Hi help needed please netbook

anonymousie

http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/reviews/laptop/3230627/medion-akoya-e1222-review/

I bought this netbook for my 12yr old as a " work tool" for Xmas, direct from medion-6/12/11

She needs it for homework ie surfing the net for information, word proscessing , preparing presentations etc. She was given it t Xmas. We are a bit anal about net access and the kids- so it's always used in the lounge, put away safely etc. the thing evn still has the protective film on it it has had so little use!

It has always been slow- taking minutes to do stuff. This shouldn't be the case- we aren't asking it to multitask , stream video or play games.

For 3 weeks or so the battery has clearly died- will not charge up and the computer only works on the mains.

We have virus scanned ( nil) and done factory reset- no good.

Been on the phone to medion 30 minutes with someone who treated me like either an idiot ( have you considered it may have a virus- doh!) or a scammer- the number or serial numbers md msn numbers and evn the flipping colour I had to give was untrue!

Had the usual " if it's user error or damage then well charge you" etc too. :mad:

Particularly wound up as all our computers are medion and we love em - bought from aldi not direct though, and Aldi are so lovely o deal with. ( waited and waited for them to have computers in and they didn't!)

He's going to post( not email- ggrr more delay) how to send it back to them.

Thanks for reading:

Firstly this spec netbook should be fine for a 12yr olds homework surely?

Secondly isn't worth taking it to a local pc shop and getting them to have a look to rule out " user fault" ( can't see how it could e but I read all the " my iPhone is water damaged and t hasn't been ear liquid" threads) or would that invalidate medion warranty ?

mdean

No experience of the particular machine - but I think disabling services is the way forward

The computer is too busy with them to do the homework

Turn them off and it should be fast
http://windows7themes.net/windows-7-services-safe-to-disable.html

fiddiwebb

So the issues are dead battery (not charging) also slow.

Has it 1GB of memory?

What antivirus software are you using on it?

tsunami70

It sounds like the battery is faulty, nothing software related (like a virus) would prevent it running on battery power. As for it being slow, the processor is fine by notebook standards so check what programs are running in the background.
Many new laptops and netbooks come stuffed with so called "shovelware", much of which runs constantly trying to get you to buy the full version of the package - various large antivirus and anti spyware programs are particularly bad memory hogs.

You could take it down to the local shop but they'll tell you the battery is dead - for a fee - and also offer to do some kind of speed-up service. If you're not too comfortable with computers it may be worth doing this once medion send you a new battery.

Good luck!

robmar0se

Hi, just to avoid sillies, please check that the power adapter fittings are securely "home", and that the fuse in the plug is not blown - most adapters will have a little green light to show power is present, sometimes not there on cheaper stuff.

If you can prove that the netbook works on direct power (ie battery removed) but the battery won't charge, then I think you could realy give Medion chapter and verse and confirm to them that the battery is US, and insist on a replacement, it shouldn't be necessary to return the whole thing.

Traditionally these netbooks come with 1gb RAM with a max of 2gb. You can uninstall all the teaser programs and unnecessary utilities, this will make it faster. But if you are not in the mood to keep it running lean, then you could double the RAM to 2 gb - its not expensive. But sort the power issues first!

victor2

According to the review you linked to, the battery power is not that fantastic from new, but it does sound like your battery might be useless. If removing, wiping the connectors clean and reconnecting it does nothing then chase them on the warranty.
I gave my OH a Samsung Netbook with same specs including 1Gb memory. Based on reviews I had read I purchased a replacement 2Gb memory bank at the same time and it's been fine. I also removed most of the pre-installed junk it came with. It looks like replacing the 1Gb in the Medion (you have to replace as there's only one slot) is not so easy and involves removing the keyboard. It will doubtless invalidate the warranty too, so get the battery issue sorted out first.

heathcote123

crappy processor & memory mean it's pretty much slow by design, it's a horrendous spec.

Upgrade the 1gb to 2 or preferably 3 gb if it will do it, should help immensley.

Go through add/remove programs and uninstall any program you are not using - it probably came preloaded with junk.

Get them to send you a new battery.

Oh yes, as another poster pointer out - if it's preloaded with norton of mcafee or something similar, best to get rid of it & load up something a lot simpler, MS security essentials or similar. Not quite as secure, but probably worth the trade off for performance.

fiddiwebb

heathcote123 wrote: »

crappy processor & memory mean it's pretty much slow by design, it's a horrendous spec.

Upgrade the 1gb to 2 or preferably 3 gb if it will do it, should help immensley.

Go through add/remove programs and uninstall any program you are not using - it probably came preloaded with junk.

Get them to send you a new battery.

Oh yes, as another poster pointer out - if it's preloaded with norton of mcafee or something similar, best to get rid of it & load up something a lot simpler, MS security essentials or similar. Not quite as secure, but probably worth the trade off for performance.

Processor & memory are fine for a netbook, should run fast enough for what's required, i'm using my trusty 3 year old Samsung NC10 with 1gb ram and it does the job okay, mind you that's using XP not 7.

Agreed it could be installed programmes that came with the netbook that is slowing it down or Mcafee/Norton AV.

Avast or Avira antivirus which are both free would work well also worth downloading Malwarebytes and CCleaner but worth removing any rubbish programmes first before you decide to download anything else.

anonymousie

Thanks all. I'm sure the battery is shot.

We are using avg free as antivirus as that has aleays served us well. We can try stripping it o just the very basic software and sibling services as mentioned above over the weekend - already re set to factory settings.

I know it's a basic spec machine, but it should do what she needs - that's almost our reason for being so mean- if it won't cope with multimedia stuff or on line gaming etc then , when she's a but older and allowed it in her room she still won't be able to !!

Our 18yr old has a 5yr old medion net book that must be much worse re spec than this but it does what she wants it to and she's at uni now! mind you that's running XP not windows 7.

Would it be possible to change the operating system to xp?

victor2

anonymousie wrote: »

Would it be possible to change the operating system to xp?

You'd have to purchase or have a copy of XP to use, but it probably would work. However, I'd look at putting 2Gb RAM in it first. Windows 7 Starter will run fine on it then, for the needs you describe, especially if you uninstall the unwanted software it probably has.

heathcote123

fiddiwebb wrote: »

Processor & memory are fine for a netbook, should run fast enough for what's required, i'm using my trusty 3 year old Samsung NC10 with 1gb ram and it does the job okay, mind you that's using XP not 7.

Agreed it could be installed programmes that came with the netbook that is slowing it down or Mcafee/Norton AV.

Avast or Avira antivirus which are both free would work well also worth downloading Malwarebytes and CCleaner but worth removing any rubbish programmes first before you decide to download anything else.

1gb is not fine for running w7, netbook or not. It's way underspecced.