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ebuyer (not ebay) :: Ubuntu laptop is not as advertised
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Paulnewmilton
Posts: 7 Forumite
in Techie Stuff
Hello,
Ordered a laptop from ebuyer (not ebay). The confirmation e-mail from ebuyer (not ebay) describes the item:
HP 455 Probook Laptop AMD A10- 7300 8GB RAM 1TB HDD 15.6" DVDRW Ubuntu 14.04 - Qty: 1
but the laptop I received has: 7GB RAM and Ubuntu 12.04
Put simply, the laptop is missing a gigabyte of memory and the software (Ubuntu) is two years older than the software advertised.
12 = software release year
.04 = software release month
and after personally investigating, I discovered that the laptop is not compatible with 14.04, the software that it is advertised as being pre-installed with.
and the missing megabyte of memory I've paid for is not going to magically materialise.
I've created an RMA and made the telephone call. "Ryan" at ebuyer (not ebay) told me I would receive an e-mail by "the end of the day" with an update but guess what, I have not received an update e-mail from them.
My question:
What can I do? They have not delivered what I have paid for. How can I force them to give me a refund?
Thanks in advance for any advice
Best regards
Ordered a laptop from ebuyer (not ebay). The confirmation e-mail from ebuyer (not ebay) describes the item:
HP 455 Probook Laptop AMD A10- 7300 8GB RAM 1TB HDD 15.6" DVDRW Ubuntu 14.04 - Qty: 1
but the laptop I received has: 7GB RAM and Ubuntu 12.04
Put simply, the laptop is missing a gigabyte of memory and the software (Ubuntu) is two years older than the software advertised.
12 = software release year
.04 = software release month
and after personally investigating, I discovered that the laptop is not compatible with 14.04, the software that it is advertised as being pre-installed with.
and the missing megabyte of memory I've paid for is not going to magically materialise.
I've created an RMA and made the telephone call. "Ryan" at ebuyer (not ebay) told me I would receive an e-mail by "the end of the day" with an update but guess what, I have not received an update e-mail from them.
My question:
What can I do? They have not delivered what I have paid for. How can I force them to give me a refund?
Thanks in advance for any advice
Best regards
0
Comments
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How did you check the amount of RAM? That is a really unusual amount.0
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Ubuntu 15.04 is compatible with it , so I would imagine 14.04 will be , where did you get the 7GB figure from, and their site is advertising it as Ubuntu 12.04 pre-installed0
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Hi
My guess is...
You have either 2 x 4 gig ram sticks or 1 x 8 gig. A physical check should be done.
Perhaps some of the 8 gig is given over to graphics or something internally on the motherboard.
As to the software, I sympathise, Ubuntu is an aquired taste and even doing... (http://www.ubuntu.com/download/desktop/upgrade)
apt-get update
apt-get upgrade
apt-get dist-upgrade
https://help.ubuntu.com/12.04/serverguide/apt-get.html
still leaves an ugly stain, sorry that's just the desktop background.This is a system account and does not represent a real person. To contact the Forum Team email forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com0 -
Ubuntu 15.04 is compatible with it , so I would imagine 14.04 will be , where did you get the 7GB figure from, and their site is advertising it as Ubuntu 12.04 pre-installed
memory information can be retrieved from:
system settings > details :: 6.7 GiB
or command prompt: cat /proc/meminfo :: 7022716 kb
there are calculators on the web for converting those figures to different RAM calculations but you will never get to 8.
they have rounded up to an even number (8) but inaccurately.
I have a screenshot but I can't post a link in here.
they are not/were not advertising it as 12.04 as my confirmation-order e-mail shows:
The items listed below will arrive in one delivery:
Item: HP 455 Probook Laptop AMD A10- 7300 8GB RAM 1TB HDD 15.6" DVDRW Ubuntu 14.04 - Qty: 1
they have changed their web page since after I complained yesterday !! well spotted.
ubuntu compatibility
The laptop has shipped with an HP-factory-specific version of 12.04 LTS (long term support) so wireless, bluetooth, etc work.
Forcing the laptop to upgrade to 14.04 from the pre-install 12.04 fails with a: "kenel panic"
also the wireless hardware is not compatible with 14.04 64bit but is with 14.04 32bit but running a 32bit OS on 64bit architecture will cause other problems, not least a 4 gigabyte memory space cap.
15.04 64bit will install but various hardware on the laptop fail, such as the wireless hardware.
It is good that they have changed the page to more accurately describe the product but I need 14.04 LTS for software compatibility with a project I am working on, specifically for software versions shipped with 14.04.0 -
Hi
My guess is...
You have either 2 x 4 gig ram sticks or 1 x 8 gig. A physical check should be done.
Perhaps some of the 8 gig is given over to graphics or something internally on the motherboard.
apt-get update
apt-get upgrade
apt-get dist-upgrade
still leaves an ugly stain, sorry that's just the desktop background.
I reckon you are right about the integrated graphics memory. That is probably why I am not seeing the full amount.
Thank you.
compatibility
It's not possible to upgrade on the laptop in question, from 12.04 to 14.04 because the 12.04 shipped with the laptop is an HP-factory-built version and their software is not maintained or available from canonical repositories or publicly available repositories. I am guessing this is why the upgrade fails with a kernel panic
I also now believe that ebuyer made an honest mistake by advertising the laptop orginally with 14.04, probably due to a mis-communication between their inventory buyers and HP.
But that doesn't change the fact; I need my funds back so I can buy some hardware I can use for the project I am working on.
Best regards0 -
by the way, although they have changed the top part of the web page so it no longer says: ubuntu 14.04 but now 12.04, if you search their "HP 455 Probook Laptop A10-7300" for: 14.04
you will see they missed one.0 -
It appearsCanonical and Ebuyer team up to bring Ubuntu-powered laptops to the UK
HP 255, 355 and 455 will go on sale at the end of the month starting at £200
By Chris Merriman
Tue May 05 2015, 14:520 -
Paulnewmilton wrote: »My question:
What can I do? They have not delivered what I have paid for. How can I force them to give me a refund?
You bought from a legitimate UK business, and are therefore covered under the Distance Selling Regulations. While they might not have responded quite as quickly as you wanted, I'm sure they have an RMA process that will take the device back and refund your money. I have dealt with eBuyer some time back, but I honestly can't remember whether that involved sending anything back for refund, but Distance Selling means you can send it back just because you don't like it, never mind in this case where it's inaccurately-described.0 -
So: - you've got 8GB of RAM, and the integrated graphics is using roughly 1GB of it. This is normal enough, and there's nothing wrong with advertising 8GB RAM. You can probably go into the BIOS and let the graphics use LESS RAM, leaving more for the computer. Unless you're gaming, try 128MB.
Ubuntu - you got it with an older version than advertised, and you're having problems upgrading. Since Ubuntu is free, you haven't really lost out materially. You've now got the hassle of returning a laptop, or simply making a fresh install of the latest Ubuntu on your computer. I'd be doing the latter.0
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