Live from Japan: The FT 8790 Review - Page 8  

Finally got a reply back from Clevo. They still didn't give me an estimate for repairs, so that doesn't help w/ the Warrantech issue at all. Most of the places I've contacted here in Japan are resellers like Sager and do not carry the D870P model. Therefore, they have no clue on what it'd cost to fix it. One place in Tokyo told me that for any services issues w/ the Clevos they sell, they send them directly to Taiwan to fix. The only place so far that I've found that carries the D870P (linked by someone early on in this review) told me that due to the magnitude of my problem, it'd be easier for me to just buy a new unit. Uh, yeah- gotcha. I just pull $3000 out o' my butt everyday like it's no big deal. Helpful group. Guy did say he was going to fax an estimate to me that I could forward on to Warrantech. Waited a couple days. Nothing. Guy from work called for me while I was busy to check up on it. Oh, should be Friday or Saturday. Well, it's Monday now and still nothing. *sigh*

The cogs are turning. Just not very quickly. Did email Tom, too, in regards to paint and WSXGA on my unit. Don't have the money now, but I'll be good to go soon Be nice if I could get ev'thing all squared away at once.

No go on the WXGA to WSXGA swap. $600-800. Woops. Bit more'n I thought it'd be. I'll pass on that one. Hmmm. Do I paint my current beast or sell it when it gets fixed and order a WSXGA unit (w/ a quieter Toshiba drive). Or wait out a 9860?

Hmmm. Vat to do, vat to do.

Saw that a bit earlier. Tempting. Nov 8th is probably when Nvidia's NDA expires, so I would imagine there'll be a few other places w/ their 9860's out, too. In fact, Adam stated that PCT would be the first to offer it (if I remember correctly- hopefully I'm not having a brain-fart), so hopefully that will be the case.

Kickin' it while it's down... I do know that. Thing is, it's my work machine and I can't just drop by City of Industry for a 2 day ordeal. I'll be out of a machine for at least a month if not longer plus shipping back to the States (cost ~$250 to get it here), so it's not like I *want* to be using a machine that makes me pull out my hair and want to throw it against the wall every 2 minutes. Matter of timing. Being able to afford sending it back and being able to be w/o it at work. I can finally afford getting it back now, but it just so happens that it's when I need it the most, unfortunately. Hoping to have it on its way soon, though. Love to have my beast back and not this pitiful shell that it's become.

So yes, I'm aware of the problem and yes, aware that I'm not doing it any good by using it. However, particular circumstances dictate otherwise for the time being. Glad to hear that your g'friend's machine got fixed up ASAP. Good to hear about Sager taking care of their customers.

Not too surprising to hear about the Sager guys following the forums, really. I would hope that they would, actually. Probably the largest concentration of their customers in one place I would imagine. Makes sense to pay attention to what's being said.

Finally got ahold of the guys at TwoTop again. I waited about a week for a supposed FAX with a repair estimate and it never did come. One of the guys I work with called for me when I was busy and was told to wait. I finally got fed up and called back- ends up the guy dealing with it was promoted and sent to Osaka, so apparently my request fell through the cracks.

Guy that I did speak with gave me a verbal estimate. 131,800 yen for the motherboard/case (barebone set basically), another 2200 yen for misc. taxes, 7350~10000 yen for repairs (but that was low ball-park) and then 2-3 weeks for repairs.

I've got to get some information squared away with Warrantech (M-F US Central time... ugh), get an RMA number from Sager and I should be in business. I get paid in 2 days, so I'll be able to afford shipping the unit out when ev'thing's ready to go.


Soon. Very soon, I hope.

Called Warrantech about 12:30 last night. Told 'em I couldn't figure out how to call collect like they say to do and the guy said he'd call me back. I was skeptical because another guy the week before said he'd call me back here at work and said he wasn't able to get through. This guy did, though. I was impressed.

FAX'd some needed information to Warrantech this morning, so all should be about ready on that end.

Received an RMA # from Sager, too, so once I coordinate shipping between the 3 of us, my beast should be on its way.

$3k And I could've had the RMA months ago, actually, when I first contacted Sager about this. Problem is, I couldn't afford the shipping (need to quit buying things this year... first a $3k notebook, then a Toyota Surf/4-Runner ). I have to say that both Sager and Warrantech have been excellent so far in my dealings with them. Clevo, when I contacted them directly, were the slowest to respond. Ted @ Sager's been very prompt with replies. Just a hair slower than Tom @ PCTorque, which actually says a lot. Tom's been pretty darn fast for the most part.

I have wanted to throw the 8790 through a window. Happens multiple times daily now. But it's like hope is on the horizon, so I'm feeling better. When it's at the top of its form, the 8790 is a wondrous thing to behold. I can only imagine what it'd be like with a quieter DVD drive (Toshiba) and a WSXGA screen. The 9860 makes me slobber, but there's something about the 8790 that makes it stand on its own and not get lost in the shadows of another great machine.

Is your machine acting up, too, Brett?

大変だ！

Hontou ni sou deshou. Bah!





I'm glad I'm not the only one that says that

Warrantech update

I've been having issues w/ Warrantech and the amount that my 8790 is worth. After some help from Tom @ PCT, the issue has now been settled. I'm not sure if the Warrantech person I spoke with was just overworked and didn't look into the matter deeply enough or if she was dense, but regardless, Tom squared things away for me and all seemed well. Emphasis on seemed.

I was handed over to the Service Dept., where they deal w/ the actual repairs, etc. I'd been told that Warrantech might consider paying for shipping back to Sager since I'd been quoted by www.twotop.co.jp:

131,800 yen Motherboard + case (barebones set)
2,200 yen Misc. Japanese taxes
7,350~10,000 yen Shipping
10,000~20,000 yen Labor (low estimate since they hadn't seen the unit)

However, TwoTop will not repair it. I didn't buy it from them, so they don't want anything to do with it. I had to pull teeth just to get the parts prices. It'd be like buying a Hypersonic and asking Sager to fix it. Highly doubt they would. Might, but I doubt it. Same situation here.

Service told me (in a rather quick email, for once), that they only pay for local repairs. So... I'm screwed. And I can't really suggest to anyone to even bother with buying the Export Option through Warrantech. At least, not for Japan. It's seeming to be a complete waste of money and time dealing with them in this regard. Perhaps my view will change, but at this point, I doubt it.

Hearing from Brett here in Japan having similar problems doesn't help, either. So if I spend $1500 to fix it, get reimbursed from Warrantech (would've been cheaper to send to Sager, right? Ah, well- I tried) and then it happens again... Just puts me on the sore side o' grumpy. I'm grumpy enough as is w/o trying to figure out how to put this situation straight. I could pay for shipping back to Sager myself, but it really is irritating to think about putting out $400~500 for shipping (to and from) when it wasn't even something I did in the first place. If I dropped the thing and broke the screen or spilled pop on it, I'd understand having to eat some of the cost. But this... this grumpifies me.



Price to pay for gambling on buying from the US when I don't live there, I guess. My recommendations for anyone outside the US buying from there basically stop here. As much as I appreciate everything the PCT crew does for everyone and as much as Sager's seemed willing to work with me on the problems, it's really hard to recommend foreign buyers to them now that I'm embroiled in the middle of this disaster.

Spoke with a Clevo rep on the phone the other day. I've gotten things squared away to ship the unit out to them for repairs. I'm in the middle of preparation right now for shipping. Yamato hasn't told me how long to expect for shipping. I should have an idea later today when they come to pick up the unit. Clevo said that I should expect a 7 working day turnaround for repairs. They will pick up the cost of shipping the unit back to me as long as the problem wasn't caused by customer abuse. There's no way I even know of to kill a video card, so I don't have to worry about paying for shipping + parts

Hopefully this business'll get squared away rather quickly. Secretary point blank told me yesterday to just ship the thing out because it's turning into a problem not having it to work with here. Hopefully this will go well and I can tell Brett how to get his problem solved.

I've also been in contact with Blade who also has one of the original units. His problems sound just like mine. I advised sending it back to Sager ASAP. Hopefully his situation gets squared away quickly, too.

The Yamato- Black Cat guy just picked up my 8790. Crossing my fingers that all will go well and I'll have it back in ~2 weeks.