watchdodogg MAXIMUM PC TAKES A BITE OUT OF BAD GEAR dog
■ Hewlett-Packard says some 679,000 Photosmart
R707 digital cameras it sold could cause non-
rechargeable batteries to overheat when the camera
is in its docking station or on an AC adapter. HP has
received one report of a camera catching fire and
causing smoke damage. HP says a firmware update
to camera the will correct the problem. For more
information visit http://www.hp.com/hpinfo/newsroom/
recalls.html, or call HP toll free at 866-304-
between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m., Mountain time, Monday through Friday.Recall Alert
company at ResellerRatings.com. For what it’s
worth, USB Geek seems to be the go-to place
for such USB oddities as the USB rat speaker,
USB duck fan, and a mouse with Homer Simpson
floating in it.LIFETIME MEANS LIFETIME?
In your July column on “lifetime” warranties, I think you
missed the fine print. Your article presented various life-
time warranties of graphics cards and you mentioned
that PNY’s warranty of “lifetime of the product on the
market” was one of the shortest in the industry.
But what about the warranties from VisionTek
and eVGA that say “...for the lifetime of the prod-
uct”? You failed to realize that the failure of the
product is the “death” of the product, and offers
no warranty at all. This is something that came up
15 years ago in consumer magazines that rated all
kinds of consumer products and warranties. Their
advice then: Check the warranty, and buyer beware.
It’s time for the manufacturers to truly stand
behind their products with clearer warranties; and
not just for videocards. Consumers vote with their
money. My $500 will never be spent on a product
that doesn’t offer a clear warranty, or with sketchy
companies such as the ones that turn up in the dog
pound. Woof!
— Bob EvansYou make a good point, Bob. As the Dog said in his
July column, consumers should always be skepti-
cal of lifetime warranties, especially when technol-
ogy companies are known to define the term loose-
ly. However, the Dog believes you’re wrong about
eVGA. The Dog contacted eVGA to get the full scoop
and was told that the warranty doesn’t die when
the card dies. According to an eVGA official, if you
bought a 7800 GTX card in 2005 and it dies in 2006,
or even 2010, eVGA will repair or replace the card.
The company defines “lifetime” as the lifetime the
card is with the original owner. The policy doesn’t
apply to all of eVGA products—just those with part
numbers ending in AX, DX, or FX. The company
even goes so far as to warranty these cards when
they are sold in a PC from select system vendors.
So even if the system doesn’t carry a lifetime war-
ranty, the card does.
The eVGA official said the company will even
warranty these cards if they’ve been overclocked
and equipped with an after-market heatsink. The
card, however, must be sent back with the original
heatsink fan and cannot show any signs of dam-
age from the installation. Sounds pretty good to
the Dog. The Dog was unable to reach a VisionTek
rep at press time, but he’s pretty certain that the
company’s lifetime warranty doesn’t end when the
card dies, either. Woof! Woof!
Recall Alertbetween 6 a.m. and 6 p.m., Mountain time, Monday through Friday.company at ResellerRatings.com. For what it’s
worth, USB Geek seems to be the go-to place
for such USB oddities as the USB rat speaker,
USB duck fan, and a mouse with Homer Simpson
floating in it.You make a good point, Bob. As the Dog said in his
July column, consumers should always be skepti-
cal of lifetime warranties, especially when technol-
ogy companies are known to define the term loose-
ly. However, the Dog believes you’re wrong abouteVGA’s lifetime
warranty covers the
length of the original
owner’s possession,
while some companies
define lifetime as how
long the card is sold
in stores.