Recommendation : iPaq owners in final warranty month

[Ekkie Tepsupornchai]

Just wanted to share my experiences. My 38xx was approaching the final month of warranty and I did *NOT* have the CarePaq. My unit had developed a few problems that most of us have at least heard about:

-Power button recessed (required a real forceful press to use)... began relying on other H/W buttons combined w/ a software "power-off" application
-Stylus latch no longer locking in stylus (my metallic stylus would fall out if the iPaq was upside down)
-Inconsistent backlight issues
-SD Card slot did not completely lock down SD card (though I'm not sure whether this was a defect or not as this isn't noticeable unless I either dropped the unit or manually pulled the card out w/ my nails)
-Screen had scratches and nicks in it (my fault entirely of course, these iPaqs are far more sensitive than my old Casio EM500)

Since I'm only in the US 1 week out of each month (b/c of business travel), sending in my iPaq would mean about a month without any device. I sent it in anyway (reporting 3 of the first 4 issues), knowing that fixes will at least put the device back into selleable condition. Amazingly, HP had the device addressed and sent back to me within 3-4 days while I was still in the US.

The power button was fixed. The stylus latch was not (not critical in my eyes). Unfortunately, while they did replace the inverter board, the backlight would *NOT* turn on.

Sent it back in. Returned home 3 weeks later and discovered that they sent back a brand new device (at least the Serial number was a much later one). I have been using this for the past few days with the following observed:

-No scratches on the screen... I was ecstatic when I saw this (alas, this is how I knew initially it wasn't the same unit)
-Stylus latch is MUCH tighter now than I ever remember it being
-SD card is no longer removeable by simply pulling the card out with my nails
-No backlight issues observed yet
-Per HP policy, the "fixes" come with a 90 day warranty which extends beyond my original unit's warranty.

Of course, I still have the purple tinted screen (w/ the exaggerated contrast) that we all know and love, but nevertheless I've renewed my device.

So there you have it. A good-as-new (if not new) unit one year after the original purchase. I can either sell it without having to report previous defects or I could maybe use it for another full year.

Morale of the story: If you're in the final month of your iPaq's warranty, send it in and report any defects even if you don't have the CarePaq.

Ekkie

[Paul P]

This is probably something simple that I am not aware of, but how does HP know that a certain iPaq is in the final month of its warranty? I had to send in several of my pre-3970 iPaqs in and I was never asked to provide a receipt or the date when the devices were purchased (both instances within the year of purchase). Even if the particular iPaq has been out of production for a while, you can still buy it for a long time to come.

[Ekkie Tepsupornchai]

This is probably something simple that I am not aware of, but how does HP know that a certain iPaq is in the final month of its warranty? I had to send in several of my pre-3970 iPaqs in and I was never asked to provide a receipt or the date when the devices were purchased (both instances within the year of purchase). Even if the particular iPaq has been out of production for a while, you can still buy it for a long time to come.
Funny you ask. I'm not even sure myself how they know. I do recall visiting the HP support site (before ever calling them) and then there was this on-line app that allows you to type in your serial number to determine if it's still under warranty or not. That's how I knew that HP wouldn't go asking for sales information.

My guess is that the retail stores probably send back some sort of list of all the PDAs they sell with the serial numbers and date-sold to the original vendors. The only other way would be to keep a log of the date these units were distributed to the retail stores, but that would be unfair as you mention since a unit could conceivably sit in someone's inventory for a several weeks.

[Jerome]

They probably don't know exactly when you bought your device but have a pretty good idea of how long a device is held in stock (just-in-time delivery). When I called in to have my display repaired they asked me for the date I purchased mine. I was already out-of-warranty for a couple of months, but hoped they would'n't noticed :angel: . And they did :cry:

[Wiggin]

I do recall visiting the HP support site (before ever calling them) and then there was this on-line app that allows you to type in your serial number to determine if it's still under warranty

For those interested in learning if HP considers their iPaq or HP serial number under warranty, the page to visit is below

http://wwss1pro.compaq.com/support/warranty_upgrades/index.asp?focus=no

Interesting that the app returned a January 2003 date for my serial num, which is 13 months after I purchased my 3850. An extra 30 days is always nice! :D

[Tom Eichers]

The Serial Numbers of HP/Compaqs have alot of info in them, one of which is the week and Year of manufacture, you usually get 13 months because they figure that the unit might site on a shelf for 1 month before being bought. So if you don't have your actual Bill of Sale with a Month and Year on it (credit card reciept is not valid) then they go by the serial number.

[tccox]

Checked mine and I also show an extra 30 days warranty. Even though I had resigtered my device with correct date of purchase