Won't repair a custom built computer

[lemonpinklady]

My daughter bought a custom built laptop from an on-line company in November last year and it hasn't ever connected to the internet.

 

She thought she wasn't operating it correctly so didn't return it straight away.

 

We've all had a go trying to get it to connect to no avail

so after Christmas she got a friend who works in IT to have a look

and he said there is no internet card.

 

She sent an e-mail to the company asking to return it and they have refused.

 

Their literature says that you do have to return in a month but she is at University and has a retail job which was manic over the festive season.

 

She is angry as she spent £550 on this and now they won't look at it.

 

Would anyone know what rights she has?

 

Surely she can't be left high and dry like this as this hasn't ever worked.

 

Be really grateful if anyone could advise us.

 

Thanks

[dx100uk]

what utter bowlarks!!

 

SOGA

 

now i'm in IT too

 

do you have an ethernet socket on the side

 

try connecting to it using the

ethernet cable to the back of your broadband router.

 

as for 'no internet card'

 

i think you'll find he means 'wireless card'?

 

prob just the drivers go bumped out.

 

it shold be listed in device manager just needs the drivers

 

anyway

 

try the ethernet lead

and the internet them comeback to me

 

dx

[lemonpinklady]

Sorry it is a wireless card. The technician said she needed to buy one for about £20 to connect to the internet. Someone did try the ethernet cable was tried but it didn't work and the laptop didn't seem to recognise our internet. That it why she tried to return it but the company won't accept it.

[dx100uk]

sorry i'm not answering your queries

 

but you need to be sURE.

 

is this on windows 7?

 

or what is the operating system.

dx

[lemonpinklady]

Thanks for any help. It is Windows 8.

[dx100uk]

To get to the Device Manager in Windows 8 go to the search charm and type Device Manager - you’ll find it in the Setting results list. When the Device Manager opens you’ll see a list of all the hardware elements in or attached to your computer.

 

Read more: http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/opinion/dell-laptop-zone/3414587/troubleshooting-windows-8-with-device-manager/#ixzz2HQo43cCT

 

click network adapters

 

is there one or two listed

what are they?

 

are there any triangles with ! in them

or any devices under UNKNOWN anywhere too?

 

dx

[san_d]

Modern laptops don't come with a wireless card because it's already built in the motherboard, so technically they're right but that doesn't mean that your laptop cannot connect to wireless. On the the other hand some modern laptops come with no wired networking and you can onl yuse wireless.

[lemonpinklady]

Thanks very much for the advice, we'll have a go at this. Regards.

[labrat]

most modern laptops dont come with it built into the mainboard, the lans built in the wireless card is a seperate card...

 

on the good news pretty much all mainboards have a slot for it. its just a case of if the laptop has an Ariel built in

[san_d]

most modern laptops dont come with it built into the mainboard, the lans built in the wireless card is a seperate card...

 

on the good news pretty much all mainboards have a slot for it. its just a case of if the laptop has an Ariel built in

 

I confess I haven't touched an Intel-compatible laptop for ages. My last mobile device was an ARM Chromebook that obviously had a single chip on a board and therefore built in wireless.

 

Intel introduced Centrino back in 2003 to take advantage of the integration between chipset, mobile CPU and wireless network interface in the design of a laptop. Pretty much all manufacturers followed suit.

 

Back in the day if your device didn't have wireless you would plug a PCI express wireless card at the side of your laptop. Nowadays you can always buy a USB wireless dongle for £4 on Amazon.

[Surfer01]

Beware that some laptops have a "hidden" switch for the wireless connection. Try reading through the manual.

[locutus]

The thread title "custom built computer" sounds like they only put in what you ask... Did they sell this as having wifi? Did you request wifi?

[jfhall82]

This might not help a great deal, but I would suggest her 'friend that works in IT' doesn't know the first thing about computers... Someone that did would not refer to an 'internet card'. It's highly likely that it does have wireless or Ethernet built in, you would have to go out of your way to find a laptop that doesn't these days, in fact, I'd say it's impossible.

 

More likely the device is disabled or physically switched off by a button on the laptop. That or it needs drivers.

 

If it were a 'custom built' the notion of which i'm not sure on as you can't really customise a laptop much and your daughter didn't specify wireless networking then this has to be her fault!

 

Given the price paid and the state of modern devices this is almost certainly user error.

[lemonpinklady]

Hi, Thanks for all your comments. The internet card was my mistake! My main problem is still that the company that sold her this (for not an inconsiderable amount) are refusing to help so I am going to ring them tomorrow and read the riot act. I post how it goes.

[huggy41]

make and model of lap top would be great and befor you all shout but it's custom.

 

custom would mean .

1/ size of ram 256 or would you like 2gig ddr3

2/ processor 1.5 or 3.4 quad

3/ hd 500gig or 2tb solid state

4/ cd-rom or blueray re-write

 

i build and repair laptops these would be the only custom changes you would be able to make.

[locutus]

I would expect you could build one without a wifi card aswell, but that is a pretty standard piece of kit... the saving would probably be a pittance, but if someone wanted a build without this option it can be done.

[jfhall82]

I really would urge you not to 'read them the riot act' just yet... especially as there is probably nothing wrong with the laptop. Indeed, if it is working to specification they don't have to provide 'user training' for free! I would suggest a more subtle approach and appeal for some good will as neither of you seem particularly technical.

[dx100uk]

what is the laptop then?

 

dx

[jfhall82]

I've not seen laptops without wifi for AT LEAST 5 years... and I really don't get the 'custom built' claim being used in this context. It would be extremely useful to know the make and model then at least you would get some more specific help! Laptop's are not like PC's, you can't just order a bunch of components and stick them together. Certainly none of the established manufacturers would make it possible to order a laptop without wifi - it's integrated into the motherboard chipset and essential to modern life!

 

I'll say it again, not excusing a potential hardware fault this is almost certainly user error/configuration. I would strongly recommend you get the instruction book out before spoiling someones day on the telephone.

[locutus]

Wifi is still a card on most laptop motherboards... if the company customises a generic laptop, (as huggy said, different memory / hard drive / optical drive and processor) and there was call for laptops without wifi (for use in a work place with RF sensative equipment for example) then it would be a doable option.

 

Right click on computer, select properties, and device manager should be somewhere on the pages that pop up. Look at the "Network adaptors" and maybe there is a wifi card there turned off?

[jfhall82]

this is going off topic but I nower days wifi is integrated into the motherboard architecture, the aerial is typically routed around the screen perimeter. It has to be for space saving designs now required for modern laptops such as the macbook air for example, moduler solutions have been off limits to designers for a while as we demand lighter smaller systems.

 

You would have a SERIOUSLY hard time trying to find a manufacturer that even offers the option to remove wi-fi these days... even if you didn't want it due to RF requirements the solution would be to disable it! Certainly none of the established players offer this option.

 

Device manager won't show the device if the drivers are missing or if it's disabled in the BIOS, another possibility.

[san_d]

Pretty much all laptops around are custom laptops. There are only two proper laptop manufactures,that is Acer (also called Winstron) and MSI. They are known as "Original design manufacturers". All other brands are nothing but laptops made by one of the two above makes and customised, including the big names like DELL, HP, Lenovo, etc.

 

There are third party assemblers that will take a barebone laptop and build it on specification. These could be abroad or in UK. doesn't matter.

[jfhall82]

I'm sorry mate.. that's just plain wrong! I've walked around the Dell production facility in Ireland for starters. There are dozens of laptop manufactures buying chipsets from Intel, AMD, Foxconn, Nvidia etc and designing platforms based on on these standards.

Acer are one of the biggest 'branders' going and certainly don't design their own chipsets. Wikipedia states "In the early 2000s, Acer implemented a new business model, shifting from a manufacturer to a designer, marketer and distributor of products, while performing production processes via contract manufacturers"

 

I've worked in IT my entire career, specified, purchased and repaired countless machines at en enterprise level... without blowing my trumpet I consider myself to know the industry pretty well and certainly much better than your PC World 'educated' salesman.

[labrat]

and as someone who repairs them constantly i can confirm that alot of the current ultra books still have a seperate wifi card

[lemonpinklady]

Hi Guys, Just to reply to thread, computer all going great guns now, someone who is an IT genius found a problem with one of the drivers. Luckily didn't have to contact the makers. Thanks to everyone who replied.