Averatec Warranty

I was talking to the tech support guy (i actually find a cool guy)

turns out upgrading ram is "A-OK!" ... ya he said that

but anyways here are the "no-no's" (ya, he said that too)

HD UPGRADE = WARRENTY VOID
CPU UPGRADE = WARRENTY VOID
*OVERCLOCKING = WARRENTY VOID (GPU/CPU)
WXGA/WSXGA MOD = WARRENTY VOID
BIOS UPGRADE = NO COMMENT!?!?

*note: this is actually not much of a problem, a friend had his averatec OC'd using the omegadrivers 4.12... and he had his averatec checked out because of a crack on his chasis (which i'm now getting), and they didn't notice. He said he used thermal compound on the GPU, then before he sent it in, he took it off, and reverted back to original settings. NOT ADVISEABLE THOUGH, he said he noticed artifacts

apparently he didn't know wat a bios upgrade was... he actually asked me if it was possible... I also asked him about the HDTV output ont he 9600, and hes like "only on desktops" i'm like "...no, the Mobility Radeon 9600 has the ability to do HDTV output, its one of the first Mobility Radeons to do so... " "o... i didn't know that"

of course under my breath im like "suprise suprise, averatec support doesn't know something"

but ya, just for something you guys should keep in mind, and if one of you guys manage to get to someone that knows about the bios upgrading, that would be nice


-Luis

 

Thanks for the info mate.

 

Nice to know. Thanks

 

Nice work Catalyst!!

I must admit it's disturbing that averatec "didn't know wat a bios upgrade was... he actually asked me if it was possible" [:0]

But maybe its better that way. Idon't recall in any of my prefab PC's the support folks offering that either...thats like suggesting some good ole registry edits for the noob.

As far as knowing about BIOS upgrading, I know enough that I likely wont mess with it unless ab-so-lutely necassary. I have posted a link or 2 as have a few hints been dropped by other members. But the fixes in those upgrades dont seem to over shodow the potential damage one can do. I havent even seen on the mobo if a cmos shunt exists.

Cheers!
DD

 

What about a wireless card upgrade? You can get much better cards than the MSI (who also make the MB) one that comes with the 6200 series, for example. Tech support even admitted to me that the MSI "weren't designed" for "long range" wireless! An Intel Centrino series type can just pop into the mini-pci slot (you need to connect the two antennae wires as well--the connectors seem to be standardized) and performs MUCH better. The MSI shows one network in my range (my own) while the Intel shows five.
Toshiba uses "Atheros" cards, and they also seem to be extremely sensitive.
Just need to download the appropriate drivers from the manufacturers' site.

 

Well,

I would suspect that it shoudln't be much of an issue considering its a simple installation as installing a ram module (same design)

You should call Averatec Tech Support, they could probably help you out in reference to that. To be honest with you I woudln't go through the effort of changing it mainly becuase you'd have compatibility issues with the WiFi button on the top of the laptop (as the Asus models tend to have that problem)

If you find out, please let us know but I would highly doubt it

-Luis

Keyboard not connected ... Press F1 To Continue

 

I was speaking with an Averatec support rep recently and was informed that before warranty work could be done, the machine would have to be restored to the factory original equipment. In other words, my 1gig of memory would have to be replaced with the original 512meg, and my 100gig HD would have to come out and the original 60gig HD reinstalled. Both of which I still have of course. Made sense to me and didn't seem to be an unreasonable condition for sending it in for repair. But she made it clear it would still be covered if within the standard warranty period.

redjr...

 

I just purchased the Averatec 4265 and have been pleased with it so far (just few hours playing with it), but just now I read the user manual and it says the battery is only good for 300 charges. I'm a student so I use and charge my laptop everyday. So in 300 days I'll have to buy a new battery for this laptop and the warranty only covers the batter for 6 months(180 days). I called Averatec's customer service and they confirmed this. I'm returning mine tomorrow. I'm not going to buy a new battery every year. That's ridiculous.

 

Good luck finding a notebook with more battery life. I think it was kinda childish to return a laptop for that reason. The laptop has a 8 cell lithium Ion battery so if you get 2.5 to 3 hours that is fairly decent. also if you do what is practical and allow it to power completely down before charging the laptop you can possibly get more out of the battery. Averatec offers a 6 month warranty on batteries.

 

averatec employees are quite ignorant to alot of things, i had an issue with my screen and it turns out they can't even ship out to canada, hes like

"you could drive over and mail it, but then we won't be able to mail it back"

 

All batteries have a half life and a memory effect. That's probably what this is. If you learn to use a battery more efficiently (fully charge, then fully discharge) and practice battery refreshing/calibration exactly as stated in the manual, It'll last much longer. The 300 charge figure is a boilerplate term used to prevent liability for battery users that don't know what they're doing. Run your battery down 100% and charge to 100% daily, and your battery will last years. It's not a matter of brands or batteries, it's standard practice.

 

What's that?

(It's spelt Warranty. ;-)

 

Re; Averatec Warranty:
My concern is not so much their warranty but their service. Living in PA it takes about 10 days to do ground to Freemont, CA; then about 10 days in shop: then 7-10 days return. Well when I purchased it and brought it home the restore software did not work - so it had to be "reimaged" then when I received it back the screen was damaged -- seems they do not believe in double boxing a laptop -- (I do) so now it is back in the shop. I asked for an exchange from Averatec. No way. So now two months have gone by and I have not even really registered my software! So I asked (wrote) will my warranty be extended? Answer - no. I purchased it December 4 I am waiting for the computer as of today January 27. I expect to see it around February 14. Hmm valentine's Day. Hope it is a sweetheart.
bigbandan

 

It took 5 weeks to get my back the first time I had to send it in, for cracked screen. Got it back then noticed the cracked case. I complained that they had the units for 5 week and my warranty should be extended to cover the cracked case because 1/2 the screws were loose on the back and bottom. They did cover it under warranty. This time it only took 3 wks for the turn around.

That I why I am looking for some one to send me a copy of the Bios for the 6130HS. It's out of warrant now. Knowing them they would replace the MB for who know what $$$$. When all they have to do is reload the BIOS from a bootable floppy. At least the BIOS is in a socket on the 6130, and I have a programmer.

 

Good luck finding a Battery that is going to do much better then that. All Lithium Ion batteries are made the same way so battery life (recharge cycles) are going to be about the same. That said I think the tech was estimating on the low side. I'd guess it would be more like 500+ cycles. Of course as it ages the time of use will slowly reduce. Only you can determine when that useful charge is not useful to you. I rarely if ever use my batteries for anything but a power failure backup. So whats usable to me is going to be far different then what is useable to you.

 

It is kinda funny I should come across this thread. They can not refuse to honor your warranty because of a mod. The mod must have caused failure of the part that is to be warrantied. I wrote an in depth post on the Magnuson-Moss Act of 1975

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