Digital Audio Wave (DAW) Nightmare

The worst experience I've ever had in my life with
ordering anything!!

I ordered a laptop in mid-November that had an AMD
chip and a 12-cell battery and 15" screen. I was also
promised a faster video card than what was listed on
the website after talking to Frank who spoke with his
distributor. I thought it was going to be great as
Frank seemed very nice.

I got the computer in early December and it was stuck
at 800MHz after paying for a 2.4Ghz chip. It took
days to get an RMA number. I sent it back to them and
then barely heard anything for months except when I
called to ask about it, and then it would sometimes
take days to get a response with any information.

After taking weeks to send it to the manufacturer,
they finally got it back from the manufacturer in
April, but of course it wasn't fixed. Then they sent
me a completely different computer with a much shorter
battery life that was also broken after telling me it
had all the requested specs.

Being fed-up after waiting for 5 months for a working
computer with the specs I ordered and still not having
received it or even having the possibility of
receiving it at this point since they didn't have any
computers with a 12-cell battery, and a small screen
with fast video card and AMD processor, I requested a
refund and was denied. I tried to send it back and
they refused the shipment - twice.

I had to go through Visa to get my money back and that
took 3 months including nearly having to go through
arbitration before they finally agreed to the refund
in mid-July. It was ridiculous.

Frank then even had the nerve to sarcastically thank
me for "using the computer for 8 months," after it
took nearly 1 month to receive the first one (which
was broken), and then holding onto it for 4 months
before sending another broken one with the wrong
specs, which ended up sitting in a box for 3 months
while they did everything they could to hold onto my
money after failing to deliver what they promised.
And that was after I offered to send the second broken
laptop back to them at my expense! It even took him
his usual 3 days to even respond to my offer, even
though their website says, "Please allow 1 business
day for a reply (on regular business days, we will
normally respond same day before COB)," by which point
I had already sent it back.

Even after that they told the delivery company that
the address was wrong when I sent it to the same
address as the previous 2 shipments and Frank never
said they moved, and I had to resend it to another
address. They played games until the very last
instant...

Miserable, Miserable, Miserable Experience!!!! If I
could give a 1/10 I would, and that's only because I
liked Joe who's honest and does the service and
actually knows what he's talking about. Otherwise it
would be a 0/10.

And to think it could have all been avoided if Frank
never promised what he couldn't deliver as I would
have never ordered the laptop from there in the first place.

 

Are you sure it was stuck on 800mhz. because amd chips have the speed tech like pentium Ms so it runs at 800mhz to covserve battery but when an app needs it faster it automatically bumps the speed to full speed. or you can have it run at full speed all the time or low speed. also if you were to check in windows properties it would always say 800mhz so you have to download special utils to see you actual speed. so you may have sent it back for nothing in the firstplace. never seen a chip stay at a low speed. and if it did there is a good chance a reinstall of windows would fix it. i have a amd 64 laptop and when i first got it i had the same concern cause windows doesnt read the actually speed. of course i could be wrong since i dont know if you were aware of this.

from amd site
AMD PowerNow!™ Technology for Extended System Battery Life
The AMD Athlon 64 processor for desktop-replacement notebooks features AMD PowerNow! technology, which delivers performance on demand while providing the capability to extend a system's battery life. Processors featuring AMD PowerNow! technology can operate at lower-power or higher-performance modes based on the application's demand for CPU cycles, optimizing battery life under typical usage conditions. AMD PowerNow! technology also reduces typical processor power consumption and allows the processor to dissipate less heat under normal operating conditions, providing a cooler and quieter running notebook.

 

Yep, I'm positive. It ran SuperPi 2M digits at at 3 1/2min for a 2.4Ghz chip which should have been at about 1 1/2min. I couldn't get it to go faster after hours of browsing, reloading drivers, etc., and neither could the reseller (DAW) nor the manufacturer despite having it in their possession for 4 months between them. That's why they ended up sending another computer.

Thanks for asking though.

 

Well im glad you got your money back. sounds like you went through hell i would have been pissed to have to deal with all that.

 

Actually, the older AMD CPU drivers made the PowerNow! feature stuck at 800 mhz. The newest driver that AMD provides on their website fixes this problem. This wasn't really AMD's fault, more like the OEM's fault for not providing you with the latest drivers.

 

doesnt it even need the drivers i thought XP had it built in and to the power scheme like portable or home office settings. i know with win2k you needed the drivers.