On the phone with Powernotebooks :(

I was so excited when my ups box came today, until, BAM I look at my notebooks screen.

Huge like gash or cut in the bottom. On hold right now, waiting too see whats.

Oh look not on hold anymore. Support was quick, very nice. I have to await a return call at the moment so I can get the info to send it back.


A terribly joyous moment I suppose you could call it. Guess my review will have to wait.


Edit: By the way I want to note that this in no way changes my mind about the 2090, I still love it and I think it looks great. One note is that the PowerPro J version from powernotebooks has actual buttons instead of the heatsensitive ones for the WoW Audio and such, otherwise looks the same. If you want I can try answering some basic questions about the laptop, outside of actual performance, as I never went through the setup of Vista.

 

Take a pic and post it. Would be interested to see the gash...

 

What exactly did you order? This seems like pretty poor quality assurance unless it happened in shipping. But I have no idea how this could have.

 

PowerPro J 10:15. You can't feel the gash, it just looks like one. Im assuming the screen got like bent in or something. I don't want to post any pictures of it until I have it resolved and replaced.

 

Wow, after powernotebooks says they assemble the product and test them you would think the notebook would be crisp and clean once you get it. Maybe it happened during shipping? I just can't beleive something like this would happen. What did you order anyways?

 

I assume is the wxga screen, glossy - right?

I don't understand your reluctance to post a pic of the problem, we might be able to help explain what happened. Was there any damage to the shipping containers?

Please keep us all posted on this.

 

Well I know enough that I didn't do it myself seeing as it was one of the first things I did. I wanted to turn it on and see if it worked before installing the 2gb stick I bought, and setup all the basic vista nonsense before having it charge up and stuff.

Took it all out of the packaging and stuff, opened it up. Couldn't see anything with the screen off. Took my first picture of the screen and was like wtf is that. I put the battery in, and turned on and was WTF!? Called tech support and while on hold I started writing the post.


So far they've been very nice, waiting on my information for the return.



Edit: I can't really see any damage to the boxes, but there are some creases on the side so maybe it's that. My reluctance for posting pictures is that I don't want some nonsense to happen because of it, I just feel that trusting of everyone on the internets just yet. You'll see a picture eventually, and by then I'll probably be able to tell you what happened anyways.
I'll make sure to keep everyone up to date, as well I've got nothing else to keep my mind focused on right now -_-


It's the 1280x800 glossy screen, so wxga.

 

Oh geez, that's bad. Gashes and things like that are my worst nightmare when it comes to laptops. Hope you get that fixed right away!

 

The damage must've occurred during shipping, I can't see how PowerNotebooks would ship, much less assemble, a Compal with screen damage such as that.

Please take some pictures for posterity and we are curious as to how the screen is damaged as well.

 

I'd REALLY like to see the screen damage. Can you at least take a photo so we can see what you mean by "PowerPro J version from powernotebooks has actual buttons instead of the heatsensitive ones" Does it look something like this?:

 

I've got a bajillion pictures already heh, I was going to do a review of sorts, at least a picture guide of me unpacking it, so I was prepared. It's the weirdest thing really, I don't see Powernotebooks shipping it damaged, and it doesn't really look like the boxes are damaged but their are some creases on them /shrug. All I know is, I didn't know, and I am a sad sad sad person

 

That's what it looks like right there, buttons just like. My assumption is that's the IFL90 and not the Sagers version, NP2090.

 

I remember Donald said that Sager got that first batch of WXGA IFL90s weeks ago "outside the channel", maybe thats why the differences in the buttons. With Sager and everyone else pulling from the same shipments now, all 3 (Xotic, PNB, Sager) are likely all the same.

 

The images of the buttons on the IFL90 in the user manual I downloaded from Bizcom are definitely different than the picture above. I think Compal must have made a change in how they manufacture the IFL90. I would expect everybody to get the same kind of buttons from now on.

 

Hmm, I was digging the touch sensitive pad thing that the IFL-90 had, unless that's a Sager-only thing, I hope I still get the other design rather than those buttons, because to be honest, I think they look pretty ugly.

 

Yeah they look really ugly, I will be extremely disappointed if I see those ugly buttons. Didn't GlueEater and Flippoet have the heat sensitive buttons? How does everyone else who got theirs look?

 

This is the first I've seen the ugly buttons. There were some reports of buttons not working - I hope they didn't turn to these as a solution to that problem.

When mine comes, assuming its next week, it'll be almost a 9 week wait. I really hope after waiting this long there aren't problems and disappointments.

 

Damn, not just the buttons, the case is almost....purple...ICK!

 

what dah...you got buttons instead of heat sensitive like the fl90 instead of an ifl90. aw man..this is dissapointing. the pictures provided by powernotebook for their ifl90 model show the heatsensitive buttons...kinda misleading isnt it? =\

and the fl90 model was reported to have a dark ink color instead of pure black. eh..

 

Sounds like he got shipped the wrong product, too?

 

Maybe I did.....we'll find out anyways. Mines not purple at all though. It's blue. My buttons look nicer as well, smoother rather. Either way the computer overall was nice looking.

We'll see what happens though, we'll see. To stifle my upsetness I bought a PS3. PS3 is pretty sweet.

 

So your buttons do not look like what was in the picture? They're smooth rather than round indentend like the picture? And it's blue rather than black?

 

Well Scavar that's absolute **** man I feel bad for you.

Hope your PS3 weens you off the dissapointment

 

I got that photo from a polish review of the fl90 not the ifl90 http://www.notebookcheck.pl/Recenzja-Compal-FL90.4123.0.html
The buttons don't look bad in some shots, its just not what I was hoping for:

I really liked the black gloss finish above they keyboard but the fl90 lacks this nice finish.
And the lid looks horrible:

I REALLY hope they arnt shipping fl90s instead of the ifl90s, but I think this is the second report of this happening in the US. I'd want a refund before I'd want that ugly thing on my door step.

 

Scavar could you post some pictures of the laptop without the showing us the screen damage? Like maybe a picture of the keyboard?
Thank you,
Tim

 

Can Donald or Justin comment on the "Buttons" problem. A lot of disappointed people here about those buttons, and I am not very happy myself. The heat buttons do look better and it is what everybody paid for.

 

I just care about having dependable buttons.

 

Yeah I know, but when you thought you were buying a laptop that looked one way and now it looks completely different...well that can be a little upsetting.
Tim

 

I sent the pic posted in this thread to Ron at Powernotebooks and asked him to comment on the buttons. Its been a few hours and no response yet.

I'm torn on the issue. I want the machine as its been presented when I ordered it. I've already let them switch screens on me - from glossy to matte. If they're going to ship the FL90 rather than the IFL90 it might be it for me.

But something about Scavar's post doesn't feel right either. I wish he'd just post a few of those many pictures he took to settle the issue.

 

yeah i don't see what would be wrong with posting these pics, i dont think they would refuse to fix it because he posted pics. And they probably have a return policy too. I dont know why you would start this thread and think people would not want to see proof of the damage.

 

Unfortunately there was incorrect information provided to us on the non channel WXGA (1280x800) IFL90 or "FL90" we received in. What we have determined is

- Different buttons
- No Fingerprint Reader
- Slightly different exterior / back lid

This is ONLY on the WXGA models and doesn't affect the WSXGA+ models whatsoever. This will not affect any Sager WXGA models. The Sager is a direct channel version of the IFL90 WXGA which is exactly as we have all seen in the past.

We are working with customers who have received these and will 100% stand behind what we sold. If customers want to return for a refund or change to a different machine we will honor this request.

I completely understand the frustration with it and we are working to resolve this directly with any customers. We apologize for any inconvenience and for this error.

 

As a matter of principle, I think if Compal changed the look of the machine, people who care about the looks would be justified in canceling or returning the machine for a full refund.

I'm a strong advocate of customer rights and I do think that if a manufacturer publishes picture of a product, they have to sell a product which looks like the picture.

In this case, the buttons I've seen here wouldn't make me return the machine because I don't care about looks that much. (I do care, but not that much.)

 

Thanks Justin.

 

Thanks, Justin. This is exactly the kind of response I'd expect from a reseller that cares about its customers.

 

Well that at least explains it.

Was any attempt made to contact the purchaser of the machines to explain that it'd be different than what they expect?

 

We have started contacting the customers who are waiting for arrival of this item and will continue to cal through them to update them on this information. We want nothing less then to be 100% up front to our customers. I am sure Donald is doing the same.

I personally learned of this information over the weekend and started immediately with the proper corrective actions.

 

Good deal Justin, thanks. We know you and Donald aren't the cause of our frustration and we do appreciate your commitment to service. Hopefully this will soon be behind us all.

 

so scaver, now can we see pics of your screen?

 

Well this isn't fun, its really messed up actually. Slow shipping then the wrong item?? Not good at all.

 

At least there is good news, it doesn't affect the Sager model .

 

I'm waiting for the point where me and my sager live happily ever after.

 

Thank you VERY much Justin for clearing that up.
Tim

 

Well I deff have te "FL90" from looking at it, I was way pissed earlier. I sent Donald an email asking about it. I have to wait for UPS to come by or some such, then send it back to Powernotebooks. My dad ended up handling stuff after a bit because I was just to upset/angry/sad/stressed at the time. So yeah I asked about that, but it was pretty recent so I won't know for a bit.


Picture that should sort of show you the keyboard buttons, and deff show you the screen.

 

Thanks for the pictures, Scavar. Unfortunate you have to go through this, I hope it works out for you in the end.

 

Wow! Thats really bad and I'm sorry it happened. I'm sure powernotebooks will take care of you. Let us know how you end up.

 

Wow, that's gotta suck getting a new machine with a screen like that

Hope you get things straighted out quickly!

What's up with the keyboard though? Are all of the keyboards fscked up with regards to the function and control keys? If they're all going to be like that, can we re-map the function key?

 

Sorry to hear that happened. I am sure PowerNotebooks will do everything they can to help you out.

 

yea, i know what you mean about the fn and ctrl keys.
apparently, its a bios setting and not a windows thing...so remapping em is really hard or not possible it seems =\
old sager models have little downloads that changed em for ya...but it doesnt seem like theres gonna be one out for 2090s?

and scavar...dang that must be horrible. sry it happen. i wouldnt worry at all bout gettin a replacement...rather just how quickly..

 

Thanks for the support guys

There are a couple of programs I think out there to remap keys for you, or you could just get use to it, heh.

And yeah hopefully everything will go well.

 

Holy crap--I thought you were exaggerating about the screen since you were so unwilling to show a picture, but that is unbelievable.

There's no way someone could have seen that and not put up a red flag. Looks like a whole section of the screen when dead pixel