Sharp UM32W Powers down

[Justin R. Pessa]

Hello everyone,

A while ago I had posted an email about my Sharp laptop powering off
randomly for what seemed to be no particular reason. This email is a
follow up to that incident for the archives so everyone knows what is
really going on...

I had the unit sent back twice for 2 problems. The first problem was
that the video driver was crapping out and defaulting back to 640x480 in
Windows XP randomly. This problem was not reproducable and was very
intermitten. 

The second problem was that the system would shut off by itself. It
first seemed like a heat issue as the unit would be very hot when this
would happen. I then decided to leave the system on sitting idle and see
what happened. The problem repeated itself with Windows XP, Slackware
Linux, FreeBSD, and Gentoo Linux. 

I called Sharp and demanded they fix this problem. The laptop was out of
warranty at the time by one month. Disgusted by such serious issues with
such a young laptop I put up a big fuss. Finally the took back the
laptop for repair.

When I got it back they told me the mainboard was replaced. Mmm Hmm I
thought... doubtful. Shortly thereafter (less than 24 hours) the problem
CONTINUED!

So since they took it back once when it was out of warranty I figured
I'd try my chances with them taking it back a second time out of
warranty. They indeed took it back although this time the helpful young
man on the phone informed me that it sounded like a known problem some
of the UM32W laptops have been having with the videocard causing a short
and the unit powering off. 

Off went my laptop for a second time and when I got it back it was good
as new. I have not had a single problem with it for at least 7 months
now. 

The bottom line is that there seems to be a known but not acknowledged
problem with some of the video cards in the UM32W laptops. This email is
not intended to stir any controversy but merely to let the community
aware of this problem and to post my findings for others to be aware of.

If there are any questions further please feel free to contact me!

- j 
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