What annoyed you today?

[anglefire]

Bloody Cyclist and before anyone goes off on one i cycle as well.
Driving home in the dark and nearly knock this guy off his bike and it is my fault as he is in all dark clothing and no lights
If cyclists want respect on the road then USE LIGHTS.
OK rant over and breathe.

If you do have the misfortune to knock one off and heaven forbid kill one, don't say anything at the time to anyone. The police will use whatever you say at the time against you, even if witnesses have you doing nothing wrong. Not me, fortunately, but a friend of mine, who is not in a good place at the moment.

[Reinardina]

Bl**dy laptop causing problems yet again. It has to be plugged in to work. The minute I unplug it, the screen goes black. (Battery is fully charged.)

In the summer, I had the opposite problem: I could only work on the battery. The minute I plugged it in, the screen went black. (But the battery charged as normal.)

It's still under guarantee, but I'm inclined to return it as 'unfit for purpose,' as I had a series of major and minor problems, ever since I bought it.

[Andrew]

Then take it back asap - the longer you put up with it, the harder your battle to get justice will be. Good luck with your action.

[Alfonso_Frisk]

Bl**dy laptop causing problems yet again. It has to be plugged in to work. The minute I unplug it, the screen goes black. (Battery is fully charged.)

In the summer, I had the opposite problem: I could only work on the battery. The minute I plugged it in, the screen went black. (But the battery charged as normal.)

It's still under guarantee, but I'm inclined to return it as 'unfit for purpose,' as I had a series of major and minor problems, ever since I bought it.

Have you looked at what power settings you have selected ?
you may have the screen set to turn off after a minute when on battery ?

[Reinardina]

Then take it back asap - the longer you put up with it, the harder your battle to get justice will be. Good luck with your action.

Hope they'll be reasonable.

Bl**dy laptop causing problems yet again. It has to be plugged in to work. The minute I unplug it, the screen goes black. (Battery is fully charged.)

In the summer, I had the opposite problem: I could only work on the battery. The minute I plugged it in, the screen went black. (But the battery charged as normal.)

It's still under guarantee, but I'm inclined to return it as 'unfit for purpose,' as I had a series of major and minor problems, ever since I bought it.

Have you looked at what power settings you have selected ?
you may have the screen set to turn off after a minute when on battery ?

Can you change those setting accidentally? I haven't touched them.
I'll see if I can find them and how they are set. 

***

Just checked. On battery, screen should shut down after five minutes. Now, if I start it up on battery, I get the Lenovo name and the circling whatever, then it turns black till I plug it in. So it works for a few seconds.

They keep blaming the software and put a new OS in place in the summer.

[Oldboy]

Just checked. On battery, screen should shut down after five minutes. Now, if I start it up on battery, I get the Lenovo name and the circling whatever, then it turns black till I plug it in. So it works for a few seconds.

They keep blaming the software and put a new OS in place in the summer.

Lenovo Brought the IBM PC business, so it may be called thinkpad. Could be software related but then, under the terms of the Sale of Goods Act, if you have had it for less than six months you can reject it as unfit for purpose. It doesn't matter wether the fault is with the software or hardware, that's not your problem to sort out. A laptop that won't run on battery is not fit for purpose. 

[Hinfrance]

Can you change those setting accidentally? I haven't touched them.

Easily - Mrs H has done something very similar to our laptop in the past. Although the problem you have described sounds somewhat more serious.

As for the Sale of Goods Act, if you have given a vendor the opportunity to repair an item then you are deemed to have accepted it: unfortunately you cannot reject an item after a repair has been carried out on it and you have accepted it after that repair. That said, you have a strong moral argument, so go for it.

[Reinardina]

Just checked. On battery, screen should shut down after five minutes. Now, if I start it up on battery, I get the Lenovo name and the circling whatever, then it turns black till I plug it in. So it works for a few seconds.

They keep blaming the software and put a new OS in place in the summer.

Lenovo Brought the IBM PC business, so it may be called thinkpad. Could be software related but then, under the terms of the Sale of Goods Act, if you have had it for less than six months you can reject it as unfit for purpose. It doesn't matter wether the fault is with the software or hardware, that's not your problem to sort out. A laptop that won't run on battery is not fit for purpose. 

Sadly it is over six months old, but still within the one year Lenovo warranty, and (thank goodness) the two year John Lewis warranty.

Can you change those setting accidentally? I haven't touched them.

Easily - Mrs H has done something very similar to our laptop in the past. Although the problem you have described sounds somewhat more serious.

As for the Sale of Goods Act, if you have given a vendor the opportunity to repair an item then you are deemed to have accepted it: unfortunately you cannot reject an item after a repair has been carried out on it and you have accepted it after that repair. That said, you have a strong moral argument, so go for it.

The power settings have not been changed, checked them last night.

As computers these days are quite robust and fool proof, I originally thought it would be a one off, and of course accepted the repair. My previous (Toshiba) laptops ran for years and I only replaced the last one, because I wanted something a bit faster.

Last time, in the summer, the problem was to do with the power supply, and that seems to be the case again.

It has been back to John Lewis twice, but I have had 'strange happenings' for months. These I managed to 'cure' myself, so they did not worry me unduly,but yet again, I never had those niggles with the Toshiba.

Some of the problems:

•The Windows calendar did not work after a short while: I could click it, and the 'main' coloured screen came up, but the calendar itself never appeared. The technical department of JL managed to solve that in a few hours. A software problem, I was told.
•The screen sometimes turns black, just before I click the 'shut down' icon. This I managed to 'cure' myself, by pressing the on/off switch long and hard. After a few times things seem to be back to normal.
•Once, in the middle of the night, I noticed a pulsating light coming from the laptop. The machine was off, and so was the router/WiFi, so it cannot have connected to the Internet. When I opened the lid, the screen was that backlit grey colour, with the cursor visible in the middle of the screen, as if it was configuring an update. Can that happen when there is no internet connection?
•Twice now, I got the message 'Preparing Windows' when I started the machine. This 'preparing' takes a long time and I end up with a start screen with only a few tiles, among which the desktop. This is however a 'pared down' version, without my personal desktop and with none of my photo files, for instance. After a restart the machine works as normal.

These were all relatively minor issues, but the present problem, and the one over the summer, are major. So far I have not had to pay for repairs, but if this is not solved once and for all, it is going to be an expensive machine if I want to keep it for a number of years.

[Hinfrance]

Sounds like your hard drive or motherboard is SNAFU Re. As it is John Lewis I'd rely on their good character and ask them to replace the machine.

[Hinfrance]

The foil on my electric razor has worn through, which means a new foil and cutters. Cost of foil and cutter set €35, cost of new electric razor with charger and case, €29.95. Barking.

[Reinardina]

Sounds like your hard drive or motherboard is SNAFU Re. As it is John Lewis I'd rely on their good character and ask them to replace the machine.

Had to look up SNAFU. The things you learn on line!

I always had the highest opinion of JL, and hope they won't let me down, now I really rely on them.

[WillyP]

My wife's Lenovo (IBM Thinkpad) also developed a power problem, and some research online showed that they have a reputation for cracked motherboards. It was rather old and terribly slow by today's standards, so she got a new one. I don't know if yours is the same. But you might find some answers just Google the name and model number.

[jinky]

After problems I thought I had with a grumpy bride who ended up delighted and making loads of extra buys I now have what i think will be my first awkward and probably non-paying client! I`d done one shoot for a venue in a run down part of town before with no problem so when they asked me for a quick 1 hour shoot of newly refurbished outside ( had a cheap rendering job), wedding marriage room (lots of plastic flowers and tat) and food room (full of tressle tables against the wall and not made up) I didn`t anticipate any problems. Of course I didn`t know any of the stuff in brackets then. The owner is spending her annual 6 mths in Florida so just said "a shot or two of outside, one of the room for weddings and one of food room with nice picture on wall". I went along and like the mug I am made 2 trips - 1 in the day to get sunshine shots and 1 at the arranged time of 6 - much later than I wanted but their choosing as the sky is black then. Another problem - cheap exterior lighting in  at least 3 different types from fluorescent to halogen ad another I don`t know what it was. Net result - I can do the white balance Ok for two areas of the building but the third takes on a greenish hue - not unattractive I tough as the building is an eyesore. I had to move furniture, get loose hanging lights fixed and all in took over 2 hours for a 1 hour job at no extra charge. She says she doesnt like them because it does not show off the new rendering (?) and the lighting is off (her dodgy lighting issue). Also the corner area I had to mock up in food room does not show the whole room - "what the whole room filled with 20+ tressle tables piled against the walls and unswept" I say - in more polite terms. I`ve just asked her to transfer my payment prior to release of full res images to be sent by dropbox to USA - I`ve had to teach her how to use that too. I`m guessing I won`t see my money despite having had to photoshop areas of the rendering as it has been so badly done by the dodgy, cheap builders notorious in that area who are on their 3rd attempt to complete. In short I won`t be working for a half baked business again - however easy the shoot seems. I`ll also stick to my guns re: timing  of shoot as I see fit and will not be moving furniture again   

[Reinardina]

Sounds a dreadful assignment, a real Photoshop job: turning a disaster area into a dream palace.
But, you've learnt something, and will be more professional next time.

Went back with my laptop this morning and everything seems to work as it should.
Almost everything down to settings, that had been changed. Don't ask how, as the chap couldn't even find them and had to ask someone else. It is very unlikely that they changed by accident, as they are well hidden.

Alfonso Frisk was right about the power saver setting, it was set to two minutes, though when I looked (in a different looking place) it said five minutes.

One of the problems (the 'Preparing Windows' one), is a glitch in Windows 8 and should be removed when downloading Windows 8.1 which I haven't done yet.

All very strange and peculiar, but at least it is working now. Till the next time.

What surprised and delighted me, was the fact that even the JL techies do not know their way around Windows 8 and have to ask their colleagues. Made me feel a lot better.

[Alfonso_Frisk]

Word of warning.
When you upgrade the Win 8 to 8.1 be prepared for a long wait and don't leave the PC.
Took a couple of hours to do mine with constant prompts and restarts etc.
TBH, I cant see any difference apart from the icon "My Computer" on the desktop is now named "This PC"