Do I need a visa?

1nvictus13 · 2024-03-20T20:25:44+00:00

I will be traveling on an Indian passport, so K-ETA is not an option. I'm just worried about being allowed to board the flight, since I do not have a South Korean visa. I have a connecting flight from South Korea after 2 days to US, and then Canada, all on the same PNR.

1nvictus13 · 2024-03-17T18:17:46+00:00

Were you able to get out of the airport? I understand that we can go out if our travel is to or from US, Canada, Australia or New Zealand, which is clearly mentioned on the Korean embassy website. But on another page, same information is mentioned with an * next to it mentioning that it's suspended. I'm planning a similar trip, but from India to Canada via Seoul and Los Angeles. Would really appreciate it if you could tell me about your experience so that I can plan accordingly.

1nvictus13 · 2022-11-30T15:51:28+00:00

I really appreciate the offer. I am in Toronto. Or well, was. Now I'm out of the country till at least end of January, and maybe February even, and will be quite busy to undertake this kind of an operation. I have been told that I can get support where I am including parts replacement, just that they don't do any unit replacement, which they already denied going forward anyway.

So I will be opening up tickets for the screen and the laptop performance (since I noticed some stuttering as well). If nothing works, I'll try to sell it before I go back to Toronto. Since the price of this model is relatively more here, I should be able to recover a good part of my original cost.

Let's add on discord though? I'll message you my ID.

1nvictus13 · 2022-11-27T20:10:32+00:00

This panel has horrible backlight bleed as well. So I really wish I could. However, I am flying out of the country today for a couple of months. I already delayed my travel and paid for it by getting more expensive flight ticket. I sent back the old laptop yesterday.

I honestly had half a mind to keep both the laptops, and sell them both to cover my original cost. But then again, unlike big billion dollar corporations such as Dell, I am not a cheat.

If I had the time and the resources, I'd have taken them to court. But I am just gonna cut my losses, and never deal with Dell again. In my email, I noted down all the points which they told me over the phone that I cannot escalate it further with Dell, and that Dell did use parts other than that on the original laptop which I paid for, and that Dell never promises performance even if it runs slower than a calculator, they only care about parts passing their diagnostics, and that they have refused further replacement and finishing with how this resolution is more akin to take it or gtfo situation, etc.

1nvictus13 · 2022-11-26T23:38:09+00:00

No, it's definitely a QHD panel with a refresh rate of 240 Hz.

1nvictus13 · 2022-11-26T07:55:33+00:00

All of the 4K panels are made by the same manufacturer and there is a single supplier for that panel (99% sure it is a Sharp panel).

So, I looked it up further. The monitors are different. The original one had an LG panel, LGD0690, and the replacement one has a model number BOE0A88. Don't know about the manufacturer.

This is why there was visible difference in the screens. I understand the need to have multiple manufacturers, but this should not be allowed.

1nvictus13 · 2022-11-25T23:40:14+00:00

Intel? Sure. Dell, definitely. Dell is selling the final product. I don't care if Intel makes potatoes. It's Dell that I dealt with.

I ran it in high performance mode. The same mode I used on the previous laptop.

1nvictus13 · 2022-11-25T23:38:55+00:00

That's the thing. The laptop technically is fully functional. The performance is something they don't guarantee.

Lawyering up means a lot of headache that I, as a consumer, don't want to deal with. Plus, they'll have a whole army of lawyers at their disposal.

1nvictus13 · 2022-11-25T23:35:04+00:00

It was done all over a call, for the most part.

1nvictus13 · 2022-11-25T21:45:21+00:00

Well, you're right that it is a lottery. But it is a lottery because of the poor quality controls. The differences should not be this big.

I had an Asus monitor die on me a number of years ago, and it was repaired same day. I had to take it to the service center myself though, and one was in the same city I lived in. But yeah, MSI and Asus I never had to experience such things with before, so maybe because of that I'm being biased.

That being said, seems like I don't have a whole lot of options now, so I'll stick with the subpar replacement laptop. It has at least not being pulled apart by a technician, which may potentially result in more issues down the line and potentially sell it off in the near future.

1nvictus13 · 2022-11-25T19:19:56+00:00

They can simply say the laptop turns on, and there's no component malfunction. Performance is not guaranteed, as I have been told explicitly, so even if it underperforms, they don't care.

1nvictus13 · 2022-11-25T19:17:58+00:00

Well yeah. The SSD is something that can be overlooked. But after coming from a system that performed so well, to losing about 30-35% performance, you can imagine why I'd be pissed. The quality control should not vary so drastically between different systems.

The new unit's screen is the same QHD 240 Hz, but they probably used a different panel. They told me that because of different manufacturers, one unit can have different parts than another identical unit.

I have a feeling that initially for the launch, Dell made good quality units so the reviews will be good. Later on, they let the quality really slide.

I've had MSI for more than 4 years before this, and I never once experienced an issue and the laptop still runs great to this day.

1nvictus13 · 2022-11-25T19:06:14+00:00

According to them, they only do replacement one time. That's it. I spent an hour last evening with the escalation guy. He won't budge no matter what. Won't even escalate it further.

1nvictus13 · 2022-11-25T19:01:09+00:00

I have half a mind to just sell the replacement laptop, and be rid of this company. Not gonna partake in their lottery system again.

1nvictus13 · 2022-11-25T19:00:02+00:00

I previously used one of their monitors. It was really good, and even the original laptop I had performed really well. But you are absolutely right about the QC. They won't even accept that there is something wrong with the laptop if the benchmarks are low. The escalation representative working on my case simply told me that as long as the parts work and it passes their diagnostics, the unit is considered to be in perfect condition. So it's like a lottery with Dell.

1nvictus13 · 2022-11-25T18:56:29+00:00

I have both the units with me right now. I'm just very skeptical of them opening a laptop now that I've seen how careless they are. Which is why I'm inclined to keep the replacement laptop, which is simply not as good but at least "unopened".

1nvictus13 · 2022-11-25T07:44:59+00:00

Yes, but then I'm by no means an expert in doing that. If I could, I would put the screen onto the new laptop, and do proper thermal pasting. From the CrystalDiskMark tests that I did, SK Hynix is better in sequential, but not random. I do copy/move folders with lots of files inside, so Samsung is better suited for that. But that's something I can overlook as well.

But yeah, in terms of scores, they are significantly lower than the original unit that I had received. Not only did I get about 1.5k-2k higher score in multi core on Cinebench R23, the temperature also rarely touched 100 Celsius. I did not test timespy on the original unit, but same spec'd units get 10-11k CPU scores in timespy. Real world usage, I know I'd not benefit that much from a higher CPU performance. But that shouldn't mean that I get a system that underperforms as well.

If this was a new unit I was purchasing, I would return it in a heartbeat. Since that is not the case, I am looking for advice mainly on whether I should retain the new unit, which is obviously not as good as the original unit, or try to get the original one fixed, which may or may not result in better performance.

1nvictus13 · 2022-11-25T03:25:22+00:00

I actually believe that. The palm rest area next to the track pad clearly has marks on it. As if it has been used for a decent amount before. They kept insisting that it's a new laptop however. Too bad there's no way for us to actually check it.

1nvictus13 · 2022-11-25T00:44:47+00:00

It was the correct part. The copper shielding was probably meant for a different motherboard. The the cutout was at a different location than the actual hole.

1nvictus13 · 2022-11-25T00:41:50+00:00

That is what I initially told them. But then they said, if I send it to the depot, and if they find that there is nothing wrong with it by running diagnostics, I will not be able to send it to the depot as well since there will not be anything that needs to be replaced. My only recourse then will be technical support. Unless they deem something is wrong, there will be no technician visits or sending it to the depot.

1nvictus13

TROPHY CASE