The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    Why are manufacturing defects so common nowadays?

    Discussion in 'Toshiba' started by cy007, Mar 30, 2005.

  1. cy007

    cy007 Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    86
    Messages:
    1,270
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    55
    I just bought a Toshiba M40 a few days ago, and running it for a day now, I suddenly notice a small .5mm radius (approx of course) chipped-off dent right next to the "Designed for Microsoft Windows XP" sticker. Now, because I exchanged computers twice already, Futureshop (the store where I bought the laptop) won't take it back because the laptop's not defective. The thing that bugs me is this: Man, when I pay big bucks for something, I expect it to be around perfect. It's like every single electronic product I buy (20" Toshiba TV, Nintendo DS, X-Box, etc..) nowadays are manufactured so cheaply there ought to have some small degree of defect that makes me to return it right after powering it up. I still remember the good old days... the Gameboy Color? Built with perfection. My old Toshiba Satellite P3 900MHz laptop? Perfect. It's like every piece of electronics is built half-assed nowadays. Exactly why is this trend so common today? Are manufacturers now so consumed with greed they no longer care about customer satisfaction?

    edit: If any of you are interested, here's a list of electronics products I bought since 2003 and the defects I've noticed so far:

    X-Box: X-Box Logo on the DVD drive printed incorrectly, slanted. Disks would suddenly skip after being played for approx. 30 minutes.

    Nintendo DS: Border of screen messed up. Small dents on the bottom and bottom-left.

    Toshiba TV: Geometry problems. Bottom-left of the screen not symmetrical ot the bottom-right. Really noticeable.

    Sony VAIO VGN-F550: Perfectly built, solid construction. However, screen has problems displaying colors correctly. Looking closely, banding is easily apparent.


    Fingermarks noticeable on the unit right out of the box:

    Dell Dimension 4700 (Pentium 4 530)
    Cicero 4564 (AMD Athlon 3200+)


    edit #2:

    Okay, so maybe I should be a little more positive. There ARE electronics I bought that I'm satisfied with. They are the:

    Sony DVP-NS575P DVD player
    Blue Halo 2 Edition X-Box

    Hmm.. and that's about it. [ :D]
     
    cy007, Mar 30, 2005
    #1
  2. Sencha

    Sencha Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    357
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    I would just have to ask if you bought all of these items at Future Shop? [ ;)]

    Yeah, I find it's a crap shoot with electronics. I'd say 50% of the time, I buy something that has a defect of some sort. Manufacturers just don't seem to really care anymore.
     
    Sencha, Mar 30, 2005
    #2
  3. cy007

    cy007 Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    86
    Messages:
    1,270
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    55
    <blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by Sencha
     
    Last edited by a moderator: May 8, 2015
    cy007, Mar 30, 2005
    #3
  4. Tech_Girl

    Tech_Girl Notebook Guru

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    71
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    Why wouldn't Future Shop take the laptop back[?] Do they have some sort of policy where you are only allowed to return the laptop so many times?
     
    Tech_Girl, Mar 30, 2005
    #4
  5. Sky

    Sky Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    119
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    Can your Sony DVD player play bootlegs? I've heard most dont [B)]
     
    Sky, Mar 30, 2005
    #5
  6. cy007

    cy007 Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    86
    Messages:
    1,270
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    55
    <blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by Sky
     
    Last edited by a moderator: May 8, 2015
    cy007, Mar 30, 2005
    #6
  7. cy007

    cy007 Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    86
    Messages:
    1,270
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    55
    <blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by Tech_Girl
     
    Last edited by a moderator: May 8, 2015
    cy007, Mar 30, 2005
    #7
  8. lastdon

    lastdon Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    80
    Messages:
    473
    Likes Received:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    31
    futureshop?
    restocking fee?

    who lied to you about this one? it's not even in their policy!!

    my buddy works there has even told me that

    my old compaq i retunred it seven times and they did not say a single thing until i got a perfect one..

     
    lastdon, Mar 31, 2005
    #8
  9. cy007

    cy007 Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    86
    Messages:
    1,270
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    55
    <blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by lastdon
     
    Last edited by a moderator: May 8, 2015
    cy007, Mar 31, 2005
    #9
  10. Sky

    Sky Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    119
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    Heh I used to live in Vancouver. Yes the Futureshops there suck, full of slick salesmen who dont know **** about their products, just show you the most expensive one.
     
    Sky, Apr 1, 2005
    #10
  11. cy007

    cy007 Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    86
    Messages:
    1,270
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    55
    <blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by Sky
     
    Last edited by a moderator: May 8, 2015
    cy007, Apr 2, 2005
    #11