Why Won't Spend A Kobo On A Zinox

- Actually that's not entirely accurate - I won't even take one if offered for free. (At least I would hesitate to take it). I have been using this N132,000 (yes it was a freaking lot for a Pentium M 1.6ghz, 256mb ram 40gb, DVD/CDRW, 15" in February 2007! But the owner bought it without seeking other info first) rather regularly for some time. I thought should vent my anger and frustration and also warn anyone who's reading of what you expect when you behave stupidly "patriotic"

Well first and foremost the build quality is awful, the thing creaks every time I carry it with one hand, the palm rests and touchpad buttons have faded from not upto 7mths total use. The thing was awfully slow when it arrived (with Win XP Starter Edition for Africa - seriously why do they insult us so?) and upon upgrading to XP Professional, I couldn't find drivers anywhere, not on their site or on the cd it shipped with, had to go to the originel oem chassis manufacturer to get drivers! The screen colours are off, my 7yrs old desktop monitor has better colour. The bios is archiac (it doesn't supply enough info to the OS), and the heat management, for such low-end components, is abysmal. It fries my legs everytime I play Enemy engaged or age of mythology. Some parts actually like they're going to deform. That's just sad.

The only thing i t had going for it was battery life, it used to last nearly 4hrs on a charge with screen brightness turned down and Wifi off. But now that's also gone, the laptop now lasts only 1hr 45mins or thereabouts ( after chopping over 2hrs of electricity to charge!!??@). Ubuntu show me the battery is at 39 % capacity meaning that 60% of the cell died within a year. WHAT!!!! How's that for build quality. Patriotic my ***. I'd won't buy any Zinox even recommend it to anybody. If you have substantial reason or proof to shift this view of mine, please present. Seriously, this thing was a rip off.

What did you expect from a Zinox?It is always better to patronize OEM's. Just the other day i heard of a Haier thermocool Laptop beig Sold!

Just extra details: the model is AL55, the owner bought it as offered to Unizik staff in Awka.
Contacted their online support today asking for replacement charger and battery (I believe the charger destroyed the battery), will post their response here.
Watch this space.

Well, I contacted the rubbish company through their online support service at their website (the laptop model i use isn't even listed there!) where they boast that they will solve your problem in under 24hrs. Well it's been more than 72 and nothing. -
Ticket No. ZinoxN5074 -
"Either the ticket does not exist or no solution has been provided for it yet.
Please check back soon."



P.S. the laptop now lasts just over an hr after a full charge of 2 hrs.

On another note: Is it possible to sue these people? I hate it when people are cheated because of "apparent" lack of current I.T. knowledge.

Why not change the battery?


Search the internet on tips for laptop battery maintenance.

It's very useful especially for people in our country without adequate supply

try other models,like hp and sony, compaq, those are very good ones. personally, i can't purchase that kind of stuff. . . .naija made laptops

I think my HP laptop now lasts about 8 minutes on a full charge, It's not made in Nigeria. How about that?

The potency of a battery diminishes over time. So, it depends on how long u've been using the battery. Prob u should change the battery.

What are you talking about Dnative? is it not ASUS in Taiwan that assembles and makes parts for the HP's and IBM's of this world? What is so 'OEM' about those ones anyways? is your harddrive made by HP/Dell and co? Is it not made somewhere in Asia as well?

My sympathies klez for your experiences with this ONE (it should be noted that this is simply ONE experience) Zinox product, but I'm sure without doing too rigorous an internet search, you would find even worse horror stories for the HP's, Dells and Acers of this world. Your one experience might have burned you, but I'm sure there must be more to the story that meets the eye - one faulty product does not mean the entire company isn't worth it.

There's this guy i'm seeing now. He's 33 and i'm 21. He likes me a lot but the prob is i don't really like him.
I'm scared of breaking up with him but i feel it's something i must do. I need ur candid advice pls.

boloqua:

There's this guy i'm seeing now. He's 33 and i'm 21. He likes me a lot but the prob is i don't really like him.
I'm scared of breaking up with him but i feel it's something i must do. I need your candid advice please.

call their HQ-men HQ that is and ask for a replacement, you're too young to be dating a 33 year old man babes!

klez, what about the guaranty or warranty it came, just wait a bit for the customer service if they are of no help then, stuff it

@Seun
When your laptop is plugged in, and your battery is full, the laptop does not pass the electricity through the battery anymore. It routes around it rather than continually charging, and draining the battery (which is what usually kills batteries)
maybe that is what happend

Laptops batteries tend to lose their quality quickly when you’re constantly looking for the nearest power outlet to charge up. little tips. without explanation to them to keep your battery going for as long as possible?
1. Defrag regularly
2. Dim your screen
3. Cut down on programs running in the background.
4. Cut down external devices
5. Add more RAM
6. Run off a hard drive rather than CD/DVD
7. Keep the battery contacts clean
8. Hibernate not standby
9. Keep operating temperature down
10. Set up and optimize your power options (e.g selectin the ‘max battery’ for maximum effect).
11. Don’t multitask
12. Prevent the Memory Effect
13. Get yourself a more efficient laptop, lol

@boloqua
Why u dey fear, his he a serial killer, just do what pleases u, and enjoy your life, or u can date me

Also you should try to use A/C power when available that is avoid running on battery power whenever you can

well, i wonder why a good bank like GTB wil continue using OMATEK computers at alltheir branches if they are as messed up as you guys say
I think made in nija things are not as bad as they are painted by nigerians themselves.

reindeer:

well, i wonder why a good bank like GTB wil continue using OMATEK computers at alltheir branches if they are as messed up as you guys say
I think made in nija things are not as bad as they are painted by nigerians themselves.

don't mind Dnative. . .I guess its the 'government regulation' making GTB buy those 'useless' computers too

Hmmm! I learn something about Nigeria-made laptop/computer! Sound interesting! Remember I am not Nigerian.

If I was in your shoe discovering bad Zinox laptop, i would order parts replacement such as laptop motherboard, hard disk drive, CPU processor, etc.

Then finally the last part, install operating system: Ubuntu on Zinox laptop beautiful and breezy! Do you all agree with me?

please encourage Nigerian mades!

This is an isolated case that should not be used as evidence to scandalize all the companies that have taken the bold step to assemble computers in Nigeria. Toyota started from somewhere. Today, they're giving Ford and other western automobile manufacturers REAL competition.

Nigerian IT manufacturers can have a rocky start but with the support of Nigerians, they will get better and ultimate lead in this part of the world.

dnative, say no more ! I concur !!

Compaq is not a brand of computers.
My friend had used zinox and dumped it coz it was messing with her school work, but she uses acer now and so do i, which is ok. but i would go for hp anyday.
So i advise you to just sell off the laptop, top some money n get a worthy brand.

The thing was awfully slow when it arrived (with Win XP Starter Edition for Africa - seriously why do they insult us so?)

Are you serious? Never heard.

I hope all these people writing Zinox off are not working for the competitors? No computer is perfect!!

And the person complaining about the government policies is just plain ignorant, Your location is UK? check how their government help their companies to grow! Virgen Nigeria bought aeroplanes from Brazil the other time , go and check the history of that company that sold those aircrafts to Nigeria.

I am not saying we should accept substandard laptops from Zinox in the name of patriotism but they need our support too to become our own version of DELL _{check the history of dell too}

Zinox his ok, dere's always a room 4 improvment, nobody his perfect,. if dey are, why do u think deres troubleshooting, ?

I can’t really speak for Zinox but I do know that all computer manufacturers are the same; that goes for Sony, HP, Dell, Apple, Toshiba, IBM e.t.c

They all spec out the chips that they want from the chip makers usually in Asia. So in terms of hardware, OEMs have access to most of the same component manufacturers. But what differentiates one OEM from the next, apart from software, is the tolerance level on the chips they’re willing to accept. This is probably where Zinox is going wrong because a wider tolerance level means that they get the chips for cheaper, unfortunately it also means that the reliability will be very low.

On the issue of battery, all batteries will lose their ability to hold their charge after awhile but I guess the question will be how long is “awhile”.

cooldude62:

please encourage Nigerian mades!

Encourage Nigerian made, not by giving false glory but by joining the band of those that push companies to do better. Dell alone get's at least hundreds of customer calls from all over the world; people complaining about even the smallest things. You know what that has done?? That has worked to HELP dell improve on it's products and build it's brand to where it is today.

If anyone really wants to help make Nigerian brands better, it is to call in to companies to make sure they hear your complaints. And know that you, the consumers have issues and you are waiting for them to respond and do better. That is how you build Nigerian brands. Silencing those who have complaints only make Nigerian brands off limits to those who want to know that they are not just dots and zeros for the companies. I don't think anyone in their right mind would want to spend thousands of hard earned money to knowingly buy low quality product all in the name of helping build Nigerian brands. I believe it is up to people to make sure these companies know of what they really want and what problems exist so they can fix them.

The @Poster seems to have a genuine complaint there. He does say he has tried contacting the company and has yet to get any real feedback. If we want to help, best is to inform Zinox that it is seriously slacking in the area of customer service. Have you ever been to the companys site yet?? You should check it out. Does not even look like a real business site, let alone a site for a company that puts together and sells computers. Small mom and pop computers stores here have better. If you know the country, please register my complaint. I have been checking that site for some time now and I have to say, to date, it is just as disappointing as it was 2 years ago.

As far as I'm concerned, Dnative has said it all. For us to develop in any field in this country we have to be ruthless in making sure our services and products are of the highest standard. Customer feedback and support is key to this. And we have a long way to go in this country regarding that.

It is more patriotic to demand high standards than just to say 'Let's support it because it's Nigerian'. Nigerian or not, it has to be the best it can be or at least aim to do so. Simple.

We shouldn't let wrong placed emotions cloud our judgement on this. The Japanese didn't, neither did the Germans. Look at the quality of their products from Sony, Honda through to BMW.

Before anyone jumps in and starts talking about a Sony Vaio laptop they have which doesn't work, don't because you are missing the point.

quote from Double N
What did you expect from a Zinox?It is always better to patronize OEM's. Just the other day i heard of a Haier thermocool Laptop beig Sold!

How do you mean its better to patronize OEM's?
For clarity, all Branded hardware system dealers are called OEM's (Original Equipment manufacturers) by the Software manufacturers. These OEM's include Zinox, Dell, Omatek, HP, etc.
However, you have to understand that all the OEM's do not manufacture the hardwares in the actual sense. What they do is that they purchase all the components, assemble them together and put their name on them as a mark of Integrity. So, when you buy a laptop/desktop or any system from them, they take responsibility for whatever happens to any of the components because they put it together, that's why they can give you warranty unlike your guy at Otigba that cannot take responsibility for the one he cloned for you because he doesn't even know the reliability of the components himself.

But like every other thing that is done in this country, either we don't have any value for standards or we are not generally prepared to pay for genuine equipments.
While DELL or HP will make sure that all his components are set to highest quality, you may not say the same of our local counter parts. This brings our Standards Organization of Nigeria (SON) into the picture. Those guys have failed this country woefully. They are the ones to keep our local OEM's on their toes to deliver the best all the time.
Check out what NAFDAC is doing in the food/drug field, SON too should wake up and earn their pay.

With products like HP,Dell and my favorite Apple i cant believe people will still go around buying Zinox