Does anyone else find computer related technical questions annoying?

Question

I found Yahoo answers a great help when choosing my laptop, but shouldn't really technical questions go to the manufacturer "help line"

Answer 1

Annoying - I skip over the really annoying questions. I'm not sure why they ask here, but they do. But many manufacturers have poor documentation and poor customer tech support.

A number of things are totally missing.

Your ISP won't explain that you should have a router.
Your router manufacturer won't explain how a network works.
Microsoft won't explain that your computer now needs more RAM.

You see, your computer is like the kitchen. Refrigerator, Microwave, can opener, food processor, garbage disposer, trash compactor, popcorn maker.... none of those things are meant to talk to each other... but somehow they all end up in one box.

Good luck and Happy Computing!

Answer 2

Depends how technical they get.
A simple question here (with enough detail, of course) can give the user an idea where their problem lies. Is it with the motherboard or the video card or the monitor
some people are confused whether their problem is hardware or software related.
Even if they do have to resort to the expensive, confusing and frequently unreliable helplines, at least they can give a good account of the problem.

I am not a fan of so-called helpdesks
I am a computer professional and once had to log a call with an in-company support desk (in India !!)
they logged my (laptop) hard disk fault (high severity) as a monitor fault (medium severity), and - to add insult to injury - they put my fax number as my phone number, leading to a 24 delay before i could actually talk to a local technician.
And this is within the SAME COMPANY!! Gods help anyone who is calling under users warranty

Answer 3

In an ideal world, yes.

However, if the answer is relatively simple, it can usually be sorted long before the manufacturer gets back to you (if at all).

Many questions put to the manufacturers of laptops and desktops are unlikely to be relevant to the hardware.
More likely to be Windows or other software issues.

Answer 4

A good lot of them should but consider the lack of common sense in here sometimes! If some of the questioners would simply read their own question, they would see the answer! For instance..." Where can I find a driver for my logitech camera?". Its hard to believe people are this stupid! Some questions, paricularly networking questions can be hard to find answers to. Some others dont have the common sense to provide details! They may be computer or hardware specific and product numbers and manufacturers names are important!

Answer 5

youve obviously never tried to get thru to a "Helpline" have you? they are tantamount to useless, and johnny advisor couldnt care less..hes got a checklist... anything outside that.. hes as much in the dark as the client...

some of us have been using PC's and Macs for over 20 years, and along the way, weve learned a thing or two about crappy operating systems, and thier fault codes... more importantly we know how to get around these problems... johnny snot hasnt got a clue unless its on his Q&A worksheet.

and, being technically adept with windows dos and linux, i like to help if i can.. my two or three keystrokes might save you hours of grief... but you can bet some twisted individual will say oh..just format your hard drive and reinstall XP... which of course doesnt fix the issues and youve just erased 4 years work etc... (coz you didnt back it up)

helplines dotn reccomend data scavengers and recovery tools... its not their job... and as an accomplished old timer, its nice to help newbies... it makes me feel good, and it demonstrates that johnny snot on the helpline (who charges you £1 a minute) is as inept as you are...

you dont like the technical aspect of answers, then dont read the questions would be my suggestion.

Answer 6

I see your point.. Techno-Speak, such as bus speeds, kilohertz, AGP-PCI slots, GUI and CLI, aong with other little quirks of the industry do have a confusing effect on simple users of PCs and Laptops.. and that's how they like it.. It's a simple trick to get users phoning up helplines or paying guys to fix up or upgrade or recondition their machines..

Fact is, if it was THAT easy to understand, then the industry would die a very quick death.. It needs to be confusing for the average person, as a means of revenue for those in the know..

You can ask me any question, and i'll reply in terms you'll understand.. unlike many others..

Answer 7

If you are willing to wait for hours on the phone! Most technical computing problems can be rectified using yahoo answers, web sites and other forums.

Answer 8

Questions and Answers is the name of this site.

Technical questions not nearly so annoying as some of the questions put out on here. Some not even questions or answers!

Answer to your question Not Really.

Answer 9

Except for the fact that many helplines are £1 a minute (*cough* rip-off *cough*). So people ask questions here in the mistaken belief that one sentence will give enough detail to completely diagnose the problem.

Answer 10

lol so true! it annoys me when they take up most of the main menu of questions!.. but then again, if they get the answers they're looking for and it helps then why not.. getting answers out of the manufacturer can be a nightmare itself so why not try here.. i think we just have to lump it!