I think I'm going to be sick...

Yes...I dropped my laptop My cat always has to run tight by me when I an walking into the kitchen and this time the cat didn't just go flying from the collision. My dc1660se took a dive face down, lid open, turned on and everything. It immediately shut down and when i tried to turn it back on it shows the (post?) screen with the HP logo but will not boot from there. I can't enter the BIOS either and there is a audible clicking coming from the underside towards the bottom left 9I,m guessing it is the HDD since the underside panel that covers the area has the 3-stacked-donuts looking symbols engraved on them.

It hit my linoleum floor pretty hard (there are chunks of it embedded in the speaker grill at the front of my notebook.) Is there any hope of repair or am i going to have to move on

Oh yea, i purchased the PSP ADH warranty from BB when I purchased the laptop about yr & 1/2 ago. Will that help me out any? Worse, will they even believe me about what happened. i know the whole cat story sounds outlandish but if they lived in my apartment with this pesty animal, they would surely understand.

Help please

Dan

 

first, get a dog

second, it's possible that only the HD is messed up

you may want to try another HD to see if it works

however, if you have some kind of awesome warranty, then use it and get a new computer/fix your computer. that's what they're for.

 

Dan,

Take it to BB and DON"T tell them about dropping it !

They make a TON of money on the service plans, so they don't care what happened they will fix it !

good luck

 

Please watch the language. If you have to type it strangely to bypass the filter, you should not be typing it.

 

What ??????????????????????

 

Ouch! Cats are known to do this and yes get a dog; specifically a Jack Russell Terrier

I think it’s more than a HDD since it’s not posting and you’re not able to enter the BIOS. I don't know if the warr from Best Buy covers accidental damage or not. Call them and ask. Even if you don't tell them the machine was dropped, they will be able to tell, but lying to them would only insult their intelligence and not make them more willing to help you.

 

You could try and bring it back to BB and see if they will fix it, but I highly doubt it if there is a lot of physical damage apparent on the laptop. If it wasn't apparent then you dropped it and there isn't a ton of external damage I would give it a try.

Just a recommendation for the next time you purchase a warranty. Never buy it from BB or any reseller. The reason I say this is because it takes twice as long as it does to get it fixed compared to getting the warranty directly through the manufacturer. Also, I don't know if BB offers this, but manufacturer's, such as HP, offer accidental coverage for accidents such as you dropping your laptop. The reason why it takes longer to get your product fixed is because BB will look at it to see if they can fix it, which can take up to 1 week depending on how busy they are, and then if they can't they will send it back to HP for repair. Now if you had the warranty directly with HP, which you can purchase your laptop from a reseller then the warranty through the manufacturer, you deal directly with them and get your product fixed faster.

Anyways, with HP's coupons they offer, such as the 30%, it is cheaper a lot of the times to purchase directly through HP, and you can customize the options in your laptop as well.

 

I believe laptops have some sort of "impact" meter to tell if they are dropped. Also, a big crack in the side would give it away as well. Check the terms of the contract. My SIL dropped her laptop and I told her to simply take it back to Best Buy and tell them it broke.(She has the insurance) They asked no questions and it's being repaired.

However, hers stopped working a few weeks after the drop...could be a faulty part? Who knows....you paid for insurance so let them figure that out. However, if "impact" is not covered and they ask you what happened, I would have to go for the honest route. Sometimes they'll work with you. be patient, courteous and open.....gotta' be honest though.

 

Okay, a few things to clear up:

1) Sorry about the language-I wrote that post about 2 minutes after I dropped it so the veins in my head were still feeling like they were going to explode from the anger/frustration I was feeling (and still kinda am although your guys input has sorta lightened situation up a little bit.

2) If you haven't already sensed it I am a greenhorn when it comes to notebooks or PCs in general so please bear with me on the following: This "impact" meter I am unfamiliar with. Is it a sensor that confirms that I have dropped it? If that is the case then I hope that can at least validate my outlandish-sounding story to them and prove that it did in fact happen.

As far as the honest part, I planned on being absolutely truthful to the BB employees who are going to deal with since I know lying probably wouldn't get me far in the repair process (past auto repair experiences). However, some of you guys make it sound like that might not be the wisest thing to do if I actually want this to get repaired. If i do decide to omit the dropping part, I don't know how else to explain this to them since there is some physical damage (such as the wifi LED broke off as well as some of the lid hinge covers that snapped off or are barely hanging on.) Also the undercarriage plate that covers the memory modules has partly popped open although it doesn't look bent or broken in any way.

As far as the warranty, I have been poring over it for the last hr 1/2 and I have the Accidental Damage & Handling coverage which is supposed to deal with incidents like these. In fact, if I recall correctly, the employee on the floor the day i purchased it told me that the ADH covers drops, spills, and what not. So maybe I will follow up on that with BB on the phone before I go in person to the store that i bought it from.

Unfortunately i do not have an extra HDD laying around to confirm if indeed that is the culprit. Besides, wouldn't that void the warranty?

So now my question is: What should i say to theses BB skeptics when I go in to explain my situation?

Thanks again for your replies.

Oh yea, Olive (cat) will be dealt with as soon as this nightmare is over with.

Dan

 

If you do in fact have the accidental coverage then go ahead and tell them what happened. As far as replacing the HDD to see if that is the problem I wouldn't even bother. Since you stated you can't get into BIOS, that says that even if the HDD is bad it's not the only problem, but it's most likely the motherboard is damaged if you can't get into BIOS.

Also, swapping out RAM or the HDD will not void your warranty, people do it all the time.

 

it could be the that the RAM got loose after the fall. take it out and pull it back in and see if that works.

 

Ok, I will go ahead and bring it into the GeekDepartment and tell them exactly what happened. Technically I do have both a HDD and RAM that I could swap into my LT since my brother has the exact same model and year but he is very paranoid with me touching electronics so he would probably fight me to the death b4 letting me get within 3 feet of his LT

 

DITTO??????

 

I would say that if the RAM did come loose the computer wouldn't even get as far as showing you the BIOS. Anyways, if he does have the accidental coverage he might as well send it in and get a new laptop.

 

I went ahead and and checked on the RAM sticks but they are firmly in place. They don't looked like they have been unseated at all. Any other ideas on what it could be?

 

You said it shows the HP logo... then what? black? nothing? "Unable to find operating system?" If it's the last one, it's just your hard disk.

Other problems could be cracked/broken motherboard, and/or cracked/broken/loose cables, etc... I'm really surprised the LCD did not break.

You might not be able to get into the BIOS just because getting the timing right is hard... turn on the laptop then hold down whatever f-key gets you into the bios until it goes into the bios or gives you a long string of beeps.

 

It doesn't do anything after the logo shows up w/ the esc and f10 options in the lower left. Just stays on the screen indefinitly. When I press f10, it says "Please Wait..." but the screen never changes to enter setup. When I ptress esc, instead of entering the boot order it gives me a black screen with some of my system specs. That's as far as it will let me go.

 

Does it make any beeps after sitting there for a while?

Anyway, I would just check your coverage on the protection plan, and go and use it. You paid for it, and that's what it's for.

 

no beeps, nothing

Thanks, I will when i get off of work today.

 

well if you have accidental protection, then go to best buy and they should fix it. And you should not have to lie because it was an accident. If your lucky they may even replace the notebook if it is bad enough

 

Sorry to hear about your misfortune,

Try doing a hard boot to reset the BIOS. Unplug power source/battery and hold the power button for 30seconds and try powering up again

Im sure multiple parts could be damaged from a hard drop like that. I dont see what the problem is though if you have accidental insurance. Thats the whole point of having it. Even if you just have warranty, dont mention dropping it unless asked except if its really obvious like a massive crack. A lie of omission wouldnt hurt specially for an unintentional accident like this.

oh and get a dog.

 

Okay, I have some updates.

First, I just came back home from dropping the LT off at BB. The Geek Department was...well...efficient about the whole matter. I got about 3 words into explaining why it fell and the guy just interrupted saying basically that it doesn't matter what I did to it, it only matters what say write in the repair order, which (according to him) always works best if "accidentally dropped" is written down. They literally just flipped it over, scanned a barcode on the bottom of my LT, double checked to make sure my PSP ADH warr was legit, named and dated a release form, and was on my way out the door. Total time: under 3 min! I feel as though I could have played frisby with my LT and they would have just written it up as "accidental handling" or something

Anyways, they said 4-6 wks for it to be rapaired, although I have a feeling that is going to be a very conservative estimate. Just glad I didn't have to get into some sort of argument over the whole matter with the employees like I had originally dreaded.

Will keep you guys posted if anything other problems arrive.

Thanks for your help
Dan

 

Good for you....I apologize if I insinuated that you would lie...that's not what I meant. If it came across that way, I apologize.

However, I'm glad things worked out...now your basically getting an "upgraded" computer!!!