Nvidia life span?

Slap wrote:
"DRS" wrote in message
...
"Slap" wrote in message
news:L09Oh.77406$zU1.17357@pd7urf1no
"DRS" wrote in message
...
[...]

Define lifetime. In my country a lifetime warranty by law is 25
years. Funnily enough, manufacturers like BFG don't offer lifetime
warranties here.
Doesn't really matter. BFG has the best warranty in the business. That's
all you can do. Every benchmark test, etc. mentions BFGs
warranty. Also mention of a $40 or so extra cost when prices are
compared.
I think it does matter. Can you really see BFG or any other manufacturer
agreeing to repair or upgrade my video card in 25 years time? So when you
say BFG has the "best warranty in the business" how can you be sure that's
true where I am?
You are probably correct. In the real world if you are into gaming or
graphics I suspect the vid card is good on for maybe 2 or 3 years anyway. I
must have 3 or 4 old cards kicking around that still work and in their time
were pretty good but by today's standards they are junk, good only for text.

It would be rare indeed for someone to claim warranty on say a 20 year old
card let alone a 25 year old card and I'm sure BFG knows that. The card
would long be retired in most cases.

With the development on new technology, its doubtful that a manufacturer
would still be supporting 20 year-old standards. But who knows. It
might be in their interest to escrow a few cards just in case someone
wanted to make a warranty claim. But it would probably also be possible
for any manufacturer to claim some kind of abuse to overcome the need to
fulfill a warranty claim. (The Gigabyte method of warranty claim control)

"Slap" wrote in message
news:ImbOh.78174$zU1.30890@pd7urf1no
"DRS" wrote in message
...

[...]

It would be rare indeed for someone to claim warranty on say a 20
year old card let alone a 25 year old card and I'm sure BFG knows
that. The card would long be retired in most cases.

Indeed. However, the point I am making is that in my country BFG does not
offer a "lifetime warranty" because they know it has a legal definition that
stops them (or any other manufacturer) from playing silly buggers. Here
their warranty on video cards is for 1 year (eg,
http://www.pluscorp.com.au/Product.a...ProdID=8486 ).

Are you sure Pluscorp isn't providing false information? BFG doesn't mention
any regional exceptions to its warranty on its web site:
http://www.bfgtech.com/tech_redux.html

This retailer specifies a lifetime warranty:
http://www.pcquest.com.au/Site/Product.asp?ProdID=5283
As does this one:
http://www.tekcorp.com.au/catalog/pr...roducts_id=812
And this one:
http://www.sltech.com.au/eshop/produ...oducts_id=1729
As well as this one:
http://www.computeralliance.com.au/p...x?qryPart=7132

IMHO BFG doesn't have to fear your country's 25-year law. After several
years of ownship, it will be simply uneconomical to ship a card back to BFG
in Illinois, USA.

--
"War is the continuation of politics by other means.
It can therefore be said that politics is war without
bloodshed while war is politics with bloodshed."

"DRS" wrote in message
...
"Slap" wrote in message
news:ImbOh.78174$zU1.30890@pd7urf1no
"DRS" wrote in message
...

[...]

It would be rare indeed for someone to claim warranty on say a 20
year old card let alone a 25 year old card and I'm sure BFG knows
that. The card would long be retired in most cases.

Indeed. However, the point I am making is that in my country BFG does not
offer a "lifetime warranty" because they know it has a legal definition
that stops them (or any other manufacturer) from playing silly buggers.
Here their warranty on video cards is for 1 year (eg,
http://www.pluscorp.com.au/Product.a...ProdID=8486 ).

"First of One" wrote in message

Indeed. However, the point I am making is that in my country BFG
does not offer a "lifetime warranty" because they know it has a
legal definition that stops them (or any other manufacturer) from
playing silly buggers. Here their warranty on video cards is for 1
year (eg,
http://www.pluscorp.com.au/Product.a...ProdID=8486 ).

Are you sure Pluscorp isn't providing false information? BFG doesn't
mention any regional exceptions to its warranty on its web site:
http://www.bfgtech.com/tech_redux.html

Unfortunately, many of these sites simply cut and paste information without
apparently looking at it. The idea of a 25 year warranty on a video card is
ridiculous. I've seen other manufacturers change their warranties for
Australia and it makes more sense for BFG to do the same. But it's worth
confirming. I've sent an email to BFG.

[...]

IMHO BFG doesn't have to fear your country's 25-year law. After
several years of ownship, it will be simply uneconomical to ship a
card back to BFG in Illinois, USA.

Their Australian distributor would never get away with that. They have to
provide support here.

"DRS" wrote in message
...
Unfortunately, many of these sites simply cut and paste information
without apparently looking at it. The idea of a 25 year warranty on a
video card is ridiculous. I've seen other manufacturers change their
warranties for Australia and it makes more sense for BFG to do the same.
But it's worth confirming. I've sent an email to BFG.

It'll be interesting to see what the company says. Keep in mind BFG is not
alone in this. Other companies like eVGA, Visiontek, Corsair, and Crucial
all offer lifetime warranties. Are their policies known to be different in
Australia?

Crucial spells out separate terms of sale for different regions. Yet the
lifetime warranty is common to all regions:
http://www.crucial.com/company/termsofsale.asp

IMHO BFG doesn't have to fear your country's 25-year law. After
several years of ownship, it will be simply uneconomical to ship a
card back to BFG in Illinois, USA.

Their Australian distributor would never get away with that. They have to
provide support here.

In North America, typically the customer sends RMAs directly to the
manufacturer. The retailer sometimes handles the return if it's a good
retailer. In all likelihood the retailer may go out of business before
manufacturer does. I don't believe BFG has an office in Australia.

--
"War is the continuation of politics by other means.
It can therefore be said that politics is war without
bloodshed while war is politics with bloodshed."

"First of One" wrote in message

"DRS" wrote in message
...
Unfortunately, many of these sites simply cut and paste information
without apparently looking at it. The idea of a 25 year warranty on
a video card is ridiculous. I've seen other manufacturers change
their warranties for Australia and it makes more sense for BFG to do
the same. But it's worth confirming. I've sent an email to BFG.

It'll be interesting to see what the company says. Keep in mind BFG
is not alone in this. Other companies like eVGA, Visiontek, Corsair,
and Crucial all offer lifetime warranties. Are their policies known
to be different in Australia?

I'm not going to hunt them all down. I do know eVGA's warranty in Europe is
5 years, for example, so regional warranty variation does happen. I just
wonder if these companies actually do their homework on things like this and
realise that by law if I return my "IDE Geforce 1" card under warranty
they're liable.

Crucial spells out separate terms of sale for different regions. Yet
the lifetime warranty is common to all regions:
http://www.crucial.com/company/termsofsale.asp

IMHO BFG doesn't have to fear your country's 25-year law. After
several years of ownship, it will be simply uneconomical to ship a
card back to BFG in Illinois, USA.

Their Australian distributor would never get away with that. They
have to provide support here.

In North America, typically the customer sends RMAs directly to the
manufacturer. The retailer sometimes handles the return if it's a good
retailer. In all likelihood the retailer may go out of business before
manufacturer does. I don't believe BFG has an office in Australia.

The importer or local distributor is liable in that case. However, the
retailer is by law (Trade Practices Act) generally the first point of call.
Apple ran foul of that provision here during the Great iPod Debacle when
they tried to force consumers with faulty iPods to deal only and directly
with them. The Australian Consumer and Competition Commission (ACCC) gave
Apple Australia a right royal kick up the rear on that one. It's also
illegal for retailers or manufacturers to try to put in restrictions like
the item must be returned in the original packaging, etc, where the returned
item meets either the TPA's statutory conditions or statutory warranty
provisions.

"Robert McKay" wrote in message
...
How long is the average video card supposed to last??
My 6800GT might as well be used as a coaster after a year and change..
Seems like a waste of 200 bucks..

Another question.. Is anyone else in need of a card waiting to upgrade to
Vista? Or are people sticking with XP (or whatever) since most of what I
hear about Vista is bad? Any input appreciated..


I think that may not be as easy a question to answer because there are as
many people that upgrade their cards as experience failures, maybe more.

I have had many Nvidia products none of which have failed. This PC was
custom built in Mar 02. Came with a Asus Visiontek GeFore Ti4600 that
started to choke at the end of 05. I sold the card in 06 and bought a
vanilla 6800 so that Oblivion would run. This card will serve me well until
Vista SP1, the nextgen Core2Duos and a new PC prob at the end of the year.

I think Vista will be fine with a bit of refinement. Both Msoft and Nvidia
should hang their heads in shame for the poor customer service, but this is
not much different that took place with XP's first appearance. New OS's are
always accompanied by pain & torture. Now there are those who wouldn't give
up WinXP for anything. It will all work out.....

On Mon, 26 Mar 2007 23:07:25 -0700, "Robert McKay"
wrote:

How long is the average video card supposed to last??
My 6800GT might as well be used as a coaster after a year and change.. Seems
like a waste of 200 bucks..


Which manufacturer... er, let me guess.... PNY ? XFX ?

Another question.. Is anyone else in need of a card waiting to upgrade to
Vista? Or are people sticking with XP (or whatever) since most of what I
hear about Vista is bad? Any input appreciated..



You want a new card ? Wait for the near-imminent Dx10-capable
mainstream. Fully XP/Dx9 compatible also and likely better performance
for the price even at the launch prices.

John Lewis

"DRS" wrote in message
...
It'll be interesting to see what the company says. Keep in mind BFG
is not alone in this. Other companies like eVGA, Visiontek, Corsair,
and Crucial all offer lifetime warranties. Are their policies known
to be different in Australia?

I'm not going to hunt them all down. I do know eVGA's warranty in Europe
is 5 years, for example, so regional warranty variation does happen. I
just wonder if these companies actually do their homework on things like
this and realise that by law if I return my "IDE Geforce 1" card under
warranty they're liable.

You are making this sound like a huge liability. If you return your
Geforce1, they can replace it with a dirt-cheap Geforce 5200 or 6200 as an
"equal or better" substitute. I'd risk saying that, statistically, only a
tiny fraction of users return their cards after a few years due to simple
economics of shipping. The companies that offer lifetime warranties can
accommodate that tiny fraction.

The importer or local distributor is liable in that case. However, the
retailer is by law (Trade Practices Act) generally the first point of
call. Apple ran foul of that provision here during the Great iPod Debacle
when they tried to force consumers with faulty iPods to deal only and
directly with them. The Australian Consumer and Competition Commission
(ACCC) gave Apple Australia a right royal kick up the rear on that one.

Keep in mind there is no BFG Australia. You may find yourself in a case
where BFG USA is willing to give you a warranty replacement, but your
retailer refuses to handle the return. The retailer can *never* be relied
upon to handle a warranty return after 30 days or so, no matter how many
compliants you file with the various bureaus and commissions.

It's also illegal for retailers or manufacturers to try to put in
restrictions like the item must be returned in the original packaging,
etc, where the returned item meets either the TPA's statutory conditions
or statutory warranty provisions.

I've actually never seen a manufacturer mandate that a warranty return be
made in the original packaging. Be sure you make a distinction between a
simple return for refund and a warranty return for repair/replacement.

--
"War is the continuation of politics by other means.
It can therefore be said that politics is war without
bloodshed while war is politics with bloodshed."

First of One wrote:
"DRS" wrote in message
...
It'll be interesting to see what the company says. Keep in mind BFG
is not alone in this. Other companies like eVGA, Visiontek, Corsair,
and Crucial all offer lifetime warranties. Are their policies known
to be different in Australia?
I'm not going to hunt them all down. I do know eVGA's warranty in Europe
is 5 years, for example, so regional warranty variation does happen. I
just wonder if these companies actually do their homework on things like
this and realise that by law if I return my "IDE Geforce 1" card under
warranty they're liable.

You are making this sound like a huge liability. If you return your
Geforce1, they can replace it with a dirt-cheap Geforce 5200 or 6200 as an
"equal or better" substitute. I'd risk saying that, statistically, only a
tiny fraction of users return their cards after a few years due to simple
economics of shipping. The companies that offer lifetime warranties can
accommodate that tiny fraction.

The importer or local distributor is liable in that case. However, the
retailer is by law (Trade Practices Act) generally the first point of
call. Apple ran foul of that provision here during the Great iPod Debacle
when they tried to force consumers with faulty iPods to deal only and
directly with them. The Australian Consumer and Competition Commission
(ACCC) gave Apple Australia a right royal kick up the rear on that one.

Keep in mind there is no BFG Australia. You may find yourself in a case
where BFG USA is willing to give you a warranty replacement, but your
retailer refuses to handle the return. The retailer can *never* be relied
upon to handle a warranty return after 30 days or so, no matter how many
compliants you file with the various bureaus and commissions.

It's also illegal for retailers or manufacturers to try to put in
restrictions like the item must be returned in the original packaging,
etc, where the returned item meets either the TPA's statutory conditions
or statutory warranty provisions.

I've actually never seen a manufacturer mandate that a warranty return be
made in the original packaging. Be sure you make a distinction between a
simple return for refund and a warranty return for repair/replacement.

Just remember that they usually ARE very specific in using an anti-
static bag and such if are returning it though.
I typically keep the box at least as long as the warranty. ( It also
facilitates resale if you ever want to upgrade).

--

Rev. G.G. Willikers
(Founder, Custodian & Janitor of the Shrine of HOoMSJ)


"Sir, I am unaware of any such activity or operation - nor would
I be disposed to discuss such an operation if it did in
fact exist, sir."