Live data from Hacker News

Razer made to pay $1.2M over 'N95' face mask that wasn't

theregister.com

41–50 of 65 posts

Re: Razer made to pay $1.2M over 'N95' face mask that wasn't

#41
post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While not a recommendation, I mentioned the Razer gaming laptop to a co-worker. He bought one, it started to de-laminate and bend itself into a potato chip. I had never seen anything like it. They would not take a return, he had to do a credit card charge back, and blamed me forever. Their laptops had a 50% failure rate at Linus Media Group, according to Luke during a WAN Show. Linus kept pushing them on his viewers…

I guess that's what rainbow LEDs, sweet logos, and edgy branding will get you. And with streaming becoming popular, "functional" didn't really cut it anymore. Having a black MX Master/MX Keys combo doesn't really "pop" on screen. It's gotta have lights, match the aesthetic, etc. It working is almost immaterial.

Logitech makes hardware with Gamer Lights that doesn't fall apart in six months, at least :P I've been using one of their keyboards for four or five years now.

Razer, on the other hand... I was once gifted a secondhand Razer Blade laptop whose mainboard went dead after a year or two of use. They quoted me $500 for parts alone on a 3+ year old model.

Re: Razer made to pay $1.2M over 'N95' face mask that wasn't

#42

After they tried slipping a bitcoin miner in their mouse software that paid you in Razer Points, I was done with Razer. This seems on brand.

While not a recommendation, I mentioned the Razer gaming laptop to a co-worker. He bought one, it started to de-laminate and bend itself into a potato chip. I had never seen anything like it. They would not take a return, he had to do a credit card charge back, and blamed me forever. Their laptops had a 50% failure rate at Linus Media Group, according to Luke during a WAN Show. Linus kept pushing them on his viewers…

They made a lot of money on their WOW mice back in the day.

They were like the Beats Audio of mice for MMO folks.

The sheer number of buttons helped. Logitech had the G60? Mmo mouse but it didn't have the 'edgy styling' of razer' products.

That said, I still have two of the logi's (never did MMO, but that thing was awesome for CAD) one is over a decade old, more than I can say about any of the razer trash my friends bought

Re: Razer made to pay $1.2M over 'N95' face mask that wasn't

#43
post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I want to know how much they made selling them? If they made $30m, and they get fined $1.2, that isn't really much deterrent...

Well also, IIUC about 3% of americans died from covid so assuming each Zypher mask cost $100 then out of the ~10,000 customers 30 of them died.

Did you mean .3% ?

Re: Razer made to pay $1.2M over 'N95' face mask that wasn't

#45
post #32

After they tried slipping a bitcoin miner in their mouse software that paid you in Razer Points, I was done with Razer. This seems on brand.

Hardware wasn't great either. Both me and my wife had issues with right mouse button switches failing and registering two clicks instead of one. This was 5 mice across 2 models (2 we bought, 3 we got as warranty replacements) in just a year. It's been over a decade and it's still a razer-free household.

Agreed, I use Corsair or Logi peripherals now.

Re: Razer made to pay $1.2M over 'N95' face mask that wasn't

#46

It is a little unclear from reading the article. Is the claim that their filters were not as effective as N95 masks, or that they were just as effective but did not go through the testing needed to prove it?

They never had them tested and so could not advertise them as N95-rated. Razer pulled them from the market and any information on whether they were ever retroactively tested has never been released AFAIK.

Page 17-18: https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/ftc_gov/pdf/Razer-PACER-No1...

> In July, August, and September of 2021, Intertek performed tests assessing the PFE of various assembled Zephyr prototypes. In each test, the assembled device failed to perform to the N95 standard of 95% or greater PFE. Figure 13, infra, depicts the best results ever reached for the device in testing: as documented in Intertek’s August 13, 2021 report, the device reached a maximum PFE of 83.2% with the fans off and 86.3% with the fans on, and frequently tested much lower. The mask did not come close to consistently reaching a PFE of 95%, the level of protection characteristic of an N95 mask.

> Thus, while Razer’s CEO was claiming that the Zephyr was a more comfortable, reusable N95, see supra ¶¶ 46-47, internal communications reveal that Defendants knew the mask could not provide the level of protection offered by an N95.

Re: Razer made to pay $1.2M over 'N95' face mask that wasn't

#47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While not a recommendation, I mentioned the Razer gaming laptop to a co-worker. He bought one, it started to de-laminate and bend itself into a potato chip. I had never seen anything like it. They would not take a return, he had to do a credit card charge back, and blamed me forever. Their laptops had a 50% failure rate at Linus Media Group, according to Luke during a WAN Show. Linus kept pushing them on his viewers…

My sister had issues with her Razer laptop that ended up leading to needing new case screws so she could reassemble it after replacing a faulty battery and repairing a bad trackpad. They didn't have replacement screws, period. We had to buy them from a third party on Amazon. Kind of a clown company between that experience and every time I've bought one of their mice or keyboards (I learned my lesson after the third t…

Yeah, now that you mention it, looking back, I assume it was likely a battery swelling, after one month of use. However, he and I were not close and he was already pissed at me. I didn't offer to take a look.

Re: Razer made to pay $1.2M over 'N95' face mask that wasn't

#48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well also, IIUC about 3% of americans died from covid so assuming each Zypher mask cost $100 then out of the ~10,000 customers 30 of them died.

Did you mean .3% ?

Yeah, 30/10k is .3% so that part is correct.

Re: Razer made to pay $1.2M over 'N95' face mask that wasn't

#49

After they tried slipping a bitcoin miner in their mouse software that paid you in Razer Points, I was done with Razer. This seems on brand.

While not a recommendation, I mentioned the Razer gaming laptop to a co-worker. He bought one, it started to de-laminate and bend itself into a potato chip. I had never seen anything like it. They would not take a return, he had to do a credit card charge back, and blamed me forever. Their laptops had a 50% failure rate at Linus Media Group, according to Luke during a WAN Show. Linus kept pushing them on his viewers…

> Their laptops had a 50% failure rate at Linus Media Group, according to Luke during a WAN Show. Linus kept pushing them on his viewers though.

Do you have link to that particular show? It's surprising it was mentioned and that Linus was still 'supporting' it at the time.

Re: Razer made to pay $1.2M over 'N95' face mask that wasn't

#50
post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I want to know how much they made selling them? If they made $30m, and they get fined $1.2, that isn't really much deterrent...

The article claimed that the fine is 100% of the revenue from the sales of the mislabeled masks: > The vote approving the complaint and proposed order was passed 3-0, and the FTC will use the $1.1 million sum, equal to revenue generated by the Zephyr, to provide full refunds to customers.

That doesn’t seem like much of a deterrent.
Post reply on HN