Fujitsu Siemens Amilo M3438G Graphics card

sam_hain · 25-06-2007 9:16pm #1

Hi there,

Long story so brace yourself,

I purchased the above laptop from Beyond 2000 in Novemeber of 2005 specifically for the internet and running games. The guy who helped us out was very friendly and as I was under no real budget constraints I was told that this laptop was the one for me. Cost me around €1900. Everything was working fine although I did notice that the laptop would start to get very warm after a while. This was happening if i was playing games, watching movies or even just surfing the Internet. I thought nothing of it as other than warming up, there was no other apparent problems.

Recently the laptop would refuse to load up staying stuck on the boot up screen or just staying on a black screen with a flashing cursor. Turning the computer off and unpluging it from the wall then leaving it for about 5 minutes seemed to sort this problem out and as it only happened about 3 times in the space of 4 months, again I thought nothing of it as it wasn't stopping me from using my laptop for the reason I bought it.

Then on Saturday morning I when to turn on my computer. It booted up fine and I logged in. About 4 minutes the screen went blue with a lot of jagged lines and then it went black. The harddrive light was still flashing away but there was nothing to see. No amout of button pushing or mouse clicking made the screen come back on. I tried booting the laptop up again and was greated with the black screen and flashing cursor I had gotten the 2 or 3 times before. I booted the laptop up again but this time in safe mode with networking. This allowed me to connect to the net and check out some fourms. I did notice that the laptop, while only being on about 10 minutes in total, was extremely hot to touch.

From what I gathered, this seems to be a known problem with this model and the graphics card (geforce go 6800). In fact someone on one board even went so far as to try and sue Fujitsu Siemens as he claims they know of this fault. ( as far as I am aware he is still waiting for his case to go to court)

Now I have a fair idea of a certain law in Ireland about sale of goods, but when I rang Beyond 2000 today, they told me that they will do nothing for me as I am outside the guarantee and that I might not have taken care of the computer. So I contacted the Consumer Information line and they told me that if I felt that the product should have lasted more than the 16 odd months it did, I was entitled to one of the three Rs (my words not theirs) Repair, Replace, Refund. Beyond 2000 told me that they don't repair computers even though the guy I was speaking to on my first phone call told me that he was a technichen there for the last year.

The second guy I spoke to in Beyond 2000 (who I think was the manager) told me that they wouldn't do anything as they laptop was probably used beyond its limits even though it wasn't. I know about computers and I know how they should be treated and as I worked in a Game store once, I also know about system requirments, and yet I was still told that I pushed the laptop over the edge.

But to be honest I don't want a repair as from, again what I have gathered, repairing the computer doesn't solve the problem. I'm looking for one of the others, although if this goes to the Small Claims Court which I am sure it will, I'll be looking for a refund as I will have bought a replacement myself by then.

So I was just wondering if anyone here has had the same thing happen to them and if so could they tell me what they did about it. I'm not talking specifically about Beyond 2000, but just laptops and retailers in general.

I was also wondering if anyone owns the above computer and has had a similar problem with the graphics card?

The guys in on the Consumer Line asked how long I was expecting to have the laptop before it became unusable and I said truthfully about 3-4 years. What would you guys think? I realise that it could go out of date sooner, but at the moment it is still a fairly powerful machine. (Up until now I had no problems running games).

Tom Dunne · 26-06-2007 9:37am

16 months? FFS, that's crazy.

I have a HP Pavillion piece of crap that I bought over three years ago an it's running fine. I've had work laptops for longer that have worked without problems.

How exactly do you run a laptop "beyond it's limits"? That's bull****, nothing more. It's a defense mechanism.

Sounds like you have a good case for the small claims court, TBH. Especially if it is a known problem.

AlmightyCushion · 26-06-2007 10:15am

The only way you could use a laptop beyond it's limits is if you threw it out a window. There is no way in hell a laptop that was not abused would only last 16 months. I have to agree with tom. Take these guys to the small claims court. Maybe even the suggestion of such might make them a bit more cooperative.

sam_hain · 26-06-2007 7:27pm

First off I have to apologize that the time limit was 19 months instead of 16. I can't add.

I went into the shop today and asked to speak with the manager. He told me literally in the first 3 sentence that he would fight me vigorously in the small claims court and would even take it to the district courts. And all this because I informed him that I was legally entitled to a refund, repair or replacement.

According to him the law is on his side and that after the guarantee was up that I had no rights what’s so ever. If I wanted a repair I would have to go else where. He then started to put words in my mouth and even after I corrected him he still continued to say stuff I hadn't said, be it on the phone or in the store today. I had my girlfriend with me as a witness and she even had to correct him a few times.

He first started to say that I told him I was running new games with the specs turned up on my laptop and that they would cause my computer to age quicker, when I informed him that the only thing I have been doing with the laptop for the last 4 months was playing Football Manager 2007 (basically a spreadsheet) and surfing the internet and that I haven't bought a game for at least 6 months he said that I had been playing high end games and again reminded me how hard he would fight this in court. I had to inform him that I find it weird that so far he is the only person that has mentioned the small claims court and that I never mentioned any high end games. The only games I mentioned to him, the computer should have been able to play with no problems at all.

He then turned his attention to a possible dust build up, which like the intensity of the small claims battle we would have, was mentioned by him numerous times. I told him, truthfully that when the laptop hadn't worked this weekend I had removed some dust from the fan grating. This he took a shining to and started to say that dust build up would cause the computer to malfunction and as it was my own fault this happened he was not liable for it. Although to be honest, he didn't seem to think he was liable for anything and that I was mistaken about the Sale of Goods and Services Act of 1980. He also told me that he had been on to the consumer rights people and that all the information that I obtained from them was wrong.

One thing he wouldn’t tell me though was in his honest opinion how long should a laptop last. He told me that they don’t last as long as desktops but only after I told him that I had a desktop at home which has lasted at least 6 years. I did tell him that I wasn’t expecting to be up-to-date in 2 and a half years but that I expected it to at least last that long if not longer.

Finally then he started demanding that I get a certified technician to look at it as I would need that for when we meet in the Small Claims court. I told him that it wasn’t a problem and then told him that I would now have to take this down that road as after asking him at least 3 times if he was going to give me one of my legal requirements (the three R’s) he was defiant that I was in the wrong. He then started to go into a very detailed discussion of the legal system in Ireland. He told me that the Small Claims Court decision was not legally binding and that if I won that case he was under no obligation to refund me my money. But he also said that HE would bring me to the District Court. That surprised me a little as if he claims that the decision is not legally binding then what is the point in fighting on? Found out that the Small Claims Court is legally binding and if he refuses to pay me the money I can bring it to the District Court, which if I win will end up costing him more money in the long run. When I pointed out to him that he seemed to know an awful lot about the procedure of customer complaints and the Courts of Ireland, he told me that he was not going to continue this discussion and that he would await my letter.

Now I have learned since speaking with him that the basic layout of the internal of my laptop has only one fan and that fan is not good enough to properly cool down both the GPU and the CPU. So dust building up or no dust building up this computer simple cannot handle what it’s supposed to do.

Basically in my honest opinion, he hasn’t a leg to stand on especially if I can get a technician to prove that the laptop is not in doing what it’s supposed to do and that the fault lies not with any negligence on my part but on bad workmanship on the manufacturer’s behalf. I also got the impression that he thought I would get scared with all this talk about the courts and him fighting until he got a win in his favor. My girlfriend agrees with me that he did seem to be very aggressive from the get go. So the ball is in his court now. He has made it quite clear that he doesn’t intend on giving me anything but a fight, but I will keep you guys up dated with all the developments.

Unless of course you couldn’t care less!

Tom Dunne · 26-06-2007 7:52pm

sam_hain wrote:

He first started to say that I told him I was running new games with the specs turned up on my laptop and that they would cause my computer to age quicker,

That has to be the funniest, most uninformed nonsense I have heard in a long time. That is applicable when there are mechanical, moving parts that are subject to wear and tear, not software settings on a piece of silicon. ROFL. Just shows he hasn't a clue.

sam_hain wrote:

Unless of course you couldn’t care less!

Actually, I am quite interested. Do keep us informed.

Note to self: Strike Beyond 2000 off the recommended list.

AlmightyCushion · 27-06-2007 11:06am

WTF?:mad: How can running a game fúck up a computer? If the laptops spec was too low to play that game you would get slowdown and stuttering but it would not kill your laptop. This guy is full of sh!t.
On the whole how long should it last thing. There was a thread here about some guy who's laptop died after a few years. Apparently the fault was well known but there was a few people who stated that a laptop should last about 7 years (and that this was Irish law if I remember correctly), if it didn't it wasn't fit for it's intended purpose and hence breached the sale of goods and supply of services act. Try doing a search for it and see what was said as I can't really remember.

sam_hain · 27-06-2007 7:31pm

Hey guys,

I tried to find that thread but couldn't. I also had a look online for something about the life time of a laptop and the law but couldn't find anything

If anyone out there can help me find something or know something about this, if it is in fact true, could you let me know as it would help greatly

TerrorFirmer · 27-06-2007 10:34pm

AlmightyCushion wrote:

WTF?:mad: How can running a game fúck up a computer? If the laptops spec was too low to play that game you would get slowdown and stuttering but it would not kill your laptop.

The hotter a graphics card or a cpu runs, the shorter its lifespan will generally be, this would be especially true of laptops which even with the best designs, obviously don't have overly great heat dissapation. That said 16 months is a bit much to swallow, especially given you haven't even been playing games really, but I'm just pointing out it is a valid factor to take into consideration. I know you mentioned FM07 but MS Paint would nearly be more taxing on the go6800 then that

AlmightyCushion · 28-06-2007 10:19am

HavoK wrote:

The hotter a graphics card or a cpu runs, the shorter its lifespan will generally be, this would be especially true of laptops which even with the best designs, obviously don't have overly great heat dissapation. That said 16 months is a bit much to swallow, especially given you haven't even been playing games really, but I'm just pointing out it is a valid factor to take into consideration. I know you mentioned FM07 but MS Paint would nearly be more taxing on the go6800 then that

I probably should have made myself clearer. The way I read it the guy from beyond 2000 said that playing a game on a computer that doesn't meet the minimum requirements will screw up the computer.

sam_hain · 29-06-2007 8:05pm

Well at the moment, surfing the internet is causing the laptop to heat up and shut down if I haven't turned hardware acceleration down to none. I do understand that taxing the graphics card and processor will cause it to shorten it's life span, but I bought this laptop to play games, it was the one recommended to me by the store and to behonest, any game that I have gotten has been within the system requirments. There is a genuine fault with this model (the fan is not strong enough to cool down both the CPU and the GPU). Another thing I noticed was when I was burning a CD, the computer started to heat up again.

Looks like it will take me forever to get all my information from the computer to CDs

Again I will keep you posted

sam_hain · 20-09-2007 8:42pm

It did take me forever to copy all my stuff to CDs. Even saying that i bought a new desktop and transfered alot of the stuff using a Flash stick. Well for those that were interested in this in the first place, i have sent the letter stating that if Beyond 2000 refused to give me a refund I was talking them to the small claims court, off yesterday. So again I will keep those who were interested informed.

Now to continue my battle will NTL.......

AlmightyCushion · 20-09-2007 9:27pm

I forgot all about this thread. Best of luck.

vir7ual · 20-09-2007 10:24pm

If something happens outside of warranty how can you fight for a refund?? Also should you not be taking the manufacturer to court not the shop?? the shop sold you the computer but it was the manufacturers fault. Also how can they cover something or refund something if its outside of warranty??? Just asking...

nipzon · 18-10-2008 3:32am

Fujitsu Siemens M3438G
I have exactly the same problem with my laptop and it is also out of warranty. Is there a way of fixing it or is it buggered? Does it have a removable display module or is it embedded on the m/board? I used to use it for gaming but its status has been demoted to surfing the net only. So if I can have it repaired instead of buying a new one I will prefer that.

Fujitsu Siemens Amilo M3438G Graphics card

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