Dell offered a 2-year extended warranty after I sent in a email complaining about the problem with the XPS M1330 and I had accepted. The initial offer was a one-to-one exchange for the notebook or a 1-year extended warranty. I am still waiting for the confirmation and further details from Dell.

While politicians from both sides of the political divide are going for each other’s jugular, the rakyat are suffering silently and at the same time desperately trying to make ends meet as price of essential items keep soaring. It makes one wonder whether these politicians have the interests and welfare of the people in mind. Gajah sama gajah berjuang, pelanduk mati di tengah-tengah (Malay proverb: While the elephants battle it out, the mousedeer is killed in between). What has become of Malaysia today?

The engineer came as arranged to replace the motherboard. I did not know disassembling a notebook can be so easy. And I also did not know that Dell replaces faulty parts under warranty with refurbished ones. I am not happy with this. I paid for a new laptop but barely four days later I get a refurbished replacement for a faulty part.

That aside, Dell’s service is excellent. They also have a Total Satisfaction Policy where purchasers may return the merchandise within 14 days from the date of invoice for replacement or a refund or credit of the product purchase price. I have not decided if I want to keep this notebook especially when a major hardware problem have cropped up so early after purchase. This episode has shaken my confidence in Dell’s products.

Yes! I am still alive! The slate of unsavoury news on my health of late has neither affected me emotionally nor physically. The lack of update is because I have been busy the whole of last week. Wuan and I were back in Penang to pack up some of my personal belongings prior to putting up the apartment for sale. We were in Ipoh too for a bit of pigging out.

The old notebook which is an Acer Travelmate 2403NWXCi has been with me for two and a half years already. It has gone with me to Tokyo right smack in the middle of winter for two weeks. Thereafter, it went with me to Bangkok for three weeks. We were in Seoul for one week last autumn. It has served me well without a glitch. The only disadvantage about this faithful notebook is its weight. It is a tad bigger too to be carried around.

I ordered the Dell XPS M1330 the Friday before I left for Penang. It was delivered last Friday. I was looking through some photos just now when it suddenly shut down without any warning. It could not be booted up after that. Frankly speaking, I am disappointed with Dell. Four days of use only and it has already given me a major problem. The engineer will come tomorrow. In the meantime, I have to use my old trusty notebook for a little longer.

Serum creatinine result from blood taken on June 2 showed it hit 299umol/L. This is the highest level yet. It has never gone above 288umol/L before this. The threshold is 400umol/L after which I have to undergo dialysis regularly for the rest of my life. I hope this is just an abnormal spike. Or could it be the effect of the urinary tract infection that knocked me out in May?