I go to the IBT (International Business and Technology) program at my high school here in Canada; it has a focus on (obviously) business and technology. As part of the program, we were forced to buy a laptop through the school, these were Durabook models. Let me first tell you the price and specs: $1800 for a Core 2 1.73 Ghz processor with 1 GB of RAM, a 120 GB hard drive, Intel Integrated Graphics (low end, can�t find exact specs), 2 batteries (one 9 cell, one 6 cell) and 3 yrs of in-school warranty (on a weekly basis). Yes, $1800, and all we got was XP Pro with Word, Excel and PowerPoint (plus InfoPath and Access) 2007. For $1800, we were given such a useless computer, I could have gotten a better model (I checked) from Dell for around $800 with 3 yrs. of next-day, in-home support. After getting the computer, many people had hardware problems; my keyboard never worked from day one, almost everyone�s screen has something wrong with them, and, well, that�s just the good side.
I want to make one thing clear before I continue: we were given a Windows Vista Business key, but no installation CD. I called Microsoft, and they said this was illegal. But the worst part is that the copies of XP we have are PIRATED, none were able to activate, so MDG used a USB drive with a crack or something similar (same one for everyone) to skip activation on the computers. Of course, I contacted Microsoft on the matter, they said they would look into it.
Now, let me tell you the blatant lies they told us. They said we�d be getting two 9-cell batteries with 5 hrs of battery life, we instead got a 9 cell and a 6 cell with 3 hrs and 2 hrs of battery life, respectively. They said we�d be getting a 160 GB hard drive, but we lost 40 GBs for no reason. They also promised 2 GBs of RAM, a better processor, and �lots� of preinstalled software. The laptop itself has the fan on the bottom for some reason, and it gets incredibly hot after little under an hour of continuous use, so does the charger. The core temperature of the processor is, on average, over 60 degrees Celsius; its maximum temperature is about 100 degrees. It spikes to over 80 degrees in less than 2 hrs sometimes. The laptops are also unusually heavy; the battery alone is about 2 lbs.
I could go on forever. There are no buttons or sliding things to open the lid, instead, we have to just pull it open. There are clips that keep it closed, these often break, for a while, MDG refused to fix them, saying we were abusing our laptops; only after multiple complaints from parents did they start fixing them. They only come once a week to our school, we have to fill out a paper form and put it in a box to get a repair. And even though we have to sue these laptops for four years, they only give us a three-year warranty.
Let me end by saying DO NOT BUY FROM MDG, they WILL scam you out of your money and refuse to fix their shoddy computers, many others share my view (just search complaints.com for �MDG�), and I hope that MDG will never sell another computer. They lied to us, refused to fix our laptops, used pirated software, and took our money. And you know what? Our school is now going to allow any brand of laptop for people to bring next year. Unbelievable how a company can scam students and leave once they�ve made a quick buck. Or a couple hundred thousand.
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