Archive for June, 2007:

Shortest post ever?

No sooner have I finished worrying about all my breakdown woes, I am confronted with eBay issues!

I’ve recently up a PCI-Express Nvidia GeForce 7100GS (PCI-Express) on eBay for the huge sum of £15.

Advertised as being brand new and the description also included several other key features - such as PCI-Express, DVI out, D-Sub out and TV out - did I mention PCI-Express?

I returned home today, to find the following two messages from a buyer:

“hi i received you graphics card this morning but for some reason this will not fit into my system fittings are not compatable would you accept the card back for a full refund if not why . are you sure they are for uk boards”

“these graphics cards are designed for american use only so i would like a full refund thanks. and it will be returned to you with prof of postage . this was confirmed by pc world”

Looking at them both at me [almost] in fits of laughter. Did I mention that the card is PCI-Express? I did? Good.

If I had only received the first message, I would have assumed a lack of PC knowledge. However, upon reading the second message I realised that not only did they lack any PC knowledge (which isn’t a crime), but they also lacked common sense and demanded a refund.

I politely replied with:

Hello,

I would first like to point out that the item description clearly states PCI-Express AND the item specifics (as set out by eBay) state PCI-Express as the interface.

PCI-Express is NOT an American only interface and if your local PC World told you this, I would question their staff knowledge. PCI-Express is the current interface for graphics cards.

I am assuming your PC is older than 2 years, thus has the older AGP interface. If this is the case, then you have unfortunately purchased the wrong type of graphics card - I recommend searching eBay for AGP graphics card instead.

As for a refund, I didn’t offer any with the item as I presumed there wouldn’t be the need to. But on this occasion, I will consider it if you accept the fact that you purchased the wrong product, even though I clearly stated the interface.

I will refund you the £15 item cost upon receipt of the item in its original condition - however, I wont refund the postage costs, due to the error on your behalf.

I apologise if this message seems abrupt, but when I returned home, I was confronted with 2 messages that accused me of being in the wrong.

Regards,

Matt

Which is fairly reasonable. I also included 2 Wikipedia links for them, to explain that PCI-Express is not an American only interface (ha!), but also the differences between it and AGP. After all, I may as well educate the accuser, to try and decrease their ignorance.

And PC World - shame on you! My respect for you has dramatically fallen and all I see you as now, is a place to purchase quick-fixes instead of awaiting online delivery.

I’ll keep you all informed with the buyer’s response…

There I was, happily driving my new Skyline around town, across the flyover that traverses the marina and University - only to have the car turn itself off.

I coasted up to the traffic lights, half expecting it to start a few seconds later - but to no avail. Fortunately there were some kids nearby, who after little persuasion, pushed the Skyline to the side of the road at the main roundabout. Only now, looking back on the situation do I realise that I was totally oblivious to the red lights and passing traffic - I was more worried about getting it to start again.

Luckily, within 5 minutes it fired again and was back into action. Startled by this brief encounter with the breakdown kind, I decided to head to the nearest garage - Halfords. Fortunately for me, the car happily turned off and started numerous times, so I didn’t have to leave it in the (not-so) capable hands of a work experience chav.

We drove onwards to Frankie and Benny’s, about 5 miles down the dual carriageway and enjoyed a meal - only to find that it wouldn’t start again when we returned to the car park.

A few phone calls later and the RAC were on their way, supposedly…

But, an hour later we were approached by some 3rd party recovery service who checked it over and couldn’t find any faults - though whilst it was idling it decided to again, turn itself off for no reason.

Fast forward to this evening and a lot has happened. The 3rd party (who shall remain anonymous) promised that they would take it back to their secure depot for the night and then onwards to a local tuning garage to have it checked over properly, using their computer. They did deliver it to the local garage, but in the afternoon and the garage didn’t know anything about it

The local garage ran the Skyline through their computer, to check for any faults. After 30 minutes or so, it became apparent that the ignition system was faulty. However, they had no means of resolving the problem, as they weren’t experienced with Skylines.

So, it was another few phone calls that resulted in the 3rd party agreeing to transport the Skyline to the local Nissan dealer - prior to them closing at 7pm. Unfortunately, due to the bone-idleness of the 3rd party, at 9pm they still aren’t anywhere near it.

A quick phone call to the RAC from us and the 3rd party told RAC that they had MY Skyline in THEIR lock-up, which was picked up at 6pm and the guy was holding my keys as he spoke to RAC. Hold on a minute - we were sitting with the Skyline for long after 7pm with both sets of keys. I am currently typing this back at home, still with both sets of keys. Something fishy is going on here…

We’ve just got back in from checking the location of the Skyline - and it hasn’t moved in over 3 hours. Another call to RAC and apparently the 3rd party mistook my Skyline for a fucking Bentley.

To conclude, the RAC have been very helpful and have arranged for the Skyline to be moved to the Nissan garage tonight, ready to be repaired tomorrow morning.

A lesson to the RAC (and AA) though, increase your fleet size so that you don’t have to constantly out-source for breakdown recovery. Lesson learnt? Hardly, considering this is the 2nd time I’ve dealt with them - and the 2nd time they’ve out-sourced. At least the Fiesta rental car is fun.

Over the weekend some pictures of my R32 Skyline GTS were taken, by myself and spectators. I’ve uploaded a few to the server, including this:

You can see the remaining pictures here.

Sometime over the next week or so there should be some better quality and arty farty pics (Rachel and Anneka, get snapping).

I could also get a passenger to video it, but I don’t think a low-res compressed video will do it any justice.

As of about 4:30pm yesterday, I’ve become the proud owner of a 1993 Nissan Skyline R32 GTS, complete  with 212BHP; a single turbo; rear-wheel drive; four-wheel HICAS steering and it’s all factory-standard.

I’ve taken a few photos, but as I’m still down south, I haven’t yet had the chance to upload any. As soon as I do, I’ll post them here.

If Byron’s around when I get back to Lincoln a test-drive is in order. But so far I’ve just been experimenting with the insane acceleration. As it’s an automatic, many buyers were put-off; though after driving it around for a few minutes, I realised just how much fun they can be! Give it 1/4 throttle and it will coast along, switching up a gear when it hits just 3,000RPM; 1/2 throttle and it will accelerate that little bit faster - any more than half and it drops a gear, then the turbo kicks in and it whooshes up to mental-ness (best way I can describe it).

There’s also a ‘power’ mode, which allows the gearbox to change at 5,000RPM - which sounds even better!

So far I’ve been sticking to speed limits, actually well-under them as there’s a lot of fun to be had in overtaking. I’ll post some pics and possibly a video or two, this week.

EDIT: Since writing this, I’ve found a great article, that reviews the R32 GTS-T very well. If you’re eager for pictures - take a look at the article, as my R32 is identical in every way to the pictures there.