PC Pro - UK 2021-12)

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Damagedgoods
Idecideditwastimetoreplacemy
2013 iMacwithitsM1grandchild.
Weareallawareofglobalwarming
andIamafullypaid-upadvocateof
recycling,soIofferedthecomputer
forsaleatoneofthewell-known
resellersofusedequipment.
Thepriceofferedformygood-
conditioniMacwasn’tgenerous,but
enoughformetosayyestothedeal.
Ididn’tseetheredflag,butIshould
havedone.I’vereadthebook,seen
thefilmanditssequels,andIhave
theT-shirtinmanyshades.
Theresellersimplyinstructedme
toclickonalinktobookitschosen
courier.Thenextinstructionwasto
“PackyouritemsintoANYbox”.
Thisissuchasimplebutdangerously
loadedphrase.Itdidnotsuggesta
particularsizedbox,neitherdidit
evenhintatwhatstrengththebox
shouldbe,howwellpaddeditshould
be,orindeedhowtopackthebox.
Thiscunninglyputsallthe
responsibilityontothecustomer.
ButI haveshippedcomputers
before,soI useda largerbox,
surroundedthescreenwithbubble
wrap,linedthebox withlotsofextra
paperandcardboardfromrecycled

entitbacktomeinadifferent,

damage-freebox.

Iwasn’thappyandfileda

complaintwiththemandthecourier

pany.Thelatterresponded

hablandstatementthatitcan’t

videcompensationforany

productstheydamageinshipment.

It’sinthesmallprint.Thisistrue,

notthatIwasgivensightofthe

smallprintpriortotheshipment.

Theresellerwantedproofthe

iMacwasintactbeforeIshippedit:

aphotowithdateinformationon

it.ThelastpictureIcouldfindofit

wasfourmonthsold.Useless.Ican’t

provethescreenwasn’tdamaged

beforeIsentit.What’smore,the

contractwiththecourierwasn’tmine

butwith it andthereseller.

Moralofthetale?Takea photoof

everystageofpacking,thedevice

beforeitgoesin thebox,thedevice

beingpacked,andthebox being

sealed.StuartDanton

Righttorepair?

I boughta DynabookSatellitePro

L50-J-109laptopbasedonDynabook’s

advertisingand specifyinginfo,only

tofindthattheNVMeSSD-equipped

“dualSSD/HDD”machine was

missingtheharddiskconnections

necessarytomeettheclaimedspec–

andwasthentoldifI dared to buyand

fittheOEMpartsandharddiskthe

warrantywouldbevoid!

Notonlyisthisdualcapability

showninDynabook’sbrochure

“DynabookNDNARecommended

Modelguide”(pcpro.link/ 326 dyna),

itevenpublishesa PDFon“Customer

ReplaceableUnits”forthismodel.

I ordered this “DualSSD/HDD PC”

fromCCL,a superbsupplierI use

frequently.BeforeI openedthe

machine to fittheharddiskto

complementtheSSD, I lookedonline

forteardownguidesandvideosfor

thismachine.I foundtwothird-party

sources,oneofwhichshowedan

earlierL50-Gwithouttherequired

harddiskconnectorand“buffer”or

carrier;the secondconfirmedthis.

LookingatDynabook’sspecpageit

onlyshowsSSDbasemodels,nodual

HDDoptions,so I assumedthiswas

a post-purchaseuser add-onoption.

I contactedCCLinitially,then

Dynabook,whotoldmetherequired

connectorandribboncablewithHDD

carrieror“bumper”partnumbers,

costinclusiveofVATanddeliveryat

£65.68,concluding,“fittingthemwill

invalidateyourwarranty”.

Starletter

Iwaslookingforaninkjetprinterforoneofmy

clients.InthepastcoupleofyearsI’veoften

recommendedHPprinterswiththeirInstantInk

subscriptionservice(wheretheuserpaysasmall

monthlyfeetoprintasetnumberofpages;any

unusedpagesarerolledoverandcanbeusedthe

followingmonth).

Whatreallymakesitgreatvalueisthatpages

canbeblackandwhite,colour,orfullphotoprints

forthesamepriceperpage.Anyonewho’sprinted

photosontheirinkjetknowsjusthowmuchink

thesecanuseup.

Soitwasinterestingtoseethatmanynew

HPinkjetprintersnowcomewithsomething

calledHP+,whichincludesInstantInk.However,

inthetermsandconditionsitstatesthat“HP+

requires...exclusiveuseofOriginalHPInk

cartridgesforthelifeoftheprinter”(myemphasis).

SoifyouactivateHP+whenyoufirstsetup

theprinter,that’sit.You’reblockedfromusing

cheaper,compatiblecartridgesforever!It’s

onethingtorecommendusingoriginalHP

cartridges,buttoblocktheuseofthem

completelyandpermanentlybringsanastytaste

tothemouth.

HPtriedthisafewyearsagobyautomatically

upgradingthefirmwareinsomeprinterstoblock

compatiblecartridges,buttheoutcrythatfollowed

forcedittorollbackthechangeswithafurther

firmwareupdate.Thistimeitseemsit’ssaying,“We

toldyouwhenyousignedup,sotough!”

Evenmoreworrying,thesmallprintnowalso

says:“Thisprinter...usesdynamicsecurity

measurestoblockcartridgesusingmodifiedor

non-HPcircuitry.Periodicfirmwareupdateswill

maintaintheeffectivenessofthesemeasuresand

blockcartridgesthatpreviouslyworked.”

Soevenifyoudon’tsignuptoHP+,thecompany

willtrytostopyouprintingwithnon-HPinkanyway.

ThishaschangedmefrombeingafanofHP’sinkjet

printerstobeingextremelywaryofsigningupfor

thisschemeandinadvertentlyblockingtheuseof

compatibleinkforever.

Ithinkit’snasty,anti-competitiveandshows

howlittleHPthinksofitscustomers.Whatdo

otherreadersthink?MarkPhillips

OurstarletterwriterwinstheirveryownPCPromugtohelpthemgetthrough

eventhesternestITchallenge.Foryourchancetowin,[email protected]

Amazonboxesandaddedseveral

sheetsofcrumpledbrownpaper.

Sorry,trees,butthiswasallrecycled.

Aweeklater,theappointed

courierrolledupandknockedonthe

door.So,theboxdisappearedfrom

ourdoorstepand 24 hourslater

arrivedat themerchant.Whenthey

openedthebox,theyfounddamage

(seepictureabove).It wasevident

thattheparcelhadbeendroppedor

thrown,deliberatelyorotherwise.

Thecompanyregretted thatthey

couldnotpaymeasarranged

becausethegoodswere damaged

andcouldnotberesold.Despitemy

requestforthemtoholdontothe

packagingandthecomputer,they

ABOVEThedamage

wasn’ttherebefore

shipping,butwithout

priorphotographs

youcan’tproveit