Members techristian Posted September 14, 2011 Members Share Posted September 14, 2011 I recently purchased a Lenovo X60 laptop for on location recording with my Helix FIREWIRE mixer. I wasn't able to find the TABLET drivers (for the tablet part only)SO I asked the seller for a link to the drivers. He asked for my serial number. He said "There must be something wrong with that unit. I'm going to send you another." I never asked for another. I have 10 hours invested in this one! I haven't been able to get the FireWire part to record properly yet but I think that I will figure it out. Anyway, he sent a "tracking number" for the new shipment and he wants me to print a sticker for "the return". 1) I'm not finished evaluating unit #1 yet. 2) I haven't received unit #2 yet. (I don't even want it.) 3) Fedex has no record of the new tracking number. Weird.... If it works 100% and unit #2 comes. I may evaluate it, keep both and pay him for the second one as well, but I'm not shipping out unit #1 until I evaluate unit #2. Ever have a weird Ebay experience like this? Is this just a paranoid seller ?? or...................... BTW I have already changed the memory on unit #1 because one (only one) memory test failed but later passed. (I had the spare memory on hand) Did I mention that both units are to be shipped to my friend in Michigan? Then I pick them up at his house. I must declare it at the border every time it moves across the border. Will Fedex pick it up as they drop off the other ?? What a nightmare ! Dan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members nat whilk II Posted September 14, 2011 Members Share Posted September 14, 2011 I recently purchased a Lenovo X60 laptop for on location recording with my Helix FIREWIRE mixer.I wasn't able to find the TABLET drivers (for the tablet part only)SO I asked the seller for a link to the drivers. He asked for my serial number. He said "There must be something wrong with that unit. I'm going to send you another."I never asked for another. I have 10 hours invested in this one! I haven't been able to get the FireWire part to record properly yet but I think that I will figure it out.Anyway, he sent a "tracking number" for the new shipment and he wants me to print a sticker for "the return". 1) I'm not finished evaluating unit #1 yet.2) I haven't received unit #2 yet. (I don't even want it.)3) Fedex has no record of the new tracking number.Weird....If it works 100% and unit #2 comes. I may evaluate it, keep both and pay him for the second one as well, but I'm not shipping out unit #1 until I evaluate unit #2.Ever have a weird Ebay experience like this? Is this just a paranoid seller ?? or......................BTW I have already changed the memory on unit #1 because one (only one) memory test failed but later passed. (I had the spare memory on hand)Did I mention that both units are to be shipped to my friend in Michigan? Then I pick them up at his house. I must declare it at the border every time it moves across the border.Will Fedex pick it up as they drop off the other ?? What a nightmare !Dan That is odd. About tracking numbers, 'tho - I have a big stack of Fedex shipping documents with pre-printed tracking numbers, so I can give someone a tracking number before Fedex picks it up and scans in the number. So maybe that's what's up with the tracking number.... About the driver...looks like he expected the driver to be pre-loaded. If the pre-loading was not done properly he might be thinking "a bunch of other stuff could be missing too as the pre-loads are done in big groups" or something like that. So instead of trying to analyze your machine's particular configuration, it's much simpler to just ship another one, get the old one back, re-do the pre-loads, and resell it. You might be having the unnerving experience of dealing with a really really good vendor and are understandably a bit suspicious as it's so unusual! Or not! Best of luck....I do agree with the part about keeping the old one 'till the new one gets there. nat whilk ii Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CMS Author MikeRivers Posted September 14, 2011 CMS Author Share Posted September 14, 2011 I don't buy from eBay sellers. There are lots of good sellers, but there are lots of scams, too. And I certainly wouldn't spend as much time as you have on something I bought (anywhere) that didn't work, not unless I really wanted a project. Sure, there are things that you really need to go to eBay for because that's the haystack where it's relatively easy to find the needle if there really is one, but geez, a portable computer? You can get those anywhere. What do you know about the seller? It sounds like he's eager to get you a working computer, though it's unfortunate that he's the kind of seller who doesn't even know if what he's selling works fully. Do what your gut tells you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ernest Buckley Posted September 14, 2011 Members Share Posted September 14, 2011 I recently purchased a Lenovo X60 laptop for on location recording with my Helix FIREWIRE mixer.I wasn't able to find the TABLET drivers (for the tablet part only)SO I asked the seller for a link to the drivers. He asked for my serial number. He said "There must be something wrong with that unit. I'm going to send you another."I never asked for another. I have 10 hours invested in this one! I haven't been able to get the FireWire part to record properly yet but I think that I will figure it out.Anyway, he sent a "tracking number" for the new shipment and he wants me to print a sticker for "the return". 1) I'm not finished evaluating unit #1 yet.2) I haven't received unit #2 yet. (I don't even want it.)3) Fedex has no record of the new tracking number.Weird....If it works 100% and unit #2 comes. I may evaluate it, keep both and pay him for the second one as well, but I'm not shipping out unit #1 until I evaluate unit #2.Ever have a weird Ebay experience like this? Is this just a paranoid seller ?? or......................BTW I have already changed the memory on unit #1 because one (only one) memory test failed but later passed. (I had the spare memory on hand)Did I mention that both units are to be shipped to my friend in Michigan? Then I pick them up at his house. I must declare it at the border every time it moves across the border.Will Fedex pick it up as they drop off the other ?? What a nightmare !Dan Problem Solved Seriously, tell the seller you`re not interested in the 2nd unit. If and when it arrives, do not accept it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members techristian Posted September 14, 2011 Author Members Share Posted September 14, 2011 Yes he did ship it. Fedex says that it is coming tomorrow. I explained the situation to him once again...complete with the "I AM IN CANADA, I changed the memory and I spent 10 hours". Believe it or not, he apologized and told me to keep both? Now this was only $139 including shipping and it had no OS on it. That is why I am hunting down the right drivers. I may even try a Linux install with Rosegarden. Windows automatically installed 1394 Firewire but it sounds CRACKLY. (bad master /slave clock? ) I haven't found a Lenovo specific firewire driver yet. If I get both of them working for my mixer, I'll probably send him $100 (holding back $30 for the defective memory) because I already told him that I would buy a second one if I liked the first. I will also give him a stellar rating on Ebay ! I'm planning on picking up #2 next week. I'm surprised that my friend puts up with me. Dan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CMS Author MikeRivers Posted September 14, 2011 CMS Author Share Posted September 14, 2011 Windows automatically installed 1394 Firewire but it sounds CRACKLY. (bad master /slave clock? ) I haven't found a Lenovo specific firewire driver yet. Which Windows? Firewire is often a problem, and the Microsoft driver (that's for the Firewire port, not the audio device) is probably correct. If it's Windows 7, look up "Legacy Firewire Driver" and use that instead of what was automatically installed. I will also give him a stellar rating on Ebay ! Trouble with eBay ratings is that you don't get to say what you're rating. I'd certainly give him a stellar rating for customer satisfaction, but the fact that he sent you a computer that had a problem, unless it clearly was an "as is" deal, suggests that he doesn't know enough about what he's selling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members techristian Posted September 14, 2011 Author Members Share Posted September 14, 2011 Windows XP. Trouble with eBay ratings is that you don't get to say what you're rating. I'd certainly give him a stellar rating for customer satisfaction, but the fact that he sent you a computer that had a problem, unless it clearly was an "as is" deal, suggests that he doesn't know enough about what he's selling. They sold at least 20 of these units. They must have acquired them from a large corporation. They probably just formatted the hard disk and shipped. They advertised 1gb of memory but mine had 2gb. It was scuffed up a bit, but all of the keys were there and no gouges or deep scratches were found. The battery holds a bit of a charge ,but I never timed it. The fingerprint reader is cool (but not essential). I don't need to type a password to boot. It probably isn't worth their time to evaluate each unit as I have...I mean for $129 + $10 shipping. Dan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Lee Flier Posted September 14, 2011 Members Share Posted September 14, 2011 Trouble with eBay ratings is that you don't get to say what you're rating. Yes, you do. How would you know anyway, if you won't deal with eBay sellers? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members techristian Posted September 14, 2011 Author Members Share Posted September 14, 2011 A linux source states that my Firewire is Ricoh Co Ltd R5C552 IEEE 1394 Controller (rev 09). Are there specific WinXP drivers for that? anyone here experienced with that Firewire? Dan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members nat whilk II Posted September 14, 2011 Members Share Posted September 14, 2011 Hey Dan - PM me with the specs on that 2nd unit. I might buy it from you. nat whilk ii Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members UstadKhanAli Posted September 14, 2011 Members Share Posted September 14, 2011 Trouble with eBay ratings is that you don't get to say what you're rating. You can do this, Mike. And that option has been available for quite a few years, probably over ten years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CMS Author MikeRivers Posted September 14, 2011 CMS Author Share Posted September 14, 2011 A linux source states that my Firewire is Ricoh Co Ltd R5C552 IEEE 1394 Controller (rev 09). Are there specific WinXP drivers for that? anyone here experienced with that Firewire? It's rare that anyone gets a Ricoh Firewire controller to work with any audio interface. I guess this is a laptop? Get a CardBus or ExpressCard Firewire adapter, whichever one fits the computer. Last time I checked, the SIIG NN-PCM22-S4 (CardBus) or NN-EC2012-S1 (ExpressCard) had TI chips in them, and that almost always works. They also have cards with a VIA chip and that's usually good too. Cross your fingers that the computer doesn't have one of the Ricoh chips that control both the Firewire port and the expansion card slot. Sometimes even a card with a "good" Firewire chip doesn't work right with that controller. Firewire audio is always a crapshoot. Sometimes you win, sometimes you fight, sometimes you lose. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.