PCMicroWorks - Flextronics W840

[Xardon]

Question for people out there since apparently myself, and like many others out there have now been screwed by this company, unfortunately. I like many others purchased laptops through this company when they were running a stellar deal many months ago. However, now, my laptop like many of theirs is now having video card problems. It has a dual ATI 3870 x-fire mode but even when the bios screen boots up you get lots of pretty colors and symbols and boxes all over the place (typical sign the video is dead if you've been in the industry a while). Their tech support has been shut down, and the 3-year warranty was pretty much a waste of money.

I'm still not comfortable repairing laptops, as I'm more of a server guy, and getting into those small spaces since I spent so much money on it, has me a tad nervous.

Not sure what to do but many people have directed me here to Xotic, where I was originally planning to buy my laptop until I heard about the deals over there at PCMW.

Would Xotic be willing to fix my laptop (obviously at a cost) and any idea what that might be? I've heard good things about Xotic and would feel more comfortable shipping it to them.

I have e-mailed PCMW because they have no phone system anymore, and have not heard back.

[Justin@XoticPC]

Send a email to service@xoticpc.com and we would be happy to help. We sympathize with you and apologize PC Microworks has left you hanging without any warranty.:mad2:

[Xardon]

Send a email to service@xoticpc.com and we would be happy to help. We sympathize with you and apologize PC Microworks has left you hanging without any warranty.:mad2:

Appreciate the quick response, sent an e-mail just now. Very much appreciated Justin.

[powerpack]

Way to go Justin! Xardon hope all gets fixed.

To all pay attention you want to buy from a company that will be around after purchase. I know the economy had a bad affect on some. Dark Smiley comes to mind. Seemed like a nice enough guy who ran it but just could not survive. PCMW had questionable record from the start. I had read they had reorganized from a defunct entity with a less than stellar rep. And now not around?

[shadow]

the funny part there is that that system is the flag ship for Alienware's new M17. same motherboard/video with a few chasis updates.

[fallenxlionheart]

the m17 sucks so bad compared to what it costs

[shadow]

same computer as the OCZ. thats the problem with smaller companies. i like Clevo for laptop boards

[fallenxlionheart]

i totally agree

[shadow]

if Alienware uses it they must have gotten a deal. thats the only way for them to increase their profit margin.

[Xardon]

Up until it broke, I really liked the laptop a lot. I looked at the Clevo but when I saw the weight and height of the box itself, plus it uses a desktop processor, I decided to go with the OCZ instead. I do a lot of VMWare stuff for work, but then game sometimes in the evening, and since I bring it back and forth to work, it just was a better fit for me.

If I just wanted something to plant on a desk and use it just for gaming I would have gotten just a standard PC, but since I am mobile a lot I wanted the best of both worlds without feeling weighed down.

Unfortunately I just picked the wrong company to buy it from.

[Xardon]

I'm curious if anyone from Xotic or even people who have bought PC's especially any of the OCZ ones, if they could run this free util

http://www.belarc.com/free_download.html

Which just scans your PC and reports your hardware/software and serial numbers, if it should be this way. This laptop I bought from PCMW I decided that I wanted to capture this info before I sent it off to any type of service and this is what it reported, the serial numbers for my hardware has me quite concerned. I'm not sure if it is or should be normal for a whitebox type machine:

System Model
Intel W840DI W840.028
System Serial Number: 0123456789012345
Chassis Serial Number: 0123456789012345
Enclosure Type: Other

Main Circuit Board
Board: Intel Rev1.W840.028
Serial Number: 0123456789012345
BIOS: Intel W840.028 12/08/2008

4090 Megabytes Installed Memory
Slot 'M1' has 2048 MB (serial number 1234-B0)
Slot 'M2' has 2048 MB (serial number 1234-B1)

[powerpack]

Mine has lots of info but what you posted?

Mine:

System Model
ASUSTeK Computer Inc. F8Va 1.0
System Serial Number: NF1S8734060016
Asset Tag: ATN12345678901234567
Chassis Serial Number: CSN12345678901234567
Enclosure Type: Notebook

Main Circuit Board
Board: ASUSTeK Computer Inc. F8Va 1.0
Bus Clock: 267 megahertz
BIOS: American Megatrends Inc. 206 06/25/2008

Memory Modules
3072 Megabytes Installed Memory
Slot 'SODIMM0' has 2048 MB
Slot 'SODIMM1' has 2048 MB

[Xardon]

Mine has lots of info but what you posted?


That was my point, those serial numbers you see for mine are actually what it says. I have heard that "some" companies actually set it before sending it for proper tracking and for warranty requests. I suppose it's possible if it really is customizable. I was a little concerned because it was just 012345...etc.

[BKR2879]

It looks like they just never changed the setting in the BIOS from the factory default. :rolleyes:

In a way, not surprising based on what I've heard of the company.

Where I used to work as a tech, we put our own serials on everything, even if the item already had one. Saved a lot of headaches later on when people tried to get warranty service on stuff we never sold them. ;)

[Xardon]

Just a quick update in case anyone was following this, I was able to get a full credit on my credit card, and we're trying to contact PCMW so I can ship back their broken equipment and be done with them.

I want to take this opportunity to thank Xotic and their service staff for attempting to help me with my broken laptop, your effort was outstanding especially since I had not even purchased the laptop from you guys.

I plan on calling your sales department later this week when I have time outside of work to order up a new laptop from you guys.

Thanks.

[Justin_W@XoticPC]

Glad to hear you were able to get everything resolved Xardon, and we look forward to doing business with you in the future :)