ENVY 14 RADIANCE: Ordered, not cancelled, DELIVERED - DISASTER!

I can't exactly say why I am posting this other than for shoulders to cry on and, if anyone has inside knowledge as to an approach I might use to deal with this problem:

First, the great news: my Envy 14 with Radiance arrived at my door today at 3:00 EST!

Now, the bad news: THE SCREEN IS DEFECTIVE!!!!!

It has two vertical turquoise lines running from the upper left quadrant of the screen, the first one beginning about one inch from the right side, from the top of the screen and for about 1 inch. It has a parallel line just one inch to the left of it, extending down about 3/4 inch instead of the full inch. Then, on a bright white background, you can see slight marks, like small dashes, a bit further down the screen from the two lines. Each line is about the thickness of a medium point felt marker and, again, is turquoise in color on a white background. The rest of the screen is, well perfect.

After going through several call centers, departments and layers of management, I got the usual HP drones who told me there were no more Radiance screens so I was SOL, just like those whose orders were canceled or, for that matter, that didn't even get placed in time. I was feeling increasingly angry, but strangely not discouraged.

Well, I've purchased no fewer than 11 HP notebooks from the Home/Home Office div. of HP in the past year (many not for myself) so I had a few names and phone numbers that were still current, and by the fifth person I spoke to, I got rather strong assurance that, despite the complete sellout of radiance screens for new computers, there are sufficient quantities in inventory to handle warranty claims for the next five years! She further assured me that a box with a shipping label would be overnighted to me to arrive tomorrow (Fri) and that my Envy with a replaced Radiance should be returned to me in 7-10 days. She did not equivocate and she apologized profusely for those who led me to believe otherwise. She made it clear that once I bought, paid for and received delivery of an Envy 14, HP is committed to stock parts to repair it for five years from the last date the model is sold. She apologized many times - for the inconvenience as well as the misinformation I'd received.

Well, I feel a lot better than I did earlier, but will remain skeptical until I have my computer back with a flawless Radiance screen.

Caveat emptor!

 

well if that's the case then I don't understand why everyone who sent in their radiance Envy for repair had it delayed for over a month and then gave up and asked for it back or a refund...I hope the rep was right about what she told you..they do have radiacne displays available in the parts store so it does make sense. I feel bad for you, but then again, 1 defective display out of the many that were today isn't too bad

 

There is absolutely no way in hell they have a five year supply of radiance screens, especially considering that the longest warranty you can buy on an Envy is 3 years, I believe.

I believe they have a stockpile and I totally think you'll be taken care of, but she was pulling that number out of her butt.

 

I do hope things work out for you lovelaptops.

 

That really sucks to be honest, but worse case scenario is to just get a refund and move on to something else. If HP saying is true, Radiance is gone and most likely any warranty repairs done on Radiance models involving the display in the future will resort to a downgrade to the BrightView. So if you brought it for the Radiance, refund is the preferred method mate.

 

Thanks for all your support. I asked a manufacturing lawyer buddy and it is a law that manufacturers of electronic products sold in the U.S. are required to stock five years' - and here's the catch - estimated replacement parts required for five years from the last date of manufacture - nothing to do with warranty, but even out of warranty manufactured goods must have replacement parts available for five years. It's in the Uniform Commercial Code of the U.S. Code. Loopholes abound: who estimates the rate at which any given part of the product is expected to fail over 5 years? Which parts can the manufacturer rely upon others to make available? If they have reasonable expectation that another manufacturer will still make or at least stock a given part, they have met the requirement - even if it turns out not to be the available, if they acted "in good faith." Who in business operates on good faith any more, lol?

Oh well, I found the Director of Customer Relations (one of a staff of 13 Directors and Managers who are the "gatekeepers" for HP Home/Home Office customer affairs) sounded like she had both authority and integrity. (the only bad news was she said she was going out on maternity leave in 2 weeks, lol!) but she gave me a name and direct phone number of her boss.

Count me as one who will be more than bummed - more like burning angry - if this thing doesn't get resolved. I honestly don't think I would have felt this way if my order was too late to be accepted, or even if it got canceled. I just cannot abide by having the damn thing in my hands and seeing those obnoxious blue streaks on the screen and imagine being told: sorry, you almost got there, but you lost it on a technicality! I have never been f---d by HP in the long run, so I'm hoping this won't change the unbroken streak.

Again, appreciate the words of support. Will keep you posted.

 

Sorry I didn't highlight your awfully nice message, Joe. Thank you.

 

When i received mine today there were 2 big punctures in the outside box. luckily they didn't penetrate the inside box but these were 3 inchs long and completely open holes. like someone stabbed it twice with a huge knife. Fedex delivered my 1st slice battery and it had a chip on the outside corner so i ordered another. When the next one came i heard him pull up and looked through the blinds to see him throw the battery 5 feet to my door. I almost drop kicked him in the face! the second i walked outside he was halfway back to his truck and started running and left really quick like he knew he had done something wrong. Maybe this happened to you? Anyways, i'm so sorry to hear about this horrible situation and i hope you get a brand new beautiful radiance. lucky for you i'm sure the reason they cancelled the orders was not because they ran out but because they realized they needed some for warranty purposes.

 

I figured that stock was so scarce that warranty was gonna be an issue. And if you thought people who got their orders cancelled was mad.... people who actually GOT the product in their hand, and well... got a defect would be furious! The lucky got lucked, and wasted more time!

 

If i'm picking up my envy and moving it even an inch i'm closing the lid. (knocks on wood)

 

That's why this forum is so great; Learn, share, laugh, cry Thanks all. Congrats to all who got the brass ring.

 

Oh man, my heart goes out to you. That's so disappointing.

 

QC must be really poor out there ... for a "premium" product, it's disappointing.

 

i'm sure that most people who get an envy don't come to the forums to post that they're is flawless. THe people that do come to post here are those that are into technology and want to research a product fully, and those that sign up to tell about their problems. I don't think the amount of failures that these forums report are a good indication of the quality of the laptops. With that said, it sucks that the OP has gotten a laptop like that, and hopefully he can get everything fixed and back in a timely manner.

 

I agree, a good chunk of people that come here do have issues. They found this place by researching their issue.

 

I think you're right, and there was a major trend away from QC complaints for the latest E14 on these threads. Even with HP notebooks that people have wailed about, I have generally had nothing but good experiences (except for an Elitebook tablet, but ultimately HP took such good care of me that one goes in the + column too!), so I guess I was "due" by the old law of averages. Be interesting to see how many such issues are reported on this last batch of Radiances, hustled together as they apparently were. (FYI, while not seen on the surface, by pressing lightly on my LCD where the lines appeared, you can see the screen had a physical shock.)

The update is: HP sent me the send-back box overnight and the shipping label back was Priority Overnight, so they seem to mean business about repairing it. Fingers crossed.

Thanks again for all the support.

 

lovelaptops, you know we are all wishing you the best in getting your Envy and the radiance screen up and running! Please keep us all updated as to when you get it back and how it looks and feel, please. lol


KJ

 

KJ,

Thank you for your supportive, uplifting posts. It just so happens that this relatively unimportant disappointment (it is "just a computer," after all, and I do own several superb ones), it came at the end of a truly devastating week for me and I had kind of psyched myself to let the Envy+Radiance I had the great good fortune to get provide some "gadget therapy."

I have to say that I looked back at your post, with its winks and lols, and it gave me pause for just a second that perhaps you were (perhaps legitimately) giving me a friendly poke in the rib for obsessing so over every detail and perhaps melodramatizing my "grave disappointment" over a hunk of metal.

Decided first impression was right: you are just a really nice guy and one of those NBR-ers who, as I like to think I do as well, let members who are bummed "feel the love" from the only people on the planet who could appreciate how getting almost to the finish line only to have the display crap out is just a bigger hit than "disappointing."

Thanks for that. And just in case you were parodying, that's cool too. No warm fuzzies, but humor is always good too.

Good luck on that Envy 17 3D

 

Nope, it was not a poke for obsessing...really? LMFAO..look at me. It would be like the pot calling the kettle black! Nuff said, but I've been a little overboard myself regarding the Envy 17 3D SB edition...but shhhhhhhh don't tell anyone.


Yes, I'm just a nice guy, who uses a lot of smilies sometimes, thinking its cool. Anyway, have a great weekend.

KJ

 

Good luck with that....when I sent my laptop in for repairs on 1/13, they told me no later than 1/21. Then it changed to 2/4 online, but then my executive case manager called me and told me that there wont be any radiance displays shipped in from the manufacturing company until 2/25. Thats when I called her out by saying that I had a friend that got an email from HP saying that the company the produces the screens had shut down, and they were no longer being produced.

HP will make you run around in circles like a headless chicken, pushing dates farther and farther to the point you will be stressing about something that you shouldnt.
I say get a full refund while you can, and just move on like another poster had posted.

 

Please try to get it replaced. My Envy also has a defective Radiance screen (although that's rather minor, TBH) and I would like to know if it's possible to get the screen replaced. I don't live in the US, so I don't want to wait with my laptop being in HP's service center for a few months only for them to find out there are no replacement parts in stock left ATM (happened once already, told them to ship it with unreplaced screen, I hope I'll have more luck now).

 

Thanks for the advice, however distressing. Just so I understand, did you receive an Envy 14 with a Radiance display as part of the very recent and short lived promotion, or did you have one from long ago that had a problem, such that you sent it in for repair and got this runaround? Not sure it will make a difference, but as I call to follow up it will be helpful to know as much as I can about what others have been told. I was told by the Director of Customer Relations for HP Home/Home Office that they do have Radiance displays specifically earmarked to replace any defective ones sent during this promotion. Kind of like the way I could never rest easy that mine wouldn't be canceled until it finally arrived at my door, I guess I will never be able to believe they will actually replace my defective Radiance screen until I get word it's done and on its way back to me. But neither will I give up, ask for a refund, throw in the towel. There's no downside to having some optimism.

 

Joe,
Life's too short to be anything but kind, empathic and supportive. Thanks for reminding me of that.

 

That's most likely correct. That they have a certain allotment for repair. They do this for all their models in order to service warranty claims long after discontinuation of a product. And in this case, since the panel is not fungible, it would be all the more likely.

 

From your mouth to....

 

EDIT: False Alarm. It looks like the rainbow effect is a common issue which goes away after a couple days. I think its some kind of film or moisture in between the plastic cover and the radiance panel.

Repost from the other Radiance thread:

"Just opened mine up and messed around with it. Build quality is just as solid as my first (BV) Envy. The touchpad is slightly raised on the right side but I'm not going to worry about it as it's barely noticeable.

The radiance display is fantastic as everyone else can attest to. Colors are bright, resolution is great, etc. One thing that is a little weird on mine though is that if I look at the screen from a very extreme (almost parallel) angle left or right, there is what looks like a 'rainbow' discoloration in the center. It isn't the actual display as I can see the 'rainbow' whether the machine is on or off. It's 100% unnoticeable at any other angle than the very sides, so I'm not sure what this is. I would speculate that maybe the 'glass' isn't sitting perfectly over the display? I really hope it isn't moisture collected due to turning the laptop on while it was still cold (I let it sit at room temperature for 2 hours before powering on)."


I think I'm going to try to get the screen replaced if I can. Even though I can't see the discoloration head on, I don't want this to escalate into something worse down the road.

lovelaptops, could you PM me your HP service rep info so I can try to get a repair setup? I would be really freaking out right now had you not done some groundwork on this already.

 

Bump.

Anyone with similar news to report - ie, a delivered E14 w/a defective Radiance screen and what has transpired since?

 

My 'rainbow' effect still hasn't gone away since Monday as others have said it would in the official thread (back in August, the last time the Radiance was available). I'm going to give it a week to disappear and if it doesn't, I'll be sending mine in for a replacement screen.

I'm hoping yours goes through without a hitch!

 

Yeah, good call. I'd give it some time....it doesn't hurt and can only help evaporate what remains of the moisture. Your warranty is good for 2 years anyway, I'm sure you can try it out for 1 more week or so. In the end, of course we all hope it works out for you.

KJ

 

Look at my previous posts about my $2800 m15x alienware. Poor QC is fairly common among laptop manufacturers. That said, I love my new envy 14.

 

more QC means less money in corporates pockets, it's cheaper for them to deal with unhappy customers than have an army of QC people in china ...
By dealing with disgruntled customers, I mean rebates, discount, refunds, repairs and such ...

 

Ok... so here's my story:

I also made it through all of these cancellations, and my envy 14 was delivered yesterday. It was perfect... I opened the box; there were no problems on the outside: perfect radiance display, no dead pixels, not much keyboard flex, no problems with touch pad, etc... then I turned it on for the first time
Everything went well until after "registering the product" with HP. The screen then proceeded to go to a green abstract image, and then promptly shut down mid-startup, which apparently messed everything up. When I tried to start it up again, it went to a low res, blue abstract photo. Tried starting it normally, in safe mode, and in 'repair mode'. Nothing worked, each time just went to a pixely abstract image. I left it at the image for over 10 minutes and nothing happened, so I called up the HP support and was put on hold for over an hour. I hung up, tired of waiting. I then tried the online chat support, and finally got the stupid guy to send me free recovery discs (after over an hour of trying to explain what happened). Those should be here in a week
All in all.... a very bad experience with my first HP, and my first high performance laptop. I think the worst part for me is, that knowing that my cheap-o toshiba laptop worked fine the first time, and a brand new $1500 laptop didn't :/
Hope the recovery disks will work... I really don't want to RMA my beautiful radiance display

 

I've been following your Envy 14 radiance journey...and just wow.... and the crazy thing? Its not just you.... I'm sure you've read people with dead pixels, noises, flex, etc....

Yeah, I do hope its just some fluke that recovery disks will solve. No one should lose out on their radiance screens after all that "hard work" to get it. Will be wishing all those the best for a quick resolution.


KJ

 

Thanks, if I have to I might just buy windows 7, and manually install the drivers. And yes, good luck to all others out there with radiance issues!

 

I don't think you need to buy it. You just need to download a copy of the disc or something and then use the product key under your battery, should work. Maybe try using the key to activate later, like after installation, you don't need to enter a key at install.

 

Yeahh, you're right. There's a download thing for clean installs or something in the owner's lounge. I think I'll just wait for the recovery disks though, just to see if those work. I really don't feel like getting all the drivers

 

Drivers are easy and dont feel scared to. There's only like 5 that you absolutely need.

 

"Hard Work" ?

 

Yes, hard work. Where have you been? People wanting the radiance screen have gone through a big ordeal, not knowing if they are getting cancellations, and then they did, then having to find new specs because of no screen...and some then tried to order through the parts store...spending hours on the phone with HP for defects, etc...

Yeah, its hard work, taken hours from one's day/week, etc.

KJ

 

I second this.

 

Third and +1 rep for KJ, for the sensitivity. Yes, both the time spent and the stress are "costly." If this wasn't a promise to my son, I would have just bagged it as soon as the tech center said the replacement screen was "indefinitely" delayed. For others, just having their hearts set on getting this once in a year or two "find" of a fantastic computer at a fantastic price makes it hard for them to just say "shucks" if their order is canceled or arrives defective. Finally, though this is truly a first for me with HP - not a first for a defect (not by a long shot!), but the first time I could not get a problem resolved with persistence and escalation - I see now for the first time why some people become so frustrated they rue the day they bought an HP product. I'm here to day this is an anomaly - again, I mean the inability to get satisfaction after much persistence on the phone and email - and do suggest that anyone going through this not let it taint your feelings about buying from HP in the future. Still, that isn't getting my son a near-professional grade graphics workstation without costing me $3,000 for a machine that you need a hand truck to cart around.

 

False hope maybe, stressfull maybe, worked up yea but it is what it is.
Once ordered you either going to get one or not. It maybe good or defective.
Work, I dont think so.

 

Uhm, ok. I like stressful, but when I said hard work, the intent was just all the "effort" one had to put into this.... time, time, and more time.
I know, its not the classic definition of work = force x distance that we learned in school, but let's just go with this.....lol.

Back on track....where to go from here is to let people express themselves, tell their story (as in this thread here) and hopefully find some kind of resolution.....


KJ

 

Too bad I can't rep you again - it would be for the same virtue, knowing just how it feels, just how to say it, so perhaps one should suffice .

Yes, it's been a whole lot of time invested, first finding who to call/email, waiting on hold, having conversations with people who want to tell you untruths, double talk you with the idea of a screen no longer being manufactured still being "on backorder," asking to escalate to someone with higher authority and being told by a man who admits he can't call anyone nor does he know anyone's name in the service center where my Envy is hostage for a replacement of a DOA radiance, that he is THE highest authority on the matter of getting a screen replaced under warranty. This man is a "Case Manager," which is HP speak for: clerical worker who can email a place , not a person, and ask the place when the part will be in and receive the answer "by March 3, maybe later," and who has no recourse whatsoever to find out how/why it can be that it will take a month to get a part already in HP's possession. And this "Case Manager," I am told by several other sources (including himself) that the Case Manger (bow) is THE HIGHEST AUTHORITY on all aspects of this matter. This man, who, by his own assertion, can do no more than send an email to a place and has no options if the "place" provides an unacceptable answer - he has no manager (apparently he is something of a Co-CEO/Chairman of HP ) - and knows not a soul in all of HP he can call to get some daylight on these amazingly simple, straigthforward questions ("do you have the damn part? are you going to honor your warranty and replace this man's screen? when?") Then, getting nowhere on that angle, one calls all the contacts one has ever had in HP Home/Home Office asking for help, roladex referrals, etc. Then, in spare time, go through the motions of ordering a radiance screen from spare parts, who show it "out of stock" but "on back order," with a 2/18 delivery date quoted. No risk to place the order. Worst case, I get a screen delivered to my home and I call the numb-n-t in Texas who has my computer and tell him I have the screen, can I send it to you and have you install it and send me back my computer? Then go to work with the same parcel of goofs I've been dealing with to get the money I paid for the screen refunded. (Of all the people to deal with, I find the Resolutions staff (who ok refunds, discounts, etc) to be the best.

Thus far I have 5 pages of notebook paper of notes, about 15 names w/phone #s and/or email addresses, etc.. Work? Yeah, a hell of a lot of it. Worth more than the cost of the computer at my professional billing rate. But still ahead of the game compared to the $3,000 workstation I'd need to by my son to have equivalent color gamut and accuracy for his graphics work (vs. $944 and 2-3 lbs less for the Envy.)

Whew, another 10 minutes just writing this post!

 

You're comparing a $3000 workstation to an Envy? If graphics work is the case, you're probably better off spending $300-500 on a Dell U-series monitor than to go through all this bull.

 

If you are doing true graphics rendering work. The graphics card in the Envy is weak. $3000 workstations has justification for their price. They are built with super high end graphic solutions that are masters in graphic rendering. You won't see a true graphic and animation developer using an Envy 14 with Radiance rendering their concepts and projects with Solidworks for instance. They rather use the powerful FirePro solutions in the workstation development.

Also, with that money, the screen selection on a workstation laptop would actually be even more superior than Radiance (think 8740w's DreamColor 2 10-bit IPS). The DreamColor 2 will trash any other laptop screen to pieces in color palette, gamut and vibrance (on top of the high end graphic solutions).

 

Thanks for the comments, but the alternative HP is proposing is an 8440w with a weak graphics card (weaker than the 5650, comparable to the consumer nvidia 310, with 512MB of video ram, and a 1600X900 display that is farther away in performance from the Radiance than the Radiance is from the DC2 (brightness: 200 cd/m vs. 300; contrast 164:1 vs. 800; color gamut 47% vs 90%); it's no better than a higher resolution Brightview, or equivalent to every $500 laptop sold today. For entry level students, his school considers the Envy 14 with the 5650 and Radiance screen or the MBP 15 with the 1680X1050 display the only acceptable non-workstation laptops for the first two years. Saving $2,100 frees up some important funds for tuition, etc.

As for the person suggesting a monitor, that will be the at-home use, but he really needs something to use while at school, take on the road when necessary.

Thanks for the input.

 

lovelaptops, did you ever get anywhere with your repair? What's the status on it?

 

That is kind of a stupid decision on the college part. The MBP 15 is just a RGB+ LED Screen that is equivalent to the ones in the Dell XPS lineups. I find it weird they don't accept the RGB+ LED from Dell, when the same screens are also used in their venerable Precision line...

 

They do accept the Dell, but the RGBLED is gone from all but the Precision workstation line.