down the road to pick up a brand new stick of RAM from my local computer shop. But something tells me it's the dedicated GPU that's the problem.

 

If they sent you the PC back with the memory out saying it was bad memory/memory was the problem - why did you put it back in expecting something different to happen?

It may not be "bad" but incompatible thus it passes any benchmark tests on it, but won't work well in your machine.

While I don't know all the particulars of your experience, my main complaint would be the PC wasn't "fixed" when sent back, because if it was bad memory I would have wanted to have them put in something good that works before sending it back. That may have cost money though (not sure if this is a warranty issue or not), or been thru a reseller who installed the memory. If you had that option and declined - you got what you asked for. If you weren't informed of it, then yes I'd be annoyed.

 

Not booting without the memory? Seriously.

Sent from my SGH-T999 using Tapatalk

 

I don't think you guys are reading my posts closely enough. I was told at one time that the bad memory was causing the issue, and then I was told that was incorrect. So, again, MSI corrected themselves and said the ram wasn't the problem. On top of that, I don't believe the ram to be the problem for previously posted reasons. Secondly, I did not express any sort of expectation that the laptop would boot without ram installed. I was merely dumbfounded at the fact that they didn't reinstall it before shipping it back, knowing well I'd have to open the laptop back up to install the ram again. Not sure what you two read but I suggest rereading again before posting in regards to this.

 

I sincerely empathize with you. I've been there many times, not with MSI though.
Although you are totally right your suggestion for a serious reprimand is not good. That's a case of termination for cause for all responsible staff.
I've own many businesses and the only way to maintain the quality of the products and services and customer satisfaction is to hear the voice of the customer.
I would kindly suggest that you escalate the issue so the upper management may take action, otherwise it will surely be forgotten.
You also should file a complaint with BBB to let other customers know what's MSI response to that kind of event.
MSI must give you a new laptop and not make you wait for maintenance.

 

Hi Geno,

Do you know when the GE72 with gtx970m will be available?

Thank you.

 

It feels like a big mix up of information which can be confusing, but since Intel GPU is the primary display in the system so it needs to share the system memory, so if there's a bad RAM then it would affect the display output as well as system stability. If MSI repair team removed the module and sent it back this way then it's clearly a memory issue because they no longer see the symptom after that removal.
Your best verification method is to test your system in stock condition, then put the bad RAM in to cross check and you will be able to find out.

 

Interesting. Just a few questions though before I try this. If it was bad memory causing the issue, would the screen flicker still occur even if I was in safe mode then? And also, with this theory, why would the flickering stop when the drivers for the Nvidia dedicated graphics are uninstalled? Thanks.

 

Because it's not initialized but running on standard VGA graphics software.

 

Ilumini is already being taken care of and hopefully his situation will be fully resolved. This is not a forum made to incite pitchfork fighting against companies, over these kinds of cases. MSI's initial response to this event was regretful, but it is also not the norm, nor should it be treated as such. Right now thins are being taken care of for Ilumini, and as the main customer of this case, he will hopefully have a solution soon.

I suggest Ilumini keep in touch directly with MSI. Let's remain on topic with questions for Geno.

This would be a sensible test to perform, just in case it hasn't being performed yet. It won't hurt to try, but the main thing is to get the issue fully resolved. I have had bad GPUs going on with my machines before, but flicker was not one of the symptoms. It went full on freeze or blackout of the screen for a couple of seconds, then recovering itself. Then after a day it became corrupt information being displayed etc until it died off.

 

I would like to see those numbers.

 

You are well within your right to be upset. I would be too. I am at a loss for words, all I can say is that your feedback to MSI is exactly what they need. If there were more people on this forum bringing up these issues, then there would likely be less of these incidents. Unfortunately, many people don't bring up their issues to companies as you have and then the company never knows that there is a problem. What I can tell you is that Geno is aware of it and the supervisor of the RMA department is aware of it also. Odds are, you will get your laptop back fixed properly this time. BBB is great and I have used it a few times myself, but I agree that you should hold off and see if the MSI can work through this issue for you now that some bigger players are in the game. Hopefully, this will be a learning evolution for everyone involved and if MSI launches an investigation, they may find solution that will keep this from ever happening to someone else again. Good on you for coming in here and letting the MSI liaison know about your troubles and I am sure they are going to make it right for you!

Also, Gentech made a great suggestion about the ram issue. Although there may not be problems with the main card running, it could be a problem with the RAM issue as it interacts with the IGP, often times, IGP use system memory completely or augment from it. If MSI tested the RAM and it was bad then it is bad and shouldn't be reinstalled in the system, but again, like you said it should have been explained that you would incur cost for a replacement RAM. Sometimes RMA departments are hands off on anything not OEM and for good reason, but if the RAM was the issue they should have given you an option to purchase some from them and if you declined, starkly warned you that installing the RAM back in your system would duplicate your gripe or informed you that you MUST purchase replacement RAM and reinstall it prior to booting up your system. If this is the case then it is easily just a communication issue, where information from multiple sources or too many hands in the cookie jar caused you to misunderstand what the primary issue was. Also don't use windows to test your memory, it sucks, but you can use memtest to see your RAM issues pretty quick. It is MUCH more thorough and tests the RAM a hundred ways to see if there is an issue.

 

Hey guys. Just wanted to know which MSI Laptop has the best display in terms of colour accuracy and gamut?

 

The IPS screens are the best, for the US versions they are installed on the top end models, the GT72 Dominator Pro-444 and -445.

 

And the UK models? I've been looking at this particular model!

http://www.saveonlaptops.co.uk/9S7-16GF11-609-MSI-GE60-2PF(Apache-Pro)-609UK_1693289.html

 

Unfortunately since we do not have brands marketed for other countries I can't say for sure what is panel in there.