Problems With Prostar - Sager 8170

Greetings, gentlemen.

I purchased a Sager 8170 from Prostar in mid october. On december 15th, the unit would not power on, no matter the outlet I used (tried every one in the house). Believing that it was the power unit, I contacted Prostar, got an RMA and shipped it in. A month later they contacted me with the news that the power unit was broken (cracked) and the warranty does not cover physical damage. Odd, i thought, my laptop never moved from my desk the moment i got it!

So, I ordered a 220W power adapter, specifically built for the 8170, from another company, and it arrived. I've tried every outlet in the house and the same problem with my laptop! And yet Prostar claimed that my power adaptor was broken! What are the chances that two power adapters, one brand new right out of the box, are broken? I bet pretty close to impossible. Further, what are the chances that both the power adapter and, i'm guessing, power unit(?) on the laptop break at the same time? Also next to impossible i bet.

Gentlemen, I believe Prostar has scammed me.

Now I've got a broken laptop, and no honest company to repair it. I won't risk sending my laptop to Prostar, i just KNOW they're just going to scam me again, and this time with the $2000 laptop!

I sent the below directly to sager (maybe they can help me?):



Sager Tech Support, You're my only hope!

In late October 2011, I purchased a custom built sager 8170 from Prostar, and on December ~15th it wouldn't power up any longer. Since it arrived its just been on my desk, I never traveled around with it or anything (way too heavy!).

My sager 8170 is having problems with its power: I've tried every single outlet and none of them work (none of the lights turn on and, of course, the laptop wont power on).

I sent the original power adapter into Prostar for it to get fixed, assuming it was what was broken; they said it was broken, physically cracked and therefore not covered under warranty, and they won't ship it back to me unless i pay $50 for shipping, but they would send a picture (I was pretty pissed off when i heard the news, so I abstained and hung up on them). I then proceeded to order a new power adapter for the 8170, a 220W adapter (***EDIT : PROSTAR DID SEND ME THE CORRECT POWER ADAPTER***). I've tried every single outlet in the house, with the new adapter, and my laptop still refuses to power up (none of the lights turn on); therefore, the problem must be with the laptop, right? What's the probability of two power adapters, one completely new, breaking? Its has to be next to impossible! Therefore, I believe Prostar has scammed me on my original power adapter! Now that I know that there is a problem with the laptop, specifically, and that Prostar has scammed me, I just cant send my laptop to them to get fixed, I know they're going to try and scam me again (and this time an even bigger scam! $2,000 computer).

Since your company is the manufacturer of the model, and thus probably the power system, can you help me out? I really don't want to get scammed again! I'm still covered under warranty (it's only been 3 months! and i've used it for only 1!), I've still got all my original information and everything from Prostar. Please! Help!

 

Sorry to hear about your issues. I'm pretty sure, your system is under Sager's warranty and they will honor it. Probably a mobo/power circuitry failure.

Since you have the beast at home, try the following:

1)Unplug the power cord
2)remove the battery
3)Press&hold the power button for 30sec

If that doesn't help, try also unplugging the BIOS battery for 1 min.

Nothing helps ->motherboard needs be replaced

 

I have a laptop from ProStar that I had to send back twice to resolve what was ultimately a bad CPU or so they told me. It took a long time and I was with out a laptop for months but they did fix it. I'm surprised they have been so awful in servicing your issues. I'd be pissed! Give um hell till they fix it.

 

I'm going to try that when i get home, Aikimox, thanks =)

 

Keep us posted.

 

ProStar doesn't even get their machines from Sager, do they? I'm under the impression that they're also a direct importer, and they certainly don't market machines under the Sager moniker.

Anyway, I hope they get you sorted out. PS always handled my RMA situations quickly, once the issue was narrowed down.

 

first things first.
the 8170 user manual has 3 different power supply's.
model A & B are both 15" and are supplied either with a 120w or 180w
model C is the 17" and should have a 220w power supply.
next question is what graphics card have you got. did you go for the highest spec one. if not this might be why they sent out the lower power adapter.

in my eyes as the user manual says the 17" has a 220w supply then no matter who broke the power supply the supplier should replace it as you have got something which you didnt order.

you can get the user manual > with all the drivers http://www2.sagernotebook.com/pages/notebooks/download.cfm?ProductType=8170

 

The P170HM should always come with the 220w power supply. The A and B models are the P151HM1 and P150HM, respectively. The updated manual also has a D model, but that's just the P170HM with the 3D kit.

 

The 8170 that i bought from Prostar is the 17", and the GPU in it is the Radeon 6690m.

I contacted prostar for pictures of the adapter they originally sent me, and they did send me a 220w apparently. The guy i talked to on the phone must not have known he was talking about (why a clueless tool would be in charge of repairs, I have no clue). But I take back that they sent me a 180W, they did indeed send me a 220w (This is the model number from the picture they sent: FSP220-ABAN1)

Even though they sent me the correct wattage adapter, they still claimed it was broken, which is clearly BS now that i have a brand spanking new one from another company. Scam imo.

 

Direct importer? Last time I checked with Clevo, the only importer for North America was Sager. One and only authorized distributor for the continent.

 

Try not to be so myopic. The notebook not working with the new PSU does not preclude the old PSU from being broken as well.

Do they want you to send in the notebook? If so, they must want to solve the issue.

I hear that too. But a lot of the resellers on this forum have said PS buys direct.

 

From what I remember, Eurocom, Pro-Star, and Sager were the three Clevo barebone importers in North America.

 

RJ Tech? 10char

 

Dunno, I still have the official response from Clevo (a year ago) stating that the only authorized importer for NA was Sager. I doubt things have changed that much in the past 12 months.

 

thanks for the update with the models MALIBAL #2. gets so confusing over here in the uk as suppliers all have different names and numbers.

 

They specifically stated that the old one is broken. The probability of the old one and an out-of-the-box-new one being broken is incredibly improbable.

The probability of both the motherboard and the adapter being broken at the same time would also be incredibly improbable, *unless it was some kind of electric surge*, however, as the adapter is cracked, and not fried, this is not the case.

 

Alright so i've tried messing with both the battery and the CMOS battery, neither have worked. So its pretty obvious then that my motherboard is fried? Would this be physical damage? I really don't want to get scammed again by sending the laptop into Prostar, but Sager has yet to get back to me.

 

Maybe you should be talking to a lawyer. Have them write a letter to the seller. A crack in a power supply shouldnt cause the computer to not work anymore. Man I hate stuff like this. They dont make power supplys with cracked cases, but it doesnt mean some tape over the crack [or some epoxy] wouldnt make it fully serviceable. Also it shouldnt make your laptop not boot.

 

I see they say the PSU is damaged, but ProStar hasn't even had a chance to evaluate the machine yet.

Have they explicitly refused to take the notebook in for servicing, despite being under warrant?

Yes/No please.

 

Even though Prostar is only a block or two away from Sager in Rowland Heights, CA, Prostar does do the repairs.

They have in the past done well in handling RMA's.

-

 

Guess you got lucky then.

I may have to risk sending in my laptop. Going to wait a few days for a response from sager though first.

 

Dear Blurry,

We e-mail you the picture of the AC Adapter before. You can see the AC Adapter has a physical damage.

We offer you Air Service to Canada both ways to get the laptop back for service. We will make all necessary repairs and do a full test on the laptop for 72 hours before we ship back to you. We also offer to replace your AC Adapter with a new one. However, we get no replies from you since Friday, Jan. 27.

You order us not to call you. We only can continue to send you e-mails, and hope you will return back our e-mails.

For the past 20 years, ProStar has been committed to provide the latest mobile technology and superior service at an affordable price. Since our establishment in 1992, ProStar has been meeting and exceeding consumer and reseller expectations. We specialize in world best gaming laptops and focus on the development of innovative technologies, configurations and features. Our graphics laptops rival and often surpass its desktop PC counterpart in speed, flexibility and versatility.

Blurry, please contact us. If there is anything wrong with the laptop, Prostar will make the laptop right for you.

Sincerely yours,


Prostar Computer, Inc.