L2000 Dead Pixel. Exchange? Also, is there a Shinza case?

Hi everyone,

I just bought a HP L2005CL Special Edition laptop and so far, I'm loving the screen (although I can see my reflection too easy), built-in Bluetooth and SD card slots, and silly of all - the function keys which allow me to change songs in Windows Media Player.

Having the laptop only two days, I noticed a single dead pixel towards the upper-middle of my screen. I've read that dead pixels grow to affect pixels around them, and I'm well within my exchange period. Should I take it back to the store and get another one?

(Also, if I do this - and the store lets me - and I'm sure they will, I know the owner - could I just swap the hard drive from one to another because I spent a lot of time setting up the programs, and re-installing Windows XP Pro (on top of Home), and putting all my files on it, setting up my Bluetooth, Aircard, etc... and REALLY don't want to do it again.)

Finally, my last laptop - an Averatec 12" - had a Shinza laptop sleeve which I LOVED. It fit the unit perfectly and I would slip that sleeve with laptop into my laptop bag to really protect it. It was the greatest sleeve I've ever seen, but can't seem to find where I got it online and if they make one for the HP widescreen.

Any help in my two questions would be greatly appreciated!

Best Regards,
-M-

 

I would exchange it, it's only going to bother you more and more over time. As far as swapping hard drives, as the store owner, I wouldn't want to do that - you never know what HP might find while inspecting the unit..

 

your hard drive will probably not work on a different computer
exchange it now or have two dead pixels tomorrow!

 

I have a strong feeling that your replacement L2000 will just get stuck pixels again. Have you tried this program that rapidly flashes colors on your screen? Many report it fixes their stuck pixels. It was first made for the Sony PSP but there's a version for computers.

 

Actually if it's the same chipset, the harddrive will work on a different computer. For full compatibility, it needs to be identical and in your case, it is.

 

Hmm... interesting. Do you happen to know the name of the program? I too have one stuck pixel but chose to keep my laptop rather than returning it.

 

Uh, here's a link,

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1472349694607696054&q=PSP

 

Nope... didn't fix my problem. But thanks anyway.

 

You can't just run it once for a short time and expect it to work. Most people say that they've left it on for a couple of hours and did it several times before some or all of their stuck pixels were removed.

 

I was thinking.. If you swapped the hard drives, wouldn't you also have to call Microsoft to reactivate Windows? That can't be fun.

Thanks for the link to that video, I'm going to try it on a relative's LCD monitor. It's a cheap 17" Norwood Micro which has 4-5 dead pixels..first one was even worse with 10!

 

rahulnirmal > didn't know that... I'll give it a try.

island boy > I don't think so. Windows Update validated my two fresh installs without any problems.

 

Some people have also reported "rubbing" their stuck pixels away, maybe you could look that up. Though some have also said it causes more stuck pixels as well. Unfortunatly, you shouldn't be too surprised at stuck pixels. See, there's hundreds of thousands of pixels on a screen and its pretty hard for all of them to work all the time. I do heavily sympathize with you, as even though a stuck pixel is like .0000000% percent of all pixels, it sticks out like a sore thumb.

 

Yeah, I know I shouldn't be surprised with one stuck pixel. I've had it happen before on other laptops. And I know about the "rubbing" thing... too scared to try it.

 

I had tried the rubbing technique several times on my old notebook and it neither fixed any stuck pixels nor caused any new ones. All I know is that stuck pixels can be fixed, but dead pixels cannot.

 

Hey everyone, just wanted to follow up. Thanks for all your replies. I did exchange the laptop for a new one, but the new one seems to have two unique problems of its own I was curious to get your input on. The hard drive swap went perfectly well, no loss of information or settings at all. Should I exchange it again?

Problem 1: Screen flickers. The screen will flicker from bright to low.. not off all together.. but it will flicker in and out very fast. This does not happen all the time, sometimes worse than others. There are also dark spots under the start button and under the clock, I've attached a picture but you can't see them very well.

Problem 2: The keyboard seems a little warped. This doesn't impact performance, but the keys seem to come up between the ? mark and right Shift key, the " and Enter button, and the } and | keys. I've also attached a picture for this as well.

Problem 2 obviously isn't important as the screen flickering. But I was wondering if there was a way to fix the screen flickering instead of having to exchange it AGAIN!

Since I'm new to HP laptops, do they have poor build quality? My cheap-o Averatec was much more sturdily built.

Finally, is there a Shinza laptop sleeve for this computer or any laptop sleeve that's thin (only fits the computer) and protects it very well.

Thanks again in advance for all your help!
-M-

 

I had a Gateway notebook, and it had the same screen flickering issue. My gf also bought the same model Gateway and it developed the same problem - needless to say we both returned it. It was driving me INSANE.

HP/Compaq notebooks are on the lesser end of the build quality scale but they are by no means crappy.

 

The problem with the screen is awful, the one with the keyboard - I don't know. Do the keys that you pictured differ from the other ones? Try adjusting the screen brightness to max on both battery and AC power. The flickering might be a problem with the voltage, which might be a problem with the way the AC adaptor connects to the notebook. Hm..
And where did you get both laptops from? It seems that if one does not order from HP s/he is much more likely to get a piece of crap. If you got yours from a store, why don't you get your HDD, go there and test it before you buy it. I guess you feel disappointed about HP right now but I think you just had bad luck.

 

vassil, It may be bad luck after all. After just a few more hours with my laptop, a few more problems popped up:

- Now, I have 1 dead pixel and 3 "stuck" pixels on my screen. All seperated from each other, but all in the middle, left side of the screen.
- My screen still flickers. Not too often, but I've tried using it with the AC adapter and without (on battery) and have the same results. Brightness doesn't seem to matter either.
- The keyboard is slightly warped, both on the right side as pictured above and on the left end of keys (left Control, left Shift, left Caps Lock). All the keys seem to raise far on the left side. Again, no impact on performance (yet anyway).
- There seems to be a memory issue... when installing Adobe Creative Suite 2, the installation fails because it tells me I need a minimum of 384MB of RAM to install (which I am supposed to. I have 512MB with 128MB reserved for video. Right-clicking My Computer and going to properties also shows I have 384MB of RAM. I had to go into the BIOS and change video memory to 64MB in order to install.
- Photoshop and InDesign run incredibly slow. I had no problem running these programs under similar conditions on my Averatec which seemingly had a cheaper processor, AMD Sempron 2800 with 512MB RAM (same 128 shared with video, which I had no problem installing CS2 on that).

I got my both my Averatec and HP at the same local retail store. My HP L2005CL, both of them, came in a sealed HP box with HP tape. I broke the seals on both of them myself.

I would REALLY like to keep the HP, assuming I find one that works. I bought it because:
- Brightview, Widescreen 14" monitor
- Only 1lb heavier than my Averatec and still considerably small.
- 64bit processor so I can take advantage of Windows Vista when it comes out.
- DVD burner, Double layer
- Works well with my (cellular) wireless aircard. (I believe my Averatec didn't power the PC card slot properly causing my aircard to often fail when I was using it which is the primary reason for getting rid of it.)
- I have an brand new, extra battery and AC adapter for the HP which I inherited from someone at my office.
- Built-in Bluetooth (BIG PLUS for using my Treo with)
- Built-in SD card (another BIG PLUS for managing the pictures on my camera with)

These are all the reasons I really would like to keep my Livestrong laptop. Any more ideas? Keep them coming!

Also, does anyone know if Shinza makes a sleeve for this laptop? I can't find a Shinza store anymore to find out!!!

Thanks again everyone!
-M-

 

Sorry about all your bad experiences. I have the V2000z and don't notice the keyboard or screen issue. I actually think the screen is great and have been commented by friends who use dell notebooks on how jealous they are of the brightview. Performance-wise, I would upgrade to a 1gb of memory and keep the video at 64mb because 384MB is insufficient to me. Also I'd format the notebook getting rid of all the junk Compaq preloads. Many users have doubled their performance and even increased their battery life just by doing a fresh XP install. Also a 5400 or 7200 rpm harddrive would help to if you don't already have it.

Also I'm using the Sumdex 14.1 sleeve... works great and only cost $20 at frys.