anyone ever buy a clone computer in medellin?

Ctg Bound says on Aug 17, 2008, 09:45:

huskie,

There are dozens of computer shops in the center, why blame a center for one shop?

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Tinto (Moderator) (Trustee board) says on Aug 17, 2008, 09:47:

Friends in Bogota bought a clone loaded with Vista a couple of months before Vista was officially released. I was using it one afternoon and it worked OK but it seemed like a hodge-podge of XP Professional and Vista software components. I told them they didn't have enough RAM to run Vista well and they were going to run into problems getting the inevitable service packs, patches, and security updates because they had a pre-release pirate copy. About a month later the machine quit. Back to the store. Quit again. Back to the store. They removed Vista and now they're running XP Professional and it seems to be problem free for the last year or so.

FWIW, iTunes would never run correctly with their pirate copy of Vista, now it works fine on XP Professional.

I wanted access to health care, housing and education, but, no, I get potholes, trash and silicone tits instead. -Desi.

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RUV says on Aug 17, 2008, 10:42:

Get something from the States if possible. If you can not go to the US, you can get some name brands at Exito.

The computer manufactures are moving more products into Latin American markets. Some manufactures like Toshiba have service centers in those area. I believe they have a service center in Bogota. They also created more software images in Spanish. A new support line in Mexico was created to service all of Latin America.

I think Sony has service centers in Mexico and Colombia. HP sells some of there computers without software installed, to reduce the cost. Get your own copy of Vista / XP and download drivers.

Good luck.

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Ctg Bound says on Aug 17, 2008, 11:17:

Gringo Spy,

Only problem with a macs is getting it repaired in Colombia, although they are more reliable so may need no repair, I have had the same ibook for 8 years, no problems yet, touch wood.

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mranderson says on Aug 17, 2008, 11:42:

How would I even know if it´s a new computer and not just a bunch of used parts thrown together? Anyway to tell when the tech comes out and opens up the box?

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Ctg Bound says on Aug 17, 2008, 12:16:

Gringo Spy,

I asked my techy guy, he says no, he says if I have a problem he can get the parts from Bogota or over the net from the US.

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Ctg Bound says on Aug 17, 2008, 12:18:

mranderson,

Labour is cheap in Colombia, it is cheaper and safer from what I am reading, to buy the parts and get a TRUSTED guy to put them together.

I have no clue, so take the guy to the shop he buys from in Monterray, he chooses the parts I need and I pay for them.

His office is a few blocks away from Monterray.

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mranderson says on Aug 17, 2008, 12:24:

I also want to be able to play games on my computer. I installed a game and I get an error that my computer doesn´t support alpha blending. I don´t really know anything about that but I´m assuming it´s my integrated video card? I don´t know if I can download a driver to fix it.

Funny, I tell them specifically what I want to do on the computer and they deliver me a system that can´t do anything I originally bought it for.

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mranderson says on Aug 17, 2008, 15:40:

Yea I think you´re right. I´m sure I can upgrade the graphics card but the point was that I told them I was going to be playing games and they reassured me that this is a good system for that. Apparently it´s not...it will need some more upgrades for that. Unless I want to play pacman.

When they open tuesday morning my wife is going to insist that they give me a total refund and I´ll just take the computer back to them. Don´t know how that´s going to go though. This computer doesn´t work well with the internet card nor does it play newer games. It also tends to freeze up and runs slow. Everytime I put a cd in the drive I have to restart, then manually shut down, and restart it a few more times until it will read the cd.

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mranderson says on Aug 17, 2008, 16:19:

I don´t really know. Doesn´t help that my operating system is in spanish and I can´t really read spanish too well. It´s integrated into the board so does that mean there isn´t a card?

How much would a paraco cost?

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love2colombia says on Aug 17, 2008, 20:35:

mranderson

The best card for games







I recomend this card is awesome ;-)))

Specifications:

GPU/VPU: NVIDIA GeForce 8800 Ultra


RAMDAC: Dual 400 MHz


Additional Features: Vista Ready
RoHS Compliant
HDCP Enabled
HDTV Ready
SLI Ready


Maximum Resolution: 2560 x 1600 (Digital)


Video Memory: 768MB
Memory Type: DDR3
Core Clock: 612 MHz
Memory Clock: 2160 MHz
Interface Type: PCI Express
Interface Speed: x16
Connector(s): Dual DVI (Dual Link)
HDTV/S-Video
Multiple Monitors Support: Yes



The link: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?E...

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mranderson says on Aug 18, 2008, 11:08:

That graphics card is pretty expensive. If I had money to invest in the best stuff then I wouldn´t have bought this clone computer in the first place. For now I just need a cheap graphics card that will support alpha blending. I´m not a big time gamer but enjoy playing every once in a while.

By the way, does tigerdirect ship to colombia? It´s not possible for me to go to the states for a while.

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Ctg Bound says on Aug 18, 2008, 14:45:

huskie,

If many people think that, I am not sure how they are still in bussines, or at least always busy?

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RUV says on Aug 18, 2008, 17:14:

You put that card in your machine you will generate more heat and draw more power. This may create other issues. It all depends on your machine.

Good Luck,

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mranderson says on Aug 18, 2008, 17:16:

Ruv are you talking about any card or specifically the card posted above?

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mranderson says on Aug 18, 2008, 17:30:

gringoloid I must have missed your comments. Yeah it´s possible they didn´t understand what kind of games I want to play. Sometimes it´s amazing how little people know about their jobs in this city. I don´t think the saleswomen really knew that much about computers.

Would I need a larger capacity power supply even for a basic graphics card?

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mranderson says on Aug 18, 2008, 17:40:

I thought that the integraded video on the board would be enough to play games even if they were bad quality. My laptop that´s about 3 years old had no trouble playing games although it was really slow so I figured with a new computer it wouldn´t be a problem.

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love2colombia says on Aug 18, 2008, 20:48:

mranderson i recomend this Power Supplies of 600Watt for $65 only, is a big deal trusts me. This Power Supplies are much more expensive in Monterrey.



Link: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?E...

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mranderson says on Aug 19, 2008, 10:41:

Well if that´s the case then looks like I´m not going to be playing games on this. I can´t afford a good graphics card nor can I afford a larger power supply. I guess I´ll be just using this computer for work and I´ll have to skip the games.

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mranderson says on Aug 21, 2008, 14:26:

Hey gringoloid. I just got back online. That´s a possibility but I´ve also been told that if I buy a graphics card from anyone else that it would void my warranty. They have to install it and of course they won´t install a graphics card that I don´t buy from them.

They came out and reconfigured my computer for the second time and now it works fine. I still have problems with the internet but so does my landlord so maybe it´s a router problem? I get my wireless signal from my landlords house which is upstairs. Good signal but the internet always drops off.

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mranderson says on Aug 21, 2008, 14:53:

Oh ok. Thanks for the offer but I can´t afford to spend anymore money on electronics. I can´t even afford to travel back to the u.s. to visit family this christmas so toys are definitly out.

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mranderson says on Aug 31, 2008, 08:29:

Update on my clone computer.

After reconfiguring and changing the internet card 3 times it seems like it´s working good now. One of the main issues I had with the computer was the internet. It wouldn´t connect or if it did only with a velocity of about 1 or 2 mbps. I don´t remember the brand of the first card but the second one was encore and now it has a d-link card. Now it connects at 54mbps.

The name of the store is Star Ink located in monterrey. I´ll never buy another computer nor recommend this place to anyone. It took too long to after buying this computer to get it working right. Also when my wife called and spoke directly with the owner about all the problems, he accused us of breaking it. That kind of attitude will never get repeat buisness from me. The other thing I didn´t like is the salesmen. When I told them what I wanted they said they could deliver that computer in 15 minutes. I assumed they had one ready to go. After paying my deposit(only a deposit because they were delivering the computer) they told me it would be about 5 hours or so. What happened to 15 minutes I asked. That´s just something that the salesmen say.

So now only time will tell if it was a wise choice to buy a clone computer. Definately cheaper, but maybe not in the long run.

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pedro (☼Travelguide writer) says on Aug 31, 2008, 08:40:

mranderson says on Aug 31, 2008, 08:52:

That wasn´t the only problem. Many times the computer simply wouldn´t respond to anything. For example it would take about 5 minutes for it to read a cd. Even a simple music cd. Other times programs like office wouldn´t open. Now all those issues are resolved including the internet card. They said that they thought the internet card was blocking the processor.

Your right about the internet. Although when my desktop couldn´t connect, I put my laptop right next to it and the laptop connected perfectly. The router is in my landlords place(upstairs) so yea, it has to pass through some walls, but I still get a good signal. Anyway, it says intensidad de la sigñal muy bueno. Vacuum Cleaner interfering? good one.

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tabla says on Sep 2, 2008, 10:00:

Couple points here:

1) is a clone a machine falsely bearing a brand name or a machine bearing no brand name?

2) I think it would be poor advice to say one should buy ANY brand-name machine in, say, USA. Better to use best-buy tables. In UK I buy the magazine PC Advisor when I want to buy a computer. Every month it has a list of the top ten computers in about 4 price bands. If you buy the number one in your price range, you can't go wrong. Better still, read the reviews there and maybe number 2 is better for your needs. You have to remember a few things:
a) the rating factors in the price, so at another price the rating may change
b) typically the manufacturers lower the spec and raise the price as soon as they see their machine is number one. To get round this, the entrants have to agree to make the same spec machine available at the same price for one month (from memory). Then you have to be sure to order "the machine that was number one in the mag in (month)" and order like this in writing.

I never ask an "expert" because there is no way they can be as up to date or as in-depth as PC Advisor.

Another comment is that you often have to return a computer for repairs etc so it's good to buy from a place near home.

I also write for the archive.

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