HP Support

January 11th, 2010 § 0 comments § permalink

This is a follow up to my recent post, HP’s Shipping Shenanigans.

On Thursday, January 7, I got my laptop back from HP. I excitedly opened it up to find that they did, in fact, fix the problem.

As it turns out, my system had been overheating due to a clogged heatsink. I should have probably checked for this long before it was a problem, and I feel a little dumb for that. Regardless, they replaced the mainboard, and the heatsink/fan assembly. Given my previous experiences with HP’s support, I expected far less.

Not only did they replace these system components, they also replaced the cosmetic components that were damaged. Now, this was also covered under my warranty, but again, given my experience with HP, I didn’t expect them to replace these parts. After all, I had sent the laptop back before to have just these parts replaced, and they instead replaced something else entirely. Something that didn’t need replacing.

To top it all off, they cleaned my entire system of dust and debris. I got it back in like-new condition, all shiny and pretty like the day I bought it.

Wrapping up, I think it’s safe to say HP support has started cleaning their act up, at least a little. I’m much happier with them now than I have been at any point since purchasing my laptop. I may be getting another HP in the future, after all.

Beer Register

January 3rd, 2010 § 0 comments § permalink

Today, I’m proud to announce the launch of the first iteration of my beer tasting web application, Beer Register.

Sunshine Wheat at The Flying Saucer in Austin, TXI’ve been working on it for the last month or so, and it’s ready to go with some basic functionality. I will be working hard to add more functionality in the near future, including brewery information, pre-populated beer data, and social features that let you see what others rate beers, breweries, and even bars!

Visit http://www.beerregister.com/ and sign up to get started today!

I got the idea when a friend of mine, Tyler, showed me that he was using the notepad application on his Android-powered phone to keep track of beers he tasted. This was far simpler than using one of the existing beer applications or sites, which generally ask you a wide array of questions about the beer when you add it to your list.

After doing some research, I found he was correct. All of the mobile applications and beer tracking sites are designed primarily for use by beer connoisseurs. Not to say there isn’t a place for that, because these are valuable resources indeed, but something simpler would be nice.

I set out to create a site that was accessible on both computers and mobile devices that easily lets you track basic information about beers you taste, when you taste them.

In the future, I plan on releasing mobile applications as well, including an iPhone app and an Android app. Stay tuned for updates!

HP’s Shipping Shenanigans

December 30th, 2009 § 1 comment § permalink

So last Saturday (the 20th), the display adapter in my HP notebook failed. It’s about three years old, and considering the fact that Brent spilled beer all over it in late 2008, I’m surprised this is the first problem I’ve seen.

I got on HP’s website, and to my delight I discovered that they now have chat support. I was excited, as this meant that I didn’t have to decode someone’s accent while still trying to properly communicate the problem I was experiencing. I told the chat technician of my problem, and a few other cosmetic defects that my warranty also covers, gave him my info, and we were done. A box was on it’s way to my place.

I impatiently watched the tracking on the FedEx site. It showed up a few days later… but at the wrong place. The place I lived in 2007. This is a problem.

So I called the 800 number, and told them of the mishap. They created a new service order, collected my current address, and a new box was on it’s way to my place.

Again, I awaited the “Delivered!” status on the FedEx site. Again, it was shipped to the wrong address. Now putting the wrong address on the order once was excusable. These things happen. Doing it a second time, when I called to correct the issue, was a little ridiculous.

So I looked up and called their corporate office (650-857-1501), and told the operator of my issue. She quickly forwarded me to a support manager, and a new box was on it’s way. This time the box showed up the next day! Less than 24 hours later. They shipped it Priority Overnight, signature required, to my front door.

So the only problem we have now is that with this new order (they apparently have to make a whole new service order to change one detail, which I find weird), the description of the problem has gone from “no display, missing keys, cracked case” to “System no function,” which I don’t think really explains the problem fully.

I guess I’m gonna have to stick little red arrows all over it and include a letter with large type telling the technicians what to fix. I’ve sent this laptop in for repair in the past, and they’ve traditionally been really bad about fixing it. They usually replace something that didn’t need to be replaced, and the broken piece remains broken, forcing me to send it back again.

Wish me luck. I’ll update here on the progress.

Okay, Facebook…

December 10th, 2009 § 0 comments § permalink

Okay, Facebook. It’s time we had a talk.

Now, we both know why I left MySpace. I can’t have a relationship with a social network that’s so flaky. What, with the slow servers, the errors left and right, the images that never load, and don’t even get me started on the links that never worked…

Well, Facebook, I’ve started to recognize a few of these ‘qualities’ in you over the past few months, and I’m disappointed. You can be better than this. I know you can. If things don’t get better, I fear I may have to leave you, too.

Please don’t let me down… Make me a happy man.

Windows 7, please hurry

June 15th, 2009 § 0 comments § permalink

For those of you who haven’t heard, Microsoft plans on releasing the next version of Windows, Windows 7, on October 22 of 2009.

This is going to be very exciting. Simply Googling the phrase “Windows 7″ will return countless rave reviews, and as a tester, I can back up every last one of them. Windows 7 runs faster than Windows XP on my 2004 Dell Dimension testing machine. It’s quick, pretty, and easy to use. It’s clean, and smooth. If you haven’t had a chance to try it, you may want to scuffle on over to Microsoft.com soon and give it a shot before the Release Candidate is no longer publicly available.

As for me, I will be purchasing it the day it is released. I have never been this excited about a Windows release before. Actually, I don’t think I’ve been this excited about ANY software release. For serious!

One of the primary reasons I am so excited about Windows 7 is that it is Microsoft’s chance to slap Apple in the face just as equally as Apple did to them with the Apple Switch commercials of 2006-2009. Windows Vista was not a bad operating system. I promise. I have been using it since a few weeks after it was released, and I have never experienced a single one of the problems that everyone says it has. Granted, I bought a computer that met the damned hardware requirements. Apparently those mean nothing to some people, and running a brand new OS on a 6yr old computer should be no problem at all.

I mean, look at it this way: You can’t drive a Ferarri on a dirt road. Well, I guess you can, but it’s not going to be fun. Unless it’s someone else’s Ferrari, of course. Then it’ll be a blast! Am I losing the point here?

Seriously. When you upgraded from Windows 98 to Windows XP, you needed more RAM (and a faster processor helped significantly as well). When you upgraded from OS9 to OSX Tiger, you needed a whole new friggin computer! Snow Leopard will not work on any computer built before 2006 (Yeah, I know. It’s ridiculous.). How is this any different from needing a computer with a 1Ghz processor and 2GB of RAM for an upgrade to Vista? it’s not.

Windows 7, however, has the same hardware requirements as Vista did. That’s what it says on the box anyway. For those of us that have tried it, we know better. It runs just fine on a computer that’s not half as good as the “required” hardware. This is where Microsoft will win. While Apple is dropping older hardware, Microsoft is actually picking it up. A computer that wouldn’t run Vista will, in many cases, run Windows 7 just fine.

Kudos, Microsoft. You’ve done us well. Please please please please keep this philosophy. I’d like to see what you ahve in store for future versions of Internet Explorer and Windows Mobile 7. I’m really getting tired of my iPhone.

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