Sending my M860tu back

Well, had it less than a day and I really do feel like crying. I had to send my 17" ROCK Extreme 770 (also in a Clevo chassis) back to ROCK due to having set up problems that should have been sorted from the outset... and then a stuck pixel apeared within a few hours of using it.

And now the same problems.

I honestly feel that I am destined to never ever be able to have a laptop that comes without problems.

I can't believe that I've got the same problems all over again with a laptop. It's so upsetting! I've got a serious headache having spent an entire last rest day from work trying to sort things out. I was hoping to have the day to enjoy my new laptop.

 

trust me i feel like you i had to end up settling on something being wrong on pretty much any system i had

 

so sorry to hear that Gunsmith have you spoken to Andrew yet. hes on the kobalt forum at the moment.
just out of interest what part of england are you in.

 

I'm in Birmingham.

EDIT: Not a member of the forum there yet.

 

Oh well... that was fast!
Sorry to hear that. What's going to happen now?
Good luck Cat

 

I'd still try to talk it out with Kobalt if I were you, they might be able to help and fix everything up the easy way. The computer is too nice just to give it up in a day . The driver thing annyed the hell out of me too until I had the idea to put vista to dig in the old install for the driver but in any case is just a small issue and easy to solve. Just as an info those wireless cards are pretty new andLinux does not even see them as a device so a 5 minutes fight in vista is reasonable. I'm having a 2 days fight in linux to try to get it running .
For the stuck pixel you can look around the forums there are many solutions to get it back working. Right now the only one that comes to mind is here:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=205461

 

thats a bummer, the laptop looks sweet,
mine has a DEAD pixel, well i think its dead it only shows up with certain colour backgrounds but i couldnt send it back as i got it from rambo nothing else wrong with it though so i can live with it.

 

the forum has been hit by spammers lately and thats why it was locked to new members. if you would like i can forward your info onto them if you havnt already spoken to them today. i think they will know who you are as i dont think there are many kill bill lids.

 

The problem I have is this... when the same thing happened to me before with ROCK computers, and they promised me a screen replacement under my no dead pixel guarantee, they didn't replace the screen. They wer lazy and just took all my components out of the chassis and put them in another chassis. This would have been okay if they hadn't put them in a chassis with a keyboard with so much flex on one side that it could have been used as a catapault for a small rodent!

My keyboard in the original chassis was perfect.... as is the keyboard in this chassis I have now.

 

Keep in mind gunsmith, stuck pixels are fixable, dead pixels are not

Mine actually has a stuck pixel on the right side (middle), a dead pixel on the bottom left, and a dead pixel near the center (slightly higher, to the right).

Personally, I don't notice them unless I'm really looking, and only on a solid white background



edit: try this program here, leave it on for an hour or so and don't touch the lappy.


http://www.jscreenfix.com/

 

I'm hoping it is stuck.. not hot. I'm wondering if the hot pixels are fixable.

 

Hot I'm not sure.

Also, that program actually didn't work on my particular stuck pixel, but a different method did.

Take a pencil, put it over the stuck pixel, shut off your computer. Now push, with some force, the screen should be bending a little bit, because you're now touching the actual LCD screen and pushing in. While doing this, power on the computer.

The theory is that you reseat the pixel and turn the computer on, lighting it up. It took me a few tries, but this method fixed mine in the end.



And really, I implore you to reconsider. The m860tu really is one of the best laptops you can get out there, ESPECIALLY in a 15.4" size. I think everyone's had their fair share of issues, especially setup issues, but don't let it get you down too much. So far I've only seen one thing that there isn't a fix or a workaround for, and that's a faulty hard drive (60 degrees idle)

 

Man you're so unlucky! Hope it will be fixed soon!
Mine has acutually a very tiny dead pixel on the right bottom.
How do we know it is a dead pixel or a stuck pixel? I've already tried to push it but nothing happens...

 

A dead pixel is black, a stuck pixel is red blue or green.

 

Thanks will try later as it's a red pixel!

 

I have a stuck pixel in the bottom right of my screen, a blue one that shows up on dark back grounds, but tbh its not noticable. I only notice it if i'm looking for it and remember they can go away after a while. Might try that software to unstick it again soon, tried for 20 mins and didn't do anything, next time i'll try for an hour. But as i said it doesn't bother me because i don't notice it. So my advice would be to keep the laptop if you only notice it when looking, the good thing about having such a high res screen is things like this are harder to spot!

DK

 

@TS:

Why did you create 4 M860TU topics? >_>

 

cat ill tell you this. i went through a total of 11 screens for my dell 1730 YES 11 and all but three had at least one or more stuck / dead pixels.. just fyi its VERY common now

 

I paid $29.95 tonight for Driver Detective in the hope that it would sort out any driver issues (as it finds the very latest drivers for you). I was hoping that it would fix any issues that are preventing the wireless card from being detected.


EDIT: After running Driver Detective, it has updated most of my out of date drivers... apart from two things it has listed as being outdated.

These are:

1) Intel(R) 82801 PCI Bridge - 2448
(Driver Date: 21/06/2006 Version: 6.0.6001.18000)

Driver Detective wants to update this with the following:
* INTEL Chipset INF Update Utility
(Driver Date: 15/09/2006 Version: 7.0.0.1011


2) Intel(R) ICH9 Family USB Universal Host Controller
(Driver Date: 21/06/2006 Version: 6.0.6001.18000

Driver Detective wants to update this with the following:
* Intel Chipset Software Installation Util - which the Intel website says doesn't exist anymore with this name as it has changed its name!
(Driver Date: 05/02/2007 Version: 8.3.0.1011)


I have tried updating these two through Driver Detective but the changes either aren't sticking, or aren't working.

 

If the card doesn't show up in the Device Manager, I believe Driver detective won't work...

 

Er, what drivers are you having problems with? (And why'd you pay for that before posting on here, for example?) Did you update the drivers I posted in that other thread.

No offense, but this sounds like 1 stuck pixel (not dead, fixable! ) + user error, in which case why didn't you get an OS installed for you?

Best way to install drivers: right click on the yellow ! in device manager, point it at the driver location. Reboot, etc.

 

Hmm, that seems a bit odd - any idea why it's so common now?

 

The OS was pre-installed. I chose the 32-bit Home Premium Edition of Vista in the customisation screen when I ordered this and that's what I got.

I'm not that bothered about the stuck pixel in the face of things now (even though I took out a guarantee against them - would be too long to wait for the issue to be fixed).

User error? Negative. All of the drivers were pre-installed when I got the computer. It should have run smoothly from the box (as my last Clevo model did), with the only thing needing doing being configuring my wireless connection to my Network, configuring my e-mail, and loading on software I use regularly.
However, the wireless device never registered from the start in either Device Manager, or in using the "Connect To" option in Vista. No amount of trying to locate it has worked. The only options that Vista gives me to connect to the internet is by Ethernet, or Modem. There is no option to connect wirelessly, and even though I can press Fn + F11 to see the "Radio off/Radio on" announcement and see the wireless activation LED be off or on, it doesn't seem to make any difference.

Apart from the more complex system drivers (chipsets, INF's, etc) I know how to install correct drivers. I don't see any of this being my fault. I did what anybody else would attempt when they can't find a device detected. I know this because all of the suggestions from yourselves and from Neil@Kobalt had already been attempted by me before I had asked for help.


P.S. I'm actually starting to wonder -- as it took me ages to receive my laptop -- whether it has gotten jolted a bit during its time in the hands of the etcher... therefore disconnecting the wireless device inside.

 

Ok then my apologies, long day, heatwave, no caffeine Sounds hardware related then, if it's not recognizing the drivers. I agree, you should expect a perfectly functional laptop out of the box.

Hmm... it was shipped to the etcher after assembly, not before? That could easily be the case. I can't imagine the wireless card being fried or anything from that. Definitely take a look and reseat it. The back of the notebook pops off after a few screws and it's a small card on the lower left corner - very easy to push it back in if it seems loose.

The point is: calm down, it'll get fixed! Don't freak out; don't send it back after a way. Small errors happen

 

Maybe its a faulty/loose wireless card I guess the only way to find out would be to open it up.

 

Yep, and in the worst case, it's a small piece and can be replaced easily! Don't worry

 

Thanks guys.

But I don't have any idea what the wireless device would look like inside. Any examples?
When you said "lower left corner" is that with the lid hinge facing towards me or away from me?

 

You know... I'm not exactly sure whether it was assembled before or after etching.

 

Check this out! http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=290880

 

Arrgh, it has scary looking connectors attached to it! Thanks for the helpful picture. Is it true that one has to wear rubber gloves when touching circuitry?

 

No just ground yourself first

 

A spot of meditation before opening, then.

 

Those scary looking connections arn't what matter actually, more likely it got loose from that gray/beige connection on the left side of it on the picture.

 

Ah right. I'm assuming it is supposed to be snapped in snugly. I'll see what reply I get from Kobalt in relation to where I stand with this, and then maybe I'll open it.

 

I don’t think opening it will void your warranty. There is no reason why you have to wait the compartment that you open also contains the RAM and it’s not against the T&C to change RAM. You only need to reseat it if it is loose and if that does not solve the problem then it is probably faulty. No harm in trying right?

 

Opening the system, switching out the RAM, turbo memory, and I believe HDD does NOT void your warranty.

 

So there is nothing stopping you from taking a look

 

the three connections are only the antennas so just make sure the card is seated right in the grey connector

 

imo just poor qc or that many manufactures are using lower grade screens. for some wierd reason when i have my 570ru i swapped the screens and on both units they had a yellow sticker on the back of them that said "for evaluation purposes only" why? i wish i knew but 2 different units had the same sticker... so not sure what to think

 

cat here is the newest intel chipset for you to use: http://rapidshare.com/files/151918078/intel_chipset_9.0.0.1009.rar i uploaded it for you

 

Oh that sucks Cat. At least a few dead pixels is less trouble than what you would have gone through if you went with the m15x .

btw, everyone like my new siggy?

 

No, it has no M860TU specs in it

Seriously though, totally agreed, the m860tu has had a MUCH smoother launch than the m15x did.

 

do what is called a forced install
1: click start
2: click run
3: type in the complete location and file name (example) c:\program files\driver detective\intelchipset.exe -overall

this will force it to install over the version currently installed. once installed, reboot computer and check to see if it updated your chipset or if any drivers changed. then uninstall and re detect the faulting drivers to see if they can now be recognized.

edit: use the 9.0 chipset drivers as zfactor has suggested.

 

Downloaded the .rar file. I'll see how that comes along too. Many thanks.

 

The WIFI was checked off as working before it was shipped so it could only have been knocked around was by DHL in shipping but they are usually very good. It's also unlikely to have been unseated as they are screwed down after slotted in.

Can I make a quick point that it's only really worth re-installing Windows after all the options have been explored with the manufacturer as it makes it a lot harder to troubleshoot the original issue.

 

So? how did it turn out? is the wireless working and the stuck pixel gone yet?