well, this sucks
okay, i'm using my mom's computer for my chat and email purposes, at least till tuesday or so. when i shut down the laptop at 2 this afternoon to go to work, all was well with the world. went to work, worked my butt off, got much done, came home, powered up the beast...
nothin.
after a moment, i could see that it actually DID boot up. i just had no backlight on my lcd screen. if i held the FN key and pushed the key marked CRT/LCD, i got a little flash of actual display. as it starts up, i get little flashes of display. but nothing lasting. so i call dell. i mean, i only got the friggen thing in february. therefore, tech support.
to be honest, i was a little leery of calling tech support. in light of a post filkertom made a few months back about outsourcing tech support to people whose native language isn't even from the same linguistic basis as ours, i was prepared to spend several hours on the phone with people i couldn't understand, getting more and more frustrated.
of course, after fifteen minutes, i get a technician to pick up the phone. i give my service tag number, name, phone number, correct the service tag number, respell my name and email address, confirm shipping address, and find out i've reached desktop support, not laptop. so i get transferred.
.
.
.
.
and another technician picks up the phone. service tag number, name, phone number, correct service tag number, email address, wrong department i'll transfer you.
.
.
.
.
(lexi snarls like a wrathful beast, drawing concerned stares from parents)
.
.
.
.
.
and i get a third technician, who thanks me for calling the inspiron department. my laptop's an inspiron. could this be the proper department??? be still my heart.
no tag number, name, email, etc. what seems to be the problem?
my backlight's out on my lcd display. it tries to light up, then quits.
express service code. one time, no corrections. this guy, like the other two, is also pakistani, but he speaks english much more clearly. still couldn't understand his name, tho. he walks me through some troubleshooting and we determine it is indeed a hardware issue. i look for damage to the case, nothing. a few more questions, and he determines my video card crapped out on me. he's sending me a new one, and asks for a good phone number to reach me at so a service tech can contact me to come out and install should be back up and running by tuesday, thursday at the latest. life is, while not perfect, a hell of a lot sunnier than it was 45 minutes before hand when i got on the phone.
so the laptop gets to languish in an off state till i get my techie, and i'll be getting a call from my helpful international guy on saturday to let me know how things are progressing, etc. in the meantime, i can't get at my pictures, music, or movie files, but there'll be ebough this weekend with family and holiday stuff that i won't really notice. i think. anyway, mom's cool with me chatting and emailing from her computer (which was mine before i got the laptop anyway), so i won't be all out of touch. just a little bit.
okay, time to think about sleep.
nothin.
after a moment, i could see that it actually DID boot up. i just had no backlight on my lcd screen. if i held the FN key and pushed the key marked CRT/LCD, i got a little flash of actual display. as it starts up, i get little flashes of display. but nothing lasting. so i call dell. i mean, i only got the friggen thing in february. therefore, tech support.
to be honest, i was a little leery of calling tech support. in light of a post filkertom made a few months back about outsourcing tech support to people whose native language isn't even from the same linguistic basis as ours, i was prepared to spend several hours on the phone with people i couldn't understand, getting more and more frustrated.
of course, after fifteen minutes, i get a technician to pick up the phone. i give my service tag number, name, phone number, correct the service tag number, respell my name and email address, confirm shipping address, and find out i've reached desktop support, not laptop. so i get transferred.
.
.
.
.
and another technician picks up the phone. service tag number, name, phone number, correct service tag number, email address, wrong department i'll transfer you.
.
.
.
.
(lexi snarls like a wrathful beast, drawing concerned stares from parents)
.
.
.
.
.
and i get a third technician, who thanks me for calling the inspiron department. my laptop's an inspiron. could this be the proper department??? be still my heart.
no tag number, name, email, etc. what seems to be the problem?
my backlight's out on my lcd display. it tries to light up, then quits.
express service code. one time, no corrections. this guy, like the other two, is also pakistani, but he speaks english much more clearly. still couldn't understand his name, tho. he walks me through some troubleshooting and we determine it is indeed a hardware issue. i look for damage to the case, nothing. a few more questions, and he determines my video card crapped out on me. he's sending me a new one, and asks for a good phone number to reach me at so a service tech can contact me to come out and install should be back up and running by tuesday, thursday at the latest. life is, while not perfect, a hell of a lot sunnier than it was 45 minutes before hand when i got on the phone.
so the laptop gets to languish in an off state till i get my techie, and i'll be getting a call from my helpful international guy on saturday to let me know how things are progressing, etc. in the meantime, i can't get at my pictures, music, or movie files, but there'll be ebough this weekend with family and holiday stuff that i won't really notice. i think. anyway, mom's cool with me chatting and emailing from her computer (which was mine before i got the laptop anyway), so i won't be all out of touch. just a little bit.
okay, time to think about sleep.