Did anyone order a refurb/scratch and dent radiance model from the Outlet Store?

I ordered mine back last thursday, and was supposed to receive it today, however to my dismay the fedex truck delivering my 160gb ssd S+D radiance model was delayed an extra day. I'm currently on my BV replacement model and I really don't seem to mind the screen so far besides the smallish resolution, I'm used to 1440x900 on my old thinkpad.

Anyone receive their's yet? I'm interested in what kind of cosmetic damages are we talking about and if everything else was in order.

 

I got one coming tomorrow also. I will let you know what mine looks like.

 

I got mine! I cannot find a scratch or scuff on it. The only thing I see wrong with it is that it has a sideways windows 7 sticker on the palm area. My new envy doesnt have a sticker. Also I dont know what they changed this but my new envy keys are rubberized and the refurb keys are not.

 

oh and it doesnt come in an envy box. I wonder if that counts as scratch and dent.

 

well, my envy box had holes and tears so the box may not matter too much.


'course luckily for me there was a box inside the box.

 

Nice, that's good news! I'd laugh if the main difference between a S+D and a Refurb is the box it comes in. Unfortunate about the keys, I bet that might've been an issue on the model first hand. What do you think about the screen? Worth keeping the refurb over the new? Or are you going to do the screen switch and sell the refurb on ebay.

Does it have the fan issues/CPU whine that was prevalent on the earlier models? I'm just wondering if HP actually fixed the reason why they were returned rather than just repackaging and reshipping.

 

Keep the new one it has a 2 year warranty. The screen is not as great as everyone made it seem. It is better but the stock screen doesnt look bad next to it. I will be swapping the screen and the ssd into the new one then selling the refurb. No cpu or fan problems. I got no envy box at all. Maybe these came with damaged boxes from china and hp just sold them as scratch and dent because of it. It looks like it was never used.

 

Its easy to replace the screen. HP did a really good job with the way this thing comes apart. Very solid. I just pulled off the whole lid and put the other one on. I just noticed there is a spec of dust in my screen. Does this screen just pull apart at the top? I am afraid to pull.

 

I believe there was another topic where a user actually replaced the screen itself, keeping the encasement the same on each. Are you planning on buying a back up BV display incase you need to return it for warranty?

 

I ordered 2 because I had a feeling they were going to send me one with a stuck pixel. And I was right.

Both has scratches and scruffs on it, though somewhat minor. Battery wear is between 4-9%. One has 2 stuck (bright red) pixels next to each other. Other one had dusts UNDER the plastic cover.

I am returning the one with the stuck pixels. On the other one, I popped open the plastic cover and removed the dust myself so now the screen is perfect. So I am keeping that one, which fortunately has the SSD. The one with the stuck pixel doesn't have an SSD, as it was my "backup".

Overall, I do not recommend buying the scratch and dent. It feels like buying "used". I've had better experience with Dell's scratch and dent. Clearly both of mine were used for several months and not that well taken care of. I also don't know why they would inspect the screen, see 2 stuck pixel next to each other, and still try to sell it.

 

Yep just stick your fingers in the top crack and the screen pulls apart. You cant get to the lower part but it comes apart enough to stick a micro fiber cloth in there and clean it. Dust will prob get in there from time to time since its not really sealed.

Im not getting a replacement bv display. I called up hp and was told that whatever I replace wont be covered under waranty but everything else still would be.

 

Mine looked new but I also had dust in the screen.

 

Can anyone confirm this? I have a new envy, but the keys are definitely not rubberized. Having rubber keys would be nice to type on, I would think.

 

my keys are not rubberized.

(though my envy is a ct-1000)

 

I definatley have different feeling keys lol. Maybe it will come out on camera. I will take pictures later.

 

SO THAT'S WHAT THAT IS! My new Envy is at the shop being repaired (ETA of 3/28, like seriously??) so I have nothing to compare to and couldn't figure out why the keys feel so different. I thought it's because it is a used laptop...

 

Edit:My Samsung 256GB SSD's firmware does not support TRIM, and apparently cannot be upgraded to do so All that follows is no longer of essence for me, but it is a report on the overall condition of a scratch/dent Envy 14. The good news: great, great machine; the bad news: gotta RMA it because of the SSD. One hope left: HDTune shows two areas of damage to the SSD, so maybe I can get it replaced under the refurb wtty. Don't know if there's time to ship it back to them, have them look it over, decide whether to declare it DOA or consider the problems "minor" then get it back to me in time to claim refund. Ideas??

EDIT: Not supporting TRIM was the least of my problems. I learned that TRIM is not as important as I thought. As long as you don't go past 80% capacity on the SSD, it doesn't matter at all. Plus, apparently the Samsung SSDs that didn't support TRIM can have their firmware updated to do so, though the process is much complicated.

Overall, too many things to deal with on a $1,000 computer that still needed $200 more invested to add a decent wtty. I'm returning the refurb and taking the take-it-or-leave-it 8540w with Dream Color 2 screen in exchange for the new Envy with defective radiance. Doubt I will crack the seal on that and will just sell it to the highest bidder, surely more than what I paid for the Envy.

Moral of the story: do not allow an "executive case manager" to be assigned to your case. They are nothing like the regular case managers that actually take care of your product problems, and there is absolutely no recourse above them, no matter how badly they handle your case. Word to the wise.

 

Wooo finally got my hands on mine, the scratches are barely noticeable as they're really more a light smudge on the bottom than anything. Haven't had a chance to boot it up as I'm at work, but I'll do it tonight. Also compare loading times/fan noise/speed between the newer BV with 256 SSD vs the Radiance with 160 SSD.

Now I have to decided whether to swap the screens and sell the refurb for a small loss or just keep the refurb and get all my cash back on the BV. Assuming, the screen is in full working order... *knock on wood*

 

I couldn't help myself, I turned it on and let it get set up. Wow! the screen really is THAT good. the resolution is just the perfect size and the viewing angles and such are great. I'm very happy, I might just return the new BV with the comment, found a radiance, it's that much better, never use BV screens again. haha

 

hey there is an update for those of us that got the 160gb intel ssd. Go to intel website and download the firmware intsal tool.

 

where's that bigwood, I just searched around the website to no avail. Love the laptop so far, not even going to bother switching the screens, I'm probably just going to keep the refurb.

 

There are 3 black stickers covering the bottom of the screen. Pull these stickers off, and you'll find 2 screws. These are the screws that are preventing you from opening the screen.