Apr 13, 2010 09:24 AM
5461 Views
(Updated Apr 13, 2010 09:43 AM)
I write this as a very disappointed customer. I bought an Acer AS3810TZ – 413G32N in Feb 2010 from ‘Vijay Sales’ Prabhadevi showroom Mumbai.
The first thing I did on reaching home was to try & make the ‘Restore Disc’s’. As this laptop does not have a optical drive I was talked into buying a Transcend external dvd writer by the salesman, which cost over Rs 3700/- (I later found to my shock that it was available elsewhere cheaper by a 1000 bucks). The first writer had a fault & was replaced after 5 days (by the dealer). The next at best works in a temperamental fashion & seems to be allergic to Moser Baer dvd’s. I would like to mention that the read/write speeds for dvd’s is 8X for this or any other ext dvd writer. I frankly feel one does not need this on a regular basis. In such a case it would be better to buy an external casing (Rs 600-800) for the DVD writer of your desktop (I presume you have one) & use that when necessary. And this also offers faster speeds.
I found that after the first disc was burnt the laptop gave an error that the making of the restore disc had failed & that I should insert another disc & it started to burn the first disc all over again, this happened FOUR times that means I wasted FOUR DVD’s. When I went to the Acer website for the toll free number I found the ‘VOLUNTARY SAFETY RECALL’ option on your website & entered the details for this laptop and found it has an issue about the microphone cable. I used the toll free number & made a complaint on 28-2-2010 regarding & on 1-3-2010 registered the laptop as it was in the recall list.
1) The WiFi on laptop cannot connect to my Linksys WRT54G WiFi router when the SSID is not transmitted but when the SSID is transmitted it connects. I also use MAC filters. Another laptop in my house has no problem for the last two years (running Vista home basic) in connecting to the same router when SSID is hidden. MTNL requires this.
2) When adding a bluetooth device to the laptop (mobile phones) it gives an error ‘Preipheral device: No driver found’. And the phone icon on the phone has an exclamation mark. But I can successfully send/receive files to/from my phone. I got a call on 2-2-2010 from a tech support person who requested me to go to the ‘Restore’ option and restore to factory settings. Since I was taking the laptop to the dealer ‘Vijay Sales’ Prabhadevi Branch Mumbai where the Acer rep stationed there did the needful.
After Restore from the HDD was done I was shocked to find
a) The WiFi was not detected at all. Its only when I went on the net (thru the LAN cable) & used the ‘Update option’ thru ‘Device Manage’ that connectivity was restored for WiFi
b) My Bluetooth problem (see 2 above) still remains ie after the factory settings were restored I paired my phone to the laptop & got the same error but I can send & receive files between mobile phone & laptop so its not really critical.
c) I also have noticed that I cant find the s/w for starting the webcam &
d) The multi gesture feature on the touch pad (where you can move two finger in opposite directions to expand what is displayed on the screen eg: desktop icons etc) has also stopped working after the ‘System Restore’.
e) No Acer User Guides on the laptop even though there is an option in the ‘Start’ menu
I have come to the conclusion & verified by the service center later that the restore partition on the HDD is FAULTY, as after a restore the WiFi card & webcam & one feature of he touchpad could not be used, THIS IS A MANUFACTURING DEFECT. AND more important the restore disks could not be made, 9 DVD’s have been wasted trying to do this (FOUR) by me & ( FIVE by) the Acer rep at Vijay Sales, who then contacted his office & was told that the Erestore management s/w on this model is faulty !!! so I had been promised that restore disks would be delivered to me by Acer & have been asked to wait for a week.
On 5th Mar 2010 I spoke to Mr Khan about the different issues on the laptop & he requested I rang up the service center today and fixed an appointment for 6-Mar-2010 but later they were kind enough to call back & cancel that appointment as they have to get that cable from Acer. I was told they would call me to fix the next appointment.
On 15th I took the laptop to the service center & they fixed the problem about the webcam, touchpad & bluetooth. I was told that the microphone cable did not need replacement. (Only time will tell whether I am being cheated on this). Regarding the WiFi problem I was informed that they would escalate this problem with Acer & I would be contacted as soon as the solution is found.
On the 19th Mar 2010 after getting back the laptop I dropped in at the dealer to check with the Acer rep there, if the restore disc’s were ready. At this time I spoke to the Sales Manager who then promised me the OS disc (Win 7 Home Premium 64 bit) specifically meant for this laptop. (I was pleasantly surprised by this little did I realize that its all BS). Please note I was first promised the disc’s on 2nd of Mar 2010 & there had been no movement on this.
