1src Forums - My NX-70V = $500 Paper Weight

Bob_the_fish

04-15-2003, 02:42 PM

I placed my 3 week old Clie in my backpack for 15 minutes, while I was transferring to my next period class. I normally would place it in my Dockers Mobile Tech pants, but I was in a rush and placed it in my backpack instead. The clamshell was closed, meaning that the screen was protected. But it was without a case because I spent all my money on the Clie itself, a memory stick, and screen protectors.

Getting to the point, the screen is totally messed up in the middle. I'll post pictures when I get back from school. There are numerous dead pictures. THERE'S A STREAK OF DEAD PIXELS. The rest of the screen functions normally. The other hardware works well. It's just the streak of dead pixels.

I need to know what my options are. I bought it from mwave.com 3 weeks ago. I know that they don't accept Sony returns.

So will Sony accept returns, I doubt it. If not. Where and how much would it cost to have the screen repaired? The rest of the unit works great.

Please, I'm begging you for help. This Clie brought me out of a depression slump. (kind of).

Thanks.

nandaiyo

04-15-2003, 03:17 PM

Sorry to hear :(

Is the unit under warranty? You may be able to get it repaired as such, because your screen was closed inside, not facing out. Just a thought....

good luck

caipro

04-15-2003, 06:27 PM

that is rough :(
in the uk we can claim for things like that with our residental contents insurance, is that an option? i replaced my PS2 last year when i dropped it taking it up stairs

caipro

04-15-2003, 06:30 PM

another thought.. my credit card company cover all my purchases for 60 days from date of purchase? i never pay cash any more. this includes accidental damage.

jklfafa

04-15-2003, 06:46 PM

ouch...i have an aluminum case....at all times when it is away from the cradle....i love the case...ouch....did a pen get stuck...what happened in the bag???

sstrasser86

04-15-2003, 07:12 PM

i feel sorry for you bob the fish

n2ifp

04-15-2003, 08:24 PM

Originally posted by Bob_the_fish
I placed my 3 week old Clie in my backpack for 15 minutes, while I was transferring to my next period class. I normally would place it in my Dockers Mobile Tech pants, but I was in a rush and placed it in my backpack instead. The clamshell was closed, meaning that the screen was protected. But it was without a case because I spent all my money on the Clie itself, a memory stick, and screen protectors.

Getting to the point, the screen is totally messed up in the middle. I'll post pictures when I get back from school. There are numerous dead pictures. THERE'S A STREAK OF DEAD PIXELS. The rest of the screen functions normally. The other hardware works well. It's just the streak of dead pixels.

I need to know what my options are. I bought it from mwave.com 3 weeks ago. I know that they don't accept Sony returns.

So will Sony accept returns, I doubt it. If not. Where and how much would it cost to have the screen repaired? The rest of the unit works great.

Please, I'm begging you for help. This Clie brought me out of a depression slump. (kind of).

Thanks.

I am also sorry to hear about your misfortune. Yes, I also know what depression is.

I have to tell you that Sony will NOT cover the LCD screen, their charge is $250.00 USD. There have been numerous other users who can attest to it. Now if you have credit card protection, that maybe worth a try.

Good luck!

CopyCat

04-15-2003, 08:36 PM

That is a bummer. I remember dropping mine, even though it was in my aluminum case, and i almost had a heart attack.

I say Credit Card, hopefully you bought it that way, protection is your best wish.

I had 3 dead pixels on my nx70 when i got it and now only 1. Maybe some will come back? I dont know.

Sorry again.

Bob_the_fish

04-15-2003, 08:48 PM

I'm talking major damage. It's not just one line of pixels. It's sort of an oblique triangle going across the screen.

250!!! I could buy a reletively good 15" LCD screen for that much.

Question about the credit card dealy. I bought it from mwave.com. So what would withholding payment accomplish? Will mwave take back the unit and then yell at sony. The Clie box and mwave.com website said deal with it with Sony.

n2ifp

04-15-2003, 09:11 PM

No, you would NOT with hold payment!

Some credit card companies offer free protection for extended warranties, theft, and mishaps like yours. They may not have advertised it, but still have it. So give you credit card company a call, the worst that can happen is that they say no.

mrbjg4

04-15-2003, 10:38 PM

Sounds to me like it was defective out of the box. ;)

Bob_the_fish

04-15-2003, 10:38 PM

All right, I'll talk to my dad. It's his card. And he paid for half of it. He won't be pleased with my lack of care.

I hope our credit card company will help us out. We just bought $500 in upgrading our PIII to a P4 2.66Ghz, tuition payments, etc. So they make lot's off our interest.

Stumpie

04-15-2003, 10:52 PM

Wife dropped my NX70 on the hardwood floor.........sent to Sony....needs new LCD they say......$175, not $250.......paid Monday, they say it should be here on Wednesday......try buying a $100 2 yr TAP warranty from CompUsa....U can buy one even tho your unit is used and wasn't bought from them.

abosco

04-15-2003, 11:00 PM

Originally posted by mrbjg4
Sounds to me like it was defective out of the box. ;)

Bingo.

Paakman

04-15-2003, 11:58 PM

Does the unit have physical damage?

If no physical damage the vendor must take the product back,
Just tell them your father had bought it for your birthday ( that should take care of the 3 week delay)

As far as the vendor not accepting returns, they must have a return policy.... Look into it! I am a manager for a electronics chain on the west coast and I know that there is flexiblity in returns and its not like your returning it for money you just want a working product.

You have rights as a consumer. Start the process so if worse comes to worse, They can look back to see this all took place within one month.

I recomend you start with this and follow thruogh. If this does'nt work, look for a new ave.

Good luck,

sorry for the misfortune:eek:

contempt

04-16-2003, 12:20 AM

But some vendor's have such awful return policies. Example: My gf purchased a new 23" Apple Cinema display from MacWarehouse. Out of the box it had about 12 dead pixels and half the screen was grainy. MacWarehouse claimed that once a product is delivered, you have to deal with the manufacturer for any problems. Complete bs. Then Apple said to return to MacWarehouse. After two hours on the phone with them and talking to a supervisor then his boss, they finally agreed saying it's not company policy. What crap is that?

That's two hours and a week wasted because they shipped a defective product. I say if the unit still works, just zap everything off of it and return it as a defective product. Fight them on it.

udders1

04-16-2003, 12:27 AM

Sorry to hear it...had the same kind of problem just after new years. Finally was able to find a best buy that took pity on me and exchanged it under warrenty. good luck to ya

qgent

04-16-2003, 01:37 AM

yeah.. I know how you feel. I lost a visor that way, and a piece of my heart too. Don't give up just yet call then and follow Paakman advice, he makes a good point.. use your rights as a consumer.

Paakman

04-16-2003, 02:03 AM

Did you agree to these policies? Did they show you these in the check out process.

Hey go to work on these people and threaten a lawyer on them...

what is this in the return policy?

1. MULTIWAVE REFUND GUARANTEE - Multiwave offers our customers a 30-day satisfaction replacement or refund guarantee on all purchases, except:

7-day refund guarantee on all CPU/Memory products and refurbished computer products 1.

Due to manufacturer's policies, Multiwave can not accept refunds or returns on All Software, Game Titles, Retail Boxed Processors, Notebooks, Blank Media Cartridges, Printer Cartridges, Minolta, QMS, Cisco, IBM, Sony, Intel, Tektronix, NEC and Hewlett Packard products. Defective merchandise can be returned to the manufacturer directly. There is likewise no replacement or refund guarantee covering any product that is affected by any "Year 2000" compliance problem. :confused:

Do they return any product? I mean this has to be over 75% of there product......

By the way sony is one of the most flexible vendors in the electronics market. So with that said, go to work you have work to do but it should be easy..... With a bad attitude and some threats of bashing the mwave.com name.

good luck:D

Michael Quach

04-16-2003, 09:47 AM

Kinda not relevent, but in the future, buy from a reliable vendor like Best Buy, and buy the extended warranty.

I can't think of any reason you wouldn't want to buy the warranty. An NX-70V is a hefty investment, and $60 for complete insurance over three years (and it's renewable) is a bargain, if only for peace of mind.

hansschmucker

04-16-2003, 10:08 AM

3 weeks???? That has to be covered under warranty. At least in Germany every product HAS TO come with at least a year or two of warranty. If it doesn't then you can take the company to court and you are quite certain to win, that's why the company will most of the times replace it quietly, so they don't have to change their general waranty,

joemit

04-16-2003, 10:38 AM

You don't actually say whether the Clie received a knock and sustained any physical damage or not. If there is no physical damage to the unit how do you know that the problem was caused by you? The fact that the Clie was not in a case is immaterial. It should be fit for the purpose for which it was sold. In other words, you should be able to carry it around, taking reasonable care not to drop or physically abuse it, and expect it to work.

For all you know, something (a cable?) may have failed inside the unit and you only discovered it when you switched it back on.

If this is the case I don't see any problem with getting the unit repaired or replaced under warranty, if not by your dealer at least by Sony.

Good luck!

Joe

n2ifp

04-16-2003, 04:42 PM

Originally posted by joemit
You don't actually say whether the Clie received a knock and sustained any physical damage or not. If there is no physical damage to the unit how do you know that the problem was caused by you? The fact that the Clie was not in a case is immaterial. It should be fit for the purpose for which it was sold. In other words, you should be able to carry it around, taking reasonable care not to drop or physically abuse it, and expect it to work.

For all you know, something (a cable?) may have failed inside the unit and you only discovered it when you switched it back on.

If this is the case I don't see any problem with getting the unit repaired or replaced under warranty, if not by your dealer at least by Sony.

Good luck!

Joe

Sony will NOT cover displays under any circumstances. You won't be able to fool them either.

Sorry!

joemit

04-16-2003, 04:57 PM

" Sony will NOT cover displays under any circumstances. You won't be able to fool them either. Sorry!"

I don't understand this statement! I have a Clie NX70v. Are you saying that if for some reason there is a problem with the display that Sony will not provide a repair, under ANY circumstances? How can that be? The display is an integral part of the unit, if it fails why should it not be covered under warranty?

Also, I was not suggesting that the owner should try to fool Sony, simply that if the unit has failed in normal use then they are entitled to expect a repair under warranty.

So what is your point?

Joe

aardvarko

04-16-2003, 05:07 PM

are the lines white? pressing on the grey plastic area under the screen (in tablet mode) may alleviate the issue

n2ifp

04-16-2003, 05:25 PM

Originally posted by joemit
" Sony will NOT cover displays under any circumstances. You won't be able to fool them either. Sorry!"

I don't understand this statement! I have a Clie NX70v. Are you saying that if for some reason there is a problem with the display that Sony will not provide a repair, under ANY circumstances? How can that be? The display is an integral part of the unit, if it fails why should it not be covered under warranty?

Also, I was not suggesting that the owner should try to fool Sony, simply that if the unit has failed in normal use then they are entitled to expect a repair under warranty.

So what is your point?

Joe

The point is that Sony will NOT cover display problems. Other users have reported that over and over, whether is stuck pixels or just a white line. A good technician can spot a damaged screen very easily, even if had water damage. As a technician in the past and also my brother who worked for another company, we could tell very easily. Personally, I am not trying to give anyone a hard time, just some facts. If Sony will cover it, great, but their track record says otherwise. I don't make these statements just for fun, I am only trying to be honest, that's all.

joemit

04-16-2003, 05:55 PM

Originally posted by n2ifp

The point is that Sony will NOT cover display problems. Other users have reported that over and over, whether is stuck pixels or just a white line. A good technician can spot a damaged screen very easily, even if had water damage. As a technician in the past and also my brother who worked for another company, we could tell very easily. Personally, I am not trying to give anyone a hard time, just some facts. If Sony will cover it, great, but their track record says otherwise. I don't make these statements just for fun, I am only trying to be honest, that's all.

I understand your comments about Sony not wishing to cover stuck pixels or damage to a display caused accidentally but that is a different issue to a problem occurring with a display in normal use. As a technician you will know that faults with a display could be caused by a number of factors, a fault with a connector or cable for instance. Sony can't wash their hands of it just because it's the display; if they could why would any of us take the risk of purchasing a Sony product?

My Apple PowerBook has several stuck pixels but I accept that it is not commercially viable for a manufacturer to guarantee a perfect display, so I will live with it. However, when I had a problem with a large patch of pixels failing over time on a previous PowerBook Apple had no problem with replacing the LCD.

The user does not report that they accidentally damaged the Clie themselves, if they didn't, I am suggesting that at least it's got to be worthwhile returning the unit to Sony and asking for their advice? I would trust Sony implicitly to be honest and admit if there was an internal fault and if this was the case, to repair or replace the unit.

Joe

n2ifp

04-16-2003, 06:14 PM

Originally posted by joemit

I understand your comments about Sony not wishing to cover stuck pixels or damage to a display caused accidentally but that is a different issue to a problem occurring with a display in normal use. As a technician you will know that faults with a display could be caused by a number of factors, a fault with a connector or cable for instance. Sony can't wash their hands of it just because it's the display; if they could why would any of us take the risk of purchasing a Sony product?

My Apple PowerBook has several stuck pixels but I accept that it is not commercially viable for a manufacturer to guarantee a perfect display, so I will live with it. However, when I had a problem with a large patch of pixels failing over time on a previous PowerBook Apple had no problem with replacing the LCD.

The user does not report that they accidentally damaged the Clie themselves, if they didn't, I am suggesting that at least it's got to be worthwhile returning the unit to Sony and asking for their advice? I would trust Sony implicitly to be honest and admit if there was an internal fault and if this was the case, to repair or replace the unit.

Joe

Hi Joe,

Yes, I understand and I don't disagree with you. The problem isn't between you me. I was only reiterating Sony's past track record, that's all. I don't like it and I am sure you don't either. Several users though, have been whacked by Sony for $250.00USD with minor display anomalies. In the original poster's case, I am afraid the screen damage will be too obvious. The major point is if there is another avenue the poor fellow could take without being hard hit in the wallet.

Larry

caipro

04-16-2003, 06:18 PM

if he sorts it fast the best shot is the credit card company's insurance

joemit

04-16-2003, 06:34 PM

Hi Larry,

I agree with you, the major point is to try to help the original poster to explore any avenues open to them.

As a technician you are likely to have had firsthand experience of warranty issues such as this. As you quite rightly point out, if a unit is returned and it is apparent that if has failed because of shock as a direct result of an impact then the user cannot reasonably expect a free repair.

Only the user knows what really happened. They simply state that they placed the Clie in a backpack for 15 minutes. If they did, and when they next switched it on there was a problem with the display, then they may not be at fault? The unit should be capable of being carried around without failing; they're not that fragile. It's also possible that there is an internal problem.

Under these circumstances would you expect a technician examining the unit to give the user the benefit of the doubt? Surely Sony can't be that intransigent?

Joe

donaldekelly

04-16-2003, 07:45 PM

Hmmm - any place anyone recommends to cover an nx70 with a warranty? I purchased it from buydig.com / Worldwide direct - by mail.

Did someone say Comp USA will cover pdas? They don't have a good reputation down here in Washington, DC. Any other place?

Thanks

samsitedesigns

04-16-2003, 08:31 PM

did you check if your warranty is still ok?

LINK DELETED

UZI4U182

04-16-2003, 11:48 PM

ashVID

04-17-2003, 03:01 AM

Most warranties to not cover screen damage, abuse or even normal wear. You guys are CRAZY. If you bought a new Honda and accidentally ran it into a brick wall the day you bought it, would they cover it under their 3 year bumper to bumper warranty? Uhh, no. Why should they? It wasn't their fault!

Those of you who have extended warranties READ THE FINE PRINT!! I know for a fact OfficeDepot does not cover screens or wear on their extended warranties as my friend got totally burned. He bought the warranty, cracked his screen and took it back only to find they did not cover it!

ash =o)

Clie_Tek

04-17-2003, 06:41 AM

Send the unit into service, a row of dead pixels down the screen is usually associted with either a cable/connector problem or a chip problem, and physical damage is not always obvious or even detectable for that type of problem. LCD replacement is $150+tax+shipping or roughly $175. Physical damage is an additional charge, $70+parts IIRC. Frankly as long as the screen doesn't have any obvious damage, shattered or cracked glass, gouges, "ink spots" and the case is clean, no dents and such, then you might have a chance of it being covered under warranty. Regardless, take some photos of it from all angles so you have proof of the condition it's in before you ship it, get some with it turned on too. Then call Sony and explain the problem and ask them to send a box so the unit can be evaluated. You may have to ask for a specialist, if you get a 1st level tech that just reads the company line on screen damage, and explain that you don't believe it physical damage because it wasn't dropped and that you'd like it evaluated. The worst that can happen is you get an estimate for a couple hundred bucks. Then you have a few options, approve it, refuse it and get charged bench fee+return shipping, about $55, or call in and ask for a supervisor and dispute the the physical damage assesment, this is where the pics come in handy, the down side is this option will take some time, you'll have to weigh the time spent against the cost of the repair. Be polite about it, but be persistent, you may end up having to pay for the repair but you'll never know until you ask.

 

For those wanting extra protection, try insurance policies like those offered by Safeware (http://www.safeware.com/index.htm)

 

 

Silverback

04-17-2003, 07:57 AM

I purchased my NX70V on eBay (best deal I could get at the time, but there have been better ones since :mad: ).

I then contacted CompUSA to purchase a 2 year PDA Replacement Plan for $99.99 plus tax.

Accoding to the terms of this plan I note below, they WILL replace it for screen problems ONE time during the life of this plan.

You can read it for yourself here:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PDA Replacement Plan
A replacement carry-in only plan designed for Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) that carry a manufacturer's warranty of at least 90 days on Parts and Labor.

In the event your covered product fails to operate and cannot be repaired (including mechanical or electrical defect in your product screen), the Replacement Plan will provide a one (1) time replacement of your original product with a product of equal or similar features, specifications, and functionality. Your product must be carried in to any CompUSA store location or any other authorized service center as assigned by the Administrator to obtain replacement under this Plan
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Now to continue with the terms, the following also is in my agreement:

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The following is applicable to all Plans EXCEPT PDA Replacement Plans and Laptop Screen Upgrade : The Plan applies only to the operation or use of the covered product under conditions for which it was designed, and does not cover loss or damage resulting from external causes such as dropping the product, collision with an object, burglary, theft, vandalism, environmental conditions, fire, flooding, corrosion, sand, dirt, windstorm, hail, earthquake, or damage from exposure to weather conditions, misuse, abuse, neglect or accidental damage or damage resulting from improper use of any electrical power source.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Now the way I read that last paragraph, if I were to drop my NX70V and the screen gets cracked, they will repair or replace it.

Remember, that first line says EXPCEPT PDA Replacement Plans, which in my interpretation means that PDA are EXCLUDED from the following conditions and that they ONLY apply to items that are NOT PDAs.

I could be wrong, but that's the way I read it. :)

Hope this helps.