Argos laptop wrong specs

RobRavenclaw

Hi folks.
So I ordered a laptop on the Argos website today. The specifications looked perfect for what I needed for so collected it a few hours later.
 
Howeverupon setup I noticed that the machine was running incredibly slowly. The CPU was constantly in the 90%'s and I had a fair few crashes which could only be resolved with a restart. 

The major error was in the actualachine specs. The website stated that the laptop came installed with an AMD Radeon R4 graphics card but inspecting the ACTUAL specs on the machine it only has a R3. 

Does that make me well within my right to ask for a refund or a swap?

Thanks in advance. Stay safe!

JamoLew

https://www.argos.co.uk/product/2256065?clickSR=slp:term:laptop:1:19:1 by any chance ? only one i can find that states R4 gfx.
Must say, the recent reviews are terrible - so if it has infact described incorrectly, you may be able to escape from that deal and be well shut of it

shaun_from_Africa

JamoLew said:

https://www.argos.co.uk/product/2256065?clickSR=slp:term:laptop:1:19:1 by any chance ? only one i can find that states R4 gfx.

If the laptop linked to by Jamo is the one in question then yes, the Argos advert is incorrect.
The model No is A315-22 and according to the Acer website:
https://www.acer.com/ac/en/GB/content/model/NX.HE8EK.001
it does have an R3 graphics card installed.

Model Name: Aspire 3 A315-22

AMD A - Series (A4 - 9120e, 1.50 GHz, 1 MB) - 39.6 cm (15.6") LED - 16:9 Full HD - LCD - ComfyView - AMD Radeon™ R3 Graphics - 4 GB DDR4 SDRAM - Serial ATA - No - Colour Black - Weight (Approximate) 1.94 kg - 

If this is the one, it would worth printing out a copy of the Acer page and take it with youinto a store.

DoaM

Your problem will be that Argos are not allowing returns at the moment (unless that's changed recently?), so you may not be able to enforce your rights until the stores reopen properly. (The Argos returns policy has been extended to 30 days after the stores reopen).

RobRavenclaw

DoaM said:

Your problem will be that Argos are not allowing returns at the moment (unless that's changed recently?), so you may not be able to enforce your rights until the stores reopen properly. (The Argos returns policy has been extended to 30 days after the stores reopen).

Supposedly according to their website you are able to return items to the Argos Sainsbury's stores, which is where I purchased it. 

"COVID-19: Can I still return an item?

To avoid any non-essential journeys, we have extended our returns policy for orders purchased from 1 March 2020. Once our standalone stores reopen, you will have 30 days to return your item in line with our returns policy. Click here for our latest returns information.

In the meantime, we are accepting returns at our Argos stores in Sainsbury's stores, which you can use when collecting essential shopping.

For further information on returning Tu clothing orders, please click here."

DoaM

Looks like their policy has changed recently, as previously they were not accepting any returns - even in the Argos outlets in Sainsbury's stores.

ptrichardson

I know its not what you're asking about, but the R3/4 graphics will have nothing at all to do with the CPU running in the 90% region

It's more than likely a bunch of bloatware that was pre-installed, that is all trying to update and configure itself in the background.  Possibly windows updates and disk indexing service too.

I personally recommend a clean install of Windows - using Microsoft's own Media Creation Tool - it makes a massive difference in my experience.
But again, I appreciate that isn't your point here - and I agree you should get the specs you ordered, or a refund.

EDIT:  The AMD A-Series are APUs - Combined CPU and GPU.  There is no graphics card in that machine.  Its also a very old line of chips, and a low level one at that - its very poor, basically.  That's another reason why its running slow as hell.
Also, 4Gb is half the bare minimum in 2020.  And at least 1Gb of that will be reserved for the GPU side, so it'll be running with 3. Ouch.
If you paid £300 for that, wow, its an awful deal.