Xotic PC Force NBLB2 (Compal NBLB2)

My girlfriend ordered a Force NBLB2 laptop from Xotic PC on Jul 13. It seems to have a problem where the power cord has a faulty connection to the laptop. For example, when plugged in and with the battery attached, it will randomly switch over to battery power and then back to the power adapter. Sometimes it will do this and not switch back and shut off when the battery runs out. When removing the battery and running off the power adapter, it will randomly shut off. It does this while sitting on a desk, untouched and at random. It has done this in Galveston, TX, Austin, TX and Houston, TX. It is not a wall outlet/power/location problem. We have had a terrible time dealing with Xotic about it, so here is the story.

It arrived Jul 28 but she didn't notice the power problem until a few days later when the laptop notified her that it was at critical battery level even though it was plugged in. Then she started paying attention and noted that more often than not the laptop switched to battery power after idling in sleep mode. This occurred at all different delay times, different outlets and different locations. Unplugging the AC adapter at either the wall or computer interface and plugging it back in made the computer recognize the power source and start charging back up.

She sent the laptop to Xotic's service center on Sep 1 and didn't hear from them again after it was received. Two weeks later (Thur Sep 16) she called support who contacted service who claimed not to be able to reach her via email for my login password. No emails from them were found in her spam mailbox and no other attempts were made on their part despite the fact that she had scotch taped her name and number to her power adapter in case they needed it. After emailing her password to them immediately, she received a standard "phase 4: order shipped" email from Xotic the next day (Fri Sep 17) and her computer arrived by UPS Wed Sep 22. Within 15 minutes of turning it on and allowing it to slip into sleep mode the same battery/AC power issue became apparent again.

Upon calling support the next day she was informed service had run diagnostics on the laptop for 3 days and had not found any problems. Typically they contact the customer if their issue could not be replicated, but support couldn't explain why they sent it back without doing so.

So, anyone else had this weird power problem before? What should we do about this in regards to Xotic? It seems to me like it was just blown off with no explanation about what they did other than 'run diagnostics' on it...and they shipped it back out before they even had the password to log into it for three days, so that appears to have been a lie, unless they could run diagnostics on it without the login. I have to say that I am pretty disappointed with this, since I have heard great things about the company and in particular, their support. I bought my G73JH-A1 through them and have had no problems with it so far. Additionally, it should be mentioned that my grilfriend is awaiting med school and searching for a job right now, and this is her only laptop...the more time it is away, the less time she has to search for a job, other than driving around endlessly.

 

First, are you sure the problem is with the laptop and not with the power adapter? I once had this issue of my laptop randomly switching to battery power and it turned out that one of the wires inside the power adapter cable was torn, but still partly connected so sometimes it worked and sometimes it did not. From your description, it sounds like you sent your power adapter to them together with the laptop, but I'm not sure whether they tested it or just looked for a sleep issue with a different adapter.

As to what you can do about xotic's behavior, the answer is "not much" -- that's the downside of buying from these small shops. I bought my JFL92 from a different shop, but when I had this power adapter issue, they said that the warranty doesn't cover it because it's "mechanical damage" so I had to pay $50 for a new adapter (I eventually fixed the old one myself so now I have two). When my webcam cable broke, I didn't even bother calling them because I knew that they'd say the same thing and just fixed it myself again.

My advice to you would be to first determine whether the problem is mechanical (i.e. the cord of the adapter is damaged) or in the firmware. Does the laptop only exhibit this behavior when transitioning from sleep mode or does it do it at other times too? If it's only sleep mode, then you should install the latest drivers for everything related to the chipset and battery.

 

jmslew I am sorry to hear of this issue you are experiencing. You are more then welcome to PM or email me direct if can be of any assistance with this issue you are having with your laptop.

 

I don't think the problem comes from the power adapter...when wiggling it around, it has no effect on the issue, but while it is sitting completely still on a desk or table, if you unplug the adapter from the wall outlet and plug it back in, it will begin to show that it is pulling power from the adapter instead of the battery.

Justin, I will PM you with the current status and thanks for responding.