Trying to catch up with my college work, I didn't notice or find out many of the problems mentioned here, such as not being able to play DVDs. I did contact the company the very next day about lack of Office trial key but got the following answer:"Oh, we are not supporting any software issues, love, that's why we're so cheap."  I was not satisfied with the answer but I didn't have the time to argue -  let's just say that someone kindly installed a copy of much older version of Office (I couldn't download OpenOffice either) so I could at least get assignments done on most parts. By the same token, I only realised much later that modem doesn't work (I could not find modem or com 3 port in device manager), after having spent  8 pounds! on a modem lead.

For all the reasons mentioned in my letter below, I stopped using the laptop soon after college ended and have gone to write all my letters and checking emails at my friend's house. When I go back to college, I cannot rely solely on mt friend's computer (no right software to start with) but with no income, *another* 599 pounds (software demands more than most basic model) is just too much.... Here is the letter I sent to cheap-it.com:

Client Services Department                                                      

PO Box 4236                                                                           Dunstable, Beds,

LU6 1XY

10 July 2007

Dear Sir/Madam,

I purchased from you (www.cheap-it.com) a Toshiba A105 laptop on 4^th June 2007, having seen an advert for it in Micromart, 3^rd-9^th May 2007, page 47.

This week, I tried to play a DVD in it and could not believe it when it would not play and a message came up saying it was because the wrong region.  I then discovered a sticker on the back of the machine that said it was made in the USA and realised that it was configured for NTSC DVDs only.  This explained too why it had an American keyboard.

Furthermore, the sticker said it was reconditioned and that the warranty was valid in the USA only.   I then realised that your own information received with the laptop said that the warranty was only for 3 months.

On further inspection, I found that the processor speed was 1.7 ghz, that the com 3 port (modem) for connection to the internet was not working and that the Microsoft Office Word 2003 trial was not operational because of a missing trial key.  The system clock keeps changing its date randomly, which means that any date stamps on digital files, vital for legal and other reasons, are incorrect.  This alone is unacceptable.

I decided to purchase the laptop, having seen it advertised in a UK magazine, and therefore had every right to expect a computer that played UK DVDs.  It also stated quite clearly ‘1 year full warranty’ (not 3 months).  The processor speed stated 1.83ghz (not 1.7) and it stated that there is a V92 modem, which one assumes will work (it doesn’t).  It stated nowhere in the advert that this is a reconditioned machine (it is), nor was I told this when I purchased it.  Unless I had been informed otherwise, I would be quite within my rights to expect a new machine.  The fact that other models in your advertisement state clearly that they are reconditioned, reinforces the impression that the one I purchased should have been new.

Therefore I will be returning the laptop to you in accordance with my consumer rights as discussed with Trading Standards, namely that I have been missold goods which differ from that advertised and do not fully work.

This is of course extremely disappointing, apart from anything because of the cost of sending it back to you.  I wish to know, before I do, whether you intend to provide me with a new laptop with all the specifications as advertised, or whether you intend to give me a full refund (₤599-00).

Yours faithfully

A Karhunen       

Computers

Prometheus (new rig) ASrocks 4Core dual SATA2, Intel E2200 2.2ghz, 2gb Crucial 1GB DDR2 667MHz/PC2-5300, Saphire HD 3650 512mb, 250gb, 80gbHDD Dual bootedXP & Hardu HeronF@H 24/7
Orion (Server), Dell Poweredge Sc440 Dual Core E2180, 512mb DDR2 667 EEC Ram.
Hard Drives : 80GB, 250GB, 200GB, 500GB Samsung Spinpoint, 500gb Samsung SpinpointF@H
Lancelot, AMD Athlon XP 1700+ 1.47Ghz, 512mb PC2700(166) Ram,
Mobo - MSIKM3M-V, Hard Drives : 40GBF@H 24/7 Merlin, AMD Sempron 2800+ 2.0Ghz, Mobo : K75741MG-6L, 512MB PC2700 (166) Ram, Nvidia Geeforce?, Hard Drives : 160GB, 130gbF@H 24/7 Excalibur (Media Centre), AMD Athlon 2800+, 512MB PC3200 Ram, Hard Drives : 40GB, 40GB F@H Camelot (Family), Intel Celeron 800Mhz, 256MB Ram, Hard Drives : 30GB Atlantis, Intel Pentium 4 2.4Ghz, 512MB Ram, Hard Drives : 40GB F@HThor (Laptop, Mint 4.0), AMD Athlon XP 1600+, 600MB Ram, Graphics : S3 VT8636A ProSavage, Hard Drives : 30gb HDD Stargate (Laptop), Intel Pentium 4 2.8Ghz, 512MB Ram, Hard Drives : 30gb HDD Pegasus (Webserver), Intel Pentium 2 350mhz, 381MB Ram, Hard Drives : 10GB, 20GBAsgard, Intel Celeron 1Ghz, 256MB Ram, Hard Drives : 30GB Dedalus, Amd 2800+, 512mb Ram Graphics : Ati Radeon 9200 Atlantis, 80gb HDD
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