by cameron | Sep 11, 2007 | Melbourne, technology
About a week ago I tried to open my Acer Travelmate Tablet PC and noticed the little hinge where the screen attaches to the base was broken. No idea how it happened. Wear and tear I guess. I’ve had this machine for two and a half years. Now I can’t open the screen up at all. So I took it into Acer’s repair joint in Melbourne last Thursday. When I realized this morning I hadn’t heard from them, I gave them a call. They told me they had assessed the unit and it would cost me $300 to get it repaired!
I only paid $1000 for the whole machine.
So I went in today to see the quote. Turns out, the replacement hinge will cost $120, there is $60 for labour, and the remaining $120 is to replace the whole upper casing. Why? Because I mentioned that the little latch that hooks the screen onto the base at the front was broken.
$240 for two little pieces of plastic. A quarter of the cost of the entire unit. Makes you wonder what the other pieces of the unit are worth. The screen? Hard drive? Memory? Apparently not as much as the hinge and latch. THAT’S where the big bucks are.
So I told them to forget it, there’s no way I’m paying $300 for two little bits of plastic on a 2.5 year old laptop. That’s highway robbery. I paid my $50 “assessment fee” and left.
Now I’m in the market for a new laptop. I’ve been fairly happy with the Lenovo desktop I bought earlier this year. It’s bloody quiet. Maybe I should get a Lenovo? On the other hand, perhaps it’s time I bit the bullet and went Mac? Is it that time?
Did I mention that I run the largest independent media company (by reach) in Australia? You’d think there would be a whole bunch of hardware companies wanting to buddy up to me….
by cameron | Sep 7, 2007 | Melbourne, Uncategorized
One of the regular surprises at MODM is the people who turn up. I’m always meeting people who run companies I have heard of but never knew they were from Melbourne. Last night it was the guy from BugMeNot. I can’t tell you his name. And I can’t show you his face. All I can show you is this shot. He’s threatened me with physical pain if I show you any more. But he does have a very exciting new project coming out soon which G’Day World will have an exclusive on. Right, guys?? Right???! Don’t forget – I’ve got the goods to blackmail you now if I don’t get what I want.
Thanks to everyone who turned up last night. Lots of new people came for the first time and I think everyone had a great time. MODM 6 will be on October 4. Register here.
by cameron | Sep 5, 2007 | Melbourne, Uncategorized
Picked up this link from Colin’s twitter. Apparently he was ripped off by a Ted’s Camera Store in Melbourne and they refused to give him a refund. Don’t buy camera gear from stores like Ted’s Camera Stores. ALWAYS buy it online from Singapore or Hong Kong via Ebay. You’ll save 30 – 50%. Read Colin’s full story here.
by cameron | Aug 28, 2007 | Melbourne, Uncategorized
I was amused by this sticker inside a Melbourne train on the weekend.
by cameron | Aug 23, 2007 | Melbourne, Podcast
A spontaneous Twitter lunch happened in Melbourne yesterday between myself, Nick Hodge, Garth Kidd, Robin Frousheger, and Andrew Barnett.
The lunch came together over Twitter when Nick, who is based in Sydney, mentioned he was having a coffee at a particular Melbourne Starbucks. Robin, Andrew and I all saw the message and invited ourselves to join him. And then Garth Kidd, who was also visiting Melbourne from Sydney, recognized the red sunnies in the street and I invited him to join us. Over coffee I asked each of the guys to tell me how they use Twitter, the impact it has had on their work/social/blogging lives and how they think corporate marketers should be using it.
Here are the protagonists:
Nick Hodge
Garth Kidd
Robin Frousheger
Andrew Barnett
Become part of the G’Day World conversation.
I’ve created a couple of groups inside Second Life. You can now add yourself to the following groups:
Friends Of G’Day World
MODM
The Podcast Network
If I knew how to link directly to those groups from here, I would. But I don’t. So for now you just need to search for them in-world. Or you can add “Cameron Switchblade” to your friends and check out the groups I belong to.
If you’re a member of Facebook, you can ADD ME AS A FRIEND and then ADD YOURSELF TO THE G’DAY WORLD GROUP.
Add me to your Twitter account.
Do me a solid and digg the show.
Get the TPN version of Particls.
Don’t forget to make use of my new comments line – +613 9016 9699.
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The G’Day World Theme Song is “Save Me†by The Napoleon Blown Aparts.
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by cameron | Aug 22, 2007 | Melbourne, Podcast
Ryan Trainor started his first company, a Retail Security firm in 1997 at the age of 23. After three years he was servicing most major retailers in Australia, including Coles Myer and Woolworths, employing hundreds of staff and regarded as a key innovator of change in the security personnel industry. He sold to a large Multi National in 2000.
Since then, Ryan has founded grown several businesses, is the past President for the Entrepreneurs Organisation (EO) in Melbourne, Australia and is now a partner in the NinetyDaysâ„¢ Agency, a group of entrepreneurs who specialise in assisting early stage, high growth companies and is the co founder of JOOCED media.
Become part of the G’Day World conversation.
I’ve created a couple of groups inside Second Life. You can now add yourself to the following groups:
Friends Of G’Day World
MODM
The Podcast Network
If I knew how to link directly to those groups from here, I would. But I don’t. So for now you just need to search for them in-world. Or you can add “Cameron Switchblade” to your friends and check out the groups I belong to.
If you’re a member of Facebook, you can ADD ME AS A FRIEND and then ADD YOURSELF TO THE G’DAY WORLD GROUP.
Add me to your Twitter account.
Do me a solid and digg the show.
Get the TPN version of Particls.
Don’t forget to make use of my new comments line – +613 9016 9699.
You can now buy transcripts of this podcast from Pods In Print.
If you enjoyed this podcast, make sure you don’t miss future episodes by subscribing to our feed and leave us a voice comment!
The G’Day World Theme Song is “Save Me†by The Napoleon Blown Aparts.
<img src="http://www.addthis.com/images/button2-bm.png" alt="AddThis Social Bookmark Button" border="0"
