The Rest of the Monitor Story

I had first reported that I was having issues with my Acer 19" LCD monitor last month. Over the last few weeks it got worse and worse in general, but it still was an intermittent problem. Before I sent it off (at my dime no less), I wanted to be certain that it would show off it's worst stuff. By the time I sent it, the screen was consistently unusable.

I packed the monitor back in the original packaging. As my request only said "vertical lines" I took the time to write a letter detailing the issue I was having to make sure that the technician would know exactly what I had experienced. I then sent it UPS to Acer service in Texas. I tracked the package via UPS, and half hoped that the monitor would get crushed in the back of some truck and I'd get to collect the $200 I had insured it for so I could go purchase a new LCD and be done with it. The monitor arrived safely on 1/3/08.

After a week's journey there cross country, and the inevitable deluge of broken toys to fix, I didn't expect to see it for at least a month, if not more. I was baffled to see the FedEx guy put this box outside my door yesterday on 1/9. How could it be?

I was further confused to see that the service ticked that it was throughly tested and repaired, but no new parts were required. I was fully preparing to send it right back to them, and I hesitantly hooked it up to my desktop.

I was pleasantly surprised that the monitor worked, but was wondering when the vertical lines would return. For the last two nights at least, they haven't. I reserve final judgment after at least a week, but preliminarily we're in the clear.

Too often companies don't take care of the little guy, but so far it appears that, Acer fixed my monitor, and did it in a timely fashion. While this wasn't the most expensive LCD monitor when I purchased it, I wouldn't hesitate to buy another one from this brand.

Now I just wish I knew which screw they turned in case this happens again.

Jonas

Update: One week of use and the monitor works fine. Thanks Acer.

Printer Woes

Anytime you folks think I might run out of things to write about, fear not! With this much tech in my life, just about weekly something goes down lately. Here's the latest tale.

Last year, I chronicled the switch from inkjet cartridges, into the world of personal laser printers. I, like many others, gladly gave up color printing for the dual benefits of affordability and reliability- or so I thought.

Over the last few months, my Samsung ML-2010 has had an intermittent issue with printing. It often takes several tries to get the paper to go through. Once it jammed and required opening the access panels to retrieve the mangled document. Hey, what did I expect from an all plastic printer for $40 on last year's Black Friday special?

Earlier this week, the laser printer wouldn't print anything. I got misfeed after misfeed, and nothing came out. Finally, on the umpteenth attempt, the document went through, but came out with a puff of smoke with each of the six pages. Yeah, really, smoke, no kidding, no exaggeration, like I can't make this stuff up. After the smoke cleared (in more than a figure of speech), I looked into the warranty on this. Actually I unplugged it first, being a good Smokey the Bear type and all of that.

Awesome! The warranty is for one year, and I've got a month to go on it. I go to the Samsung website, and find the link for support. First I had to reset my password for unknown reasons. When I get into my account I discover that I had registered the printer, and my TV, but only the TV is there. I go to put the printer in, and when I press submit after filling in all the boxes, it won't go through and I get an 800 number to call to start this whole thing again. Geez, I'm getting that sinking feeling.

I call the number, and to Samsung's credit, the wait is short. I explain to the guy about the misfeeds, and now the smoke. He tells me that this is beyond tech support, so he kicks me up to repair service. Good move from what I'm seeing, make that hearing, no make that smelling.

The repair guy again takes my long serial number and info. He tells me to try and print something, and put the phone near the printer so he can hear the clicking sound. Murphy's Law kicks in, and the printer works like a champ without a click. On the second try, the clicks are back. "Yup," I'm told, "That sounds broken." Understatement of the month.

Thankfully, Samsung will make good on this. I'm told that they will ship me the printer, and I'll send mine back in an exchange. Sounds like a plan to me. They email me a form, and I have to fill it out to send it back to them- not the easiest process with a bum printer, but I manage, and also a scan of the receipt.

While I think few have experienced the smoke issue, the misfeed one is a common one. No word on how long this swap will take, so we'll keep you posted. I'm glad, so far, that Samsung is handling this without some big runaround. Let's hope that the warehouse is out of this printer, and I get an upgrade...

--Jonas

Read part two here.

NudgeCast 9/3/07

This week's episode looks at a networking company that stands behind their gear, some thoughts about the upcomng iPod line, an incoming consumer electronics product, and a podcast service.

Click To Play

--Jonas