A couple days ago, I reported having a problem with my V-Tech IP8100 broadband phone which wasn’t manufactured by Vonage, but nonetheless supported by them. And support they did!
Earlier this Thursday afternoon, I received a DHL package (and thanks to them too for delivering through!) containing a replacement AC adaptor. I plugged it in, and the phone is working again.
The Vonage reps told me the adaptor would arrive at latest by Friday, but it’s here on time, and I’m following up as I promised. I took their customer satisfaction survey too, and pointed them to this blog — the least I could do for such a pleasant experience after a frustrating part of the afternoon.
All too often, people speak up when they initially have a problem, but don’t talk about the followup. I’ve made sure the rest of this story gets told.
P.S. On an unobvious connection, my attention’s been called to various video tutorials — like this and that — teaching how to boost the mic volume on Realtek sound cards. It’s the same thing covered by one of the most popular posts on my blog. There’s something to be said about helping people so they can help others, and it makes me feel awesome, every time.
V-Tech’s IP8100 broadband phone has multiple reported issues where the power adapter craps out: specifically after some months, you may suddenly find that the indicator lights (on both the front and for the Ethernet connections on the back) stop working. The paging button works to ring the handset, but for practical intents and purposes, it’s broken. Here are some examples from various forums:
As you can see, the similarities are striking — if you’ve experienced this, you’re not alone. My wife and I noticed this today. I spent more time than I cared to trying to figure out what was going wrong.
I eventually called Vonage (via Skype) and they were very helpful, saying that (1) it was no problem to send a replacement AC adapter out via 2-day shipping and (2) most people blame the unit instead of being more specific, so they appreciated that on my part. While I’m not absolutely sure that the problem is confined to the adapter, we’ll find out in a couple days or so.
Bummed by the disruption of service, but understanding tech failures do happen — I wonder how common this is, and who’s having/had the issue who hasn’t shared their experiences? Thanks to the above reports, I was able to make more sense of the situation.
Earlier this week, one of my "trusty" twin Samsung 204Bs crapped out and died. No more image when I tried to turn it on. 
I feel sentimental towards my tools, especially if I've accomplished a lot on them, and that monitor was with me as I valiantly reported bugs, made numerous blog posts, generally surfed the web, and text-chatted with my to-be beloved. *sigh*
The lone 204B continues to chug on and I haven't decided yet whether I'll go through Samsung's repair offerings, but on Halloween, a shiny new Dell E248WFP arrived…
and I already like this newly-introduced model more than the 204B:
- 1920×1200 resolution, which means it's got 384,000 more pixels than the 204B.
- The screen is noticeably more bright and vivid than the 204B, with whites and blacks being truer and deeper. I have Brightness = 75% and it's still plenty bright. The more I look at it, actually, the more I like it than the 204B, which doesn't seem so great in comparison; but at the time, it's what suited my needs.
- I didn't have to install drivers, and while I haven't gotten much into the on-panel menu yet, it looks pretty self-sufficient.
- It feels pretty light compared to the 204B, even tho since it's bigger. This may be in part because the 204B has a relatively heavy stand (which, I should add, feels flimsy because of the pin in the back and spring in the neck, both of which get easily lost).
- It was a bargain when I bought it at US$469.
"Next-day shipping" was worth the extra US$24, and I used it to make yesterday's Second Life Tip of the Week. RIGHT IN THE NICK OF TIME. However, the E248WP actually arrived 2 days after I placed an order Monday morning.
Here's what I don't like so far:
- The stand isn't height-adjustable, which isn't a big problem on my desk, but may be for some. It is tiltable, however. But it can't pivot either, if that's important to you.
- It's pretty bare-bones and doesn't come with the integrated USB ports or extra inputs found on more pricy Dell models.
Compared to the 2407WPC-HC @ $689.00, if you don't need those bells & whistles, this may be a bargain.
Second Life looks really beautiful on the E248WP — so saith the WindLight tease:
and you may've noticed that the snapshots on my recent Flickr photostream also reflects the resolution upgrade. Be sure to click-through and select "All Sizes", then "Original". Like so.
It's still too early to tell how I'll feel in the long run about my newfound eyes into the metaverse, the Dell E248WFP, but… here's to continuing adventures!
*submits a review to the Dell site too*