A few days ago I mentioned looking at a 16GB mini PCIe SSD for my Asus Eee 701.  I have one of those 7A serial number models with the extra mini PCIe slot.  Well, yesterday I ordered up the SSD from NewEgg for about $55 with shipping.

I then started to do some research about the installation of the SSD and what I would need to do for it to be seen by Windows.  I found some troubling info.  Apparently several people have tried installing SSDs in that extra slot on their 701 only to find that the 4GB soldered-on memory is no longer read on startup.  The system won’t boot.  Apparently having a drive in the extra mini PCIe slot makes it the primary drive.  You can’t make the standard 4GB drive the master and the SSD the slave.  There aren’t jumpers like there are with traditional hard drives.

This plan to boost the storage on my Eee (which is what I am typing this on) appeared doomed.  The MLC SSD is slower than the built-in memory, so it would’ve been a bad idea to install the OS and everything on the SSD just so I could use that extra mini PCIe slot.

So a couple hours after placing my order and being billed, I went to NewEgg’s website to cancel my order.  The status said it was too late to make changes to the order.  I knew I had to act quickly to avoid getting a non-refundable SSD that was unusable to me.  Though NewEgg quickly served me over the phone a couple of times, I didn’t want to risk a wait.  I went for their live chat.  I gave my name and order number and was connected to a representative in about 15 seconds.  I asked if it was too late to cancel an order I placed earlier in the day.  The rep checked and in less than a minute came back to say my order has been canceled at my request.  Wow.  The rep wrote well, so I don’t think this was an offshore support person on the Indian subcontinent.  Sure enough, I had the cancellation e-mail in my box in a matter of seconds.  I sheepishly admitted that I should’ve done more research before buying.  The rep wished me an Eggcellent day and we were done.

I have had contact with NewEgg’s support three times.  The first was by phone to ask about the revision version of a router.  I was assured they had high turnover of product and that what they were selling would most likely be the newest.  The second contact was by phone as well.  I received an e-mail that there was a problem with the credit card I used to make a purchase.  Turned out I had entered my card number wrong.  This was determined quickly and there were no hassles.

With the good service I have experienced, NewEgg will remain one of my preferred vendors for tech stuff.