Netbook freezes randomly

Hey Guys,

Not sure if you are in Oz (Australia) like me, but here we have Govt. bodies responsible for looking into this type of corporate misbehaviour.

I've opened my 3rd case with Acer but this time directed it to the Customer Service Department, with content as follows:

Global research identifies this is a global issue. There is no denying the issue, the Internet is littered with discussions on the problem with this model - http://www.google.com.au/search?q=ao751 ... ok+freezes

Please restore my faith in Acer and stop damaging your corporate image, recall my product and provide a working replacement.

Given this is my third attempt to resolve this with Acer I will be contacting Fair Trading Australia and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission if I do not receive a satisfactory outcome.

Response:

I apologise for any inconveniences caused by your unit failing and appreciate your patience on this matter. As this unit has already been into our service centre we will be treating your case with a high level of priority. In order to have your case actioned immediately we will need to arrange for your unit to be brought back to our main service centre, this will ensure that any outstanding issues are investigated and rectified. As we feel that all Acer customers deserve a high standard of service it is extremely important that you know how we will be handling this case.

Just so you understand that this repair will be different from those previously, once your unit arrives it will be thoroughly assessed, diagnosed and tested by one of our Senior Technicians. Upon repair completion a designated Supervisor will conduct a quality check confirming that all testing was successful and once his/her approval is given and they are satisfied that there are no further faults, we will arrange for the unit to be shipped back to your nominated address in working order.

If you would like to proceed with this arrangement which I feel will provide you with closure on this matter, please advise and I will arrange the urgent pick-up.

Please reply with a case number so that we may minimise any further downtime. Please understand that we do treat your concern as a serious matter and will try our best to deliver a positive experience as well as quality service.


Best Regards,

I was also called by the gentleman from Acer who wrote this. Apparantly he has arranged for a Courier to pick it up directly from my place on Monday (tomorrow).
However he did say he was going to send me some labels for the box but he has not done so yet. Perhaps he forgot after I started asking what Acer's intentions were if this 'testing' proved fruitless and the device failed on return - eg. recall and exchange for a working model. He was a bit taken aback by this and said that they treat everything on a case by case basis on which I queried why multiple similar incidents relating to the same product had not sparked a 'Problem'.

Anyhoo, waiting to see how this plays out. Still worthy to note the limited freezing occurrences post power setting adjustments - has anyone else found similar results? GuHaid? (To me this workaround still irks as I would like a fully functioning device as paid for - this includes power saving features)

Regard,

Comms

 

freezer, mine used to hang in skype, but a driver change seemed to have fixed it. You may have missed my post telling you. Let me know how that goes.

 

Comms, sorry for not getting back to you, but there is not much to report as yet. I have hardly worked on the 751 lately. As soon as I have a few hours on the clock with it again, I will report and let you know.

Congratulations btw with your success in getting a response out of Acer. That is exactly what I was hoping for when I addressed my letters to the head of the helpdesk. Interesting development.

Well done.

 

I'd say the Compaq is a superior machine technically, but there are some elements where I favour the Acer. Performance-wise, the Compaq wins hands down. In addition to the faster processor, it has the nVidia ION (LE, which can be flipped to full ION) graphics card, and it doesn't look as though there's any strange bandwidth restrictions on the SATA (HD Tune said 160Mb/s, rather than 50Mb/s on the Acer). I've not written down the Acer performance scores, but for comparison, the Compaq is Processor 2.2, RAM 4.5, Graphics 4.4, Gaming Graphics 5.2, and Hard Disk 7.0 (with SSD installed).

I prefer the keyboard and the touch pad on the Acer, but I'm sure I'll get used to the Compaq. The screens on the two seem identical to me, and like you, the 1366x768 resolution is a key factor. There's no virtualization support on the Compaq's N270 processor compared to the Acer's Z520, but what difference that will make, even running Virtual PC, I don't know - the obvious thing is though that the Compaq doesn't support Win7's "XP Mode", although there are work-arounds for that.

Although my Compaq has a slot for a SIM card, it doesn't have the necessary hardware to support Mobile Broadband (although that is an option). It's not a problem for me as I can easily switch my phone into a mobile hotspot mode, and use that instead.

If I had unlimited time and patience, and was happy to be without a netbook for stretched at a time, then I would pursue it further, and get Acerto work out why there's an issue when the SSD is installed (although, to be honest, installing an SSD into the 751h seems to be a complete waste of time - you might save some battery, but that's about it. The only performance you'll benefit from is one of access time). However, I simply wanted a netbook that worked, and could make use of the SSD I've already gone out and bought for it.

Good luck to everybody who are still having problems. Motherboard replacement is the way to go, imho.

Cheers,

Steve.

 

update since my last post: google earth has caused mine to lockup twice now. but only google earth.

 

That right, you did write that. I forget, because when I read that post, my Acer was sent already sent out for repair.

 

Awesome, thanks for the information. That's another program I need to test as soon as I get my Acer back. Who wants to bet that my Acer will still be defective when I get it back?

 

To Commsmonkey,

Good Job!!! When you get your work order back from ACER (assuming they actually fix your netbook) can you post it on the internet. That way when I have to send my Acer back for the 5th time, I can include a copy of your work order. I wonder who has the record for sending in the Acer the most times?

 

Freezer,

See my post here that lists all service request IDs, inlcuding the latest:
viewtopic.php?f=87&t=16164&start=880#p117255

Others have posted their SR's following this post also, could you post your's?

Regards,

Comms

 

Update on my situation.

Firstly, Comms, I can unfortunately confirm that changing the power savings settings has not made a difference. I took it for a bit of a spin yesterday and within an hour I had my first freeze. I did a few things though, deliberately. I was transferring a large file between the 751 and another computer, I was running another little application that demuxes a video file and I was browsing in Chrome. CPU was nicely sitting around 50%, network was at 30% approximately. So, I was not stressing it by all means.

When it froze btw the HDD light was not on.

Also, my second letter to Acer's head of helpdesk / support has now been gone for over a week. I think its fair to say it is unanswered.

I am a long time subscriber the the Australian personal computer magazine. They have a section called "Watchdog" where they report on issues such as this one. They are about to get an email from me.

I will report back.

 

Dan

 

Very good point Dan, when I think about it this causes freezes for me too, particularly in MS Word.
Other times however it would just freeze on closing the lid, ie mid going into standby.
Definitely a defecticve model nonetheless.

I think the more people that request a recall/replacement, the more likely it's going to happen especially quoting their own as well as other related previous case histories. See my previous posts for some case numbers as well as some email content. I suggest aiming for the customer relations/service department rather than technical support.

Regards,

Comms

 

hOLY CRAP, I check on this problem every now and again to see if there has been any new developments. I'm had this acer for a year or so. And never any real solutions. I'm really sorry to all of you and me on behalf of a company that doesn't care.

I had to sell my "real" computer in a move and can't afford a new one yet. So I'm stuck with this junk.

I'm happy to report I'm freeze free for 2 months. But the solution isn't for everyone. I'm running Ubuntu 9.04. It took forever to get the video working right and the audio, and currently the audio is not working again. But it's stable.

Software should not fix a hardware problem. But I think Ubuntu doesn't access some part of the hardware that windows does. I think the issue is video related. Google earth always froze on me, scrolling causing freezing for others witch is a video thing because it needs to draw the screen quicker, and with some settings the video does a transition effect to make it look nicer. Disabling hardware accelerators and power management stuff all lessen the problem for others.

The video drivers in Ubuntu for GMA500 don't fully support everything, like power management that works. Also there is no DirectX, and I've seen it mentioned as a contributor to the issue.

The GMA500 isn't even intels, it was bought or licensed from someone else, so that could be another cause. I'm curious if the replaced mobos that work have the newer GMA. And maybe the replaced mobos that still freeze have the 500 still. It's worth checking.

Hope this helps someone.

 

My pad idea didn't work (as expected)
Install google earth. You'll kill it in 30 seconds - guaranteed.

I'll phone Acer again.

 

Dan, I had a feeling that the pad was not it but it was worth a try. As of lately for me a new suspect has come to light. I have a feeling it may even have to do with the WiFi card, but that is just a guess . An easy test would be to run Google Earth via the LAN not WiFi and see. Any chance you could quickly run a test?

(By the way, I very much like the zoom and scroll feature on the pad ...)

Is there a way of checking the versions? You are talking a new piece of hardware, not a driver version, right?

 

wow, I see I'm not the only 1 w/the google earth problem. I just tried it again, it locked up again. I think I'm gonna remove it... :x

 

I think on my netbook, whether I stroll with the keyboard or trackpad, it the same amount of freezing.

 

Hi,

Here are my 4 service repair number that I got when I sent my Acer Netbook to the repair facility in Texas, USA. For all the repairs my complaint was the netbook freezing.

SR# : 1-6KJ82E June 19, 2010
SR# : 1-6NP6Z4 July 10, 2010
SR# : 1-6PBCYJ July 23, 2010
SR# : 1-6RAGSQ August 6, 2010

For the June and July repairs, the only thing they did was reinstall Windows XP. The August 6, 2010 repair......I just phoned Acer customer service and the person confirmed they changed the motherboard. I will report how my netbook goes when it returns something next week.

 

Thanks for posting those Freezer, hopefully we'll get some more posts for a stronger collective argument (if neccessary)

To recap here are related SR's shared on the Acer Forum
I reccommend anyone reference them in your dealings with Acer (should save them trying to give you any guff) et al and also post your own case ID's here

Comms/mine:
HD-1711-210310: Netbook freezes - latest BIOS does not fix
HD-4214-220410: HD-1711-210310 refers. Laptop freeze / lockup still occurring post repair
HD-4101-310710: AO751 FAULT Laptop freeze - please recall

GuHaid's:
HD-499-090610: AO751h lock-up
HD-3353-290610: Random Freezes still happening
HD-535-080710: AO751 freezes randomly - Part 3

Freezer's:
SR# : 1-6KJ82E June 19, 2010
SR# : 1-6NP6Z4 July 10, 2010
SR# : 1-6PBCYJ July 23, 2010
SR# : 1-6RAGSQ August 6, 2010

Out of curiousity where did you guys purchase your's from? I got mine from a special on Catch of The Day.
I'm quite confident it's affecting all AO751hs but just to be sure we aren't all recipients from a bad batch.

Regards,

Comms

 

I bought both of mine online from MLN in South Melbourne. 14 April 2010 and 4 May 2010, respectively.