Don't buy the DocuNote from StepUp Computing or MicroSono
Richard Bondi
alternative (ca $1,000) to a tabletpc that has a touch-sensitive
screen (so you don't need a special stylus). Well, you get what you
pay for. My unit:
(1) arrived 1 month after the order was placed, on 1/22/03
(2) was clearly used instead of new -- there were big scratches around
the pmcia card slot, the logo is chipped, a hair in the screen, and
smudges around the unit
(3) didn't work. I tried turning it on 7 times, see below
(4) if you read their site carefully, you'll notice they avoid saying
that it comes with hand-writing recognition software. And it doesn't:
it comes with trial software. Classy.
When I turned it on, sometimes a white DocuNote logo appeared asking
me to press F2, which never went away.
At other times the Windows XP registrating/startup screen would
appear. I could never get many screens far before the music (which MS
plays in the background during registration) would start skipping like
a bad CD player (DocuNote has no CD player) and hang. I think tilting
it made it hang.
So I called the help line at StepUp computing. Got a lame: some units
get through our quality control, you'll have to call who you bought it
from -- MicroSono (www.microsono.com).
I told MicroSono all of the above, and that I wanted my money back. I
talked to two people there, a Jane Kim, and some guy she passed me on
to. Both
(1) refused to refund the money because on the purchase Web form it
said all sales were final (I blame myself)
(2) refused to believe that the unit was already used
(3) alternately kept insisting they would send me a new unit, or the
defective one repaired -- they never committed either way.
Since they hadn't charged me yet for the unit, my credit card company
couldn't do anything -- although they tried, without success.
Will I get a new unit or the repaired one? How long will it take?
Should I care? Hardly: it is clear what kind of company this is. Learn
from my experience: steer clear of StepUp Computing and the only place
that currently sells their computers, MicroSono.
Richard Bondi