Aldi media Notebook £729.99 (merged)

The_Negotiator

Swapping the HDD is a matter of 6 screws underneath, uncliping the palm rest section and undoing the socket to the touchpad/motherboard lead. HDD is on the right of the palm rest

Whether it would run without a problem depends on a number of things,, you sometimes have problems doing such a procedure on laptops...

WIfi card slot (well, mini PCI) is under the touchpad in the centre, on the right is the PCMCIA slot.

Keyboard slides out under the taps after you have removed the palm rest, the memory is here under a metal plate for protection and to provide strength for the keyboard. 2 slots on mine (S250 equivalent). CPU as far as I know is to the right of the RAM. The DVD drive is simply a matter of two screws on the bottom and pull it out, pretty standard.

No idea about the output res though, sorry, the full manual is on the MSI website and there's a forum for the MSI megabook, but lacking in a lot of knowledge:

http://forum.msi.com.tw/index.php?board=23.0

Screens, mass, size and build quality very good, flimsy keyboard ok but not great. The aldi one on the picture shows the extended battery (4.4amphr or so), i got 2 half size batteries with mine (2.2amphr each), extended battery sticks out a little more.

dfarry

Need to check those Aldi specs again... such a slow connection here grrrr!!!
So it comes with the extended and intregated batter... thats pretty good... often with notebooks its the battery that takes up most of the footprint.

Also found a review here.. http://www.hardwarezone.com/articles/view.php?cid=1&id=1659

Shame the HDD isn't the 80GB variant and also they did not use a single 512mb stick of memory (the specs seem to suggest 2 x 256mb)

rao4844

I have just phoned Medion and asked a simple question:-
Is the Notebook that is onsale at Aldi on Thursday a rebadged MSI machine?
The person I spoke to new NOTHING ABOUT IT.
I persevered, they went away and came back 5 mins. later and said it was an MSI motherboard, didn't support bluetooth and was silver not white as the MSI.

It definitely looks like an MSI S270 and has a similar spec. The trouble I have is that it appears that Aldi have now changed their policy relating to returning product (specifically computers) for ANY reason within 28 days for a full cash refund.
This Notebook will have to be purchased effectively "unseen" and if it is not suitable for any reason then the only way to get a refund will be to contact Medion and obtain a "returns number". Aldi will then refund the purchase price.
Believe me, it is very very difficult to get a "returns number" from Medion. If it is simply "not suitable" then basically it seems you are stuck with it. Remember, this is an unseen boxed purchase which will probably not be faulty.
If I could get a guarantee that it is indeed a rebadged Notebook from MSI then OK, but if not then I'm not very sure.

dfarry

Yes that is the other consideration, in my experience, ALDI have been fine but Medion (in the UK at least) are absolutely diabolical for customer service and even product knowledge seems to be beyond them.

To be honest with the links I have posted above... will probably know more than them.

I know over the Tevion 32" LCD fiasco last summer (also sold through Aldi) one of the Medion engineers said that they only had one of the TV's at their office the day before they went on general sale... cosequently knowledge, manuals etc were limited.... as was their own knowledge of "High Definition", "Component", "RGB" If I were to buy this laptop I would not look forward to trying to get any form of warranty service from Medion.

Then again....I'm having a big struggle with Samsung at the moment with a DVD recorder so most manufacturers are great at rushing the products out but not so good at supporting.

dfarry

Just to add... on my links... especially the review... and Medions own comments....

MSI seem to have updated the specs some what... http://www.msi.com.tw/program/products/notebook/nb/pro_nb_detail.php?UID=608

Notice how it states BLUETOOTH SUPPORTED

THe review from July states it isn't and Medion have just told RAO that it isn't either.

Personally I am more inclined to believe MSI's website than Aldi, Medion and a 6 month old review...

However this does go to show how contradictory these things can be and you need time to be sure it does everything that you expect or is stated on the box.

The_Negotiator

You can download a live update application from the MSI laptop which basically checks daily for bios upgrades, driver updates and application updates relevant to your specific machine, it's dead useful

Just so people are aware; my sim2000 (MSI S250) isn't exactly the same as the MSI spec, it missed the standard wireless card (but I fitted my own abg card since the antenna is built in). Hence do not expect this Medion to have exactly the same spec as the S270, it might not have.

The_Negotiator

dfarry wrote:

Need to check those Aldi specs again... such a slow connection here grrrr!!!
So it comes with the extended and intregated batter... thats pretty good... often with notebooks its the battery that takes up most of the footprint.

Also found a review here.. http://www.hardwarezone.com/articles/view.php?cid=1&id=1659

Shame the HDD isn't the 80GB variant and also they did not use a single 512mb stick of memory (the specs seem to suggest 2 x 256mb)

Sorry, I obviously wasn't clear. The laptop does only have one battery which is external. However, the one shown in the aldi picture is the extended (double size) battery and not the standard one I got with my one (but I got 2). The extended adds about 1.5cm to the footprint in terms of depth.

Not read the rest of the thread yet so maybe somebody has corrected me

The_Negotiator

rao4844 wrote:

If I could get a guarantee that it is indeed a rebadged Notebook from MSI then OK, but if not then I'm not very sure.

It is [a rebadged MSI, although I personally can't assure you of specific specifications]. However, all of the MSI megabook range comes in white, silver or black.

ahll

I have read the comments on here and I am not clear if this is a good buy or Not. Can anyone clarify the situation for me.

dfarry

Anyone got one yet?


I decided to hold off... it's just a bit too much cash for me at the moment.