The Nibbana Family

In this day and age where electronics go out of style within minutes of purchase and “out with the old, in with the new” permeates our disposable lifestyle, trying to find quality products that last beyond the manufacturer’s warranty is getting tougher and tougher. Building low quality products results in higher profit margins for manufacturers. Using throw-away materials not only guarantees a repurchase of the same item (in a new model, with more features, at a higher price), but the cost savings also end up being pure profit or the manufacturer.

I have always believed by being a careful shopper, buying only reputable brands and thoroughly researching products before purchasing, I would be less susceptible to problems. Boy, was I wrong. Recently I have had a string of problems with electronics equipment. Ironically, these issues are common problems experienced by many other consumers with the same items. The manufacturer’s refuse to acknowledge these problems and pass the issues off as consumer misuse. The frequency of these complaints will tell you otherwise.

First, my Nikon D70s digital SLR camera mysteriously stopped working within 30 days of the expiration of the warranty. The issue, known as the “CHA error” plagues the entire line of DSLR’s from top to bottom and causes everything from problems with flash operation, memory card slot read/write issues, and complete camera failure. In all cases the letters “CHA” appear on the LCD screen. I sent my camera into Nikon repair along with a letter and received a free repair along with a new 6 month warranty for the issue. So what do you think happened? That’s right, within 30 days of the new warranty expiration it failed again. Luckily they repaired it again for free, but how many more times will this happen?

When it comes to laptops, you would think HP would be pretty reputable, right? Well, not exactly. My wife Kelsi has an HP zv6000 laptop. Over the course of a year the hinges that hold the LCD screen have been slowly cracking. A couple of days ago they gave way completely and now she has to physically hold the LCD screen open in order to use it. I thought this was ununusal considering she is very careful with it and has never dropped or abused it, so I began researching the issue. Well, what do you know, this seems to be widespread and has so many compliants that people have begun websites dedicated to the issue. Notebook Hinge Crack.com is one of the several I found. There also seems to be a class action lawsuit forming.

Lastly, how about owning a router that drops your Internet signal willy-nilly? I have a Linksys eight port BEFSR81 v3.1 connected to a Linksys cable modem. Originally I had version 1.0 of this router for almost five years without any problems, but one day after a thunder storm it gave up the ghost. Thinking I couldn’t go wrong with Linksys, I bought the latest version. That’s when the problems began. Mysteriously and without reason, the new router would work fine and then suddenly drop the signal. I replaced the router with another one and the problem continued. I have updated the firmware, adjusted the MTU, cloned the MAC, and tried all of the other options the legions of other people having the same problem have suggested. Nothing has worked. So what to do? I have to unplug the power from the router every time it happens and wait a couple of seconds before plugging it back in. This can be as many as 5-6 times a day.

So what’s the point? The point is that it’s frustrating manufacturer’s have become so enamored with churning out new products in record time that quality has taken the backseat to quantity. Even more frustrating is that manufacturer’s refuse to acknowledge these widespread issues and do the right thing and offer a fix or replacement. They figure consumers will ultimately discard their problem electronics and buy the latest and greatest. Well, I just might, but one thing is for sure: my next camera will not be a Nikon, my next laptop will not be HP, and my next router will not be Linksys.