Watchdog Technology, Computer Watchdog, PC Watchdog | Maximum PC - All of the Best Software and Hardware Reviews

Posted 07/21/08 at 05:29:45 PM by The Maximum PC Staff

The Watchdog This one is a little complicated, but here’s what happened: My girlfriend bought an AMD All-in-Wonder 7500 AGP card from Provantage.com for her father, but it arrived without a remote. He thought the description on the website indicated a remote would come with it, so he asked me to take a look at the website. I thought the product description was ambiguous, so I pinged Provantage about the remote and whether it was OEM or retail packaged.

To make a long story short, a customer service rep told me it did come with a remote and that it was retail boxed. The package my girlfriend’s father received was OEM and came with a driver disc and card—no remote. My girlfriend’s father didn’t want to bother with trying to fight for a return or the remote, so I left it at that. But I think it’s wrong for a company to tell you a product comes with something and then not include it. Provantage.com is definitely not a company I would recommend to anyone who works hard for his or her money.

—Zachary Cothran

What's up, Provantage? Find out after the jump.

Comments: 2
TAGS: ati, Watchdog, OEM, All-In-Wonder, agp, provantage

WatchdogHow Can You Measure, Measure a Year?

Posted 07/21/08 at 04:29:49 PM by The Maximum PC Staff

The Watchdog I was a victim of the Symantec triple-license AV software whose timer started ticking with the first installation (March 2008). I called Symantec’s customer service number and complained, and the company fixed it for me by resetting the timer to start with the third installation. This rectified the situation to my satisfaction, and I learned a lesson.

Fast forward a year to a similar three-pack from Computer Associates. Being careful, I installed all three licenses on the same day to make sure there wouldn’t be any issues with the expiration date. As soon as the software ran an update cycle with the home server, it took three weeks off my license! I called CA and the company fixed the problem. The culprit? It seems the clock started ticking when I bought the package (or so I was told). But how did they know when I bought it?

Customer service didn’t say, but I bet it’s from the rebate form I sent in after buying the software. I had purchased the software locally prior to the expiration date of the current antivirus software on the systems I was using and waited a few weeks until the current licenses expired before installing the new copy—a perfectly reasonable thing to do.

This strikes me as an extremely deceptive practice. I wonder if anyone else has been bitten by this?

—Louis Lung

Answers for Louis (and the rest of us) after the jump.

Comments: 1
TAGS: Watchdog, license, customer service, symantec

WatchdogHard Drives and Taxes

Posted 07/21/08 at 02:34:29 PM by The Maximum PC Staff

The Watchdog In your May 2008 issue, you made warm comments about HD Inspector from AltrixSoft. However, the trial version is not really fully featured, as you said, since you can check only the primary drive. All other drives are blocked. Also, these guys charge sales tax on downloaded software. No physical product is delivered, and there’s no way to complain about this. The real issue is the sales tax. This amounts to a 5 to 8 percent surcharge on the price of the product. I live in Boulder, CO. I highly doubt that the company is licensed to collect sales tax in Boulder, or in any other small town in America. This is fraud, and you should look a bit deeper before recommending some of these software vendors.

—Tom Wade

Well, Tom, the Dog has an answer for you after the jump.

Comments: 0
TAGS: Software, Hard Drive, Watchdog, hard drives, sales tax, hd inspector, altrixsoft

WatchdogIs RegCure Legit?

Posted 07/07/08 at 05:27:23 PM by The Maximum PC Staff

The Watchdog I recently downloaded RegCure software, but I have to buy the full version of the app for a complete system repair. Is RegCure.com a reputable company?

—Ted Keenan

Hit the jump to see what RegCure can do for you!

Comments: 2
TAGS: Watchdog, windows xp, registry, regcure

WatchdogSub300's Subpar Service

Posted 07/07/08 at 05:05:25 PM by The Maximum PC Staff

The Watchdog

Dog, some months ago, I bought an inexpensive Linux-based PC from Sub300.com, which was selling older stock to make room for new inventory. I purchased model #13338, which had an AMD Athlon XP 3100+ and 256MB of RAM. The configuration didn’t bother me, as I figured I could upgrade it with parts from eBay. The machine was discounted from $165 to $129. With shipping it was $159. When I received the PC, the configuration wasn’t even close—the CPU was an AMD Athlon XP 1400+.

What will become of our hero? Find out after the jump!