Aviator AX7
Integrated V.92 56K Fax/Data Modem
8X DVD / 24X-10X-24 CD-R/W Combo Drive w/ Recording Software
80GB 5400rpm Ultra ATA Hard Drive w/ 8MB Cache
Built-in Sound Blaster Compatible Audio (AX Series)
3400+ AMD Athlon™ 64 DTR/Mobile Processor w/ PowerNow!™ Tech.
1024MB PC3200 DDR400 SODIMM
Internal 802.11b+g 54Mbps Wireless Mini PCI Network Adapter
17" WSXGA+ 1680x1050 VividView™ Display w/ Super Clear Glossy Surface
VIA K8T800 + VT8235 Chipset Mobile Motherboard for AX7
ATI Radeon Mobility 9700 (M11) 128MB for AX7 (w/ TV Out)
Aviator AX7 in Reflexxion Series Black Sapphire Metallic
Built-in 4 in 1 Flash Media Card Reader Slots
Integrated 10/100/1000Mbit Ethernet Controller
1 Year Accidental Damage Protection (System and LCD)
DOOM III
MS Windows XP Home Edition CD & Manual SP2 Pre-Installed & Configured
Custom Personalized Text
^ Norton Anti-Virus 2005 CD 1-Year Subscription
Aviator AX7: High-Performance Athlon64-Based Notebook ATI 9700
1 Year Platinum Warranty with 24/7 Toll-Free Tech Support
Airbrush Custom Graphics (High Detail)
Just Under 3,000$.
Ordered on 8/25/2005, Current expected shipping date: 11/17/2005, and it still has not shipped. I hate to leave it like this but I have to head out, will elaborate in a little bit, but so far I hate Hypersonic with a passion.
Ok just got home. The best place to start is usually the beginning.
I placed my order for the notebook on 8/25/2005. The original expected shipping date was 9/26/2005. I thought that was a little long, but hey I have never ordered a laptop before so I didnt know what to expect. I dont mind waiting at all for something like that.
I choose the custom paint job option, so after I placed the order I was all giddy and tried to figure out what I wanted painted on the sucker. I come up with a rough idea and figure id let the Hypersonic fellas know what I want. I look around on their website for information about how to let them know what artwork I'd like, but theres nothing there. No problem, I just sent the customer service guys an email. They respond shortly:
[ I had a copy of the email here but I just read the fine print at the end of it, saying it cannot be reproduced, so I do not want to risk getting into trouble. It simply said to send them a high resolution picture of what I wanted.]
_______
Sweet. Still searching around the net for some cool stuff, I cant make up my mind, so I thought I would send some things to the Smooth Creations people and see what they thought. For the next few days I communicated with them through email. These guys were really helpful. I decide on what I want and send the layout to the CSR of Hypersonic, and I figured thats that.
Around September 15th my curiosity got the better of me and I sent the guys at Smoothcreations another email.
Hey guys,
I was just wondering how you guys were doing so far on the laptop paint
job; I recently started taking a photography class and right now we are
learning how much of a problem there can be when trying to apply grainy
images to something else, and I just realized that the main picture I
sent for you is very grainy so im curious how that turned out. Thanks
alot for your time.
Nick
_____
They responded shortly after:
Nick
They are grainy for sure.....we have been looking for something better
quality but it just seems the art work is very old and has been reproduced
many times making the quality drop.
If you have anything else in mind let us know.
What we will probably end up doing enhancing it with an air brush......we
can take out a lot of the pixilation somewhat like what you would do in
Photoshop.
Thanks
[Name Deleted]
______
I was a little bummed out about that, but no problem, I figured I could find a better picture. I stumbled across www.artres.com and saw that they had a very high resolution photo of the painting I wanted placed on the laptop, but they would not grant me access to it because I am not a business or something, I didnt really understand that part myself, but I told the Smooth Creations guys about it, this was there response:
September 16, 2005
Nick,
I personally checked out the Art Resources website and found the image your
looking to put on your system. I will give it a shot and see if I can get
something better, but if not, until you send us something else, we will be
putting the pic you gave us on your laptop.
We still have not received word from Hypersonic about your system. You need
to get in contact with [Name Deleted] at Hypersonic and give him the
artwork you are sending us. We can't get started on a system until
Hypersonic creates the order and sends us your laptop. When you get your
order in line, send us your PO number.
Regards, [Name Deleted]
_______
Ok. At this point, two things happened. First, my respect for the staff of Smooth Creations increased greatly. THEY DID NOT EVEN HAVE MY ORDER, and they had already helped me decide on a decent picture for my laptop, and now they were going out of there way to try for a higher resolution copy.
Second, I got very agitated at Hypersonic. This was on September 16th, the expected shipdate was September 26, and the Smooth Creations had no record of my order at all..... Yea, I dont think its going to be ready by that date. I immediately sent this to Hypersonic:
Hello,
I sent you guys the pictures I wanted painted on the laptop I ordered a
while back, and yesterday I emailed the Smoothcreations guys to see how
it was coming along, and this was part of the response email I received:
"We still have not received word from Hypersonic about your system. You need
to get in contact with [CSR] at Hypersonic and give him the
artwork you are sending us. We can't get started on a system until
Hypersonic creates the order and sends us your laptop. When you get your
order in line, send us your PO number."
So I was just wondering if you guys still have the pictures I sent you and
whatnot, and if there is anything I can do to help move this along. Thanks
alot for your time.
Nick
_________
Shortly after sending this, I got a call from that CSR telling me what the problem was. See, when I requested the custom laptop paint job, I assumed you could get whatever you wanted on the system, where ever you wanted. I was wrong
The paint job was for only the lid of the system, so the whole layout I had made out for the keyboard area would have ended up costing atleast 300.00$ more. That was just out of my price range so I had to cancel a large part of that, and because the art that I did decide to get done around the key area was special it would take longer.... although Hypersonic had received the layout weeks beforehand and failed to mention this before... I was pretty bummed, but whatever.
Nothing much happened for the next few weeks, just a continual order bump back. Finally, on October 17, I received an email from Hypersonic saying that the images I had chosen were grainy and that I should submit a higher resolution picture. I had searched the net for hours previously when i was communicating with the Smooth Creations people so I was pretty sure I would be unable to provide one. However, I was able to find a black and white version of the picture that was a much higher resolution than its color counterpart, but I really prefered the colored version. I figured I would send them the black and white version anyway, thinking maybe theres some way it could help them out, like they use the black and white thing as a stencil and fill in the color? (I know nothing about the painting process). This is the email I sent to Hypersonic:
Hello ,
I spent a long time looking around on the internet for a higher
resolution picture of the painting that I already sent to you and didnt
have any luck. However, I did find a picture very similar to it (which
I attached), but it is in an odd, light colored format, and has a much
better resolution. I was wondering if there was any way that your
artists could use the new picture to help them out with the original
one (I really prefer the darker painting). I guess you could run it by
them. Please let me know what they think. Thanks alot for your time.
Nick
_____
The response from Hypersonic made me wonder if they even read the email. It simply asked, in once sentence, if this was the picture I wanted put on the system. Nothing about it being usable with my original selection, no artist opinion or anything. Growing weary of this whole process, I tell them to go for it.
That was my last contact with Hypersonic until fairly recently, after many more unexplained delays. Finally starting to get agitated, I sent this email:
November 9, 2005
Hello,
I have been checking the progress of my laptop order for the past few
weeks and it is constantly being bumped back farther, and I was just
wondering what the problem is. Thanks alot for your time.
Nick
____________
Later that day I received a phone call from a Hypersonic CSR. November 9 was a Wednesday. She said that the paint job has been completed, looks good, and will be shipped that Friday or Saturday, Monday at the very latest.
I checked my order status that Friday- Expected Shipping Date: Monday 11/14/05
Okok, I was agitated, but this is the absolute latest! She said so!
I checked my order status that Monday- Expected Shipping Date: Thursday 11/17/05
I'm pretty sure steam came out of my ears shortly after I read that. I immediately sent Hypersonic this email:
Hello [Name Deleted],
I checked my order status page and saw that it had been bumped back
again. Before I start my little rant I want you to know that this is
not directed at you specifically; you have been helpful and I
understand that you are a customer service representative and do not
control every aspect of the company, so certain problems are simply out
of your hands.
Having said that, I am generally not the type of person to complain,
but I think this is getting a little ridiculous. I originally ordered
the laptop on August 25, nearly 3 months ago, to help me out with
taking notes in class (I am a college student with horrible
handwriting). Since then there has been poor company-to-customer
communication and too many order delays, with no provided explanation
for the latter. I know that sometimes problems do happen, but, unless I
am missing something, this is an extreme. My order would have been
cancelled a month ago if not for the no refund for custom graphics
policy.
I am not sure how you can respond to this. I know that a lot of this is
outside of your control, but this is how I feel about my experience
with Hypersonic.
Nick
____________________________________
The following day I received an email from the same CSR, COMPLETLY IGNORING all the bad things I said, no apology or any explanation besides this: The hard drive I had requested was not meeting there quality standards, which would be a valid reason if I had not already been told the testing and what not had already been completed. The hard drive is also now out of stock, so they offered me an upgrade, however it is 20GB smaller. This was my response:
[Name Deleted],
I thought that the building and testing process had already been
completed? And you all have no response to the problems listed in my
previous email? As for the hard drive, I'd prefer the larger 80GB over
the faster 60GB drive, but if choosing the in-stock 60GB will actually
get the laptop shipped, it will do.
Nick
_______________
And that is where it currently stands. I will let you know how they respond.
Integrated V.92 56K Fax/Data Modem
8X DVD / 24X-10X-24 CD-R/W Combo Drive w/ Recording Software
80GB 5400rpm Ultra ATA Hard Drive w/ 8MB Cache
Built-in Sound Blaster Compatible Audio (AX Series)
3400+ AMD Athlon™ 64 DTR/Mobile Processor w/ PowerNow!™ Tech.
1024MB PC3200 DDR400 SODIMM
Internal 802.11b+g 54Mbps Wireless Mini PCI Network Adapter
17" WSXGA+ 1680x1050 VividView™ Display w/ Super Clear Glossy Surface
VIA K8T800 + VT8235 Chipset Mobile Motherboard for AX7
ATI Radeon Mobility 9700 (M11) 128MB for AX7 (w/ TV Out)
Aviator AX7 in Reflexxion Series Black Sapphire Metallic
Built-in 4 in 1 Flash Media Card Reader Slots
Integrated 10/100/1000Mbit Ethernet Controller
1 Year Accidental Damage Protection (System and LCD)
DOOM III
MS Windows XP Home Edition CD & Manual SP2 Pre-Installed & Configured
Custom Personalized Text
^ Norton Anti-Virus 2005 CD 1-Year Subscription
Aviator AX7: High-Performance Athlon64-Based Notebook ATI 9700
1 Year Platinum Warranty with 24/7 Toll-Free Tech Support
Airbrush Custom Graphics (High Detail)
Just Under 3,000$.
Ordered on 8/25/2005, Current expected shipping date: 11/17/2005, and it still has not shipped. I hate to leave it like this but I have to head out, will elaborate in a little bit, but so far I hate Hypersonic with a passion.
Ok just got home. The best place to start is usually the beginning.
I placed my order for the notebook on 8/25/2005. The original expected shipping date was 9/26/2005. I thought that was a little long, but hey I have never ordered a laptop before so I didnt know what to expect. I dont mind waiting at all for something like that.
I choose the custom paint job option, so after I placed the order I was all giddy and tried to figure out what I wanted painted on the sucker. I come up with a rough idea and figure id let the Hypersonic fellas know what I want. I look around on their website for information about how to let them know what artwork I'd like, but theres nothing there. No problem, I just sent the customer service guys an email. They respond shortly:
[ I had a copy of the email here but I just read the fine print at the end of it, saying it cannot be reproduced, so I do not want to risk getting into trouble. It simply said to send them a high resolution picture of what I wanted.]
_______
Sweet. Still searching around the net for some cool stuff, I cant make up my mind, so I thought I would send some things to the Smooth Creations people and see what they thought. For the next few days I communicated with them through email. These guys were really helpful. I decide on what I want and send the layout to the CSR of Hypersonic, and I figured thats that.
Around September 15th my curiosity got the better of me and I sent the guys at Smoothcreations another email.
Hey guys,
I was just wondering how you guys were doing so far on the laptop paint
job; I recently started taking a photography class and right now we are
learning how much of a problem there can be when trying to apply grainy
images to something else, and I just realized that the main picture I
sent for you is very grainy so im curious how that turned out. Thanks
alot for your time.
Nick
_____
They responded shortly after:
Nick
They are grainy for sure.....we have been looking for something better
quality but it just seems the art work is very old and has been reproduced
many times making the quality drop.
If you have anything else in mind let us know.
What we will probably end up doing enhancing it with an air brush......we
can take out a lot of the pixilation somewhat like what you would do in
Photoshop.
Thanks
[Name Deleted]
______
I was a little bummed out about that, but no problem, I figured I could find a better picture. I stumbled across www.artres.com and saw that they had a very high resolution photo of the painting I wanted placed on the laptop, but they would not grant me access to it because I am not a business or something, I didnt really understand that part myself, but I told the Smooth Creations guys about it, this was there response:
September 16, 2005
Nick,
I personally checked out the Art Resources website and found the image your
looking to put on your system. I will give it a shot and see if I can get
something better, but if not, until you send us something else, we will be
putting the pic you gave us on your laptop.
We still have not received word from Hypersonic about your system. You need
to get in contact with [Name Deleted] at Hypersonic and give him the
artwork you are sending us. We can't get started on a system until
Hypersonic creates the order and sends us your laptop. When you get your
order in line, send us your PO number.
Regards, [Name Deleted]
_______
Ok. At this point, two things happened. First, my respect for the staff of Smooth Creations increased greatly. THEY DID NOT EVEN HAVE MY ORDER, and they had already helped me decide on a decent picture for my laptop, and now they were going out of there way to try for a higher resolution copy.
Second, I got very agitated at Hypersonic. This was on September 16th, the expected shipdate was September 26, and the Smooth Creations had no record of my order at all..... Yea, I dont think its going to be ready by that date. I immediately sent this to Hypersonic:
Hello,
I sent you guys the pictures I wanted painted on the laptop I ordered a
while back, and yesterday I emailed the Smoothcreations guys to see how
it was coming along, and this was part of the response email I received:
"We still have not received word from Hypersonic about your system. You need
to get in contact with [CSR] at Hypersonic and give him the
artwork you are sending us. We can't get started on a system until
Hypersonic creates the order and sends us your laptop. When you get your
order in line, send us your PO number."
So I was just wondering if you guys still have the pictures I sent you and
whatnot, and if there is anything I can do to help move this along. Thanks
alot for your time.
Nick
_________
Shortly after sending this, I got a call from that CSR telling me what the problem was. See, when I requested the custom laptop paint job, I assumed you could get whatever you wanted on the system, where ever you wanted. I was wrong
The paint job was for only the lid of the system, so the whole layout I had made out for the keyboard area would have ended up costing atleast 300.00$ more. That was just out of my price range so I had to cancel a large part of that, and because the art that I did decide to get done around the key area was special it would take longer.... although Hypersonic had received the layout weeks beforehand and failed to mention this before... I was pretty bummed, but whatever.Nothing much happened for the next few weeks, just a continual order bump back. Finally, on October 17, I received an email from Hypersonic saying that the images I had chosen were grainy and that I should submit a higher resolution picture. I had searched the net for hours previously when i was communicating with the Smooth Creations people so I was pretty sure I would be unable to provide one. However, I was able to find a black and white version of the picture that was a much higher resolution than its color counterpart, but I really prefered the colored version. I figured I would send them the black and white version anyway, thinking maybe theres some way it could help them out, like they use the black and white thing as a stencil and fill in the color? (I know nothing about the painting process). This is the email I sent to Hypersonic:
Hello ,
I spent a long time looking around on the internet for a higher
resolution picture of the painting that I already sent to you and didnt
have any luck. However, I did find a picture very similar to it (which
I attached), but it is in an odd, light colored format, and has a much
better resolution. I was wondering if there was any way that your
artists could use the new picture to help them out with the original
one (I really prefer the darker painting). I guess you could run it by
them. Please let me know what they think. Thanks alot for your time.
Nick
_____
The response from Hypersonic made me wonder if they even read the email. It simply asked, in once sentence, if this was the picture I wanted put on the system. Nothing about it being usable with my original selection, no artist opinion or anything. Growing weary of this whole process, I tell them to go for it.
That was my last contact with Hypersonic until fairly recently, after many more unexplained delays. Finally starting to get agitated, I sent this email:
November 9, 2005
Hello,
I have been checking the progress of my laptop order for the past few
weeks and it is constantly being bumped back farther, and I was just
wondering what the problem is. Thanks alot for your time.
Nick
____________
Later that day I received a phone call from a Hypersonic CSR. November 9 was a Wednesday. She said that the paint job has been completed, looks good, and will be shipped that Friday or Saturday, Monday at the very latest.
I checked my order status that Friday- Expected Shipping Date: Monday 11/14/05
Okok, I was agitated, but this is the absolute latest! She said so!
I checked my order status that Monday- Expected Shipping Date: Thursday 11/17/05
I'm pretty sure steam came out of my ears shortly after I read that. I immediately sent Hypersonic this email:
Hello [Name Deleted],
I checked my order status page and saw that it had been bumped back
again. Before I start my little rant I want you to know that this is
not directed at you specifically; you have been helpful and I
understand that you are a customer service representative and do not
control every aspect of the company, so certain problems are simply out
of your hands.
Having said that, I am generally not the type of person to complain,
but I think this is getting a little ridiculous. I originally ordered
the laptop on August 25, nearly 3 months ago, to help me out with
taking notes in class (I am a college student with horrible
handwriting). Since then there has been poor company-to-customer
communication and too many order delays, with no provided explanation
for the latter. I know that sometimes problems do happen, but, unless I
am missing something, this is an extreme. My order would have been
cancelled a month ago if not for the no refund for custom graphics
policy.
I am not sure how you can respond to this. I know that a lot of this is
outside of your control, but this is how I feel about my experience
with Hypersonic.
Nick
____________________________________
The following day I received an email from the same CSR, COMPLETLY IGNORING all the bad things I said, no apology or any explanation besides this: The hard drive I had requested was not meeting there quality standards, which would be a valid reason if I had not already been told the testing and what not had already been completed. The hard drive is also now out of stock, so they offered me an upgrade, however it is 20GB smaller. This was my response:
[Name Deleted],
I thought that the building and testing process had already been
completed? And you all have no response to the problems listed in my
previous email? As for the hard drive, I'd prefer the larger 80GB over
the faster 60GB drive, but if choosing the in-stock 60GB will actually
get the laptop shipped, it will do.
Nick
_______________
And that is where it currently stands. I will let you know how they respond.
