AlexGUru

Boxee Box

Posted by AlexGUru

So D-Link is releasing the Boxee Box, with full on remote/keyboard combo and it is sexy as hell.  I have played around with Ion motherboards before, and didn’t have much success with getting 1080i streamed without stuttering, but it may be time to revisit this project.  I remember thinking that the reason there was stuttering was due to the Intel Atom processor, and it not being powerful enough for the tasks.

If my own version doesn’t pan out…I’ll buy one for $200.00

Nvidia mobility drivers made readily available…

Posted by AlexGUru

Nvidia has bitch smacked ATI once again.

Mobility drivers have always been notoriously behind the updating curve as far as new releases are made. Usually, mobile drivers are only released by the manufacturer in conjunction with the two main discrete graphics providers (in this case, Nvidia and ATI).

Nvidia finally puts the power back in the end users hands, by putting the drivers directly up on their site for download and bypassing the annoying WHQL certification phase which can take upwards of 3-4 weeks.  Oftentimes, these updates end up being released around the same time a new patch is released, so the driver ends up being obselete.

This is one of the reasons that communities such as laptopvideo2go exist.  The ability to mod desktop drivers to work with your notebooks mobile GPU has been one of the best ways for enthusiasts to stay current with their drivers and enjoy much of the same performance enhancements that desktop users enjoy.

Nvidia is pushing the envelope yet again in the customer support arena, and this sort of attention to detail is what keeps them in the forefront of the discrete graphics market.  Unless ATI steps it up a bit by releasing better drivers, as well as doing the same for mobile customers, I do not see them gaining on Nvidia’s market share.

Samsung Prototypes AMOLED Notebook

Posted by AlexGUru

During my morning routine of scouring the net for “what’s new in Mobile tech,” I was forwarded this article from Hot Hardware by a colleague.

In fact Samsung claims their new line of AMOLED (Active Matrix Organic LED) panels boast 20X the contrast ratio of standard LCDs. In addition, since the panels do not require any back-lighting, they consume much less power, so they are well suited for portable applications obviously. Also, since they’re based on LED (Light Emitting Diode) technology, viewing angles, response times and brightness are also wonderfully impressive.

What I am intrigued most with, however, is the keyboard on this machine. It has a glossy, touch-key based keyboard. What does this mean? It means I don’t have to spend time blowing out my keyboard with compressed air. I can eat as many slices of pizza while working away as I want. You can just wipe it all away! Of course, as the article does mention, it would take some time to get used to typing on this kind of setup, but I would look forward to the learning curve.

Finally, there is a sexy PC coming onto the market. I hope that more and more companies take note of Samsung’s initiative to come up with a sleek and sexy design, as I am getting tired of seeing all the Macbooks at the local cafes.

The $54M Notebook

Posted by admin

I read this article a couple of days ago, and have been thinking about how something like this could have gotten this far.

Having been in this industry for over 5 years, I have seen fair share of similar incidents that have turned into customer service nightmares. Working for a system builder, that isn’t as big as Dell, HP, Compaq, or even Alienware, I have come to learn that the most valuable asset a company has is its customer service. Anyone can build a machine and make it run. Anyone can throw together a system and make it look semi pretty. Where most of these companies have a chance to shine is in their customer support (be it technical support, customer service, or even post sales support).

The line that struck me the most in this whole article was from the email sent to the customer from the Best Buy Manager.

“For every customer that has had an unpleasant experience I can show you hundreds who have had a great experience. I have been in retail for a long time and the one conclusion I have come to is that not every customer can be satisfied,” he wrote in an e-mail supplied by Campbell. “Does my store have opportunities? Absolutely! What I can say is that we strive to deliver the experience that every customer deserves to receive.”

This is where the scary truth lies. The end user lost a notebook with tons of personal and financial information on its hard drive. This is much more than just a bad experience with a purchase or a repair. The fact of the matter is, Best Buy has forgotten that a person’s notebook is much more than just a piece of merchandise. Of course, they could have saved themselves all this trouble by either replacing the lost notebook in the first place. They could even have just issued her a refund if she did not want the store credit. I am sure that the customer would have had some more understanding had Best Buy been up front with her and let her know what happened, and tried their best to remedy the situation. Instead, they acted with callous and wrote her the response above.

I ran into a similar situation where a person’s system was lost in transit. My company filed the claim with the proper carrier, and quickly replaced the notebook with a current model (as their system had been discontinued, but still under warranty). Again, my company is vastly smaller in comparison to a large chain megastore, but in being a boutique PC system builder, we understand that the customer comes first.

The simple fact is that in todays market, people are being increasingly more techno-savvy. They do their research and know what to look for in computers as well as in most of their electronics purchases. They know where to look at customer reviews. I have noticed that people will go with one particular vendor over another strictly on how the customer support / customer service has been rated; at times regardless of price.

The Boutique PC industry knows that word of mouth is what keeps their sales numbers high, and even more importantly customer satisfaction has become their key selling point. Maybe Best Buy should take a page from the boutique PC industry’s leading companies and put the customer first. Maybe then a simple notebook repair won’t end up costing them $54M.