MaximumPC 2005 12

watchdodogg MAXIMUM PC TAKES A BITE OUT OF BAD GEAR

20

MSI SETTLES CAPACITOR SUIT, OTHER

COMPANIES TARGETED AS WELL

MSI has settled a class-action suit that claimed

some of the company’s motherboards used faulty

capacitors, and that the company concealed the

problem from consumers. The suit, filed in May in

a Los Angeles superior court, is similar to another

suit against mobo maker Abit that was settled

earlier this year. The MSI suit claims capacitor

supplier Lumious Town Electric used a defective

electrolytic formula. These bad capacitors, in

turn, were sold and used by numerous mother-

board manufacturers, PC makers, and in other

electronic devices. The bad caps usually bulge

or ooze a pus-like material and cause the PCs

they’re in to reboot, continuously loop, or die.

As part of the settlement, MSI has agreed

to repair or replace the motherboards of owners

who submit valid claims of a capacitor problem.

The settlement covers motherboards produced

between January 1999 and May 2002. To qualify,

consumers must

have a motherboard

made in the affected

period (see boxout

at lower-left for

details) and have

experienced a capaci-

tor failure within four years of

the board’s manufacture date. For those

who qualify, MSI will pay shipping and repair

costs for the board and warranty any repair work

for 90 days. Consumers who have already had

their motherboards repaired due to a cap failure

(and have supporting documentation), will be

reimbursed up to $100 per motherboard.

MSI officials would not comment on the

settlement but did provide a statement from the

company’s legal department. According to the

statement, the boards in question have long been

off the shelves and the company is disappointed

the suit was filed without being contacted about

a resolution first. The company also denies it

engaged in false conduct by not telling consum-

ers of a potential problem.

“All the capacitors adapted in MSI mother-

boards nowadays are of high quality. We believe

the consumer may enjoy the usage of MSI moth-

erboards without worrying about the quality of

the capacitors,” the statement reads.

Just how big of a problem is this? The Dog

has heard from enough readers and personally

run across the problem enough times to be con-

vinced it’s not frivolous—boards and systems are

failing with blown capacitors as the root cause.

Philadelphia attorney Jonathan Shub, who negoti-

ated the settlement with MSI, told the Dog, “We

have no indication as yet how widespread the

problem is.” Shub said he is also pursuing litiga-

tion against Soyo, Jetway, and Hewlett-Packard

over the bad caps. He welcomes information from

consumers regarding their bad capacitor prob-

lems at [email protected].

For more information on the settlement, visit

http://www.msisettlement.com.

PORTABLE

DISAPPEARING ACT

I shipped my IBM ThinkPad

laptop to Portablecomputer.

com for repair several months ago. The screen’s

backlight was not functioning, but the image was still

there, and Portable’s website suggested this was a

common issue that could be resolved quickly (and

for a flat fee of $195, plus $20 shipping). I received

an email from Wesley Forrester on May 10, saying

Portable had received the laptop and authorized the

repair on May 17.

As you can probably guess by my writing to

you, I have still not yet received my laptop back

from him. I have been told the laptop was shipped

back (Forrester even provided me with a tracking

number that was never used). I have been told that

it’s fixed and being tested right now and should

ship out this afternoon. I have been told that the

repair is giving him trouble, that he is waiting for

parts... the list goes on.

I tried pulling up the website this morning so I

could get the number to call—again—and could

not connect to the site. DNS resolution failed, too. I

dug through my emails and found the number, but

when I call, I just get voicemail. Have I lost this lap-

top (and my $215)?

— Gerald Leach

Bad news, Gerald, it looks like Portablecomputer.

com, aka Media Computer Enterprises, has flown

the coop. Portable Computer was one of the

places where consumers could get their ancient

notebooks serviced. The Dog even mentioned

Portable as a place KDS Computer recommended

consumers take their notebooks when KDS went

MA XIMUMPC DECEMBER 2005

Our consumer advocate investigates...

PMSI PPortablecomputer.com PHP

Panda, Watchdog of the month

Got a bone to pick with a vendor? Been spiked by a fly-

by-night operation? Sic The Dog on them by writing

[email protected]. The Dog promises to answer as

many letters as possible, but only has four paws to work with.

If your MSI mobo

was made between January 1999 and

May 2002 and has suffered a capacitor

failure, the company will repair it for free.

To check whether your MSI motherboard

is part of the settlement, locate the serial

number. It will be a series of digits just

under the bar code. The first digit is the

year of manufacture, the second digit

indicates the month. One through nine

corresponds with the months January

through September. The letter A rep-

resents October, B denotes November,

and C means the board was made in

December. Our example serial number

of “3A00376285” means this particular

MSI motherboard was manufactured in

October of 2003 and therefore does not

have the allegedly defective capacitors.