Time to get aquainted with a new friend

[nosmohtac]

I just got off the phone with HP support. I was pleasantly suprised by the lack of runaround, but I'm still quite distraught at the reason for the call.
My iPAQ 5550 was acting really weird, and soft resets were not resolving the problem. I use Sprite Pocket Backup Pro, and have some backups stored, so I tried to perform a hard reset..... no success. It took me a while to figure it out, but my calender button is no longer working. Those of you who have owned iPAQs are certainly aware that this would make performing a hard reset rather difficult. I took the battery off the iPAQ and I let it sit for about 20 min. I reinstalled the battery, but still no reset (I didn't know the backup battery was good for that long). I finally noticed a little switch on the inside of the battery cover, at the bottom of the battery opening, that didn't have an obvious function. I assumed that this was maybe a switch that cut off the backup battery when the regular battery was installed. After holding this switch down for 30 seconds I reinstalled the battery and voila, hard reset.

Anyway, HP is sending me a return shipment box tomorrow, and said there would be a 3-5 day turn around on it. It appears that I will have to spend a lot of time with my Jornada 720 this week since I won't have my baby. I've only had my j720 for a few weeks, and was considering selling it, because of a lack of programs for it, but now I can see that it's nice to have a backup unit.

It would almost be nice if they couldn't repair it, and shipped me a new 4700. I know that's a reach, but it's nice to dream.

[Janak Parekh]

Sorry to hear about your troubles. :(

From my experience, they won't give you a new unit unless you have lots of trouble with the repair. I only know this because my 3870 had to be repaired three times (they didn't fix the problem the first two times, and actually caused new problems). I asked the support guy the third time, "This is ridiculous. What if it doesn't work this time?" and he told me he'd escalate me to "Customer Loyalty" or somesuch, and the implication was I could negotiate a replacement.

--janak

[nosmohtac]

I'm posting this with my jornada 720.

I don't really expect a new device, but one can always hope. I think they still have quite a few 55xx iPAQs left, so even if they did replace it, I'd probably end of with the same model. I really don't mind though, because I don't know if I'd want to give up the RAM for VGA on a 47xx.

They told me that the turn around time would be 3-5 business days. In your experience with your 38xx, was the repair that fast, or did they end up holding on to it for a couple of weeks? I'm wondering, cause I'm going out town after this week, and I use my 5550 for GPS...mostly for the speed, since my speed sensor went out on my car (but that's another story).

[Janak Parekh]

They told me that the turn around time would be 3-5 business days. In your experience with your 38xx, was the repair that fast
Generally, yes. Each time, it was:

Day 1: Call.
Day 2: Box comes next day. Ship it out same day if possible.
Day 3: Unit arrives at HP. HP repairs unit. HP sends unit back.
Day 4: I get unit back.

The only variance is that the "3rd day" might have taken an additional day at times, and sometimes it stretched over the weekend. Nevertheless, I was certainly impressed with the speed of the turnaround.

--janak

[nosmohtac]

Thanks, that is good news.