Topic: Bad Karma

[hans]

Well, after using my new laptop for a little bit and installing all the software I use I'm noticing strangeness from my ctrl key. It seems both of them are deciding to send keystrokes other than ctrl. The wierd thing is that is will disapear for a while and then "all the sudden" start acting up again. I ran the diagnostics and everything checked out. I think it may have been the VNC I installed but I don't know. I tried uninstalling it and the problem hasn't gone away. I may end up having to reinstall Windows already and start over again.
Damn. Guess I couldn't be so lucky. Funny thing Karma.

[Steve]

What kind of laptop? Mine is an HP and it has drivers specifically for the keyboard, and specifically for the mouse.

[hans]

It's my spanking new Dell D820.

It's been working all afternoon until just recently. So I uninstalled the device from Windows and let it reinstall the driver. I hooked up a USB keyboard and could not get the problem to replicate so it's specific to the laptop keyboard. I'm going to play around this weekend on it and if it happens again I'll put in a call for service.
I've never had a keyboard go bad before, but I guess there's a first time for everything.

[hans]

OK, so I'm not sure what my Karma level is at.

My keyboard is official defective. I called Dell today and it failed the diagnostics so they were going to send me a new keyboad. Then, they called me back and said they're a replacement policy on the D820 for any defect. So, they're building me a new laptop and they're going to send me another one. So only two days of having the laptop and I get a new one.
Not sure how I feel about that. It's a really nice laptop but I'm a little bit worried I jumped the gun on getting a new model. Then again, hardware fails and at least I'm covered for the next 3 years.

[JaWiB]

I hope it's not a defect in the D820s in general, cause I'm still planning on getting one 

I can hardly imagine it is, though, if they build a replacement for every one that screws up.

[JaWiB]

Heh well I just got my latitude, and guess what? It's got a keyboard problem as well. The mouse pointer isn't centered between the g,h, and b keys, so when I press the b key it sticks and sometimes causes the mouse pointer to move. Pretty minor, but I still called and they're sending a new laptop.

[Steve]

I was never big on Dell's laptops. They were my favorite by comparison for a long time, and it wasnt until last year that changed. I researched alot of laptops for a friend of mine, and he was a devoted hp guy. So we ordered a custom hp laptop and i was really impressed. Then another friend got one. Then my dads friend, then my dad replace his inspiron with an hp. After using so many of them its what i ended up with.

My laptop isnt spec'd out of this world, but it is fast, reliable, lightweight, etc. As far as laptops go, you really cant beat an HP.

[jkim]

I dunno, his seems really nice.  Maybe it's because it's a business model, but it seems like a fast, reliable, and lightweight model too.

[Steve]

I havent used dell since the HP invasion. If i had to buy another, i really dont think i would consider any other brand. All of them have the ups and downs, dell would def be my second choice.

[hans]

I was looking at the HPs but they're behind on their models. At least for business models. The consumer models are very good and I generally recommend them to friends (like the dv1000). I've grown used to certain things on my laptops and HP didn't have a model that had everything I wanted. A couple models were very close but didn't have Core Duo chips, just regular P4s. I really like their keyboards and if I hadn't found out about this Dell I probably would've gotten an HP. They are very nice as well, thin light, very professional looking. They just need to move a bit quicker getting new models ready and get some better configuration abilities. That's what I really like about Dell, it's almost like building a custom PC. I can pick the parts I want. Isn't that what we all really want anyways, to build exactly the system we want? I just did a quick look and it looks like they finally have a model similar to what I've got the nw8440 but the Dell is still cheaper and better configured. Oh well, maybe in a couple years, or if I switch jobs sometime in the future.


I got my replacement laptop today and everything works perfect. So Dell gets a small knock on quality control but since I got a brand new replacement I'll put up with it. One thing I've learned about Dell's, always get the replacement plan for as long as you think you'll have the laptop. It's worth the money.

After using this model for development the last week I can say I like it a great deal. It's fast, quiet, and the screen is nice and bright. Since I run lots of server apps, multiple databases, web servers and development tools, not to mention all the email and IM programs, this thing holds up very well with almost no lag when I've got everything running. It did take me a little bit to find a nice background for the widescreen though.

[Steve]

Dell has a fantastic warranty, i always loved it.

One thing i will knock HP for is definitly the customization. You can customize them, but you have to call them and it is a little involved. Dell makes it very easy, and i always liked that. I havent looked for business, but i use mine for general, gaming, and development and it really fits the bill. And your right, it is VERY light and definitly a solid professional looking laptop.

If we could get the lightweight and general layout into a dell, as well as the pricing, they would take HP imo. Each laptop i have customized for friends/family has been cheaper through HP. My dads, for example since its the most recent, was 450.00 more through dell for the exact same thing, before warrenty stuff.

As far as HP for warrenty service, we have only had to make two claims. One laptop suddenly lost all the blue led lights for the quickplay buttons at the top. I called HP and they sent fedex out the next morning. Fedex packed it up with me and it was overnighted to HP. That was on a tuesday. On thursday fedex came back with my laptop, good as new.

The other incident was a DOA harddrive. I called them up and they overnighted me a replacement, i installed it and sent the other back. Dell did the same for me with desktops, but they always tried to argue with me about what was actually wrong. HP didnt ask any questions. Neither time did it cost me a dime.

Overall i am very pleased with both companies, and if we could get the pros from both in one pc, we'd really be jamming.