HowToFixComputers.com

uk hp owner · Member Joined: 25 Nov 2005 Posts: 2

I have a zx5000 too, and Ive tried all sorts of things like putting the *** thing into a repair shop (lasted a week then broke again) . Out of desperation I even bought a new power adaptor which at least enables me to charge the thing, subject of course the computer is in the mood for it! God help me if I look at it or curse it at all, as it starts to blink its blue lighting diode, which kinda makes me shut my mouth...

I called hp and they gave me *** runaround, spouting crap like out of warranty and stuff. I wouldn't mind so much if Id beat this laptop up a few times, but I havent, Ive treated it gently and with the utmost respect, especially in light of the £1200 I paid for the thing. Suffice to say, I'll never buy a hp product again.

Anyways, does anyone know of a reliable, good laptop repair place in the UK that can fix these things and guarantees the work?

Cheers smile

ikenfixit

www.laptopclinic.co.uk His names Gary Danielz and weve been working with him for a while. Very good person and no run around. Tell him Ken from ikenfixit.com sent you. Good luck!
_________________
Ken LaDere, Owner
www.ikenfixit.com
www.howtofixlaptops.com
postmaster@ikenfixit.com
8750 West Stutsmanville.
Harbor Springs, Michigan.
49740
231.242.1190

uk hp owner · Member Joined: 25 Nov 2005 Posts: 2

Thanks Ken

Ill look him up. smile

freefall · Member Joined: 27 Nov 2005 Posts: 1

I purchased my HP zv5000 from Best Buy and had to have it fixed three times for the power jack problem. I was told on each occasion that the motherboard had to be replaced, which makes sense due to the nature of the problem.

Now that I am on the verge of qualifying for Best Buy's No-Lemon Policy computer trade-in, all of the support tickets from Best Buy suddenly say nothing about any replacements of any parts ever being made.

The tickets from Best Buy, which is apparently all the info they get from HP, say the solution to the problem is an "Eco Purge" and nothing more. That's not even a valid term...

Not to mention the first time it was fixed, Best Buy stole my hard drive, the second time HP returned it as soon as it was received without doing anything, and the third time they said that the problem was that the mute button was on and then sent it back. Each before actually fixing the problem (replacing the motherboard).

So now I need to call HP to prove that things were replaced but in order to get the repair numbers I need to have a Best Buy service center call the HP Reseller Support number and give them my Best Buy service numbers to be converted to HP numbers and then call me back to tell me. They of course never call back.

Has anyone else experienced such horrors with Best Buy and/or HP?

erauskydiver · Member Joined: 27 Nov 2005 Posts: 2

Here is my letter to HP:

I am writing to you based on my experiences with
Laptops from both the Compaq and HP brands. Most recently, the HP
ZE4115, purchased in October of 2002.

Both my Compaq Presario (do not remember the model) and my HP Pavillion
suffered the same fate after about 2 years of use. They both suffered
from poorly designed power jacks. The power jack on the Compaq
separated completely off of the motherboard, without having ever
received a drop or impact. The HP did not break from the board,
however
it did become loose, and the subsequent electrical arcing within the
component has caused melting of both the laptop's external casing as
well as the tip of the connector on the power cord. It can no longer
power the laptop. I also believe this to be a fire hazard.

I have read that this is a common problem with HP and Compaq laptops.
Of course, it can be expected that this component would be vulnerable
to
breaking if any laptop was dropped while the power cord is plugged in,
but this does not seem to really be the reason that so many people are
reporting this problem.

For me, the problem became very apparent once I opened both laptops and
tried to repair them (both laptops being too old to be covered by
warranty). The problem is that any loads (physical stress, not
electrical) that are transmitted into the cord (either by a bump or a
snag) are transmitted directly into the power jack, and to the mother
board. This is absolutely a horrible design. The weight of the cord
alone transmitts a pretty substantial load into this frail electrical
component.

I cannot purchase another laptop from HP knowing that this problem and
design still exists. I recommend redesigning your power jacks so that
any physical stress loads that are placed on the power cord, are
trasmitted directly into the laptop case rather than onto the
electrical components. I also recommend recessing the power jack
futher
into the computer, so that that there is no protrusion of the male
connector at the end of the power cord.

I can provide further description of my proposed solution if you have
any interest at all.

erauskydiver · Member Joined: 27 Nov 2005 Posts: 2

Here is HP's response:

Thank you for contacting HP Total Care.

Completely satisfying customers is our top priority. We appreciate you
giving us the opportunity to provide you with superior customer
service.

I can understand your frustration over the issue with power jack in HP
notebooks and I would like to share that many of customers have come
with the issue you have described and we have forwarded this regard to
our higher authorities and they will soon come up with the resolution
for this issue and they will make sure that this kind of issues will
not
be experienced with our new HP model notebooks and as the older models
of HP and Compaq notebook have this kind of issues and to fix this they
have to send the notebook to HP service center if the notebook is in
warranty to get the power jack replaced with a new one.

However, we are also suggesting our customers to contact third party
vendors where they will replace the power jack of the notebook, if the
part is not available from HP.

for your reference I am providing you with this web site which also
offers service to customers, wherein, the customer can get the Power
Jack replaced directly through them, at a nominal charge.

Visit the following web page for more information on service options:

http://www.laptopjacks.com/service.php

NOTE: The URL above will take you to a non HP Web site. HP does
not control and is not responsible for information outside
of the HP Web site.

I am sure the information provided will be helpful and addressed your
concern.

Please let me know if I can be of any further assistance. I take great
pleasure in helping an esteemed customer like you.

Glad to be of Service

KansasUser · Forum Regular Joined: 29 Oct 2005 Posts: 14

Good old HP. scr**ed the customers again.

For those of you with a power jack problem and no HP warranty, HP has the following advice:

"for your reference I am providing you with this web site which also
offers service to customers, wherein, the customer can get the Power
Jack replaced directly through them, at a nominal charge."

If you click on the website, you are directed to an organization that will fix your laptop jack for $169 fee plus $40 shipping, or a "nominal" total of $209. That cost to you is for a bad design on their part, not any misuse on your part.

Do these idiot HP execs ever get their heads out of their butts?

airpear · Member Joined: 29 Nov 2005 Posts: 1

Does anyone know of a repair shop in Florida? Preferably near Tallhassee? I need my laptop for Law School and I'm having power supply problems with my HP zv5000.

photolobo

thank god im not the only one ..... compaq presario r3000 ... essential for my business .... started having a power plug issue .....and almost immediately turned into real problem ..... sometimes taking minutes to establish a connection .....if i held my mouth right and draped the cord in just the right way ....it would work ..... except if i left it on .....it invariably would lose power. compaq service gave a single choice .... motherboard replacement at almost $600 canadian . reading the posts ..... seems like there are few choices ....... replace motherboard ..... use a media cord from hp .... find someone who will attempt repair .... or throw laptop away .... i will try the media cord for immediate relief .... but need to find someone to "permanently" fix the power plug problem. I live in british columbia in canada .... near vancouver ..... does anyone have any info on someone in this area that will be able to repair this issue for me ?? ( sorry ken ...but customs is a *** sometimes .... or would be packaged for you already .... will keep you in mind for backup plan though )

Ben Myers · Guest

QUICK! Return the computer to Best Buy under its No-Lemon Policy!!!!

.... Ben Myers

On Sun, 27 Nov 2005 17:31:14 GMT, no@spam.invalid (freefall) wrote:

Ben Myers · Guest

Cut your losses. Buy another brand of laptop computer, not an HP, Compaq or
Hpaq. Remove the hard drive from the Presario and get a cheap and easy external
IDE-USB cable + external transformer. Plug the Presario's hard drive into the
external USB hardware, plug the hardware into the new laptop's USB port, and
copy all your data files from the old hard drive to the new laptop. You WILL
need to reinstall all software on the new laptop.

May I suggest a Dell Latitude (the Dell "business" line of laptop) or an
IBM/Lenovo ThinkPad. Other people may have other brands to recommend.

.... Ben Myers

On Sat, 03 Dec 2005 13:30:34 GMT, no@spam.invalid (photolobo) wrote:

Stefaan A Eeckels · Guest

On Sat, 03 Dec 2005 21:27:26 GMT
ben_myers_spam_me_not @ charter.net (Ben Myers) wrote:

davidl · Member Joined: 05 Dec 2005 Posts: 1

Hi,
About a year ago I bought a Pavilion ZV5000 and I started having problems with the ac adapter being loose about 4 months ago. For about a month now, the ac adapter falls out if the computer is moved at all. This morning the screen went dim. I can still read it, but its not easy.

Is this the beginning of the end for this pc? I see some people have had similar problems, I'm thinking this might be the time to get a new pc and get all my data moved over.

I've tried to talk to HP about the ac adapter problem, but they want me to buy an extended warranty and I've made up my mind not to give them any more money.

Thanks.

David

photolobo

I have ordered a new high capacity battery plus the hp all media cables ..... according to the local compaq service depot .... this should solve my problem ( they couldnt for some reason order me the cables !!! even though they are hp cables ) the work-around fix was something they didnt know before i told them ... glad to help with training of trained techs ...... maybe they will now be able to differently advise the next unfortunate victim of underdesign. in the future i will find someone to repair completely. New boards are
readily available online ....for less than $100 ...but if they will break soon as well because of this design flaw .... what is the point ??
question for i kenfixit ..... can the power socket on a new board be made more substantial before installing a new board ??
....len

Alan · Guest

David,

Please contact me off list.

Consumerlaw1@earthlink.net

Alan

On Mon, 05 Dec 2005 13:30:33 GMT, no@spam.invalid (davidl) wrote: