Page 12 - August 29, 2013
Nome and Paul Van Middlesworth The Computer Factory www.computerfactorysanmarcos.com
When Pour PC Needs Help, Notebooks - Conclusion
Three quarters of the problems we see on notebook and desktop PCs are software related. There are no significant differences between notebooks and desktops when it comes to diagnosing and fixing software problems. There are big differences however when it comes to hardware replacement. Hard drives and memory are no more difficult to replace on a notebook than on a desktop but most other hardware repairs involve more labor and expense.
Both notebook and desktop motherboards contain the electronics that manage video, audio, WiFi, Ethernet, USB, card readers, HDMI and other important functions. When one of these functions fail on a desktop motherboard, it
Among the Hundreds, a Few Good Bills Stand Out
There are 12 business days left for the legislature to vote on hundreds of bills and 32 business days left for the Governor to sign or veto them. Unfortunately, during this busy legislative period, most of the bills that Senators and Assemblymembers vote on will do little to better the lives of Californians. However, there are a significant bills that improve education grams, if signed by Governor.
few will prothe
One bill, AB 13 (Chavez), will support veterans who are pursuing higher education in California. Currently, veterans who do not have residency in California are charged out-of-state college
can usually be restored cheaply and easily by inserting a “card” with the appropriate function (video, sound Wi-Fi etc) in one of the open “slots” on the motherboard. Notebook PCs don’t have open slots so when a function fails, the entire motherboard must be replaced. Motherboard replacement typically involves, significant downtime and several hundred dollars. If your desktop keyboard breaks you simply replace it. On your notebook it’s much more expensive and complicated. When your desktop screen fails you just plug in another one. Replacing a notebook screen takes more time and money. Notebooks are also far more vulnerable to serious failure and repair expense. Hinges, power connections and AC adaptors wear and break. Optical drives (DVDs) are flimsy and easy to break. Hard drives often fail because users will shut the lid and move the notebook not realizing that the hard drive has not shut down. Any bumping or jostling can cause a spinning hard drive to fail.
Warranty work on notebooks is done at the manufacturer’s repair depot. The quality of post-sales customer service varies greatly among the different notebook brands. Here at the Computer Factory, we do post-warranty repairs. Sometimes users bring notebooks to us prior to shipping them back under warranty so that we can
tuition. AB 13 will allow these veterans to pay instate tuition. This is an overdue benefit that we should provide to those who have sacrificed to protect us.
Another education bill, AB 166 (Hernandez), will require financial literacy to be emphasized within high school curriculum. Many of today’s young adults lack familiarity with tasks like establishing savings accounts, building credit, and planning for retirement.
While there are hundreds of unnecessary bills, these are examples of good policies that will benefit Californians.
Senator Mark Wyland represents the people of the 38th Senate District, which includes Rancho Bernardo, Carlsbad, Oceanside, San
Marcos, Escondido, and Vista.
Become a Subscriber! Delivered every Thursday to your Mailbox! Just call 760.747.7119 for subscription details.
copy their files or verify that the problem is hardware. The repair depot will usually reload the factory set-up on the hard drive first to eliminate the possibility of software issues.
Our experience with post-warranty notebook PCs leads us to some recommendations relative to product quality and service. In our experience, cheap notebooks are simply no bargain. It costs the same to repair a $300 notebook as a $600 notebook but the cheap notebook will have far more problems. In addition to the cheap components, other problems are thin cases, flimsy hinges, inadequate strain relief and minimal shock protection. A “cheapie” may be adequate if used
as a desktop but it won’t hold up as a portable.
In our experience the brands to avoid are Dell, HP, Gateway, EMachine and the super cheap Acers and Lenovos. The higher-end models of Lenovo and Acer however, are quite good. In our experience the best in quality and reliability are ASUS, Toshiba, Samsung and Sony. Our favorite is ASUS. Of the scores we have sold under factory warranty, only one has ever had to use it. When a serious post warranty problem requires factory repair, the ASUS service depot in LA turns repair jobs around in a couple of days and that makes us look good.
760.744.4315
Requests have been forwarded to the Governor In light of recent federal asking for a special session court rulings about prison of the Legislature to devise overcrowding in a solution that will be perCalifornia, Governor manent and financially Brown has entered into sound. Whether or not a discussions with legisla- special session is called, I tive leaders about the am hopeful that maintainfunding that will be need- ing public safety will coned to alleviate our prison tinue to be the state’s overcrowding crisis. number one priority. Since 9,600 inmates must be the release of thousands of relocated or released early, prisoners directly threatadding to thousands who ens that safety, finding a have already been trans- realistic solution quickly is ferred from state to county imperative. jurisdictions. These include hundreds who The allocation of the have been relocated to jails in San Diego and Riverside state’s scarce financial Counties. Despite the fact resources must be priorithat many of these prison- tized so that public safety, and other ers have been released, education inmate advocacy groups absolutely essential policy have initiated a lawsuit initiatives will take preceagainst Riverside County dence over wasteful and over alleged jail over- counter-productive concrowding, the same issue that led to the federal cerns such as enlarging court ruling against the state’s bureaucracy or California in the first building bullet trains to nowhere. place. We Must Find aS olution for California’s Prison Crisis