Korean Job Discussion Forums

eamo · Joined: 08 Mar 2003 Location: Shepherd's Bush, 1964.

i-station have buggered me sideways......

Sure, they make great PMP's, amazingly cool, and when it's less than a year old the A/S centers will take care of you no problem......but......

When that warranty runs out....be prepared to get shafted.

My V43 (Qtopia) was due an update. I hadn't updated the firmware, BIOS or Navi files for about a year. So, when my tech-minded Korean brother-in-law came around I took the opportunity to get him to update the thing. The whole website is in Korean, and it's pretty complex anyway.

So, long story short, he messed it up and left me with no navigation files. No problem, I thought. I'll bring it to an A/S center, ask them to install all the latest Navi files, firmware, etc.....

2 days later they call my wife and say that the mainboard and HDD have failed and both need replaced. 280,000 won! (the V43 is 280,000 won new in Yongsan nowadays Confused

).

We protest that all that happened was a failed installation of the navigation files update. A software thing. Nothing to do with hardware. How can the mainboard and HDD be completely shot??? They stuck to their story.

I won't pay the price of a new machine to have my old one fixed, so, effectively, my i-Station is a brick.

My theory is that they just don't know what's wrong with the thing so they are saying to replace the mainboard and HDD, which is basically all there is to an i-Station. For them it's a quick and easy way to get my V43 back up and make 280,000 won.

I'm not really saying don't buy an i-Station. They are great PMP's and do seem generally reliable. Mine worked solidly for almost 2 years. But when something goes wrong and you are out of warranty............good luck.

I'm feeling sour so I won't buy anything by i-Station again. Maybe Cowon....

Thunndarr · Joined: 30 Sep 2003

I had very good luck with Cowon's A/S center. Went there twice (my own fault) and got very good service.

kprrok · Joined: 06 Apr 2004 Location: KC

I had good times when I went to an iStation A/S center. I dropped it from about a foot and a half and something came loose inside. The screen would flicker and flash and not come on unless I pressed it in just the right spot.

I found the center closest to me (there isn't one in Yongsan apparently!) and they fixed it in about an hour. No problems and no charge.

Don't know how it would be if it were after warranty though.

KPRROK