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Archive for category Verizon Netbook

Verizon : Thanks for the XP required updates, now give me my 80MB back.

Jul 12

Posted by Kris in Verizon Netbook | No Comments

After being screwed by Verizon last month for incorrect data usage (My UM510 reported 870+MBPS, and I doubt we’ll even see that on EVDO Rev-C), I’m now hell bent on Verizon and their bandwidth charges.

If I go over that 5GB limit myself, I have no problem. Last month Verizon made me pay 50.00 (originally 200.00) over-bandwidth charges for bandwidth I didn’t use, and refused to pay any more than 25% of it, as I’m in Hawaii, were you can barely pull 1.5 MBPS off this thing. This isn’t the Metro NYC area guys. So now that Verizon has screwed me, after Dave Naimaister from Data Support @ Verizon HQ in NC assured me it would be taken care of; Verizon, you’re getting called out on your Data Usage scams. Way to drop the ball there, after assuring me it would be fixed.

I’ll add more about this after I get the screen grabs from the Netbook, but something that bothers me in this whole Netbook 1151NRsetup you forgot about. Slipstreaming XP. For some lay men, this word may not make sense. Basically means to pre-load windows updates, with the installation CD. From watching Verizon’s bootleg setup of using Batch Files to install the VZAccess Manager, why the hell could you have not used the same process for Windows Updates? Sure XP SP3 is slip-streamed, but just about every uploaded torrent of stolen XP on the internet is too.

Congrats, you guys have the technical skills of a script kiddie who burns his OEM CD of XP Home and uploads it to TPB. Except you’re releasing ‘hundreds of thousands’ to these, and then charging by the MB for Data Usage.

So I got my New Netbook, and after only doing 1 speed test that took up exactly 1.75 MB inbound and .92 MB outbound, I watched in horror as automatic updates ate away my bandwidth, to the tune of over 85+ MB. For a 5GB plan, this is just another brick in the wall. For those on the 250 MB plan, who pay 10 cents per MB over, this is close to 9.00 in bandwidth that’s being downloaded from Windows website that they SHOULDN’T incur.

If your defense is, oh those are brand new updates, my screenshots show different, since SP3, you haven’t bothered with any updates, there were 44+ updates to be applied, then on the restart IE8 popped up. It’s rather obvious, as you can install VZAccess Manager and brand the machine with old batch files, that you can just as easily use the un-attended install mode of these updates, LOAD THEM with the PC, and install them via another batch process (or .bat) file upon the Netbook being booted up.

I’d suggest crediting all legacy Netbook owners with 80MB of crucial Windows Updates that should have been slip-streamed.

Then call the lazy tech department / department that provisions and burns the ISO images into these machines, start getting your stuff together, and slip-stream these 40+ updates, or in the very least, due to your antiquated style of doing things, use the un-attended install of the updates, and throw them into a batch file.

In the meantime, I’m getting those 80 MB back, and Verizon, you will be called out on your Netbook 1151NR and it’s trigger-happy sense to download any and all Windows Updates, at a hefty price to the consumer.

Verizon NC HQ: You all know my number and e-mail address, I’d love for you to get back to me, or even a quote would be lovely!

Peace, Love & Mahalo,
K

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Hope on the Verizon?

Jul 8

Posted by Kris in Verizon Netbook | No Comments

Shitty title I know. I don’t care, it’s what Oxycodone was made for… Right?

Regardless, I decided to call Verizon and see if I could return this bloody brick of a netbook to a Verizon store, instead of playing the FedEx game back and forth. Seems I could, bad news is it was on other side of island towards Kihei and Kahului.

Verizon Store Kahului @ Dairy Rd. is a bit of a mess, and the ‘greeter’s aka herders do the best they can, but at least 3 times during having Glenn work on the Netbook we had 3 assholes interrupt reminding us ‘oh we were in line’, to which Glenn replied ‘yes sir you’re next in queue, you can check the monitor in there..’, etc. It was a small crowded store so there was overlap.

Regardless, unphased during the process, Glenn acutally understood the S.M.A.R.T mechanism on the HDD and pronounced it dead upon booting. Fucking closure. Thank you. I wasn’t going through 3 tiers of tech support handed off to Bangladesh to have to fake going through redundant tasks with the techs, before it was called dead. Glenn checked inventory and apparently they had just got in the new batch of Netbooks. Amazing.

Few new things I’ve noticed: Spiffy new Intel Atom inside sticker sported, that the first Netbook did NOT. Also, HP tools setup while Windows was started, and in the GUI at system boot, they didn’t come pre-loaded. This was also a change. So far the system boots faster, seems more agile, and has 100% less HDD failure! Maybe this is secret revision B, or 002, or just has a few bug fixes?

Still kicking myself in the ass for getting this originally the day it came out, but I’ve got high hopes for this second machine.

Can’t wait to see how this Netbook 1151NR finally performs. It’s about bloody time.

1151NR review

Big thanks to Glenn in Tech Support at the Verizon Store in Kahaului, HI. I would’ve returned and canceled contract otherwise… I was that angry. He saved me as a customer. Promote him, in the very least. He knows his shit, period. Should be managing the store, not just in the Technical Support department.

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Have a new HP Netbook? Good Chance You Got an Expired Coupon !

Jun 26

Posted by Kris in Verizon Netbook | No Comments

HP Netbook Expired Coupon

As one of the first recipients of the brand new Verizon HP Netbook, I was greeted with a coupon to ‘Save Right out of the Box’ with 15% off any HP Accessories. I was quite thrilled, as I desperately needed the expanded battery, being used to Macbooks in terms of battery time. Going back to a PC system has shell shock per say.

After browsing on the HP website for a good 2 hours, I had picked out the expanded USB drive (which I then learned didn’t work with the Verizon Netbook) a backpack, slip sleeve, and expanded battery. My purchase came to around $250.

Upon checkout, on the last page, after entering possibly every last bit of information but the coupon, I was finally given a chance to enter my coupon code. We’re sorry, the coupon you’ve entered is invalid or expired.

Really? HP is shipping ‘brand new’ fleets of Netbooks to Verizon, who then ships to customers with expired coupons? Secondly, the coupon code route wasn’t the best, a branded URL such as hp.com/vz-netbook would’ve done just fine in greeting Verizon customers, with some recommended accessories, and a real coupon.

Instead I had to scour around the site to find ‘Mini 1100 Series’ accessories for the Netbook, some of which weren’t compatible with the 1151NR Notebook. Someone screwed up. HP wasn’t ready for Verizon customers who sought accessories, and it showed… painfully. No notebook skins even (cheap and high markup)

As Consumerist recommends I sent emails to the executives of HP, after getting a canned reply about why my coupon might have been expired. The next day, I had 2 HP executive offices calling me, each promising to apply the proper 15% code, and they would refund my order once placed. Talk about an immediate response!

Proper customer service is alive and well at HP. In addition, today I received a phone call, after receiving my order in 3 days (to Hawaii!) following up. I was asked my address. I thought I had pressed a wrong button, and explained merely from a PR standpoint, HP probably lost many customers in the checkout conversion rate, losing them at the coupon entrance. And think of how many thousands of these were shipped already.

Instead, I was greeted by Pat Schwalbe, one of the nicest people I’ve talked to in terms of a company. Empathy must be her specialty, because she was quite distraught over the 2 hours lost before not being able to complete my order, due to being 20 dollars short, more so than myself. After a quick explaination, Pat let me know that HP would be sending me a $100 dollar giftcard for altering their executive offices so quickly regarding the situation.

If anything, I hope I saved a few more thousand Netbooks from going out with incorrect coupons. Pat took down my address and let me know a gift card was on the way. I was floored. Kudos to HP on working out this marketing faux pas.

As an addition, I contacted Verizon regarding such, and they also offered to refund me 15% of my purchase with proof of reciept off of my Verizon bill. Lisa Bennett from Verizon Wireless’ executive offices replied to my email the same day, and asked for a scan of the offending coupon (seen above) – She then had an HP executive contact me, who also thanked me for pointing this to their attention.

Overall, HP went above and beyond in fixing this problem, and in a follow up email, I asked for information on how others could get a proper coupon for their new NetBook. If you’ve recieved a coupon that’s expired like mine, contact the below number, HP has vowed to make it right:

I understand that you would like to know what to do with people who has the same concern like you on expired coupon code. I am pleased to assist you in this matter. Just in case our site does not accept your coupon, and you believe you have a valid coupon, please contact our sales associates at at 1-888-222-0029, select option 2, then option 5, between 7:00 AM – 2:00 AM EST, 7 days a week.

Thanks again to everyone at HP and Verizon for fixing this problem, I’m now happily armed with all the accessories I need. I suggest the slip-case and extended battery. You can’t go wrong!

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Verizon’s HP Netbook 1151NR – Benchmarks & System Stats

Jun 24

Posted by Kris in Verizon Netbook | No Comments

CPU-Z Screenshots : 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5

More benchmarking software to be run / will be reported on the Verizon Netbook. I’ll keep everyone updated.

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Hands On : Verizon’s HP 1151NR NetBook

Jun 22

Posted by Kris in Verizon Netbook | No Comments

Verizon 1151NR Netbook

The HP 1151NR Netbook by Verizon – 2.3 lbs, 10.1 inch LED display, and a footprint of 10.4 x 6.4 inches. Can this thing really power Windows properly?

For someone like me on ‘vacation’ in Hawaii, even the Macbook Pro is a bit too much to carry around to the beach or pool, and a Macbook Air is out of the question (I really mean out of my price range, as well as many consumers right now)

Enter the Verizon NetBook, a branded (and seemingly someone modified version) of the HP 1151NR Notebook, sans the $300-600 MSRP, and apparently the 3rd USB port. Upon opening the box, you’re greeted by a tiny machine, that barely feels like the 2.3 lbs. it weighs. Also, in terms of fan noise: there is none! The machine is almost completely silent, and had this version had an SSD hard drive, would probably be fully silent.

Past a few bumps, and numerous firmware, and software upgrades to VZ Access Manager, along with 41 updates from Windows Update, I was good to go. Had to call to de-activate my UM150, before I could activate / join the internet on this laptop. Something to keep in mind if you’re upgrading an older device.

Setup of the machine was fairly painless, and filled with Verizon firmware updates, upon firmware update, followed by some roaming towers updates, and 1 more round. It got redundant. More to follow, most importantly an entire run down featuring: screenshots, CPU-Z info, real system stats *hint – 2 USB ports*, and a follow up to a faux pas with HP, and an incorrect coupon included in the box.

EDIT: For all those techies like me who enjoy this information: CPU-Z / Benchmark Screen Shots – 1

More to come!

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