A note on the MSY front page, all QLD branches will do Diangostics for flood damaged Notebooks and Computers for free.
Probably wont help the tech savvy OzBargainers but might help others :)
Free Diangostics for Flood Damaged Notebooks and Computers
1010
Related Stores
closed Comments
Great, neg peoples generosity! If only more businesses offered free services to those in need!
I don't believe there's any neg towards any generosity - merely asking for an accurate title which reflects what is presented on MSY's website.
Damo, what free service are you talking about? A cursory 2 minute look over of the flood damaged computer only to say it's not worth fixing mate here is what we can offer you (but definitely not for free).
Yeah bit cynical mate.
They may well have decent intentions, some people still do, you know.I plead guilty. I am cynical! Happy to be proved wrong though.
There's a lot of money to be made by MSY offering this service. It's not out of pure generosity.
Yeah maybe you are right, you probably are but the Queensland floods revealed a lot of positive Aussie spirit with people helping each other out. I prefer to hope think there's a little of that in MSY's offer but perhaps I am an idealist…
I agree, I'm being a little too cynical. I also agree with your sentiments.
OP corrected. I swear I saw repair the first time but the sight was so flaky last night it wouldn't load again…
Yep - it definitely had repair in the title earlier… which was incorrect
"Our diagnosis is that your computer is dead. You need a new one, which insurance company are you with?"
Yeah, just says 'diagnostics'. I assume this is really to get them in the store, in which they can then charge repair prices. Correct me if I'm wrong.
yeah - honestly its either working or its not - nobody is going to spend the time testing each individual component.
The only case I can think of where that might be handy is if you have a very new PC (under 1yrs) that is faulty - Then some components could be rescued as they can be interchangeably used with a new pc. Otherwise there is no point to rescuing an AGP graphics card or pentium 3 cpu.
If thats the case - I would say that the only thing you could rescue is the CPU. Ram could also be rescued but might behave funny after being waterlogged.Components will rust within days. Not sure if anything at all could be salvaged—but yes, as you said possibly the CPU could be recovered if you don't wait too long.
http://files.myopera.com/FireFoxx/albums/4717/Computer%20Wat…
LOL at ISA Slot. I doubt VERY much that even the CPU in that thing could be GIVEN away :-D
If they're providing you a free diagnosis in fault finding, or tell you which components needs to be replaced. This save you time and effort. Plus they provide cheap parts, do it yourself after you found out what's dead what's not. This is a bargain.
But the deal posted on ozbargain was also for free computer repairs which is clearly not the case. It's already been more than a week since the floodwaters receded, if you haven't got your computer in for diagnosis by now there is even less chance of a successful repair or data recovery.
I just hope it's not a cynical grab for business while umart and gocomp are out of action.
But to claim for insurance purposes, you usually need to have a proper computer company (regardless of how tech-savvy you are) write a letter stating that is is knacked. Whether or not you then choose to use MSY is another matter.
If you are insured properly you shouldn't have any out of pocket expenses anyway except for the excess if any. That's what insurance assessors are for. Otherwise if you intend to purchase your replacement computer from that company they will usually be happy to write the letter for you free of charge.
But they are saying 'no matter who you buy from'
Sure, it may be a way of drumming up business. But I bet builder's fees just went up a notch as well…
free "Diangostic" what? hehe!
the word 'repair' is often thrown around these days, real technicians can diagnose and fix low level faults down to a single component, and by that i don't mean hdd, cpu, power supply etc i mean like a diode or resistor or capacitor, ic etc, but with cheap parts and high labor prices it doesn't make sense anymore, so anyone who can swap major components is usually called a technician!Too right mate.
I work with electronics every day but these days actual analysis at the component level is gone. Labor costs have reduced repairs down to go/no go plug-monkey stuff.
how would they read this offer if their computers are not working?
At this stage I think people will only car if their HDD is toast or not, and for that data recovery specialists are better qualified to test this than MSY.
No point in salvaging a CPU - if you have home and contents they will just replace the whole thing anyway.
Well apparently a lot of people are being butt-humped by the fine print on their insurance policies.
Hope MSY are out to actually help people where they can. Water damage is a pretty dangerous and dubious area where 240v is concerned.and I thought the majority of people dont have home and contents insurance??
I also do hope that msy are going to be more helpful than just plain "your computer is broken, buy this new one"
For those that are replacing general use PC's I'd reccommend something along the lines of:
AMD x4 640 - 103
Asrock n68s3 - 45
2/4gb ddr3 ram - 23/42
1tb hdd - 57cheapest case/dvd drive - 60 ish
cheap graphics card if you need hdmi/dvi - 40Complete pc for under $300 (2gb ram) and build yourself
One thing msy could do if they were nice is waive their build fee if you bring in a water damaged pc that needs to be replaced.
Make sure you buy a SHAW power supply, they are useful in winter as many of us don't have a fireplace.
u know honestly I have built 20+ computers with those power supplies - only had 1 fail (knock wood), no damage either, just replaced psu and up and running again.
I have seen sparks/fire shooting out of an OCZ one though.
They are good enough if you are an average user and run onboard graphics and only 1hdd - The main problem I think is that people dont realize that the computer can get clogged with dust after 1 year which then heats the inside to a high temp. PSU's draw their air from inside the pc so they dont like it when they cant get cool air = POP.
I tell everybody I build for to at least clean it out once a year.
They use SHAW power supplies as IED's in Iraq.
ka-boom!And did you know the secret ingredient of a Shaw Gaming Viper 860 is in fact.. melted cheese?
A very nice gesture though as posted above would just be to sell you a new computer. No offense intended but I highly doubt anyone at msy knows anything about computers let alone notebook repairs, I mean they haven't even got customer service figured out and thats the skill they hire people based on. Maybe it is just Victoria but all the msy's I've been to, the staff are absolutely no help at all as they don't know their products properly.
The soup nazi's of IT offering a free service… I wouldn't go in expecting any sort of genuine assistance…
haha, so true - there business is run alot like a nazi soup kitchen. you stand in line for half an hour like an idiot twiddling your thumbs, finally when you do get to the counter their ultra efficiency and hastiness rushes your purchase decision and they are dismissive with answering any questions, it's either buy it NOW or get the hell out of my shop. then you find the item is out stock and it's like "next customer please". walk away dissapointed.
that's their customer service in a nutshell.
I hope the diagnostics is more than "Yep she's water-damaged mate"
Nice gesture, but I suspect that most computer places offer this service to a seriously damaged computer as part of quoting for a replacement.
If they don't have (usable) backups, then data recovery is another matter of course. From my experience if you get to the hard drive quick enough you could probably extract (or image) the data, although you may need to replace the controller on the hard drive itself.MSY is the last place I would recommend for anyone wanting any chance of successful data recovery.
If your data is valuable to you go to specialist data recovery experts.
Most computer shops don't do data recovery, too much effort. They'll just look at it and say, bad luck mate, and probably offer you a new hard drive.
Doesn't professional data recovery services cost over thousands of dollars? They also need to perform the HDD repairs inside a clean room as well.
This #$)#*)( place at Ultimo I will never go again.
Can you believe on a Saturday a salesperson physically pushed me out of the the shop 15 mins before closing (I was actually an hour earlier than their advertised time) and even after I explained that all I needed was just a HDMI cable?
haha, don't mess with MSY. they are a front for the Chinese mafia. you argue and they kill you ;)
My local PC repair shop charge $50 just to have a look at any PC, if it turns out to be fixable they deduct the $50 from the total repair bill. But if it's not fixable they still charge the $50.
what a dupe. that calls for a KMA or "kiss my ass!" moment.
it is still a FREE service regardless.
as most have already pointed out, it is more than likely just pointing out what will need replacement, and what still can be salvaged and reused
however i know from experience, for the 'non-tech-savvy' computer users out there, if they were to take there systems into most, if not all computer stores for this "diagnosis", they will be charged for it.
so a +ve from me, and a great gesture and excellent idea
MSY definitely ain't no charity or doing this for altruistic intentions.
Shrewd way to bring more customers in and generate more business by capitalising on the flood disaster and associated damage and loss caused to computer systems.This is the MSY procedure for every so-called "diagnostics check"…
"NO NO, This one broken! You BUY, You BUY, new one from us, so cheap!"(Rinse and Repeat)
The general consensus is that non technical people should stay away from MSY. This is what people who visit the store claim and indirectly what MSY tries to do (i.e. not answering calls/emails, treating people like cattle in the store, no customer service).
Now they expect us to believe that they're willing to have newbs whose 'tower won't turn on' come to the store in droves with the belief that they're going to get assistance. Like most people here, I believe MSY are just trying to use this opportunity to sell new year. It makes me sick.no they are not a charity, they run a business for profit like everyone else, and not all chinese speak like that!btw that wolfenstein is sooo old, what's wrong with the new version?
msy is by their own admission not a normal retail store where anyone can walk in and buy parts, they say you should be a tech(or in their word knowledgeable) to buy there or at least bring along a tech friend, maybe they reserve the bad boy act just for techies and treat the rest of us dummies like best friends?
case in point-last week i went to Ultimo to buy a 2gb stick of ram, the guy looked on the shelf, picked a stick of ram, handed it to me, but probably tried to pull a fast one-he had given me a 1gb stick instead of 2gb!! it don't take a techie to read a label MR MSY! lol!Thanks for the insight about people's accents, I didn't know that they all spoke in broken English.
The original 1992 version is a classic game and far superior to the later releases of the Wolfenstein franchise, I dunno, maybe it is just my childhood nostalgia. It's okay to covet all old/vintage things too.
This guide pretty much sums it up:
How to Shop at MSY Australia
http://ozsoapbox.com/melbourne/newbie-guide-how-to-shop-at-m…Brilliant tongue-in-cheek article!
Will be saving a copy of this for the "LOLs" ;)
No one should go within 100ft of an MSY store unless you have a very specific part/component you'd like that comes with a manufacturer warranty (god help you trying to get an RMA at MSY) and know more than the average soccer mom does about a PC.
Otherwise you're just asking to be abused like a choir boy at a Sunday school.
http://www.productreview.com.au/p/msy-technology.html
All these folks can't be wrong.Mr Gullible: Hello Mr MSY, can you please check my computer?
Mr MSY: Sure, please come back in two days.[Mr MSY go out to the back and dumps the computer into a corner, along with 50 others)
Two days later,
Mr Gullible: How'd ya go with the computer?
Mr MSY: Yes we had a look and unfortunately it is beyond repair and will need a replacement. I'd be able to help you with that…check out our great range…..
Mr Gullible: Damn! Show us what you got then?
Mr MSY: [giggles to himself] sure sir, please come this way……Nice intention (perhaps).
I think that the following may have had more real value:
"Free removal of (primary) hard drive from flood affected non-booting laptops and desktops, with a free 2.5" or 3.5" USB hard drive caddy to the value of $17 (so you can pick through your old data yourself) with the purchase of ANY new system or laptop (excludes Netbooks), or repairs to flood damaged desktops over the value of $300."
Yeah the wording would need work, and yeah some people wouldn't know how to search their old drive for documents/photos/music, but somehow it would seem like what most people with a broken PC would want - access to their old data.
$17 not much? There are 2x 3.5" and 12x 2.5" caddies on the MSY price list that make it at or under $17.
camelgrass on 21/01/2011 - 22:18 Comment score below threshold.
