Would you really buy a dell ?!

WillieDH

http://www.crn.com/sections/breakingnews/dailyarchives.jhtml?articleId=190600070&www.reghardware.co.uk

Capt'n Midnight

industry wide problem TBH

A lot of it is due to the bean counters cost cutting on simple components

also look at nokia and lithium batteries

UbuntuniX

I'm not even going to go to that site.

I will never use a Dell.

I'm happy with my debian powered custom made computer (originally a Gateway).

majiktripp

I have a Dell D410 latop,a Dell M170 laptop,A Dell Axim x50 PDA,a Dell 2405FPW Monitor ...so yes I would buy Dell....

Ruu_Old

I've bought quite a few desktops and laptops from Dell and never had a problem with any of them despite all the horror stories so I would buy them again (if I didn't build my own these days).

cushtac

My girlfriend has a Dell laptop. A couple of months ago the battery stopped charging, she tried using different batteries & power units but none of them worked so she rang the helpdesk. The guy at the end of the line told her to get a screwdriver so she could take the underside off to check the motherboard, she refused & yer man cut her off. She rang back & asked for a supervisor, who said the tech was correct in asking her to dismantle her laptop.

Won't be buying from Dell again.

majiktripp

Thats true Dell will try and get you to diagnose the problem partly as they will have to send the correct parts out with the repair technician so I can understand them asking people to do certain things but when they get a bit in your face its annoying,I had an extremely frustrating time with them before so I know how you feel....

andrea

Having worked for Dell I can tell you it's just as frustrating from the other side!

Try getting someone who doesn't know which end of a screwdriver is which to take apart a laptop to diagnose a problem (often down to mboard/proc) by describing to them over the phone what to do!

Now try completing that entire call in less than 15 mins, and about 30 of them in a day.

If the tech sends a part/engineer with part and the part is incorrect they personally get hit for that, financially, at the end of the month.

28064212

cushtac wrote:

...Won't be buying from Dell again.

Why? They were trying to save your girlfriend from having to pay for an onsite repair

blorg

Dell are the largest manufacturer in the world so inevitably you will hear more problems about them than anyone else. I don't have one but know plenty of other people with them and they seem perfectly reliable. Their customer support can be bad (I have had to deal with it relating to work) but I don't believe it's any worse than anyone else (I've always used Vaios and Sony in particular is dreadful.) Only manufacturer I've ever had consistently good service from was Compaq before the HP takeover.

cushtac

28064212 wrote:

Why? They were trying to save your girlfriend from having to pay for an onsite repair

Would you expect your local garage to talk you through an oil change over the phone? How about your plumber? If you don't have the knowledge yourself, you don't attempt serious repairs - this is as true for PC's as anything else.

My girlfriend, and the vast majority of PC users for that matter, don't have the expertise to be disassembling computers. What if she'd accidentally shorted something? The laptop would have been wrecked then.

More importantly, he never mentioned anything about unplugging the laptop from the mains first. If she hadn't the sense to ignore him, she would have been poking about in the thing with a screwdriver while electricity was still present.

andrea

I'm no fan of Dell, but you're making out that they were going to try to get her to swap out the motherboard or something! They would never have done that.

All they were trying to do was to make sure that if they were going to waste her time sending somebody out to her that it only had to be done once, or that if they were sending her a replacement battery (which she would probably have had to pay for if it was over a year old) that it would resolve the problem for her.

cushtac

The tech was already aware that it wasn't a problem with the battery or the power unit, as my girlfriend had told them she'd tried using other people's kit but to no avail.

It doesn't matter how simple a task it may have been, the tech had no business insisting that an untrained customer take a screwdriver and dismantle her laptop. He had made no mention of the need to ground herself or the dangers of static discharge, he also made no effort to ensure the laptop wasn't connected to the mains - two very serious mistakes.

I spent 7 years in the tech support industry & I never came across an incident where a complete novice was asked to do what was being asked of my girlfriend. I don't care what his motives were, the tech was completely irresponsible in his actions.

andrea

He wasn't asking her to dismantle it though, he asked her to remove a panel on the underside. Trust me, that's a different kettle of fish. And if she'd agreed then he would most likely have reminded her to disconnect power etc.

Anyway just bear in mind that he has a job to do, he has strict instructions to follow and somebody listening in on the call to make sure he follows them. A customer can refuse to take apart a system but the tech has to ask to cover himself. If he asks and the customer refuses then it is on the customer's head if the first call out doesn't resolve the problem.

Again, I'm no fan of Dell's (especially after working for them) but don't blame the tech for just trying to keep their job.

Karoma

I'm happy with my debian powered custom made computer (originally a Gateway).

You make me laugh, with every post.

As the Capt'n said, it's an industry-wide thing; most often the result of beancounter's decisions to cut corners. The fact that Dell aim to be one of the cheapest means that they have to cut more.

quarryman

andrea wrote:

If the tech sends a part/engineer with part and the part is incorrect they personally get hit for that, financially, at the end of the month.

how? They receive less in a bonus of some sort?

Capt'n Midnight

http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2006/07/21/overheating_laptops/

Even if the number was much higher, it has to be put into the context of the millions of machines Dell ships each year. And it's by no means alone. HP recalled 15,700 notebook batteries in April this year - only six months after asking for 135,000 laptop batteries to be returned to it.

Fujitsu told the world it was recalling 250,000 notebook batteries in June 2005, a month after Apple said 128,000 PowerBook and iBook batteries should be sent back. The Mac maker also issued a similar recall in August 2004. Recalls like these tend to be disproportionate: a small number of problems lead to a very large volume of returns.

If it's not laptop batteries, it's phone power cells - as Kyocera discovered, though Nokia claimed cases of exploding handsets were the result of third-party batteries or chargers - or it's power supply units for notebooks - bad luck, IBM - games consoles - Sony and Microsoft - and USB drives (step forward, Lexar)

Also add in flamable resistors in CRT's
And dodgy termination resistors in hard drives, no flames but the first symptom is when you loose all data.

Tar.Aldarion

I have a dell desktop, never again. i just leave it off in the corner and use my acer laptop all the time.
I hear dell are getting better though? I don't know.

Ruu_Old

Tar.Aldarion wrote:

I have a dell desktop, never again. i just leave it off in the corner and use my acer laptop all the time.
I hear dell are getting better though? I don't know.

Well their profits are meant to be disappointing for the second quarter in a row.

The world's largest computer manufacturer said it expected profits of 21 cents to 23 cents per share, way below analysts' forecasts of 32 cents. Earlier this year, Dell was forced into price cuts to meet the threat from rivals like Hewlett-Packard and Lenovo.

Dell has tried to woo back customers by simplifying its online order process, which was seen as too complex. Other moves to make its products more attractive include the hiring of over 2,000 staff to join its customer service division.

blorg

Karoma wrote:

The fact that Dell aim to be one of the cheapest means that they have to cut more.

It's more that Dell being the largest have great economies of scale and are also much more efficient than their rivals. You would hardly call Toyota (or for that matter Skoda these days) unreliable because they are good value.

Dell consistently come in top of the pack in terms of their reliability. You hear of more problems with them simply because they sell a lot more computers than anyone else.

Saruman

I have 2 dell laptops... grand machines... battery life is amazing on my 5150!! So yes i would.
As for that article.. nothing new there... every manufacturer of any kind of... well anything will knowingly release a product they know can be faulty like this... if they think only so many of them will go that way then they are happy to release it. Gateway did the same with their Solo 5100 years ago!! Got so hot the keyboards melted on them. This was sorted with a bios flash.

ambro25

Having bought a C600 (currently with my parents) and a D600 (currently with me still) off eBay over the past couple of years, so "second-hand with an unknown past/pedigree", I'd buy another tomorrow if I needed it.

Never a day's worry, good price/performance (the D600 runs BF2 with 512MB RAM and an ATi M9 32MB graphics card FFS!), and I can't for the life of me understand 2 things:

(i) what people do to kill off their batteries inside a couple of years: the C600 is at least 5 years old and still runs at least 2 hours on original battery. Runs XP Pro with PIII 750, 256 RAM, 20GB HDD. The D600 is probably one of the first 1.6 Centrinos that came out, and still runs at least 5 to 5 and a half hours with the additional modular battery (runs BF2 non-stop for 3 to 3 and a half hours).

(ii) why people keep buying laptops instead of desktop if they don't need the form factor (i.e. the mobility). Twice as expensive, half as powerful, cut down to inexistent upgrade path, and the integrated / miniaturised / interdependent nature of the components makes them a pain in everyone's ass if they need fixing. Fashion, I suppose - but hey: you pays your money, you takes your choice :rolleyes:

I've had numerous IBM, Toshiba and Fujitsu Siemens, btw. I'd still buy a Dell over these.

28064212

cushtac wrote:

Would you expect your local garage to talk you through an oil change over the phone?

No, but I would expect them to ask me to look under the hood to see if they could diagnose the problem without needing to send someone out. And tbh, I wouldn't really expect them to remind me to switch the engine off before I did it.

blorg

ambro25 wrote:

(i) what people do to kill off their batteries inside a couple of years:

From Wikipedia:

A unique drawback of the Li-ion battery is that its life span is dependent upon aging from time of manufacturing (shelf life) regardless of whether it was charged, and not just on the number of charge/discharge cycles. This drawback is not widely publicized.

At a 100% charge level, a typical Li-ion laptop battery that's full most of the time at 25 degrees Celsius, will irreversibly lose approximately 20% capacity per year. This capacity loss begins from the time it was manufactured, and occurs even when the battery is unused. Different storage temperatures produce different loss results: 6% loss at 0 °C, 20% at 25 °C, and 35% at 40 °C. When stored at 40% charge level, these figures are reduced to 2%, 4%, 15% at 0, 25 and 40 degrees Celsius respectively.

If the battery is used and fully depleted to 0%, this is called a "deep discharge" cycle, and this decreases its capacity. Approximately 100 deep discharge cycles leave the battery with about 75% to 85% capacity. When used in laptop computers or cellular phones, this rate of deterioration means that after three to five years the battery will have capacities that are too low to be usable.

In other words, completely normal use will kill your battery within around three years, unless you discharge the battery to around 40% and take it out when connected to the mains (I don't know anyone who does this.) Deep discharge while on battery power is also pretty common (people tend to use their laptop until the juice runs out.)

delly

Bought my own first computer in c.1999 which was a Dell PIII-700mhz and kept it until last year (:eek:6yrs) without a problem. I now have a Dell P4-3.6ghz for just over a year without a days bother. I also have had a Dell Latitude in work for the last 3 years and use it all day.

I'm not obliovous(sp) to the fact that some Dell's have problems but I haven't had any so I would defo buy another one.

andrea

quarryman wrote:

how? They receive less in a bonus of some sort?

Exactly. And put it this way, if you don't get your full bonus you're short that month. It's certainly not a case of the bonus being the icing on the cake!

Sales on the other hand...

ambro25

blorg wrote:

unless you (...) take it out when connected to the mains (I don't know anyone who does this.)

Well, now you know one - me (but I barely ever use my lappies 'constantly connected to the mains' at all)

blorg wrote:

Deep discharge while on battery power is also pretty common (people tend to use their laptop until the juice runs out.)

And that I do also. Charge to full, use to empty, then charge again. Never noticed any loss on either of the C600 or the D600 (on their internal battery). Or my Pencentra 200. Or any of the lappies (spindle/no spindle, HDD or embedded) that I've owned over the years (some using Li-Ion, some much older using Ni-CD, etc.).

TempestSabre

I killed my Sony battery keeping the laptop on the AC all the time. I don't do it myself anymore.

WillieDH

1. Dell’s Quality Issues


1. Incident – 21. June 2006

Dell laptop explodes at a conference in Japan
The laptop computer suddenly started to burn and produced several explosions for more than five minutes.
http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=32550


2. Incident - 04. July 2006
Two Dell laptops started to burn
A man from Pittsburgh reported about his Dell Inspiron 1150 started to burn in February 2006:
“My laptop started to smoke and catch fire in my bedroom, under normal use. After about 3 months, with another 1150 (the replacement), it too started the same problems I was having just before unit #1 caught fire. It was locking up constantly, and certain things on the laptop would not work. I contacted Dell that evening, and at 230am EST, the laptop began to emit smoke“.

http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=32739


15. July 2006
Laptop batteries a possible cause of plane fire
The US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is looking into the possibility that laptop batteries may have started a fire on a UPS cargo plane that was forced to make an emergency landing last February. The plane's three crew members managed to escape with only minor injuries, but the fire ultimately destroyed the plane and most of the cargo on board. While the NTSB investigation hasn't pinned the blame on the batteries just yet, the FAA's has Harry Webster has testified that lithium-ion batteries can vent flammable liquid and "pose a risk to the cargo compartment."
http://www.tgdaily.com/2006/07/13/ntsb_laptopbattery_upsfire/


3. Incident – 19. July 2006
Facility evacuated because of burning Dell laptop
A blogger from Utah reported about an evacuation of a Novell building in the USA because of a burning Dell laptop.
"Building D of Novell in Provo was evacuated at about 1:30 PM today because of fire alarms set off by a Dell D600 battery "venting with flame" under normal use/charging conditions. It took the laptop out with it, of course."






http://www.crn.com/sections/breakingnews/dailyarchives.jhtml?articleId=190700059




19. July 2006
Dell Knew Of Dozen Burned Laptops Before Recall
Dell grappled with apparently severe overheating problems in scores of notebooks for at least two years before it announced a recall of 22,000 notebooks last year, according to a source close to the company. The source allowed journalists to review documentation of investigations into the notebook problems, and the source said that documentation was supplied to Dell executives. The documentation included detailed evidence, on a notebook-by-notebook basis, of which component areas suffered the brunt of the overheating. The documentation showed the following:
• One notebook was charred black for several inches on the bottom corner of the unit, about one-half inch from the system fan;
• Another notebook with a two-inch hole showing where a section of case had melted away, charred black and brown on the bottom of the unit, on the side, about half-way between the fan and the battery;
(More information about the damaged notebooks can be found in the link below).

http://www.personaltechpipeline.com/190600186?cid=rssfeed_pl_ptp


4. Incident – 28. July 2006


Another Dell laptop ignites
Another Dell laptop burst into flames in a company in Vernon Hills, Illinois. Again it looks like the batteries are the cause. It is reported that the computer was in standby mode when it started to burn.
http://www.engadget.com/2006/07/28/another-dell-laptop-ignites/


5. Incident – 28. July 2006

Swiss Dell customers facing problems
It is reported that Swiss Dell customers facing problems with Dell OptiPlex PCs. The cause for this defect are bulged and partly leaking capacitors.
The problem was already reported last year in the US.
http://www.inside-it.ch/frontend/insideit?XE7lhitk49Zh64ao6ObWaa0hiusMx50OAnd80heEEeifImn9Pq5Xhm1g50LL
http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=24596


6. Incident - 28. July 2006
Dell desktop switches off by mobile phone
It is reported that Dells desktop PC GX520 will go into suspended animation if you put a mobile phone near the hard disk when receing a text message or a phone call.
Blogger Rickard Liljeberg found this so weird that he took, and posted, a video of the shutdown on his blog.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/07/28/dell_turned_off_by_text/




7. Incident – 31. July 2006
Dell laptop number 5 explodes
This time it was in Singapore, a Dell Latitude D410. The laptop computer is showing extensive damage to the underside of the computer consistent with a traumatic malfunction in the battery area.

http://blogs.smh.com.au/mashup/archives/005359.html




2. Dells Quality-Marketing


Quality is just Marketing at Dell
Dell is trying to convince customers of its “high quality” standards by various means. They state different quality tests and performance benchmarks on their website but it is clear to see that “quality” is merely a marketing argument.



Dells Reaction to the latest problems
In reaction to the upcoming reports of defective batteries and burning laptop computers Dell had to set up an own web site to assist customers with suspect units in replacing suspect notebook batteries.

“Batteries subject to recall should not be used while awaiting a replacement battery pack from Dell. You may continue to use your notebook computer using the AC adapter power cord originally provided with your notebook.”


http://www.dellbatteryprogram.com


Effect on Customer Perception

Customers are getting annoyed about the constant quality issues.

http://www.ihatedell.net


Ratings show that Dell tops all others manufacturer combined in consumer complaints

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/computers/dell_lap.html


Already sub average customer satisfaction even declined further in the last six months.


http://www.resellerratings.com/seller1867.html





A reader satisfaction survey
of the US “PC Magazine”
showed that 26%
of all Dell business
notebooks needed
repair!



http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,1851298,00.asp

TempestSabre

Whats your point?

http://www.google.ie/search?hl=en&q=Apple+Batteries+Recall&btnG=Google+Search&meta=

WillieDH

Would you really buy a dell, thats my point !!!

TempestSabre

Yes and I've installed thousands of them. We had a failure rate of less than 1%. I'd say they are better then the other brands I've worked with. HP/IBM/Compaq etc. In fact one of my machines is one I bought from the Dell outlet. Over a year old and nothing wrong with it.

WillieDH

so you are responsible for them going on fire, is that an admission ?!:D

TempestSabre

WillieDH wrote:

so you are responsible for them going on fire, is that an admission ?!:D

Do Dell make the batteries, I suspect they outsource that.

maidhc

WillieDH wrote:

Would you really buy a dell, thats my point !!!

I would.

I have 3x dell desktops and 3x dell notebooks at the moment. The oldest desktop is 4 years old, the newest 2. The oldest laptop is 2 years old, the newest 6 mths. They are all in constant use.

Apart from one laptop that needed a new mobo and touchpad, I have had no issues whatsoever. Service for the laptop was splendid and back working within 24 hours.

cornbb

I've been using Dell inspirons every day for the last 3 years. The only problem I've ever had was a faulty power adapter - a courier dropped a replacement to my house the morning after i rang them. So yes, I would buy a dell, and I will keep buying them.

Scráib

I might have a different perspective on this...

About five years ago I got a laptop which was a Dell Inspiron. I had problems with the software(so many actually) but the hardware is fine. It's only now after years of work that its beginning to have problems, and they're only with the removable CR-RW drive. Not bad after five years!

Now I've a Macbook Pro, which is a dinger but still I'm having a hiccup or two. Parts of the chassis very hot at times and I've discovered yesterday my battery has been recalled!

My point is that Dell is often considered a budget buy, and Apple Macs are viewed as the top of the scale. I've had both, and both have their respective problems. Notebooks are the most finnicky computers you can buy and any notbeook will be more likely to break because of repeated knocks and heat buildup.You don't get to be as big as Dell by building 100% rubbish, and they mostly don't. Microsoft did, but thats another story:rolleyes:

Would I buy a Dell? Well no, I've a mac and I'm not changing! But if someone wanted a windows machine I'd recommend a Dell certainly.

TempestSabre

WillieDH wrote:

Would you really buy a dell, thats my point !!!

The point is all computers are machines. Thus they break, and can have problems. No manufacturer is immune to this.

ambro25

WillieDH wrote:

Would you really buy a dell, thats my point !!!

Friend, your point is not a point, it's a question.

A biased one, at that, since I do not know of any single laptop manufacturer who has not, at some point in time, had to recall parts or machines due to manufacturing defects.

As very often pointed in such 'anti-Dell' threads, the hit rate on Total Quality for the 1st manufacturer on a global scale should be relativised with other, much smaller manufacturers. 1% out of a 200,000 laptops getting recalled will make more noise in the media than 1% out of 20,000. As for 'exploding batteries' at this time of year, that's an old hat problem

DermoMIO

im never buying off dell again after my encounter with their support team today, i argued with 5 different people for about an hour they even hung up on me as they did yesterday while in the middle of a conversation with them but atleast today they rang me back but they wouldnt budge at all and told me it wasnt dells policy to compensate their customers.

TempestSabre

DermoMIO wrote:

im never buying off dell again after my encounter with their support team today, i argued with 5 different people for about an hour they even hung up on me as they did yesterday while in the middle of a conversation with them but atleast today they rang me back but they wouldnt budge at all and told me it wasnt dells policy to compensate their customers.

compensate you for what?

sceptre

TempestSabre wrote:

Do Dell make the batteries, I suspect they outsource that.

Of course they outsource it. Take a Dell notebook apart completely (or almost any other manufacturer if you like) and you'll see that every single part is outsourced to the likes of Panasonic, Acer, Wistron, Samsung, Lenovo, Foxconn, Quanta, Flextronics, Compal and so on. These days most PC makers don't even have design input into their own products, they merely buy the designs from someone else (the ODM) who does. Some PC makers don't even assemble their own products, rather they're assembled by contract manufacturers and merely packed in boxes marked with the supposed manufacturer's name.

TempestSabre

It was kind of a rhetorical question.

DermoMIO

i bought extended waranty off them a few weeks ago and a few days ago my battery started flashing "amber" at me so i rang them up and asked them what the problem was they did some stuff with me like installing sumtim that didnt work they then said they would send out a new battery the next day and a technician to check my over heating problem. so the dude arrived with a new motherboard a fan and something else but no battery.

he took apart my laptop was putting the new mother board on when he seen it was the wrong one he was pissed about this and told me to ring and give out stink until i get xtra ram or more warranty for teh inconvience they caused me. and he told me my battery was faulty that they should give me a new one. so then later that day arounf 5pm a dude rang and said that my new warrantly didnt cover the bettery and i started to say to him right well then since u wasted my day u should give me a battery in exchange for me having to wait around all day tomorrow for another guy to come out. he hung up on me half way through me telling him this.

then today another guy comes out to fit the new motherboard which wasnt needed in the first place and told me that my battery was faulty and i should get it replaced. and he showed me that my ram was only 512 when i paid for 1gb which totally pissed me off. so i rang them and told them everything that i wasnt told when sold the warranty that my warranty didnt cover all items and that they wasted two of my days where i could of been doing things for work(not really) in that time wasted by their stupidy in sending out wrong parts.

i got sent around 5 different people until i got to a manager who just keot repeating himself over and over again telling me i could buy what i needed and i told him i shouldnt buy what i should have in the first place and what i just bought waranty for. he wasnt giving in so i said to him give me compensation for my battery like €50 off he said for what i repeated everythign and he told me dell's policy was not to compensate its customers his words not mine. i asked for his name couldnt understand it cause they were all indian and could carely speak english not being racist just stating the fact. so i hung up on him.

that enough mate ?

TempestSabre

Sounds like you know nothing about computers, or your consumer rights, or what your warranty covers. The technicans don't know how to fix your computer or follow their own support recomendations. Basically you need to stand up for yourself and demand a refund.

If I were you, and I assume this is a new laptop. Tell them you want to return it as its not fit for the purpose. Theres a sample letter here.

http://www.northtyneside.gov.uk/tradingstandards/selfhelp/A7%20Rejecting%20goods%20which%20are%20not%20fit%20for%20purpose.doc

You've tried their support, and its unable to resolve the problem, you need to check is it missing RAM. Thats just more grounds to return it.

sceptre

TempestSabre wrote:

It was kind of a rhetorical question.

I sort of assumed as much (I've read enough of your posts on occasion) so it was intended as an answer of sorts to a rhetorical question:)

DermoMIO

TempestSabre wrote:

Sounds like you know nothing about computers, or your consumer rights, or what your warranty covers. The technicans don't know how to fix your computer or follow their own support recomendations. Basically you need to stand up for yourself and demand a refund.

If I were you, and I assume this is a new laptop. Tell them you want to return it as its not fit for the purpose. Theres a sample letter here.

http://www.northtyneside.gov.uk/tradingstandards/selfhelp/A7%20Rejecting%20goods%20which%20are%20not%20fit%20for%20purpose.doc

You've tried their support, and its unable to resolve the problem, you need to check is it missing RAM. Thats just more grounds to return it.

i wouldnt say i am an expert with computers or that i know alot about them but i know a fair bit about them.

the laptop is just over a year old hense the new 3 yr warranty. so i cant return obviously.

thanks for the letter tough could come in handy sometime.

TempestSabre

Did you try blowing air through it to clear the overheating?

If you were using the battery on AC that could kill it in a year no problem.

DermoMIO

yea the AC killed it sadly, i just got a new fan off them and the old one was blocked which didnt help at all

TempestSabre

DermoMIO wrote:

yea the AC killed it sadly, i just got a new fan off them and the old one was blocked which didnt help at all

Laptops need cleaning and batteries TLC.

Capt'n Midnight

DermoMIO wrote:

the laptop is just over a year old hense the new 3 yr warranty. so i cant return obviously.

few, if any manufacturers cover batteries after a year, real PITA since they go so easily
that's why they they are so easy to remove/replace
you could buy them from dell or online from third parties easily enough

even worse with laser printers where so many parts are treated as consumables


if you go to the web site and put in the tag you can see the parts shipped with the laptop. If it says 512 then back to the sales person, other wise if it says the right amount then try customer care