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Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Kudos and Razzberries

Last Wednesday, I posted that my older HP desktop was being very uncooperative and the infamous BSoD or, worse yet, clicking off without advance notice (how inconsiderate). The post also included photos of the new HP desktop and printer ordered via quick ship  which is an HP term for “no customizations” such as more RAM, a larger HD, etc. Many quick ship choices cost $ less than those under Outlet.

The 2 “biggies” I crave are loads of memory so I will NOT add more and a large enough HD to keep me going for years. My old HP desktop had 2GB RAM and a 320 HD both of which worked well for the past many years. Anything above that would be heaven – the new PC has 6GB RAM and a 720GB hard drive – EUREKA !

HP offered free shipping (5-7 business day delivery) from TN. The F&P is is in VA and it came via Fed-EX in 3 days – ordered Tues; up and running by Sat. No problems clearing off unneeded programs – thankfully only a couple – and installing my own.
 
KUDOS to HP FOR fast service
New PC0610 (2) Here’s a side-by-side of old and new PCs.OLD PC0610 (3) The bamboo motif is really sharp (makes me want to redo the rest of the room…NOT).
Parts of the old PC will “live on” in the new one. We’re cannibalizing the DVD writer since the new PC has only get a single DVD unit. Remember when you used to get multiple drives?
Overdue Kudos also go to Canon – maker of cameras, printers and more. Several months ago, the display screen on Grenville’s Canon PowerShot A75showed electronic streak in playback mode. Since this is only a 4-megapixel (as in much older) digital camera, we considered listing  “as is” on ebay and then buy a new low-end model.  While web-surfing, I found a link stating that Canon had a recall on PowerShot units for a defective CCD sensor with a link to Canon USA support. The support site gave an 800 number, which I called to explain the problem. A support rep told me that Canon would email a prepaid UPS mailing label and on receipt just remove the memory card, batteries, camera strap, package securely and return to Canon. Within 2 weeks, the now-repaired camera was sent back – NO CHARGE.
Fast forward to a couple of weeks ago when MY Canon PowerShot A85 developed a similar problem. This time, I knew what to do and again called Canon support. Same procedure ensued and camera was returned -- FIXED. No fuss and now we had two digital cameras fixed and working again.
KUDOS to CANON FOR GREAT service
Finally, TRUCKLOADS of RAZZBERRIES go to Adobe Systems for not being gracious enough to offer existing customers a substantially lower cost solution when older versions of their top software –  Photoshop CS (Creative Suite) won’t work with current systems.
The CS version I own worked on the old PC with its 32-bit OS (operating system) but the new PC is a 64-bit OS. And, Adobe’s solution when I called support?  A 25% discount on software costing a couple hundred dollars. It’s just not good enough.
IF Microsoft can make some of their products downward compatible WHY couldn’t Adobe follow suit or at  least offer a compromise that (1) doesn’t cost several hundreds of $$ even with a discount, and (2) recognize that a satisfied customer IS a happy customer who WILL talk about the company’s response.  This is how brand loyalty starts and is maintained – HELLO, anyone home at Adobe?
Clearly, HP and Canon know about customer loyalty and do their best to foster it; sadly Adobe is (in my opinion) clueless and most likely doesn’t even care. And neither do I care about Adobe. Today I ordered photo editing software – PaintShop Photo™ ProX3 – that not only is much less costly than Adobe, but works on 32 and 64-bit OS.
 
MANY RAZZBERIES to ADOBE FOR NOTHING
lots of rasberries

9 comments:

Lois Evensen said...

Wow, well, it sounds like everything is in order once again. I feel the same way about Canon. I just love Canon. I've had Canon cameras since time began..., well, for a long time anyway. :) I'm looking forward to seeing lots of nifty pictures now that you have two cameras up and running well. :)

Beatrice P. Boyd said...

Sure felt good to get all that ranting and praises for HP and Canon out of my system, Lois. I called Adobe support twice on this issue after spending time on the internet. Some folks posted that they could get the older Adobe SW to work with tweaking. Adobe flat-out said there would be error messages popping up if I tried to install the program. That's frustration I don't need; hence the product switch. I am by no means an expert with Adobe SW - just scratch the surface so maybe learning something new will be "a good thing."
As for the photos, Grenville and I do nearly all the ones posted on our blog, except when we have to "borrow" online. I am working on another blog to just display my photography and will let you know when I have something to present.
Just wondering, when does your cruise takes you back home? I can imagine it will be hard to leave the Majesty.

Lois Evensen said...

Hi again!

I'm back to invite you to stop over to my blog today where I have left something for you. :))

Hugs,
Lois

Beatrice P. Boyd said...

Thanks, Lois will check it out.

Unknown said...

What an excellent post. I always love hearing these kudos and raspberries and definitely remember them when choosing products in the future. Thanks for passing on the tips! :o)

Unknown said...

Aha I finally was able to link in here. I am considering replacing our big home 'puter so enjoyed your experience. I have multiple drives on this one and so would hate to give that up....Now that I see your logo it clicked, of course Boyd's Bears--I have a few of those too! No raspberries in this part of the country yet...

Beatrice P. Boyd said...

Hi Krista and Pat glad you enjoyed the post. I was sort of in a "pissy" mood after getting off the phone with Adobe, but still don't regret anything written about the reply cause it's all unfortunately true. I know Adobe won't read (or care) about my rant. but it made me feel good to vent. The service from HP and Canon was definitely A-1 and HP is my personal choice for a desktop PC; Toshiba is my choice for notebook/netbook (got one of each).

Yes, Pat we DO like the Grenville and Beatrice Boyd's bears. No raspberries in our garden either. I borrowed the photo for purposes of illustration. Hope you revisit again!

Anvilcloud said...

You can only upgrade three cycles with Adobe. So ... from CS, you should be able to upgrade to CS4 but not CS5. Maybe they didn't tell you that? Sure CS5 is better, but so is CS4, which is what I have right now.

I am happy with my almost new HP, and I kind of like Canon stuff too; my camera, printer and scanner are all Canon products.

Beatrice P. Boyd said...

Thanks AC for your comments. Before calling Adobe, I checked the website and found out that updates would cost many $$. Also did online searches to find out if others did get the 32-bit SW to work on 64-bit OS. It was hit or miss - some were successful; others had a tough time with error messages. I didn't want to deal with the possibility of the SW "messing" up other programs so opted to go with something new (Corel). I wasn't using Photoshop CS to its fullest capacity so a change might be best. My notebook (32-bit) has the Adobe program installed should I still want to use it.

I like HP for desktop PCs and printers and ven when I've had problems, they have come through.