Don't buy Acer Laptops!

[ZackCodesAI]

I own a Predator Helios 300 (G3-572). I had a broken key on the laptop and wanted to fix it. I found out that the only official way to fix it is to replace the whole palm rest with the keyboard. 
I saved for 1yr to replace that as I'm a Computer Science Student and I often carry my laptop around for programming and other works and carrying an external keyboard along is not possible.

While replacing the keyboard, I noticed a giant black spot near the GPU on the underside of the MoBo. Most probably a blown capacitor busting the power line to the GPU. When I talked to my local Acer Care, they said I'll have to buy a new motherboard costing me around 650$ (or 50,000 INR), which is almost the price I paid for the whole laptop (Got it in a big sale ~50% off) since it is out of warranty by now. I tried to tweet about it to Acer, they never replied to me after taking the Product ID.
 

Now, I have random BSODs and crashes all the time. If I try to play any games, I get peak frame times of 400-500ms every 10-15 secs. I am also trying to learn Machine Learning and GPU acceleration is out of the question for me as it always crashes.
 

I barely have 20$ with me and I have no income source. I don't know what to do about the situation as most probably, I won't be able to buy a new machine either for a couple of years at least. 
 

I'm just posting this in case someone knows someone in Acer or works there can help me find a way to get it fixed, as cap blowing is a manufacturing/ design flaw.

The laptop still works fine, it's just that BSODs and crashes made me lose a lot of work and I'm no longer able to play any games which I like, except Among us.
 

P.S. - The laptop has another built quality issue, where the screw bolts on the backplate of LCD broke of internally and in-turn made the hinge to break as well. Currently, I cannot even open/ close my laptop and have to keep it still on a laptop stand.

Also, sorry for bad English, not a native speaker.
 

DON'T BUY ACER!

[Moonzy]

2 minutes ago, ZackCodesAI said:

DON'T BUY ACER!

I have an on-going case with them for my monitor (XF250Q) since July

I can confirm their built quality is crap, and their support is crap (lack the most basic technical knowledge)

 

Suffice to say, I won't be buying anything Acer again, and actively advice anyone around me not to do the same.

[WereCatf]

13 minutes ago, ZackCodesAI said:

While replacing the keyboard, I noticed a giant black spot near the GPU on the underside of the MoBo. Most probably a blown capacitor busting the power line to the GPU. When I talked to my local Acer Care, they said I'll have to buy a new motherboard costing me around 650$ (or 50,000 INR), which is almost the price I paid for the whole laptop (Got it in a big sale ~50% off) since it is out of warranty by now. I tried to tweet about it to Acer, they never replied to me after taking the Product ID

If you could find out the value of the capacitor, you could attempt to take the mobo to some local repair-shop and ask them, if they'd care to attempt to clean the area up and see if the solder-pads are still good for putting a replacement-capacitor in. That'd definitely be cheaper than replacing the entire mobo.

[ZackCodesAI]

5 minutes ago, WereCatf said:

If you could find out the value of the capacitor, you could attempt to take the mobo to some local repair-shop and ask them, if they'd care to attempt to clean the area up and see if the solder-pads are still good for putting a replacement-capacitor in. That'd definitely be cheaper than replacing the entire mobo.

I really wish I had someone like Louis Rossman near me. But the only place I can find a reliable person is 2000km away from me, in Bangalore.

India lacks such repair services in general. 

[WereCatf]

2 minutes ago, ZackCodesAI said:

India lacks such repair services in general. 

Most places do, nowadays. They were much more popular two decades ago. Anyways, sorry to hear that.

[genexis_x]

3 hours ago, ZackCodesAI said:

as cap blowing is a manufacturing/ design flaw

how you know?

3 hours ago, ZackCodesAI said:

DON'T BUY ACER!

every brand has bad models...

 

lemon units do exist - your best bet is to either find shops for repair, or buy a new one

[igormp]

4 hours ago, ZackCodesAI said:

I really wish I had someone like Louis Rossman near me. But the only place I can find a reliable person is 2000km away from me, in Bangalore.

India lacks such repair services in general. 

Don't you have any phone repair shop nearby? Those usually can handle such stuff.

 

Another option would be for you to solder it back yourself.

[TehDwonz]

7 hours ago, Moonzy said:

I have an on-going case with them for my monitor (XF250Q) since July

I can confirm their built quality is crap, and their support is crap (lack the most basic technical knowledge)

 

Suffice to say, I won't be buying anything Acer again, and actively advice anyone around me not to do the same.

You'll find just as many such stories about other brands. You both got lemons is all.

[Moonzy]

44 minutes ago, TehDwonz said:

You'll find just as many such stories about other brands. You both got lemons is all.

lemons are to be expected

but the customer service after that is what differs from a good experience from a bad one

 

also, ive had few acer products, and none of them didnt have any hardware issues