{"id":17825,"date":"2010-07-09T14:01:06","date_gmt":"2010-07-09T20:01:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/?p=17825"},"modified":"2010-07-09T14:01:06","modified_gmt":"2010-07-09T20:01:06","slug":"the-asus-the-geek-squad-and-i","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2010\/07\/09\/the-asus-the-geek-squad-and-i.html","title":{"rendered":"The ASUS, the Geek Squad, and I"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last evening, on starting up my notebook, it started making a horrendously loud fan-burning-through-its-bearings kind of sound.<\/p>\n

My ASUS G71GX has always had a loud fan, but this had gone from being high-pitched to just plain noisy and vibrational. Ugh.<\/p>\n

\"Don't<\/a>
Don't you hate it when this happens to your computer?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I opened up the bottom panel, to see if there were any obvious problems. Nope. Fan looked good, spun around to my touch. I blew it out with some canned air, though there were no visible dirt problems. Turned it on again. Yeah, still the same problem.<\/p>\n

Ugh, as I said.<\/p>\n

I looked around, and found my receipt. And mirabile dictu<\/em>, my one year warranty expires … next <\/em>week, as opposed to the usual last <\/em>week. Hot dog!<\/p>\n

Better yet, there’s an authorized ASUS dealer and warranty service place over off Yosemite between Arapahoe and Dry Creek, a hop, skip, and jump.\u00a0 Sure, I could take it to Best Buy, but I’m a scosh leery of the whole Geek Squad thang.<\/p>\n

Fast forward to this afternoon.\u00a0 I call up the ASUS place.\u00a0 And it turns out …<\/p>\n

No.\u00a0 Apparently Best Buy has some exclusive warranty service deal with ASUS.\u00a0 If a Best Buy-purchased ASUS needs service under warranty, it has to be done by Best Buy.<\/p>\n

Sigh.<\/p>\n

I decided to take the ASUS back to the Best Buy where I bought it<\/a>.\u00a0 If nothing else, I figured, if things Go Horribly Wrong, I have the name and email of the store manager (or at least the store manager from a year ago), as well as one of their Twitter support guys (hi, @dustinbby!).<\/p>\n

(Zoom-zoom-zoom)<\/p>\n

Arrived at the store, beelined to the Geek Squad counter (deja vu <\/em>all over again).\u00a0 The Counter Guy demurred and handed me off to the Hardware Guy.<\/p>\n

I explained the problem.<\/p>\n

He fired up the notebook, and immediately put his ear to its side.<\/p>\n

“It only happens when the fan kicks in, after boot-up.”<\/p>\n

Waiting … waiting …<\/p>\n

And there it goes.<\/p>\n

Of course, with the ambient noise of the Best Buy, it didn’t sound as horrible as, say, in my family room.\u00a0 But it was still distinctly loud.<\/p>\n

“Let me get a stress tester,” the Hardware Guy says.<\/p>\n

He comes back with a dongle, plugs it in …<\/p>\n

(I will note, btw, that I made sure that my machine was fully backed up before I came down. Plus, I use LastPass for passwords, so no passwords on the machine.)<\/p>\n

… and runs through some stress tests.\u00a0 The sound of the computer is much more distinct.<\/p>\n

“Well, it sounds like probably it’s dirty in there.”<\/p>\n

“I did open up the bottom panel and look around.\u00a0 I didn’t really see any dirt.”<\/p>\n

“Well, we can do a cleaning on it, and we can a tune-up.”<\/p>\n

“Um … tune-up?”<\/p>\n

“Well, we can get you up to date — you’re a Service Pack behind.”<\/p>\n

This is where, of course, 80% of the home computer owners would quail, lift up their hands to ward off the distress, and scream, “Yes! Of course! Do it quickly!”\u00a0 Without asking about the price ($40).<\/p>\n

I shake my head.\u00a0 “No, I can take care of the SP.\u00a0 In fact, I have my Win7 upgrade discs — I’ve just never gotten around to installing them.” (Note to self: do that.)<\/p>\n

Hardware Guy shrugs.\u00a0 “Well, we can do the clean-up, if that doesn’t work we can do a hardware diagnostic and see what the problem is.”<\/p>\n

I stare at him, and scream, “IT’S THE DAMNED FAN! IT NEEDS TO BE REPLACED! YOU GUYS DO ASUS WARRANTY SERVICE — FIX THE DAMNED THING!”<\/p>\n

Well, no, actually I don’t.\u00a0 Instead, I nod.\u00a0 Less stress, and, probably, no less productive.<\/p>\n

\"How<\/a>
How come I never get any of the Geek Squad team with personality?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

He asks for the receipt, as I joke about it being a week before the warranty expires.\u00a0 He spends a big chunk of time on the computer, finally prints something out — which I double-check the fine print on, the cost estimate, etc.\u00a0 “We should be done with the diagnostic and cleaning by tomorrow — maybe even by tonight.”<\/p>\n

“Great!”<\/p>\n

And I signed on the dotted line, and left the computer there …<\/p>\n

Now, I actually hope they find the invisible ball of gravel that’s inside the fan, or that the “Make a Really Loud Fan Noise” bit in Vista has flipped from 0 to 1.\u00a0 I doubt it, hope springs eternal.<\/p>\n

I hope, in fact, that their being able to handle ASUS warranty repairs means something more than “We can do basic tests like with any other machine; failing that we ship the thing back on a slow boat to Taiwan.”\u00a0 Especially since what would probably happen then is that I’d get back a reformatted hard drive, which would be irksome.\u00a0 It would be keen if, failing a miracle, they can simply order a new fan unit and install it themselves.<\/p>\n

I do have, fortunately, my office laptop — which doesn’t have any games, nor the software for me to finish my Disney and KOA pictures work — so I’m not completely SOL.<\/p>\n

We’ll see what happens when they call back.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last evening, on starting up my notebook, it started making a horrendously loud fan-burning-through-its-bearings kind of sound. My ASUS G71GX has always had a loud fan, but this had gone from being high-pitched to just plain noisy and vibrational. Ugh. I opened up the bottom panel, to see if there were any obvious problems. Nope. … Continue reading “The ASUS, the Geek Squad, and I”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":17827,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[47],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17825","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-my-computer"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/chuck-buy-more-crew.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":17835,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2010\/07\/10\/the-asus-the-geek-squad-and-i-part-2-or-southglenn-best-buy-sucks-again.html","url_meta":{"origin":17825,"position":0},"title":"The ASUS, the Geek Squad, and I, Part 2 (or, “Southglenn Best Buy sucks, again”)","author":"***Dave","date":"Sat 10-Jul-10 10:53pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Huzzah!\u00a0 I got a phone call, then an email, from the Geek Squad, saying my machine was ready to go! Your product is complete and ready for pickup at the Geek Squad\u00ae Precinct within your local Best Buy store. Thank you for putting your trust in us. Geek Squad No\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Big Business"","block_context":{"text":"Big Business","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/big-business"},"img":{"alt_text":"motivation","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/motivation-300x240.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":17966,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2010\/07\/27\/the-asus-the-geek-squad-and-i-part-3-or-better-late-than-never.html","url_meta":{"origin":17825,"position":1},"title":"The ASUS, the Geek Squad, and I, Part 3 (or, “Better Late than Never”)","author":"***Dave","date":"Tue 27-Jul-10 11:45am","format":false,"excerpt":"Well, it took two weeks and change, but I got a very pleasant call from a Best Buy quality person named Kristin, who'd come across the rather scathing survey I'd submitted over my unhappy experience earlier this month.\u00a0 She expressed her concern about the survey, and wanted to hear the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Big Business"","block_context":{"text":"Big Business","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/big-business"},"img":{"alt_text":"mea_culpa","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/mea_culpa.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":15239,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2009\/07\/18\/zeroing-in-on-a-new-computer.html","url_meta":{"origin":17825,"position":2},"title":"Zeroing in on a new computer","author":"***Dave","date":"Sat 18-Jul-09 9:36pm","format":false,"excerpt":"So after a day of shopping, I think in my new\u00a0notebook quest\u00a0I'm looking at the ASUS G71GX (picture not shown at left) -- Intel Dual-Core 2.5GHz processor, 6 Gb RAM, 500Gb Hard Drive, 17.1\" screen, with an NVIDIA GeForce GTX-260M graphics card with 1Gb dedicated RAM. It's going for about\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "My Computer"","block_context":{"text":"My Computer","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/my-computer"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/07\/computer-univac1956.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":32101,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2013\/01\/06\/farewell-to-netbooks.html","url_meta":{"origin":17825,"position":3},"title":"Farewell to netbooks","author":"***Dave","date":"Sun 6-Jan-13 10:40pm","format":false,"excerpt":"I still find my Windows-based Asus Eee to be a great tool for NaNoWriMo write-ins -- highly portable, WiFi-equipped, great battery life, and capable of running the yWriter software I use on my \"real\" machines.\u00a0But aside from that one month a year, it hardly gets any workout. \u00a0I have a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":27048,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2012\/03\/12\/figuring-out-the-dead-pc-problem.html","url_meta":{"origin":17825,"position":4},"title":"Figuring out the dead PC problem","author":"***Dave","date":"Mon 12-Mar-12 1:34pm","format":false,"excerpt":"So this weekend wasn't a relaxing one. Saturday was all about getting the house ready for a dinner party, and then hosting same. That left not much time for pondering what to do, what to do ...Ultimately, with much encouragement and support from Margie, we decided the best course was\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":17208,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2010\/04\/25\/my-1337-technical-skillz-or-reputation-for-same-remain-intact.html","url_meta":{"origin":17825,"position":5},"title":"My 1337 Technical Skillz (or reputation for same) remain intact","author":"***Dave","date":"Sun 25-Apr-10 4:10pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Margie's been fighting a long battle with her ASUS CG5270 computer, which has a reputation for graphic card crashes.\u00a0 It's been a good system,\u00a0 but an ongoing frustration for her.\u00a0 Most of the complaints have had to do with the Nvidia GeForce GT220 video card.\u00a0 Nvidia keeps releasing new drivers,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "My Computer"","block_context":{"text":"My Computer","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/my-computer"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/04\/univac-llnl.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17825","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17825"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17825\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17827"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17825"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17825"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17825"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}