dce@Solbourne.COM (David Elliott) (05/26/89)
In article <221@cs.columbia.edu> dr@cs.columbia.edu (David Robinowitz) writes: >And, to the person who responded to my original posting and told me >that the Magnavox was o.k.: "where are you now?" Does anyone else >know about this problem? It is minor, but I paid ~$500 for it and >should get a working product. I assume you are referring to me, since I know I recommeded the Magnavox monitor to at least a couple of people, and I still do. My monitor has worked fine ever since I purchased it in January. If what you are seeing is a design flaw (as opposed to a manufacturing defect), then why don't I see the same problem? Let me ask you this: Did it stop working, or was it broken from the beginning? If the former, then I feel for you. If the latter, then you should have been able to send it back from the beginning, and if you didn't try, you blew it. I don't mean to be snappy, but someone posted a message a while ago saying this happened to them, and if it was you, then you brought it upon yourself. In any case, you had better understand that that's how warranties work, like it or not. I once waited 9 weeks for repairs on an Aiwa personal cassette player that I only had for 7 weeks. I recently had my Ensoniq Mirage sampler in the shop for 6 weeks for warranty repairs. Were I a professional musician, I would have had to buy a new one. The same goes for my Alesis MMT8, which was only in the shop for 3 weeks (actually, this was not so bad, since I wouldn't have written the song "Green Eggs and Ham" if the MMT8 wasn't gone). The best warranty situation I was ever in was with Passport, who sent me a brand-new unit in 3 days, and even waived the $10 handling charge, but I was still without a working MIDI interface for a few weeks. Loaners? Well, I just called my local Apple dealer and asked about repairs to an Applecolor monitor under warranty, and was told that it would be at least 4 weeks and there is no loaner program there, either. I can't name a single manufacturer that will provide a loaner for warranty repairs (I know that car dealers used to, but the last time I had any repairs done I had to rent a car, which is why I have insurance for that kind of thing). If anyone knows of any, let us know so we can make sure and patronize them. My advice to you is to bite the bullet now and send it back right away and get it fixed. If you're lucky, and they can find the problem in a couple of days, you could get it back quickly. If you look around, you may be able to find a friend to loan you an extra monitor for a few weeks, or you may find a mono monitor for $150 that you can use as a loaner. If I could help you out, I would. I don't feel guilty, but I know how it is to be without something you use a lot. -- David Elliott dce@Solbourne.COM ...!{boulder,nbires,sun}!stan!dce
dr@cs.columbia.edu (David Robinowitz) (05/27/89)
In article <1279@marvin.Solbourne.COM> dce@Solbourne.com (David Elliott) writes: >In article <221@cs.columbia.edu> dr@cs.columbia.edu (David Robinowitz) writes: >>And, to the person who responded to my original posting and told me >>that the Magnavox was o.k.: "where are you now?" Does anyone else >>know about this problem? It is minor, but I paid ~$500 for it and >>should get a working product. > >I assume you are referring to me, since I know I recommeded the >Magnavox monitor to at least a couple of people, and I still do. My >monitor has worked fine ever since I purchased it in January. If what >you are seeing is a design flaw (as opposed to a manufacturing defect), >then why don't I see the same problem? > First off, I wasn't trying to accuse you of anything! I just wan't to know if the problem I observed is unique to my monitor or is present in all of 'em. I guess it's a manufacturing defect if your's works perfectly. >Let me ask you this: Did it stop working, or was it broken from the >beginning? If the former, then I feel for you. If the latter, then >you should have been able to send it back from the beginning, and if >you didn't try, you blew it. I don't mean to be snappy, but someone >posted a message a while ago saying this happened to them, and if it >was you, then you brought it upon yourself. It didn't work from the beginning only I didn't realize it. It was only after a friend of mine came over and said, "your colors are messed up!" that I recognized the problem. B&W is fine and the resolution, etc. is fine. Having tried to use some color graphics pacakges, though, the problem no longer seems trivial. And, how did I bring it on myself? Is the consumer responsible for quality control? I was in the midst of final exams when I discovered this problem. My school work comes first so only now do I have some time to deal with the problem. >In any case, you had better understand that that's how warranties work, >like it or not. [Recounts warranty horror stories] >Loaners? Well, I just called my local Apple dealer and asked about >repairs to an Applecolor monitor under warranty, and was told that it >would be at least 4 weeks and there is no loaner program there, >either. I can't name a single manufacturer that will provide a loaner >for warranty repairs (I know that car dealers used to, but the last >time I had any repairs done I had to rent a car, which is why I have >insurance for that kind of thing). If anyone knows of any, let us know >so we can make sure and patronize them. First off, my girlfriend's leading edge required repairs to the monitor (actually a magnavox monitor) and the local computer store in NYC loaned her a cheapo used monitor for the interim, NO CHARGE. My parent's Oldsmobile dealer in DC loans out cars during repairs for little/no charge (I'll get the name of the dealer if demand requires) and besides, most car insurance policies cover the cost of rentals during extended repairs (mos car repairs require only one day). The point of my posting was not to flame Magnavox's warranty policy, or even warranty policies in general, but rather to flame magnavox's quality control. The problem doesn't seem like one that could be caused merely by the bumps, etc of transport, but rather by someone's blunder. It was also to let people know that mail order isn't always the best way to go. Had I purchased this monitor from a local place, I could have gone in and yelled at them until they gave me a new monitor/loaner. With the store 3000 miles away, even if they would trade it (which they say they won't) it's 4 weeks turnaround. Too long. >My advice to you is to bite the bullet now and send it back right away >and get it fixed. If you're lucky, and they can find the problem in a >couple of days, you could get it back quickly. If you look around, you >may be able to find a friend to loan you an extra monitor for a few >weeks, or you may find a mono monitor for $150 that you can use as a >loaner. If anyone has a mono monitor for $150, let me know! >If I could help you out, I would. I don't feel guilty, but I know how >it is to be without something you use a lot. Guilt is completely unproductive! > >-- >David Elliott dce@Solbourne.COM > ...!{boulder,nbires,sun}!stan!dce THanks for the reply, Dave -- ---------------------------------------------------------------- David Robinowitz dr@cunixb.cc.columbia.edu CU SEAS CS MS, NYC (212) 601-1586