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Posted: Wed May 26, 2004 8:53 pm Post subject: Faulty Medion Power Adaptor or GPS Mouse ?
I've been using my Aldi-bought GPS system, pottering about around and between home (Wakefield) and work (Leeds) happily for a week or so, looking forward to a trip on Friday to Liverpool (to collect my son from university there) as my first real test of the device, but when I connected everything together in the car this morning, I didn't get the usual green 'GPS6' - I got a steadfast red 'GPS!' !!
Looking at the LED on the power adaptor, I saw an almost steadily-lit LED, rather than it flashing about once a second. Unplugging the adaptor, then plugging it in again made no difference, and I checked the socket was OK by plugging in and heating up the cigarette lighter.
The PDA itself is working and being charged, so the problem is probably the supply for the GPS mouse.
So off to Aldi I go (just across the roundabout from work, luckily !)
The manager was sympathetic, and remembered me from when I bought it from him.
No - he didn't have any new units left - but he had a returned unit from the previous promotion.
So he lent me the power adaptor from that - no joy !
So he lent me the GPS mouse from it - still no joy !
So I tried all combinations of mine and his power adaptor and GPS mouse - still no joy !!
Did I want a refund ? - Not in your nellie ! - I want a working GPS !!!
So I ring the Medion helpline - get answered within a few minutes and speak to a guy who got the gist of the problem, i.e. either my power adaptor or my GPS mouse went faulty and caused the other one of the pair to go faulty; so I then connected what was probably a good power supply to my faulty GPS mouse, which caused that power supply to go faulty; then I connected what was probably a good GPS mouse to the faulty power supply - so *it* went faulty - so nothing will now work with anything else !!
So he suggests I send both the power adaptor and GPS mouse back to them for replacement.
'Can't you send them to me first, after I've given you my credit card details, and you debit me if I don't return the faulty items within (say) a week ?'
'Sorry sir, we can't do that - it's only recently that we started just asking for the suspect parts of the kit to be sent back to us, rather than the whole package as bought !'
So I suppose I ought to be grateful for that !
I asked about them refunding the costs for me returning the items to them. They said they'd do that, without any argument at all !!
So I'm wrapping them in bubble wrap and putting them in a sturdy box to take to the Post Office tomorrow.
According to the Medion website, an extra GPS mouse is £90, so I'll probably get cover for £150 (especially since they're paying !)
Anyone else had this type of problem, or had to return things for exchange ?
Posted: Fri May 28, 2004 10:24 pm Post subject: No more progress yet !
It's now 10 hours since the Guaranteed Delivery Time and the Post Office Tracker still shows 'Your item with reference ....... is currently progressing through our network.'
So I've sent an Email to the Post Office asking what's happened to my package.
Eagerly awaiting their response ! _________________ Getting older and more senile by the minute !
Posted: Sat May 29, 2004 4:25 pm Post subject: No more progress yet !!
It's now over 28 hours since the Guaranteed Delivery Time and the Post Office Tracker still shows 'Your item with reference ....... is currently progressing through our network.'
I've had an automated response from my Email, twittering on about problems following the amalgamation of 1st and 2nd class post.
(You'd have thought they might have anticipated these sort of problems before they did it, and geared up to suit !)
Anyway, I've paid for Special Delivery - so 1st and 2nd class post doesn't come into it !!
The Email also says they hope to respond fully within 3 working days. So with the weekend and Bank Holiday, it'll probably be the end of next week before I might get a response.
So I rang the Tracking helpline, which suggested I tried the website (duh!).
Anyhow, a quite sophisticated voice recognition system correctly heard my Tracking Number and told me exactly the same as I'd read on the website !!
It also said that problems with amalgamation (etc) might mean that they may have delivered the package - but missed the guaranteed delivery time, or they may have actually made the delivery before the guaranteed time - but not yet updated the Tracking details, or (presumably, since it didn't actually mention the possibility) they hadn't actually made the delivery yet !!
So I then decide to speak to an operative, but then the 'voice' tells me that the operative won't be able to give me any more details additional to what I've just been told !!
Absolutely Marvellous !!!
So I don't know whether the package has been delivered or not, and I can't find out until they deign to update the details on the Tracking page !!
When does a story turn into a saga ? I'll let you know ! _________________ Getting older and more senile by the minute !
I had the same thing happen to my mdppc250 (£399.99) from halfords, the green led on charger not coming on, but the charging light on pda flashing ok, took it back to halfords as i had only had it 23 days and used it 5 times, found that the wires in the charger must be loose, when you wiggle the wiring coming out of charger it starts working for a bit then stops, the assistant manager said they would replace the whole lot for a new one, that was after trying to fob me off with the medion helpline, but i had other ideas, i quoted from their website "If an item develops a fault within 28 days you will be entitled to a refund or replacement" and as aldi were selling it for £269.99 and halfords would not price match i demanded my money back and got it , they then tryed to demonstrate another system they had to me, no thankyou,later. just bought the hp 2210+tom tom 3+car kit from dixons for £299.00 ( special six day sale), but if you can still find a dixons or pc world that has it, get there quick.
Thanks for the info Mark, but the Dixon's website shows them as 'temporarily out of stock' and I don't really want to ring branches, then race off to see if they're still there by the time I get there !
I know the HP has a faster processor (400MHz as opposed to 266MHz) - but that probably means a shorter battery life before re-charging, although the TomTom 3 which I've installed for test purposes probably could do with the extra speed (although I don't actually like the look of it, and the map database does appear to be as bad as stated on the other forums, so I'll almost certainly be uninstalling it !); and it's got Bluetooth - but I haven't anything else Bluetooth, so I don't really care (!); and it's £30 more; and I'd have to redo my custom mounting bracket arrangement, etc.
I'll just have to wait and see what happens. _________________ Getting older and more senile by the minute !
I have only been playing around with pda so far and it feels, looks better quality than the medion, it was worth ringing around though, and i found it in one of the smaller shops, as i had only used the medion 5 times and have not installed tt3 software yet i cant make a comparison, did you not use the "universal" car mounting kit that was supplied :D , i ditched that and made my own, had to drill two mounting holes in storage shelf under radio though, in my brand new car , luckily it only costs under £20 for new shelf and pulls out by hand, so i can swap it when i get another new car next year
Posted: Sun May 30, 2004 12:12 am Post subject: Re: Custom Mounting Bracket
No - I haven't use the supplied suction bracket, Mark.
In my car, the dashboard surface has a 'crackle' effect to it, which stops the sucker from working on it, and the windscreen is sharply raked, so the bracket isn't long enough to attach to the windscreen and be at a sensible distance for viewing.
What I did was to ring up the guy that my company had asked to fit a 'phone hands-free kit in my car, when they became mandatory, to see if he had any suitable 'bits' for sale.
It turned out he lives quite close to me, so I paid him a visit.
He offered me 2 different kinds of screw-mounting brackets - and a load of very helpful advice about the best way to fit the unit; where to run the cables and where to pick up a permanently live feed for an inline 'cigar' socket (99p from Maplin Electronics !), so the power adaptor doesn't have to plug into the dashboard cigar lighter socket; and how to disassemble the appropriate bits of the dashboard to get the cables hidden, etc.
And he wouldn't accept any money, at all !!
He explained that the installation kits he gets have quite a few alternative fixing arrangements, but he only uses the most appropriate for the particular car he's doing - so he has loads of 'bits' left over !
I've actually ended up drilling 1 hole in a small (about 1 inch square) blanking plate (but it's quite a firm friction fit in its 'socket') on the dashboard, to mount one of the brackets he gave me, which then has the PDA holder attached to it
The PDA is then mounted just to the left of the steering wheel and at about the 8 o'clock position, and angled directly towards me.
If I ever do sell this car, I doubt whether even Vauxhall can manage to charge more than £2 or £3 for a replacement blanking plate of this size !
I also got from Maplin a folding speaker system (meant for a laptop), which plugs into the headphone socket and gives the voice instructions a far better sound quality.
All the cables are (were !) hidden from view, apart from about 3 inches of 'mouse' cable on the dashboard, near the windscreen, and about 6 inches of cable to the PDA, which tucks into the storage area below the radio when it's not plugged into the PDA.
It's as neat an installation as any I've seen in the Readers Mounts area on this site !
And I've got all the cable threading to do again, when I get the replacement bits back !! _________________ Getting older and more senile by the minute !
You won't find any phone numbers for Aldi branches listed anywhere, so unless the branch you go to has any units left for exchange (which is very doubtful, considering the offer was over 2 weeks ago), it's either a refund - or ring the Medion helpline.
The £299.95 Mitac in the link doesn't appear to include any navigation software - so you'll need to buy that seperately - or go for the bundle at £374.95 incl. VAT) which includes TomTom Navigator 3.
But checkout the appropriate forum on here to see what current users think of this latest version !!
As regards your 'pS the Medion is + 400mhz' :-
The previous version from Aldi was 400MHz (and had an Intel processor)- but the latest one is definitely 266MHz (and a Samsung ARM processor) which is therefore less power-hungry, giving a longer battery life before recharging is needed. _________________ Getting older and more senile by the minute !
I emailed the company re- included navigation software waiting for a reply - would the Aldi software work with it I wonder (we purchased two units - so we'd still have a copy of the software if I returned this one)
I'm loath to try the other ariel/receiver in case it's the power adapter that blew the first one - which is still working OK in the Van.
I'm playing in Fleetwood tomorrow so will pop in to the Aldi store I bought it from.
And have a snoop around the site for current users - the hand held side of it might come in handy (no pun intended).
Joined: 17/05/2003 02:26:21 Posts: 3747 Location: Bedfordshire, UK
Posted: Mon May 31, 2004 6:56 pm Post subject:
I have heard it said that the Medion Pocket PC used in the latest Aldi bundle is pretty much the same hardware as an iPAQ 1940 - except it has no Bluetooth and does have a hardware serial port.
As I haven't seen either unit, I can't be sure whether this is the case or not.
Posted: Tue Jun 01, 2004 9:03 pm Post subject: Progress - and about time too !
Well, I've now had it confirmed that my parcel was delivered to Medion at 11:23 this morning.
Well, that's not actually correct !
That's the time the postman, who had my parcel to deliver, got back to the depot after all his deliveries.
So I asked the Post Office helpline operative why the postman wasn't instructed to note the time that the parcel was actually delivered, since that's what matters in determining if they made the deadline I've paid for.
No sensible response !
So I tell them that the delivery is actually 4 days late, and ask them what happens about my compensation for them failing to deliver on time.
I'm told I have to fill in form 58B (or something like that) and send it to them to make a claim.
I ask why they can't take the details over the phone now.
So after a delay while advice is sought, I'm asked various details, most of which you'd have thought they would have got from the part of the Certificate of Posting that they keep.
But that doesn't actually get entered into the computer ! - Just the Reference Number !! -- Unbelievable !!!
So I give the required details and then ask about the extra £5 compensation (above the refund of the actual cost I've paid for the delivery), since the delivery was more than 24 hours later than the target.
(All these details are posted on the Post Office website, but I don't think they'd have told me themselves about this extra compensation).
I was told I'd have to send the Certificate of Posting to them, for them to pay the extra amount.
I ask why I have to do that, since all the details of the date, time and location of posting must surely be in their computer ?
No response !
'A photocopy, or the original ?'
'The original !'
'So what if the original gets lost in the post ? I assume I won't get my compensation ?'
'Well, hopefully, it won't get lost in the post; but, if it did, you wouldn't get your compensation.'
'OK then, how about you send me a post-paid Recorded Delivery envelope for me to send you my Certificate of Posting to make the claim ?'
'Yes, I'll do that for you, sir'
I then asked for the operative's name (which I got) for future reference.
I think this might all be in vain though, as, when I rang earlier in the day to ask why the Track and Trace website still showed my parcel as 'progressing through our network', I was told they'd attempted delivery on Friday and Saturday, but couldn't tell me why delivery had failed.
If they attempt delivery before the Guaranteed Delivery Time, they don't have to pay any compensation.
You'd have thought the person I spoke to, to make the claim, would have worked this out !
So I'm waiting for this envelope from the Post Office, to make the claim; and waiting for Medion to send me replacement parts.
Hopefully, the parts will arrive and I can get the system working again before I set off for the wilds of Scotland (a business trip) next Tueday !
I'm actually quite curious as to why the delivery on Friday failed, but I'll wait until Medion have got my replacement parts to me, before I start interrogating them !!! _________________ Getting older and more senile by the minute !
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, they then tryed to demonstrate another system they had to me, no thankyou,later. just bought the hp 2210+tom tom 3+car kit from dixons for £299.00 ( special six day sale), but if you can still find a dixons or pc world that has it, get there quick.
, luckily it only costs under £20 for new shelf and pulls out by hand, so i can swap it when i get another new car next year 
my aldi/Medion 250 has now gone down - on the day I was doing a 400 mile round trip!!
