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ikenfixit
GURU
Joined: 31 Aug 2004
Posts: 391
Location: Northern Michigan
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 Posted: Fri Sep 02, 2005 2:30 pm Post subject: Re: HP Pavilion Laptop Owners with Bad Power Jacks.... |
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Many thanx to you in return JB... "ANY" issues with the unit do not hesitate to pick up the phone. We take care of our customers 100% 800tech did nothing wrong and I can see where they ran into an issue on the short. These are hard to find parts for and many components are propietary in design. We are going to be seeing a ton of these hot-boxes as were getting 5-10 per week now.. (HP!! Do you want to buy a design for a jack to eliminate all problems)? Its in the works..
www.ikenfixit.com |
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loverboyd
Member
Joined: 25 Aug 2005
Posts: 2
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| Posted: Mon Sep 05, 2005 3:29 pm Post subject: Re: HP Pavilion Laptop Owners with Bad Power Jacks.... |
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Just to get back to you all. I bought the docking station off of ebay for 39 dollars, and my computer is working perfectly now. It's a little bit more of a hassle to carry around with me, but it delivers power great.
Plus I have 3 more USB ports now. |
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Jane Doe
Guest
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| Posted: Fri Sep 09, 2005 3:32 am Post subject: Re: HP Pavilion Laptop Owners with Bad Power Jacks.... |
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intrepid_dw@hotmail.com wrote:
| Quote: | I have, like many of you, been the unfortunate owner of an HP
Pavilion-series laptop with the infamous weakling power-jack problem.
If you're wondering, this problem is usually typified by symptoms like:
* Spontaneous and instantaneous power-downs of the laptop for no
apparent reason
* Refusal to start or charge a properly inserted battery
* Movement of the AC power adapter plug causing power "glitches"
* "Clicking" noises emerging from the area near the power plug
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Yep, that's exactly what I'm seeing with my xt4316wm. That's why I came
here tonight, all set to post a tale of woe only to find that there's a
HUGE thread all about it! :-)
In my case, the notebook was fine for approximately 1-1/2 years. About
six months ago I noticed--but didn't care, since I run it via AC power
99.99% of the time--that the battery light was constantly flashing
orange. Then, about a month or two ago, I started having the "sudden
loss of power" issue. It ALWAYS happens as a result of moving the
laptop, even the slightest bit. Of course I had checked for loose
connections, but both ends of the adapter were always securely plugged in.
Finally, today, I decided to TRY using HP's tech support to see if they
could offer any advice/solutions. Since I was unaware that this is a
known issue--at least known to people who post here!--I approached it as
something that was a problem for me only. And you know what? The tech
acted that way too! Never once did he say, "Oh yeah--THAT problem!" He
suggested various things to try, all of which either didn't apply or
would be a total waste of time. For example, he suggested letting the
battery run all the way down...but my battery isn't holding a charge, so
that's not an option. Then he said to reset the power management via
Control Panel, blah blah blah, and reboot. Great, except for one thing:
I dual boot Linux and 'doze on it; if the problem had anything to do
with 'doze power management, the problem wouldn't exist when I'm running
Linux--but it does.
Well, I'm glad to know it's not just me. |
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ikenfixit
GURU
Joined: 31 Aug 2004
Posts: 391
Location: Northern Michigan
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| Posted: Sat Sep 10, 2005 9:06 pm Post subject: Jane doe.. |
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| Whatever you do do NOT let these morons have you update the BIOS on a machine thats having power problems.. (Been through this a hundred times on the 2100/2500 Compaqs and the twin HP's) Asking for a bigger issue is all this will accomplish. DC Jacks are a problem on all notebooks and Fujitsu as well as Toshiba seem to be the most well developed and dependable..I'd say IBM 3rd... (Althought hey have issues of their own).. If you need help just yell. It is repairable and the longer it goes the worse these get. |
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jleoussis
Member
Joined: 14 Sep 2005
Posts: 2
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| Posted: Wed Sep 14, 2005 7:18 am Post subject: Re: HP Pavilion Laptop Owners with Bad Power Jacks.... |
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I'll be brief. I own a Pavilion zx5171ea (3.2Ghz, 80GB, ATI Radeon 9600). Sounds like a potent, hefty desktop replacement huh? Well let me tell you, even a desktop is more portable than my piece of crap. Bought it a year and up to now I have encountered 4 major hardware failures (it's such a pleasure waiting for the next prob to hit u).
1) after 2 months of operation, the screen started to flicker and displayed horizontal lines. Cause? Faulty motherboard. Replaced under HP warranty
2) 2 months later, performance started to deteriorate rapidly (freezes, shutdowns) eventually leading the machine to crash. Cause? Hard Disk Failure. Lost all my files (although i'm a reg. back-up'er). Replaced under HP warranty.
3) 3 months later, battery wouldn't last for more than 5 minutes although for 8 months this junk was almost always on AC power. Cause? Dead battery cells. Replaced under HP warranty.
4) And of course why would I bother writing on this forum if I didn't have a new problem with the crappy DC power jack. The lead was wobbling from the first day of purchase (showing the low-end, unacceptable quality materials HP has come to use) and right now I've been using my sister's Pavilion (oh yeah we were that stupid!!!) to recharge etc etc. Cause? Cheap, no-good material used. No warranty left.
I have bashed HP support numerous times in the past, I've written some letters of complaint (aggresive ones) only to receive the same treatment: IGNORANCE. Apparently my warranty has expired (which for me isn't a prob coz the next time it breaks down i'll make a frisbee out of it) so I'm stuck with a machine that doesn't run on AC and when it starts off with a fresh 100% charged bat it runs for an hour and 20 mins tops (it's hungry too even with the display brightness at the lowest levels).
Ken from Ikenfixit, you're probably one of the last technicians that will ever lay hands on this baby. I'll never spend a single dime on this thing not even to buy a spray to clean the monitor. I'll contact ikenfixit.com by tomorrow and arrange a repair for they seem to have high-levels of customer satisfaction (really, how much is it for a DC jack replacement?).
That's all. Oh and sth else.
HP, as a friend has already mentioned, has nothing to do with the traditionally high-quality, reasonbly priced products company we all knew. Even the printer paper they sell may suffer from harware failures.
Take care y'all and patience to all of us (naive, romantic, or even stupid consumers) who made the mistake to go for HP notebook.
_________________
Jason
Pavilion zx5171ea |
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jleoussis
Member
Joined: 14 Sep 2005
Posts: 2
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| Posted: Wed Sep 14, 2005 7:18 am Post subject: Re: HP Pavilion Laptop Owners with Bad Power Jacks.... |
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I'll be brief. I own a Pavilion zx5171ea (3.2Ghz, 80GB, ATI Radeon 9600). Sounds like a potent, hefty desktop replacement huh? Well let me tell you, even a desktop is more portable than my piece of crap. Bought it a year and up to now I have encountered 4 major hardware failures (it's such a pleasure waiting for the next prob to hit u).
1) after 2 months of operation, the screen started to flicker and displayed horizontal lines. Cause? Faulty motherboard. Replaced under HP warranty
2) 2 months later, performance started to deteriorate rapidly (freezes, shutdowns) eventually leading the machine to crash. Cause? Hard Disk Failure. Lost all my files (although i'm a reg. back-up'er). Replaced under HP warranty.
3) 3 months later, battery wouldn't last for more than 5 minutes although for 8 months this junk was almost always on AC power. Cause? Dead battery cells. Replaced under HP warranty.
4) And of course why would I bother writing on this forum if I didn't have a new problem with the crappy DC power jack. The lead was wobbling from the first day of purchase (showing the low-end, unacceptable quality materials HP has come to use) and right now I've been using my sister's Pavilion (oh yeah we were that stupid!!!) to recharge etc etc. Cause? Cheap, no-good material used. No warranty left.
I have bashed HP support numerous times in the past, I've written some letters of complaint (aggresive ones) only to receive the same treatment: IGNORANCE. Apparently my warranty has expired (which for me isn't a prob coz the next time it breaks down i'll make a frisbee out of it) so I'm stuck with a machine that doesn't run on AC and when it starts off with a fresh 100% charged bat it runs for an hour and 20 mins tops (it's hungry too even with the display brightness at the lowest levels).
Ken from Ikenfixit, you're probably one of the last technicians that will ever lay hands on this baby. I'll never spend a single dime on this thing not even to buy a spray to clean the monitor. I'll contact ikenfixit.com by tomorrow and arrange a repair for they seem to have high-levels of customer satisfaction (really, how much is it for a DC jack replacement?).
That's all. Oh and sth else.
HP, as a friend has already mentioned, has nothing to do with the traditionally high-quality, reasonbly priced products company we all knew. Even the printer paper they sell may suffer from harware failures.
Take care y'all and patience to all of us (naive, romantic, or even stupid consumers) who made the mistake to go for HP notebook.
_________________
Jason
Pavilion zx5171ea |
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fxyekim
Guest
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| Posted: Sat Sep 17, 2005 6:32 pm Post subject: Re: HP Pavilion Laptop Owners with Bad Power Jacks.... |
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I have a ZD7000 that's having the power problem now. Can anyone here verify
whether the ZD7000 can run without a battery inserted? I cannot verify from
HP support whether it will run without a battery inserted.
The AC monitor on the front panel is not lighting up. My problem could be
the battery or the powerjack. I had a tech guy re-solder the powerjack but
it's still not working. He even showed me that power is going thru by
testing with a voltmeter on the other side of the jack. Big deal, cost me
$165 for nothing.
The docking station option could be a cheap way to go. Unless I can verify
whether nothing is wrong anywhere else like the power distribution module,
I'm just spinning my wheels.
Ken, can you help here? How do I ship it, I don't have the original
shipping box anymore. It's 2 years old.
Mike
"dementedapple" <dementedapple@hotmail-dot-com.no-spam.invalid> wrote in
message news:MqCLe.31444$D21.10152@fe07.news.easynews.com...
| Quote: | I have been looking for a good notebook for some time now and it seems
that every time I find one that has all im am looking for in a pc
there is something imposibly wrong with it and will become usless
after a month of worck this is frustrating. I cant even begin to
imagin how the people who bought this *** are feeling now if any one
knows some great laptop short of a thoghbook plz send me a message
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ikenfixit
GURU
Joined: 31 Aug 2004
Posts: 391
Location: Northern Michigan
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| Posted: Mon Sep 19, 2005 3:53 pm Post subject: Re: HP Pavilion Laptop Owners with Bad Power Jacks.... |
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The fact they resoldered the jack and its still inop could mean a Field effect transistor or diode in the supply line is shorted open or across. Does the adapter start pinging when its plugged in?(Led flashing and making noise) Also look at the jack and see if its Gold or silver as the gold are the ones breaking at the rear and resoldering the jack to the board will not do anything to help this issue. We'd be more than happy to check it and give you a free asesment. We dont charge for laptops we do not repair but I'd say eithr way yours should not be an issue. Address as well as shipping info is available at www.ikenfixit.com Feel fre to call if you need further help.
Ken |
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bwinzenz
Member
Joined: 20 Sep 2005
Posts: 1
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| Posted: Tue Sep 20, 2005 1:54 pm Post subject: Re: HP Pavilion Laptop Owners with Bad Power Jacks.... |
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| TonyG wrote: | | Any more word on the docking station possibilty. I have an HP ZD7000 and would get it fixed, but dont want the hassle if i can just buy a used docking station and fix it. |
I have the "exact" same problem with my ZD7000, where the power jack simply stopped working. In fact, if I plug in the power cord now, the laptop shorts out and shuts off (have to unplug the battery to get it to turn back on). We bought a docking station for around $75 almost a year ago and it works great. The ZD7000 docking stations will supply power to the notebook via the docking station connector. It makes typing on the built-in keyboard a bit hard as the speakers in the docking station cover the touchpad (yes, you'll need an external mouse) and make it hard to get to the space bar (and other keys on the first row), but it's still usable. I may try ikenfixit at some point in the future, but right now we don't travel with this laptop (we use my work laptop - Dell Latitude D600), so fixing the AC connector isn't the absolute highest priority. I am on my second laptop. The AC connector went out after about 9 months and was replaced under warranty. The replacement lasted for about 5 months (by then, the 1 year warranty was up, so I didn't bother calling HP).
Ben |
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ikenfixit
GURU
Joined: 31 Aug 2004
Posts: 391
Location: Northern Michigan
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| Posted: Wed Sep 21, 2005 2:05 pm Post subject: Re: HP Pavilion Laptop Owners with Bad Power Jacks.... |
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| Shutdown when the adapter is inserted sounds like one of the FET's is definitley shorted. Glad to help down the road if we can. Docking station shouldnt cause further issues as this bypasses the adapter supply line. |
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W Chan
Guest
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| Posted: Wed Sep 21, 2005 3:31 pm Post subject: Re: HP Pavilion Laptop Owners with Bad Power Jacks.... |
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you all seem to refer to the zd seris ...
has anyone hv problems with the DV series. (eg. dv4170ca.. or the dv4000
series in general..) ? i am considering to get one this week....
thks.
w.
vancouver bc
--
"ikenfixit" <ken@ikenfixit-dot-com.no-spam.invalid> wrote in message
news:n9eYe.183384$AI1.84285@fe02.news.easynews.com...
| Quote: | Shutdown when the adapter is inserted sounds like one of the FET's is
definitley shorted. Glad to help down the road if we can. Docking
station shouldnt cause further issues as this bypasses the adapter
supply line.
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Dewaine Chan
Guest
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| Posted: Fri Sep 23, 2005 1:32 am Post subject: Re: HP Pavilion Laptop Owners with Bad Power Jacks.... |
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You really shoudl take the overall rating of the company's approach to
quality control into consideration. If a company consistently makes
inferious products not caring about quality, do you really want to go with
it??? Just something to ask yourself before you spend the money.
Dewaine Chan
W Chan wrote:
| Quote: | you all seem to refer to the zd seris ...
has anyone hv problems with the DV series. (eg. dv4170ca.. or the dv4000
series in general..) ? i am considering to get one this week....
thks.
w.
vancouver bc
--
"ikenfixit" <ken@ikenfixit-dot-com.no-spam.invalid> wrote in message
news:n9eYe.183384$AI1.84285@fe02.news.easynews.com...
Shutdown when the adapter is inserted sounds like one of the FET's is
definitley shorted. Glad to help down the road if we can. Docking
station shouldnt cause further issues as this bypasses the adapter
supply line.
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Jane Doe
Guest
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| Posted: Mon Sep 26, 2005 10:33 pm Post subject: Re: Jane doe.. |
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ikenfixit wrote:
| Quote: | Whatever you do do NOT let these morons have you update the BIOS on a
machine thats having power problems.. (Been through this a hundred
times on the 2100/2500 Compaqs and the twin HP's) Asking for a bigger
issue is all this will accomplish. DC Jacks are a problem on all
notebooks and Fujitsu as well as Toshiba seem to be the most well
developed and dependable..I'd say IBM 3rd... (Althought hey have
issues of their own).. If you need help just yell. It is repairable
and the longer it goes the worse these get.
|
Sorry for the long delay, but I hadn't checked back here since I posted.
Don't worry! There's NO WAY I would let those morons convince me to do
ANYTHING.
I'm debating what to do at this point. The laptop is basically useless
now--it's impossible to keep it from powering off, even for a few
seconds, so it's just sitting unused in my bedroom. I'm EXTREMELY
interested in joining a class-action suit if anyone else is so inclined.
I'm also considering contacting HP myself and essentially telling them,
"YOU know it's a problem, I know it's a problem, lots of other people
know it's a problem...so what are you going to do about it?" and see
what they say. |
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kgarg01
Member
Joined: 28 Sep 2005
Posts: 1
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| Posted: Wed Sep 28, 2005 7:22 pm Post subject: Re: HP Pavilion Laptop Owners with Bad Power Jacks.... |
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| Hey! this forum appears to provide some hope to the hp pavilion desolates'!! I own a zt3000 and looks like hp timed it very well as soon after expiring my 1yr of default warranty, I started to have all sorts of problems. And now I'm at the point where the laptop doesn't power et al; my $1700 worth of investment just seems to drain out. After reading all these forums, I don't think it's worth investing any time with hp tech support. So, folks, what's the word out, besides contacting the last hope Ken from ikenfixit? |
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ikenfixit
GURU
Joined: 31 Aug 2004
Posts: 391
Location: Northern Michigan
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| Posted: Sat Oct 01, 2005 6:24 pm Post subject: Re: HP Pavilion Laptop Owners with Bad Power Jacks.... |
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| Good luck Jane Doe.. I Even on occasion get customers calling in that purchased extended warrantys, After three HP board replaces failing they have sometimes opted to send to them us and hopefully be done with this headache every 6-8 mo's.. HP Tried to rectify the origional jacks that were failing when they broke at the rear of the positive pin.(Gold center pin visibly). They went to a hard wire-positive lead jack(Silver) and although these are a good jack the lead itself overheats and causes a ring-crack and a bad solder joint not long after the board replacement. Weve been paralling a second lead to help dessipate heat and should be an end to the issue.. (As well as connecting the jack more efficientley to the systemboard).. As to the Class action or petition? I'd simply suggest starting a free blog, Compiling names, Addresses, And issues. (We are swamped but if you want to send us an email we will store it).. Who better to know than he who gets these in for repairs? I will remain neuteral, Will NOT disclose personal info and we are members of the better busines bureau of western Michigan and would like to remain as such. I can honestley say without doubt that since we started this business almost three years ago, Compaq's and HP's have been at the top of our repair list. This can be proven and if you look on E-bay for laptop parts you can tell by whats selling the most, And what laptops are highly listed for parts. Just a thought.. Ken |
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