Laptop: Does this count as not fit for purpose?

mikedmc

Hi,

A friend of mine has always been complaining about her laptop crashing while playing Facebook games (the only reason she purchased the laptop! - This is a friend and not me in disguise ).

She purchased this laptop from Argos (a Toshiba Satellite C660). I told her to get back onto Argos and Toshiba at the time which she did and Toshiba told her it was nothing to do with their machine and was software related. I said take it back and get a refund as its not working. Turns out she didn't take it back and has been using her daughters laptop, so she bought it up to me to get it working and the machine was crawling along from the moment I started it up. Painfully slow, I noticed memory load was high all the time. Then I noticed why, it only has 1gb of Ram, this on a laptop running the 64bit version of Windows 7. Microsoft minimum specs for this operating system is 2gb of ram.

I've checked and all these laptops now come with 4gb minimum so I'm assuming someone realised the error. Does this constitute not fit for purpose? Can she return it as it is virtually useless as it is?

Obviously I've told her we can fit more RAM but she is a little annoyed as she feels she was mislead at the time by Toshiba saying it was software related and as such just put it aside not knowing how to fix it.

I look forward to your views and will pass them on. Thank you.

Kind Regards.
Michael.

ILW

You should be able to double the RAM for not much money.

shaun_from_Africa

As MS state that 2GB of RAM is what is required for a 64 bit machine, then your friend should print out the page I've linked to below and send a copy to Argos and tell them that the laptop is not fit for the purpose it was sold for.


http://windows.microsoft.com/systemrequirements

If you want to run Windows 7 on your PC, here's what it takes:

• 1 gigahertz (GHz) or faster 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor
• 1 gigabyte (GB) RAM (32-bit) or 2 GB RAM (64-bit)
• 16 GB available hard disk space (32-bit) or 20 GB (64-bit)
• DirectX 9 graphics device with WDDM 1.0 or higher driver

How long ago was the purchase made?
It might also be worth printing this page
http://reviews.argos.co.uk/1493-en_gb/5073283/reviews.htm
which clearly shows the operating system as well as the 1GB of RAM
and a fair few of the reviews also mention it being extremely slow.

Jakg

Is it using 64-bit Windows 7? Or 32-bit?

Important you check first if you argue minimum requirements.

Not that I've seen any Windows 7 laptops with 1GB of RM.

...having said that, the specification was available before purchase. A little late to be complaining the PC isn't quick enough IMO.

shaun_from_Africa

Irrspective of the spec being available before purchase, the law still states that something sold by a retailer must be fit for the purpose intended.

If the laptop in question has a 64bit OS and does not have enough memory to run it properly then I can't see that it can be fit for purpose.

It does appear to be a 64 bit system (if this is the same laptop)
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Toshiba-Satellite-C660-Celeron-Windows/dp/B009XBFB4W

mikedmc

Thank you all for replying.

Yes I have mentioned that it shouldn't cost much to add more RAM. A quick look suggests 4gb being around £30 and I would install for her.

However she is a little annoyed about the laptop being useless from day one and being fobbed off with the software problem as the reason. If she had known of the memory limitations at the time she would have returned it.

It was because of the specs being available prior to purchase that also concerned me regarding where she stands regarding returning to the store. Even more so now that it has sat doing nothing for 6 months. In her defence though, she hasn't a clue about specs, processors, memory or any of that. She brought a laptop to use facebook and that was it. Tbh if she had asked me I would have said any old laptop would be capable of doing it, as facebook isn't exactly top end gaming! I was surprised that it came with only 1gb of RAM from a make like Toshiba running an operating system it clearly isn't capable of.

Yes it is the 64bit version that is pre-installed on the machine.

I will pass on the comments. Thank you.

railbuff

depends what it stated in the Argos book/online at the time of purchase. if it stated 1GB ram then it is what she got. but take it back to argos and try and get it replaced.

mikedmc

Thank railbuff. Looking at Argos website I would be very surprised that if it hadn't mentioned it was only 1gb of RAM installed but my friend would have no idea what that meant but I feel the least she should expect is that the machine covers at least the minimum specs to run the software that the machine comes with yet this one doesn't cover the specs for the operating system never mind any software installed.

I will pass comments on and may help her write a letter or two and see if anything can be achieved. I will certainly post the outcome. Thank you.

railbuff

mikedmc wrote: »

Thank railbuff. Looking at Argos website I would be very surprised that if it hadn't mentioned it was only 1gb of RAM installed but my friend would have no idea what that meant but I feel the least she should expect is that the machine covers at least the minimum specs to run the software that the machine comes with yet this one doesn't cover the specs for the operating system never mind any software installed.

I will pass comments on and may help her write a letter or two and see if anything can be achieved. I will certainly post the outcome. Thank you.

most likely whats happened is that Argos had a load of the 1GB machines at distribution center witn Win 7 on which would be fine to a point, but when win 8 was release some numpty has received a bulk win 8 64 bit licence and just installed these on the machines to list as win 8 machines.

most shelve machines are just very basic with basic specs which serves OK for people without knowledge or kids for hoemwork. thats why i usually go somewhere like Dell and order one to suit my needs.

wealdroam

railbuff wrote: »

most likely whats happened is that Argos had a load of the 1GB machines at distribution center witn Win 7 on which would be fine to a point, but when win 8 was release some numpty has received a bulk win 8 64 bit licence and just installed these on the machines to list as win 8 machines.

Eh? I'm confused.

Where does Windows 8 fit into this discussion?

The OP has a windows 7 machine.

bod1467

I wondered the same.