Major issues with nc8430...I've got a lemon!

As many of you remember, I reviewed the HP Compaq nc8430 notebook some time ago. My notebook was purchased almost a full year ago, and I reviewed it about 10 months ago.

And now my notebook is nearing the end of its life.

This is the saga of a very frustrated HP customer, and I hope that someone reads this and learns something from it. Ever since January (when my laptop was first serviced for a screen replacement) there have been problems.

My screen has been replaced a total of two times now, my hard drive one, the optical drive three times. So I'm now on my 3rd screen, 2nd hard drive, and 4th optical drive.

Yesterday, an HP technician came by my house to repair the screen and install the 3rd screen I just referenced. The tech was nice, don't get me wrong, but the workmanship was poor and the replacement screen had a crack at the hinge to start with...I don't know why it passed quality control! Anyway, at the time the technician left I had the following problems with my notebook:

• The keyboard deck's upper bezel (where the power button is) was not put back in properly...the WiFi antenna was put back in improperly, causing this issue.
• Two screws for my notebook were still laying out on the table. I discovered that the screws belonged in the notebook hinge, which means that had I picked up the notebook by the screen I would have severely damaged it!
• The touchstick did not work.
• Quite a few keys on the keyboard did not work anymore.

Upon inspection, I was able to fix the first two issues...but the keyboard and stick were much worse. Both ribbon cables were properly installed, but there were still problems. The stick cable connector on the motherboard was COMPLETELY BROKEN, and the latch for the keyboard connector was also similarly BROKEN. Yes, an HP technician further broke my laptop while it was being repaired.

I spoke with HP last night, and they put in a service request - to replace the screen AGAIN and now also to replace the motherboard of the laptop.

So all in all, I've had like 8 major component replacements...and now almost none of my computer will have belonged to the original computer. Yup, since January HP has basically rebuilt my entire PC with refurbished parts.

Angered about the way this was handled, I asked to speak with a manager at HP. After explaining the situation, and telling him that according to HP's internal documents the cost of repairs had now exceeded the value of the entire computer, the manager agreed something else had to be done. You heard me...they are officially loosing money with my business. Unfortunately, the Customer Relations department was closed for the night...so I picked up the phone this morning to follow up.

Again, I told my story to the HP tech. Was forwarded to a manager and explained again. Then he replied:

But your system will be fixed once they replace the parts now!

That wasn't the point.

The point was it shouldn't have gone through all of this to start with. So after a little explanation, even he agreed that something needed to be done.

So now, an official request to replace my notebook has been placed.

RIP my nc8430...your days are now numbered. I'll update this thread as the drama continues to unfold, and hopefully HP can retify this issue by sending me a whole new computer. We'll see...

 

OUCH! Sorry to hear about that! I hope your replacement request is successful.

Yeah, there have been a few bad nw8440s around our campus, too. One person had his Motherboard replaced twice, along with many other componets (including the Power Adaptor and maybe the optical drive), only to find out that the real problem was bad RAM. Another person had his nw8440 nearly catch on fire due to a short in the Motherboard. He got a whole new laptop.

The most common problems with the nw8440s here are optical drive failures and Power adapter failures.
I've had my nw8440 for about a year now, and I've personally had to have my power adapter serviced 4 times (On my 3rd brick and 2nd wall cord). The only other problem I've had with mine is that the pointstick cap wears out too quickly. I am now on my 3rd cap so far. Also the battery, which used to get 2:30 hours with full brightness and Wireless on, now only gets 1:30 with the same settings, if that. I've also noticed "dirt spots" inside the LCD. I have debated whether or not to have it replaced.

On campus, me and my classmates are fortunate enough to have an on-site help desk which can perform repairs to our laptops on the spot. Although it may seem nice to not have to deal with HP tech support, the help desk has it's own problems. The last time I had my power adapter repaired, the managed to screw up my graphics card drivers, requiring me to bring it back to the help desk. I've also heard that with the optical drive failures, they simply re-seat the internal connector, and it will work again....for about 5 seconds. Then it fails again. There are other stories, but at least they clean your computer when you take it in, they turnaround time is very quick, and, it's free!

It's too bad that not everyone gets this same kind of support as we do on campus. Again, sorry to hear about your bad experiences with your HP. I hope all goes well/gets better.

 

Damn Greg...I'm hoping your 8430's little brother (my 8510p) doesn't have the same bad luck you're encountering. In fact, after having similar problems with my last laptop (an old Acer Travelmate...I'll give the full story another time), I was hoping to never deal with this kind of crap again.

Keep us posted :\

 

The sad part in this is that if they indeed change your laptop, they'll take back the old one and you won't have the satisfaction of destroying it properly yourself, either with a shotgun, fire or any original and entertaining way you can think of. This is the real drama...apart from it not working inthe first place of course

 

Man, that sounds like hell, greg. Hope You'll get it replaced.

 

HP has some major quality issues ... my brother's laptop was replaced by them, and all he had to do was get an extended warranty.

But its sad that HP is not doing something about it...

I even had apple replace a laptop for me ... its about long term customer service..

 

Yeah, from what I'm hearing, HP just isn't what it used to be. But then again, I've always had good luck with their products (mostly their printers) to this day. I think their printers are still good, but their drivers are now buggy, unreliable, and bloated beyond belief. Plus, although they are still decent in quality, I know that most Deskjets made today won't last as long as Deskjets made 5-10 years ago (Plus the ink is cheaper per page/per mL!)

As for their computers/notebooks, my nw8440 is the only HP product I've dealt with that wasn't a printer. I'm overall pleased with it, but there's simply no excuse for a power adapter failing 4 times in one year. And the pointstick cap shouldn't be replaced so often (3 times in one year) and unlike the Thinkpads, it is very difficult to get replacement heads for the pointstick. But overall, I've had a pretty positive experience with HP.

I guess everyone's mileage with different brands varies...

:laugh: LOL :laugh: But I don't believe in cruel and unusual punishment for electronic devices! (Yes, I'm very weird).

 

If the tech comes over to service the notebook, you should be able to inspect the parts and workmanship right there, which is the benefit of having onsite support. Why didn't you test it before and after the repair before the tech leaves?
In my experience with onsite repairs, I will keep the tech there and test the notebook, check for any cosmetic damages, etc. before allowing him to leave. Prior to the repair work, I will ask the tech to note and mark all existing cosmetic blemishes so that no extra damage is done during the repair work as I keep my gadgets in almost mint condition. They usually are more than happy to accomodate this request . They replaced an LCD bezel for me when they scratched it during a screen replacement. If the part the tech brings in is in a sealed box, it's most likely a new part.

My experience with HP products are fine so far (touch wood on that), which is why I've stuck to them. HP's support in the US seems to be really bad from reading these forums, but where I live, they are just fine (although Dell is better).

 

Well, I did...
He insisted those two screws weren't supposed to be in the notebook.
He said to contact HP about replacing the defective replacement screen (true, I needed a screen with working pixels so I'm using the 'broken' one for now that functions better).
He didn't want to go back into the notebook to fix one issue where the antenna wasn't routed properly.
We noticed the keyboard issue on-site...he reseated the connector and that did it...but what no one knew was that connector wasn't going to stay put for long. I discovered the keyboard issue was back 30 minutes after he left.

At the end of the repair, it was just after business hours on yesterday. I had things to do, and since he definitely seemed unwilling to provide the service that was needed and he refused to fix some of my complaints I just let it go for then. I fixed the screws and wiring myself, but when the keyboard issue came up again that was the last straw. That was also when I discovered the stick didn't work. So I opened the notebook up again and inspected the connectors (looking more thoroughly than he did prior) to discover the plastic connectors were cracked...thus necessitating the motherboard replacement.

An order to replace the screen (again) was already put in, but the motherboard/keyboard issue was the last straw. I was on the phone again with HP about 30-45 minutes after he left.

 

Greg,

I will say that HP 'support' ( based on your posts ) appears to be cooperating w/ you to get the system replaced, which I think is a very positive experience in general. I've dealt with Dell, Hp, Lenovo, and Toshiba for similar matters (when you've got corporate systems, ~25 send-backs isn't a bad number i guess) and what I can tell you is that Lenovo and Toshiba aren't nearly as helpful. HP engineering and HP management seem to be very reasonable. Dell seems to just want to get you off the phone, so in a few instances they've simply said "replacement unit". Toshiba will not explore the option until they can get someone to sign off on the replacement (which in my case, took 3 weeks to get that approved), and Lenovo often transfers us in circles.

Anyhow, my concern arises with the hp service tech. Which company provides the on-site service for your area? I know out here Unisys seems to do the work for both HP + Dell, and depending on the tech, it can be a good experience, or a poor experience.

But it does sound like you got a true lemon w/ your 8430 I'm definitely interested to see how quickly HP follows through with this for you though, so keep us posted!

 

Wow, that's a very incompetent and dodgy tech person you've got there. I sympathise. Hopefully HP will be able to work out something for you. Good luck!

 

There are several companies...I didn't catch the name of the company that came out this time. But they are all based out of Chicago, Northwest Indiana, and Indianapolis and largely serve Indiana and Illinois.

Tell me about it...and thank you for the 'good luck.'

UPDATE 9/7/2007: HP tried calling me today a few hours later, wasn't home though. That might have been a CS rep, so we'll see on Monday. In the meantime, this laptop is effectively a desktop because I have to use a external keyboard to even get it functional.

UPDATE 9/8/2007: I was also in the market for an PDA, but after this recent incident I decided to purchase an older Dell PDA instead of buying a brand new $450 iPAQ 210 Enterprise PDA from HP. So yeah, HP...you lost a sale because of this. Yes, we will definitely see how good HP's support is now...as I am basically putting them through the worst case scenario for a vendor. Well, I didn't put them though it...they put themselves into it as they failed to fix my unit properly. So we shall see...but after this repair/replacement I'm fairly certain my next notebook will probably not be an HP.

$2410 for the laptop/dock, $249 for the extended warranty, $129(?), $69 each for a monitor stand and a notebook stand for the extended travel battery...and they still can't do right by their customer and fix a darn laptop.

 

Sorry to hear that. Hopefully they will take care of you well. Looks like your about to find out how good their customer service really is. Good luck!

 

Hi there. I would like to say that i have had similar problems with HP support.

I have a Pavilion dv2000 with Centrino Duo 1.66GHz, 2GB RAM, 128MB nVidia GeForce Go 7200, 120GB HDD etc.

I purchased my notebook in September 2006 and had no issues until March 2007 when my HDD failed causing my notebook to crash constanly. It was sent back to HP where they replaced the HDD. Again I had no issues untill the end of July where my HDD failed again causing it to crash at the WinXP boot screen. I decided to take it back to the store I purchased it from, Comet Stores, and asked for a refund or replacement. They told me they would look into a refund but instead shipped it of to HP where it underwent a motherboard replacement, speaker replacement and a DVD drive replacement but no new HDD. When it arrived back at Comet 3 weeks later I was horrified to find that the frame above the keyboard where the power button is was sticking up and would not clip back in place. The rubber caps that covered the screws around the screen were missing and the screws were sticking out. I decided to ignore this as it was only cosmetic. When I turned it on it was fine until I opened the DVD drive. The speakers were crackling when I touched it and when I closed it the notebook turned off! That was the last staw I was fed up and demanded a refund. Comet told me they would do there best to get HP to take it back but 3 weeks later I phoned Comet and was told it would be back in the next 2 days fixed. I got it back on Thursday this week and just descovered today that HP have removed 1GB of my RAM meaning I now only have 1022MB memory in my notebook.

I am so disgusted with HP's aftersales support and will be kicking up hell tomorrow at Comet.

I would advise not to get a notebook from HP. I paid £1000 for mine and have had nothing but trouble.

 

^^Wow. That's too bad. I hope I won't go through the same thing when I get my notebook...

 

Sorry to hear about your nc8430 problems Greg. I got mine a little over a year ago too, and so far I've had no hardware problems with it (knock on wood). I love this machine and the the only regret I have was upgrading to vista when I realize now that xp was more than sufficient enough for me. I always clean/dust the laptop itself and defragment it as to keep it running perfectly. My plan is that hopefully it lasts me at least two more years before I consider upgrading. Thankfully my nc8430 treats me kindly =p

 

In all honesty, I'd say you will probably be fine. A lemon is a lemon...they don't often happen if you ask me. But HP needs to step up to the plate and fix lemon problems. Yes, the have been quite helpful up until and including now (aside from the poor repair service that is)...but I haven't been able to chat with the people that really have the power to order a replacement. Had the tech not broken it this time, I'm sure my laptop would be running fine and dandy for quite some time longer. But once you replace every part with a refurb unit, then the laptop is basically shot...you can only fix it so many times before you cause more trouble than you fix...and that is what seems to have happened here.

I imagine I'll have an update on Monday or Tuesday. HP, if you are reading this: you'd be surprised at how quickly you can resolve this complaint - if you offer me a brand new notebook with similar or better specifications. No refurbished garbage okay?

 

Yeah, I feel ya. My Dell is on its 3rd power supply now. The first two went bad, but luckily Dell has been quick to ship them out on next day delivery. Now my battery's bad, but Dell won't replace it because my 3yr warranty doesn't cover the battery... that has a separate 1 yr warranty that I didn't know about. Luckily, I haven't had any major hardware failures though. (knock on wood)

 

I'm frustrated too. To me, it feels like the business support is WORSE than consumer support. See my story below...

Case 1: Compaq (same as HP) V2000Z budget notebook
Motherboard failed. Notebook fixed and received in 2 DAYS including shipping.

Case 2: HP Compaq nx9420 "business" notebook
Issues with ati2dvag.dll causing notebook to blue screen, and some cosmetic issues. Receive the notebook 2 WEEKS later. Problem is still not resolved! And now my warranty "expired"!

How the repair for a business notebook took 7 TIMES longer than a cheapie budget notebook is beyond my imagination, not to mention the fact they never ever fixed my problem! Now I have to call HP since their emails won't even get to a person if you don't have a warranty anymore.

 

Although HP support and quality isnt what it used to be, at least I can say that HP is still much better than Dell. But I'm not without problems myself; my first dv9500t had a corrupted hard drive and could not even boot. But now, it works.

 

Either way, HP support shall feel my wrath on Thursday. And I shall have it recorded and distributed on the Internet for no reason.

 

I hope this doesnt happen to me

 

Yeah I hope they get you a new notebook, Greg. But referbs aren't always bad. Although this wasn't an HP, I know someone who got a really good deal on a refurbished Dell Latitude D820. When it arrived, it was practically a new notebook. He's had it for about six months or so, and has yet to have a problem with it.

My point is: a new notebook is certainly preferable and more predictable, but if you get a refurb, you just might get a really good notebook (or a lemon). Then again, I would prefer a new notebook myself, too.

 

Well, the only complaint about a refurb is thus:
My entire notebook is basically built from refurb parts...and look where it got me!

 

Once you get cleared for a replacement, things should be smooth sailing. I'm just surprised how long it took them to agree to replacing it. I can't imagine they would replace it with a refurb, though. Mine was replaced with a completely new unit, and I had a cheap consumer notebook. I would expect even better from a business notebook.

You should get a new, upgraded, full-warrantied system that is better than your existing notebook. Just make sure you go over every specification of your old unit with the person placing the order and make sure they don't try to short you on the details. If you originally had a 4 year warranty on your unit, request a 4 year on your replacement.

I honestly don't think HP has major quality issues. I think every manufacturer spits out lemons once in a while. But it's up to that manufacturer to make things right with the customer quickly and painlessly to keep its reputation, and you as a loyal customer.

Good luck on your dealings with HP. Hopefully it will all be over soon.

 

First of all, how do you know the warranty parts are refurbished? I've worked on them before and the parts are not refurbished, mainly new especially for a relatively new model like the nc8430. HP keeps a large inventory of critical parts such as LCD screens, motherboard, drives and keyboards. Manufacturing dates are not an accurate indication of whether they are new or refurbished.

I guess US consumers are lucky because HP will replace your notebook with a new one. Outside the US, they usually don't do that unless the notebook is facing multiple hardware issues which makes it too costly to repair. However, most of the problems noted seems to have come from an incompetent tech person, something which would have annoyed me totally because I'd have performed a much better job had HP agreed to even send out the parts for user replacement (they refuse to and will even send out a tech to place a sticker on the notebook).

 

Here here to that! I remember when you needed your laptop replaced, I definitely enjoyed hearing that your case was resolved to your satisfaction!

Actually, HP never agreed to replace it earlier because I never asked for it. That was done for two reasons: (1) I really did want this laptop to work...I love(d) the machine, and (2) if this day ever really did happen where a replacement was needed, I wanted to have enough 'bad-things' in my record to virtually guarantee that HP couldn't refuse me a new notebook.

In all honesty, I really don't want to switch to a new notebook...but at this point I really don't have a choice now.

Oh, and I will CERTAINLY be looking over the details myself before a new system is approved. I've already studied the 15.4" and 17" business laptops and their specifications...as long as the processor, hard drive, and RAM are the same or better I'll be fine. All the new systems have better GPUs than my X1600 so I don't have to worry about that. I think all the systems I'm looking at have 3-year warranties (like mine), but I'm going to push for HP to give me a 3-year onsite warranty as that is what I upgraded my nc8430 with months after I purchased it.

Well, when the parts have a 'refurbished' sticker on them...

I don't know if the screen is a refurb, but everything else is (as per sticker) and HP assured me my replacement motherboard will also be similarly refurbished. When I heard that it was the last straw for me.

Yeah, I definitely have the skills to replace any laptop part...but HP specifically told me I wasn't allowed to do that. This was, of course, weeks ago...but I offered to repair it myself to save HP some $$$ and they promptly replied that I was not allowed to and if I did they'd void my warranty. The irony of the situation gets to me there ...had they let me do that they wouldn't be getting a much costlier demand to replace my notebook under the lemon law now would they have!

 

I've lost all my love for HP. Would rather build an MSI barebook.

 

Wow, you got screwed there. I know that the parts I've gotten so far aren't refurbished. Surprises me that HP, in its effort to compete with Dell in the US would offer subpar service like that. I guess it has to do with the ease at which they can replace your notebook, seeing how many people have managed to get replacement devices.

 

Yeah, tell me about it.

I'm fairly certain that Dell also uses refurbished parts to repair laptops as well though.

 

That sucks. A lot.

My old ZT3000 never had any problems, save for being just too old for my tastes, and the thing ran 24/7 for a loooooong time.

They should send you an 8510p for all the trouble you had.

 

Great...this just got much better...

My WiFi card is malfunctioning as well...
I've done everything I can, but when my nc8430 has major issues keeping a connection...but my girlfriend's PC doesn't...and I configured both machines so I know it isn't something I did wrong...

 

i hope everything will work out between you and HP. with all those issues they should send you a replacement laptop

 

Wow, that sucks Greg. Hopefully you can get a brand new 8510p out of this.

 

You have a very good point there, Greg. In that case, I would definitely go for a new notebook!

I know I've talked to other classmates (we all have nw8440s here on campus) with motherboard replacements (one guy even had his replaced twice) and one who got a new laptop after his nearly caught on fire due to a motherboard short, but nothing, nothing as bad/unreliable as what you've describing, Greg.

Your nc8430 is definitely one sour LEMON! Man I hope HP resolves your issues, fast.

Good luck!

 

Your antennas may not be reconnected/wired properly onto the PCI card after the LCD replacement (the left and right wires need to be in the correct pin or they won't work). Each display enclosure comes as a full set of lid + bezel + screen + wireless antennas.

 

Yeah, that is what I'm thinking at this point. I know about the antennas, but I'll wait to crack open my nc8430. HP just delivered the replacement parts today, and a tech is coming on Thursday. I can't do it any sooner so I'm not complaining about that repair time.

At least I'll have a functional computer while I pursue my replacement. Either that or they'll screw it up AGAIN and leave me with a dud on Thursday!

If they have not contacted me regarding my replacement by the end of tomorrow (they told me up to 48 hours) I will be filing a complaint with the BBB on Wednesday night.

 

Greg, I hate that your NC8430 is a lemon. Here is what I would recommend. Just call HP and let them know that you are a moderator for notebookreview.com and influence many,many people on their notebook purchase and I imagine that they will bend over backwards to help you out just so they can look good ( or atleast save face).

 

Thank you for the kind sentiments all...it is appreciated!

Regarding using my 'reviewer and moderator' 'status'...I really don't want to play that card unless I REALLY have to. I'd like to get this done the same way that anyone else would get it done...anything else is unfair to everyone involved.

Regarding my HP Case (UPDATE TIME): I am 'chatting' with an HP representative online right now, ascertaining if my replacement request actually got filed. The technician seems to think that they were not going to revisit the issue until my nc8430 was fixed...which is completely bizarre. HP told me they would file the request ASAP and still pursue the repair, not do one before the other!

OK...update as per my HP chat. It does appear my request for replacement did actually go through to Customer Relations, so that means (again) that I'm just 'on-hold' to hear from those guys. Hopefully I'll hear from them tomorrow!

Oh, and just for the record: I am pursuing an 8710p or 8710w notebook as a replacement. As some of you may or may not know, I did review the HP 8510w...I actually felt the laptop wasn't as good as the nc8430, thus it received a semi-poor rating. Of course, that might have been because I had a prototype 8510w at the time...so guys feel free to chime in about the quality of the 8510p/w regarding my specific complaints (you can read them in my review)! Chaz's review of the 8710w gave me the impression that laptop would be a much stronger chassis.

 

I hope my nc8430 doesn't run into any problems. Good luck Greg and may the force be with you.

 

Now that my paper is done I should be able to do at least an informal review of the 8510p... keep an eye out !

 

Contact Andrew. I'm relatively certain they'd accept another review of a 15.4" HP Compaq...especially since yours wasn't a prototype. Do the full formal and make a little $$$, not to mention get some front page space.

Read through my 8510w review, look at what I nit-picked, and see if your system is better. It probably is built better! A good gaming analysis is also in order, mostly because very few people have the ATI HD 2600 and we all want to know how it compares to the 8600 and the previous generation of cards.

You can always post benches and stuff in a thread of your own, but please please please do the review! Could you at the very least though give me a little info by maybe tomorrow?...I think I might be chatting with HP then so more info is always better.

I'm also gonna try to read through the last few pages of the '8510p is available' thread to get info...

 

Ouch Greg, I feel your pain...I remember when something similar to this happened to my VAIO: 3 motherboards, 2 screens, an LCD inverter, and a host of other minor components. I got sick of dealing with Sony's incompetent tech support (HP's does seem better, nobody told you to put duct tape over the screen to fix it - Sony told me that), so the camera is still dysfunctional and the notebook still making very loud and annoying noises when its in standby. I just handed the partially malfunctioning notebook to my mother (it fits her needs well enough - I doubt she knows how to use the camera, and I told her not to put it in standby), stuck to my desktop for a few months over the summer, and ordered a Vostro 1500.

I hope you get your notebook replaced and have better success with Tech support than me.

 

UPDATE: 9/11/07

It is now 6PM local time, and have not heard from HP so I am sure I will not be today. It is highly likely these people are just ignoring my request until after my laptop is 'fixed,' thus minimizing their obligations under the lemon law.

We'll see for sure in a few days, as I might be jumping the gun here. But I'm not too pleased right now.

All right guys...here's my latest contact with HP...I emailed them!

 

Yeah I've got some time this week so I'm doing benchies right now. But I see someone already beat me to the punch. I'll see what kind of review they did

 

I'd say you should still review it. Andrew may still take it, and I've found that by reviewing it you get a better appreciation for the notebook's capabilities and the technology behind the little monster.

Anyway: UPDATE 9/12/2007 @ 11:30PM
It has been at least 84 non-weekend hours since I filed my 'lemon' request (more like demand) with HP. They instructed me I would be hearing from them within 24-36 non-weekend hours post-request, which really meant by about 9:00PM on Monday (Tuesday to play nice).

So yeah, HP seems to be ignoring me. I'm chatting again with HP Support so I might have an update in 15-30 minutes.

UPDATE: 9/13/07
It appears that HP will be calling me sometime tomorrow regarding my notebook problems. We'll just see about that...but I am optimistic as the HP tech could actually see some details about my lemon request.

Stay tuned for details!

 

Greg,

Will you be allowed to keep the remains of your 8430? I'd love the opportunity to play around with one. Don't care about the rest of the notebook, as long as it boots

 

It is to my belief that HP Business Products are designed to self destruct several months after purchase. My HP nx9420 began to blue screen about 10 months after I got it. My sister's HP hx2795 PDA had consistent memory usage and battery life issues after several months (thus, she got another HP PDA, the rx5915 Travel Companion). Highly doubtful I'd get another HP Business product (maybe Consumer products though).

 

UPDATE 9/13/2007: This is my opening statement to yet another chat with HP...

I'll edit this post when the chat is done.

EDIT/UPDATE!:

I'LL BE DARNED!!!

I'm actually speaking with Customer Relations on the phone, and I'm getting ready to be transferred to the head of that team. We shall see what transpires!

 

UPDATE 9/13/2007:

It seems that I might be coming on to a streak of good luck. HP officially approved me for a brand new replacement, but their initial offer was an identically configured nc8430 (which is now discontinued FYI).

I told them I'd rather not get that model or any other 15.4" HP Compaq model given the circumstances, and right now this person is working to get ahold of her manager to move forward with that in mind. Good news is that this person definitely agreed (after hearing everything that went wrong) with my request.