(not!)
A couple of weeks ago, as I was headed away for the weekend to see my friend, I stumbled over my own feet as I rushed for a train. My shoulder bag containing my (old, low spec, cheap) 10 inch netbook (my "travelling" computer) hit the ground ahead of me and I landed nearby. I made the train, but once onboard, found the netbook screen was internallly cracked and mostly unusable.
I had been contemplating buying a new low-spec (and light, and small) machine for travelling so I decided on arrival to do so right away. At least, then, I wouldn't be without a machine during my visit.
Nowadays, there is very limited choice as to where to shop over the counter, and so, against my better judgement, I visited various Currys and PC World stores to see what they were offering. My priorities were mainly cheap, small, light, and preferably with HDMI. And, to be fair, they were offering some comparitively good prices on various machines.
The hot offer at the time was an Acer Aspire V5 with a twin core AMD processor, 4gb and 500gb and (importantly) an 11.6 inch screen. They had been promoting this item and, aside from the lack of an HDMI port, was quite suitable, and at £279, seemed the least expensive choice. The screen on this machine, by the way, is excellent.
So, in a PC World store I obtained the attention of a staff member to start asking questions. Whether I'm actually shopping or not, this is often quite entertaining. And today was no exception. I had noted a port (of a type I didn't recognise) on the machine, and wanted to know more.
So I asked the salesperson. His reply was "I have no idea" and with no attempt to get help from anyone else, nor to find an instruction book or anything, walked away. That was the end of my visit to that store.
After an abortive visit to Staples and no other suitable retailers in the area, I ended up in another PC World store. There, I got a salesperson's attention and asked the same question. No idea, again, but this time further help was summoned. This person was more help - sort of. He said that he thought it was a MiniDisplayPort (which is what Apple tend to use) and that an adapator might work. There was no willingness to test this, and when I stated the importance of HDMI, he got a third staff member (from the instore goldfish bowl, where they supposedly fix stuff, I think) and sought his opinion. No, it's not a MiniDisplayPort; it's physically the same, but it's for an Acer-specific breakout cable that provides wired LAN and VGA ports. And there's one supplied in the box with the machine.
The lack of HDMI made me decide to carry on shopping. However, having visited several other stores - all Currys and/or PC World - decided that the best compromise on size and cost was going to be this Acer after all, and I'd do without the HDMI port. I was in a separate Currys at this point. There were four members of uniformed staff loitering near the TVs, chatting to one another. So I summon one of them. The response was that I'd have to wait about five minutes as there was already someone else waiting in Computers in front of me. What? Forget it. I'm going to PC World. He tells me that they are the same firm (yes, I know this) and that their queues are as bad anyway.
But I went to PCWorld next door, got a member of staff (right away), and, after the obligatory (failed) cross-sell attempts (we can set it up for you and provide a recovery USB stick for £20, extended "warranty", Anti-Virus, MSOffice etc), I walked out the advertised £279 lighter and an Acer in hand.
Honestly, DSG Retail did not deserve this sale at all. They got it purely for being practically a monopoly, and that's the only reason. Their in-store "service" is patchy at best, varying from poor to utterly dismal. Absolutely NONE of what I was told by any member of staff was accurate. NONE of it.
There was no Acer breakout cable in the box. There wasn't supposed to be. You have to buy that separately (although where from is another question altogether).
But here is the good part. Based on something someone had posted on a forum somewhere, I decided to risk a little over a fiver on a MiniDisplayPort > HDMI adapter from Amazon. Plugged it in to my Acer special port and to my TV and lo! Sound and picture via HDMI with no difficulty at all.
And, my insurer paid up for the loss of the netbook, minus my GBP40 excess. So the whole experience entertained me for an afternoon, cost me a minor injury to my face and hands and GBP40. And reminded me what a bloody dismal bunch DSG Retail are.
A couple of weeks ago, as I was headed away for the weekend to see my friend, I stumbled over my own feet as I rushed for a train. My shoulder bag containing my (old, low spec, cheap) 10 inch netbook (my "travelling" computer) hit the ground ahead of me and I landed nearby. I made the train, but once onboard, found the netbook screen was internallly cracked and mostly unusable.
I had been contemplating buying a new low-spec (and light, and small) machine for travelling so I decided on arrival to do so right away. At least, then, I wouldn't be without a machine during my visit.
Nowadays, there is very limited choice as to where to shop over the counter, and so, against my better judgement, I visited various Currys and PC World stores to see what they were offering. My priorities were mainly cheap, small, light, and preferably with HDMI. And, to be fair, they were offering some comparitively good prices on various machines.
The hot offer at the time was an Acer Aspire V5 with a twin core AMD processor, 4gb and 500gb and (importantly) an 11.6 inch screen. They had been promoting this item and, aside from the lack of an HDMI port, was quite suitable, and at £279, seemed the least expensive choice. The screen on this machine, by the way, is excellent.
So, in a PC World store I obtained the attention of a staff member to start asking questions. Whether I'm actually shopping or not, this is often quite entertaining. And today was no exception. I had noted a port (of a type I didn't recognise) on the machine, and wanted to know more.
So I asked the salesperson. His reply was "I have no idea" and with no attempt to get help from anyone else, nor to find an instruction book or anything, walked away. That was the end of my visit to that store.
After an abortive visit to Staples and no other suitable retailers in the area, I ended up in another PC World store. There, I got a salesperson's attention and asked the same question. No idea, again, but this time further help was summoned. This person was more help - sort of. He said that he thought it was a MiniDisplayPort (which is what Apple tend to use) and that an adapator might work. There was no willingness to test this, and when I stated the importance of HDMI, he got a third staff member (from the instore goldfish bowl, where they supposedly fix stuff, I think) and sought his opinion. No, it's not a MiniDisplayPort; it's physically the same, but it's for an Acer-specific breakout cable that provides wired LAN and VGA ports. And there's one supplied in the box with the machine.
The lack of HDMI made me decide to carry on shopping. However, having visited several other stores - all Currys and/or PC World - decided that the best compromise on size and cost was going to be this Acer after all, and I'd do without the HDMI port. I was in a separate Currys at this point. There were four members of uniformed staff loitering near the TVs, chatting to one another. So I summon one of them. The response was that I'd have to wait about five minutes as there was already someone else waiting in Computers in front of me. What? Forget it. I'm going to PC World. He tells me that they are the same firm (yes, I know this) and that their queues are as bad anyway.
But I went to PCWorld next door, got a member of staff (right away), and, after the obligatory (failed) cross-sell attempts (we can set it up for you and provide a recovery USB stick for £20, extended "warranty", Anti-Virus, MSOffice etc), I walked out the advertised £279 lighter and an Acer in hand.
Honestly, DSG Retail did not deserve this sale at all. They got it purely for being practically a monopoly, and that's the only reason. Their in-store "service" is patchy at best, varying from poor to utterly dismal. Absolutely NONE of what I was told by any member of staff was accurate. NONE of it.
There was no Acer breakout cable in the box. There wasn't supposed to be. You have to buy that separately (although where from is another question altogether).
But here is the good part. Based on something someone had posted on a forum somewhere, I decided to risk a little over a fiver on a MiniDisplayPort > HDMI adapter from Amazon. Plugged it in to my Acer special port and to my TV and lo! Sound and picture via HDMI with no difficulty at all.
And, my insurer paid up for the loss of the netbook, minus my GBP40 excess. So the whole experience entertained me for an afternoon, cost me a minor injury to my face and hands and GBP40. And reminded me what a bloody dismal bunch DSG Retail are.
