Soltek NV400-L64: Purple, Practical, AND Performance!

Soltek NV400-L64: Tech Support and RMA

The way our Tech Support evaluation works is first, we anonymously email the manufacturer's tech support address(es), obviously not using our AnandTech mail server to avoid any sort of preferential treatment. Our emails (we can and will send more than one just to make sure we're not getting the staff on an "off" day) all contain fixable problems that we've had with our motherboard. We allow the manufacturer up to 72 (business) hours to respond, and then we will report whether or not they responded within the time allotted, and if they were successful in fixing our problems. In case we don’t receive a response before the review is published, any future responses will be added to the review, including the total time it took for the manufacturer to respond to our requests.

The idea here is to encourage manufacturers to improve their technical support as well as provide new criteria upon which to base your motherboard purchasing decisions. As motherboards become more similar everyday, we have to help separate the boys from the men in as many ways as possible. As usual, we're interested in your feedback on this and other parts of our reviews, so please do email us with your comments.

Soltek’s RMA policy could not be found by visiting their U.S. website at http://www.soltekusa.com. Soltek lists sales/support operations in Taiwan, Europe, and South America, but there are no listings for offices in the USA. We were told that all RMA requests should be directed toward the dealer who sold you the board. In the event of problems there, requests can be addressed to support@soltek.com.tw. The lack of an identifiable US presence from Soltek is of great concern, but in fairness to Soltek, our requests to their Taiwan headquarters were all answered promptly, and the Soltek staff was very helpful. FAQ’s, downloads, and product information are available at their main site. You will be linked to this main site if you visit www.soltekusa.com.

Technical Support is also available by email, which is listed under "Contacts" at the main site. Soltek's tech support response time was simply outstanding. Soltek Taiwan's response came in just 10 (clock) hours after our original email. The reply from the technical support representative was a sincere attempt to solve our problem, but the advice given showed a lack of technical experience by the support representative. While the advice given was one of the possible solutions to our problem, it would have been third or fourth on the list of suggested fixes by an experienced technician. This is our very first review of a Soltek product, so we do not want to judge the overall quality of Soltek Technical Support on one issue. Their incredibly fast response left a very positive impression of Soltek’s commitment to customer satisfaction. Had the response been more technically savvy in its recommendations, we would rate Soltek near perfect. We continue to be surprised at how good Technical Support can be from some of the smaller companies. The giants in the industry should be embarrassed at how poorly they often treat customers in comparison to responses similar to what we see from companies like Soltek.

Those who cannot find a local Soltek resource should send their Tech Support inquiries to the Taiwan main site. If our experience is any indication, we think you will be pleased at the responsiveness in your communications with Soltek.