How often have you encountered the problem of technical support for your devices?
Previously, choosing a new technique, I did not even think about whether this technique would be supported by the manufacturer in the future. As it turned out - in vain.
I will give a couple of examples:
Lenovo produces quite decent hardware, but they clearly have problems with timely support for software and device drivers. A laptop produced in 2010 (for example, specifically my Lenovo V560) has only 2010 drivers on the manufacturer’s website. Some of them were outdated at the time of purchase (2011), and about half later turned out to be incompatible with Windows 8. The manufacturer does not provide any means of automatic software updates, or at least a resource where new drivers can be downloaded. That is, I first installed Windows 8, and then 2 hours scouring the Internet in search of compatible drivers and software for the touchpad.
If the laptop is still half the problem, you can find everything you need on the Internet with the proper desire and knowledge, then with smartphones everything is worse. Lenovo also produces Android smartphones, which at best get a two or three-time firmware update, and then get stuck forever on Android 4.0.4 (for example, Lenovo P700i) or 4.1. It remains only to enviously look at the news about the release of new versions of the operating system.
So that no one would think that I have a claim to only one specific company, I will give an example of the problem of supporting the TV. In 2010, the Philips 7 Series LCD TV was purchased. It works fine so far, but there are a couple of nuances. In 2010, the manufacturer released several firmware updates that fixed the most basic bugs (in particular those related to HDMI). I admit, at first I was surprised at the fact of the very possibility of flashing the TV, but, as soon as I was happy, the expected (now) happened: despite the fact that not all the bugs were fixed, the release of the firmware stopped. So now the TV, having the ability to play video from a flash drive, still does it so badly, with such jerks and stretching of the picture, that it would be better if this feature did not exist at all. Reading the forums on this issue, I found out that people were able to convince Philips to release the firmware that fixes some of these problems for some other TV models, but, alas, not for mine.
')
If you strain the memory, you can recall many examples when the manufacturer stops updating the software of a particular product almost six months after the release. Advanced users have to sit on the forums, searching for the right drivers, and sometimes even “finishing” all the authors (think of a bunch of custom Android 4+ firmware for phones, manufacturers of which decided that 2.3 would be enough for people). A simple user can only sit and clap his ears.
Of course, not all manufacturers are bad. There are those who release software updates and after a long time, when they are not even waiting. For example, Apple until recently supported the iPhone 3GS of 2009, and many Samsung get firmware updates a year and two after the release. Or, for example, HP bundled with a laptop (using the example of an HP Envy x2 laptop transformer) provides a utility that monitors the timely update of all drivers. Yes, and some manufacturers of laptops, although they do not make regular driver updates, at least update them on the site when a new version of Windows is released.
I think it’s very bad that in many cases, when buying a product, you need to be prepared for the fact that in a year (or even earlier) all new updates will not be released for devices that have not yet become outdated. I would like to know "in the face" of those manufacturers of equipment, who unfairly stop the software support of equipment, as soon as you bought it. And I would also like to know what to buy in order to expect, if not for the eternal, then at least for a decent period of support. Therefore, I offer a couple of polls (if you forgot one of the major vendors - write, add).
I will give a couple of examples:
Lenovo produces quite decent hardware, but they clearly have problems with timely support for software and device drivers. A laptop produced in 2010 (for example, specifically my Lenovo V560) has only 2010 drivers on the manufacturer’s website. Some of them were outdated at the time of purchase (2011), and about half later turned out to be incompatible with Windows 8. The manufacturer does not provide any means of automatic software updates, or at least a resource where new drivers can be downloaded. That is, I first installed Windows 8, and then 2 hours scouring the Internet in search of compatible drivers and software for the touchpad.
If the laptop is still half the problem, you can find everything you need on the Internet with the proper desire and knowledge, then with smartphones everything is worse. Lenovo also produces Android smartphones, which at best get a two or three-time firmware update, and then get stuck forever on Android 4.0.4 (for example, Lenovo P700i) or 4.1. It remains only to enviously look at the news about the release of new versions of the operating system.
So that no one would think that I have a claim to only one specific company, I will give an example of the problem of supporting the TV. In 2010, the Philips 7 Series LCD TV was purchased. It works fine so far, but there are a couple of nuances. In 2010, the manufacturer released several firmware updates that fixed the most basic bugs (in particular those related to HDMI). I admit, at first I was surprised at the fact of the very possibility of flashing the TV, but, as soon as I was happy, the expected (now) happened: despite the fact that not all the bugs were fixed, the release of the firmware stopped. So now the TV, having the ability to play video from a flash drive, still does it so badly, with such jerks and stretching of the picture, that it would be better if this feature did not exist at all. Reading the forums on this issue, I found out that people were able to convince Philips to release the firmware that fixes some of these problems for some other TV models, but, alas, not for mine.
')
If you strain the memory, you can recall many examples when the manufacturer stops updating the software of a particular product almost six months after the release. Advanced users have to sit on the forums, searching for the right drivers, and sometimes even “finishing” all the authors (think of a bunch of custom Android 4+ firmware for phones, manufacturers of which decided that 2.3 would be enough for people). A simple user can only sit and clap his ears.
Of course, not all manufacturers are bad. There are those who release software updates and after a long time, when they are not even waiting. For example, Apple until recently supported the iPhone 3GS of 2009, and many Samsung get firmware updates a year and two after the release. Or, for example, HP bundled with a laptop (using the example of an HP Envy x2 laptop transformer) provides a utility that monitors the timely update of all drivers. Yes, and some manufacturers of laptops, although they do not make regular driver updates, at least update them on the site when a new version of Windows is released.
I think it’s very bad that in many cases, when buying a product, you need to be prepared for the fact that in a year (or even earlier) all new updates will not be released for devices that have not yet become outdated. I would like to know "in the face" of those manufacturers of equipment, who unfairly stop the software support of equipment, as soon as you bought it. And I would also like to know what to buy in order to expect, if not for the eternal, then at least for a decent period of support. Therefore, I offer a couple of polls (if you forgot one of the major vendors - write, add).
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/211164/
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