So I got dead pixel, now what

upon opening my package, I found I have 2 dead pixels on the screen, one is on the top, not that obvious, the other one however, is 2/3 way toward the bottom of the screen, this is bad IMO, because it's white dead pixel, that means it's freaking bright and in your face especially when you watch movie...

anyway, planning on going to OD and ***** about it tomorrow, but would like to get some suggestions or feedbacks first, maybe there's other route I can take?? here is what I think "could" happen

1)Just let me return the whole thing, but I don't get the laptop, nor $40 shipping back, so basically I paid $40 shipping plus tax for nothing!![ !] I would really hate that

2) They would take it, and try to fix it, but probably means it will have to be shipped back to China, meaning another 2 weeks of waiting period probably, this one sounds good, but I don't know if I have to pay for the shipping again, or if the laptop would make it back in time for me to send in the rebate??

3) Buy the expensive warranty from OD, the one that covers everything, and get it fixed.... but that would add on another $300 to the cost of my laptop, don't really want to do that neither....

I don't know, what else could I do, any idea?? I don't think the standard HP 1 year warranty cover the dead pixel on arrival... does it??

 

I sympathize for your situation, but unless the place you bought it from has a dead pixel policy, it's just up to your luck with what they will do for you. You really need to contact all the options soon, including techdepot and see what they say first (without identifying yourself). If you get a nice techdepot rep, they might refund your shipping. It really seems to depend on who you get. And make sure you mention that you consider it defective. HP might even replace the screen themselves since it's so close to the purchase date.

Also, I don't think they ship it to China for repairs, but you're basically just taking your chances again and might go past the return period.

These issues are always a problem when you buy something that you can't test first. In the future, I suggest buying from places with better return or satisfaction policies, like Dell or costco.

 

Or even...Hpshopping, they'd pay to get it picked up at your home (If you desired a refund)

 

yeah, HP's cust. service is amazing, if you spring for that "accidental damage" plan (pricey @ 350$ for 3 years v. regular factory warranty @ 180$ for 3 years), but they guarantee you a 3-day turnaround time for ANY damage incurred, I was told by an HP rep that even if you "accidentaly" run it over, they basically give you a new one, no questions asked. I don't know if its just that simple, but it sounds like a way to "accidentaly" break your notebook before the 3-years is up and get a shiny new one....

AMD Athlon 64 4000+
2GB RAM - 80 GB 5400 HD
ATI 128mb 200M
DVD-RW w/ Dual Layer
WXGA Brightview
Wireless w/ Bluetooth
12 Cell

 

f**king unbelievable, all these may sounds like *****ing, but I would like to just put it out there.

This morning, after I woke up, I decided to call HP, since people in the forums has been saying how good the HP customer service is. After being transferred couple times, it was an Indian, and I told him abou the situation and asks what I could do, I was told they don't repair it until it has like 8 dead pixels, there's nothing they can do.

ok, so I then decided to call Tech Depot, I thought since I've placed the order through them, maybe they can offer some kind of support. First time I tried it, nobody gave me a solid answer, I just kept getting transferred around, so after 30 minutes of getting transferred around, I decided that was enough, so I hang up.

After 10 minutes later, I decided to call again, this time, I finally got a good CSR, and he told me to just bring the laptop down to Office Depot, and tell them that the laptop is defective, and ask them to call Amber Snyder from OD, and she will know what to do, and get on with my replacement of the laptop, even though I only have 2 dead pixel.

So I was happy, and thought everything was good, double checked everything before I head for my local Office Depot, upon arrival, the guy standing at the door is like "what? what is it, you need customer service for replacement?? we don't do replacements, but customer service is over there" okay...... anyway, I walked over to the customer service desk, and told them exactly what the CSR from Tech Depot told me, about asking them to call Amber Snyder, instead, they responded "huh? who? Amber who? I have no idea who you are talking about", so the lady use the phone to call over another associate, who seems to be a sales person. And then she told him exactly what I told her, he then went to talk with sales person #2, who then went together with sales person #1, to talk to sales person #3, anyway, they just kept walking back and forth in the story, trying to figure out what they could do, and after waited for about an hour, finally they came up with some answers.

They could either try to do a replacement with the same laptop, or I could just keep the laptop as it is. Sales person #2 adds that he's never had a single customer that returns the laptop just because of 2 dead pixels, and he has built over 20,000 computers (I don't think he built them, probably just placed an order for the customer). So, ok, I went with that route, but after they talked among themselves, the sales person #1 told me that they can't do it, because the the promotion has already expired (geez, I told him I ordered it two weeks ago, and just got it, it's most likely it's expired). And now what they can do is gave me the credit for the amount they I built the ZV6000 for, and use it toward the promotion they have running right now, R4000. So I then took a look at the configuration, trying to configure the same system as I have for my ZV6000, but it turns out to be $60 (ok, the minimum HD R4000 comes with is 60 Gb 4200 RPM HD, instead of 40 Gb RPM HD for zv6000, but I didn't even get to choose the extra 8 cell I ordered with my zv6000, and it's already $60 more, just because of extra 20 Gb?? no thank. plus the sales person #1 says, I will have to pay for another $40 shipping if I do order R4000, and there's no guarantee that I will have perfect screen neither. 2 is an acceptable number, and HP probably won't even fix it until there's like 12 dead pixels (wow.....)


I don't know, I just don't know why I should expect a perfect screen when I buy a "brand new" computer, and maybe like sales person #2 said, 2 dead pixels are nothing, and I should just keep it, maybe I will have 5 dead pixels, instead of the one I have right now with "only" 2 dead pixel, so I "should" keep what I have right now, and be happy with it. I just don't know....

So I am thinking about just returning the laptop, which means I will lose $40 shipping, and just lost 2 hours of my life waiting for nothing. That's my side of story, Kudos to Office ****Hole, and Take ****pot, and HP.

I just don't know what to do, after having this encounter, I believe I must be really unlucky, as the previous 2 used laptop I have purchased has problem as well, and since the Office ****hole nor HP doesn't guarantee on perfect LCD, I guess I shouldn't complain neither when there's visible coke spill on the CPU heatsink on my brand new factory sealed HP zv6000.[^][8]

Maybe I am just unlucky

any other good deals on laptop out there?

 

Wow...that's really unfortunate, this whole pixel deal is OUT OF CONTROL...I can't believe there are sooo many problems associated with this issue...I just hope my order will be fine (well, at least HP doesn't charge shipping so I can't lose that)

If you are dead-set on returning it, then my suggestion is go for the R4000 as this model is practically identical to yours (except the external styling, & the fact that it doesn't come with infrared even w/the 200m graphics card)...Offer expires at close of business on Saturday, then again that'll mean dealing with Techdepot/Computers4Sure/OD again [ !]

Maybe look into pre-configured models...Just this week, practically all of the following began selling models of either R4k/ZV6k or both:
CircuitCity, BestBuy, CompUSA, etc.

 

Yeah, that burns me up to hear poor customer service. I'm thankful that I bought mine from Costco and will have 6 months to decide if I want to keep it... even if it is in perfect condition. If I were in your situation I'd be inclined to return it to OD and demand my $$ back, then go buy something from Costco just to show them!!! Ha! You lose one sale! OK, maybe that won't show them anything. That $60 more for basically the same thing is sounding OK. Too bad you'd have to wait another 2 weeks if you reordered.

 

Don't return it...someone will surely pay more for it privately even w/2 dead pixels.

(Add 1 thousand to my avatar model)

 

yeah, actually AMDemon, I am pretty determined, and not really interested in ordering R4000 from OD neither, since that's another guarantee loss of $40, and I just got the feeling I will get a defective screen again for some reason. Sad thing is that most of the time my feelings are right...[ ]

anyway somebody like who?? would they actually be willing to buy laptop with 2 dead pixel ?? even though it's new?? could you maybe point me to the right direction??

because I don't really want to do this to other people, who are not as well informed as we are here....

 

i had a pixel stuck on bright green when i first got my inspiron 6000. i called dell and w/in two minutes, the rep had arranged for a new notebook to be shipped out.

however, if i'm not mistaken, a pixel that isn't black is 'stuck' and not 'dead'. the bright green pixel went away a couple reboots later and never came back, but i still returned it.

how long has it been white? and how much use has it had since?

maybe it will "unstick" like my bright green pixel did?

/here's hoping

 

Ebay...i'm bidding right as I type
There are a dozen there w/o UPC codes...start out cheap...asking is high, but some expire soon.

(Add 1 thousand to my avatar model)

 

drumfu, ya, I just talked to Dell rep yesterday, and seems like they will repair/replace the laptop even if it has one dead pixel, so I htink I might just buy a new laptop from dell....

I have only use the zv6000 for 3 hrs top, and 2 reboot. but from what I can see, I don't think it's going away

 

dell has great service but their products seem more fragile to everyday use. it would be a good idea to buy an extended warranty with dell.

 

That really sucks. There is NO reason they should not replace your laptop. You expect it to be in brand new condition with no problems whatsoever. Any pixel problem is THEIR fault. You should not have to lose any money over it. I'd personally put up an HPSucks.com website or sue them.

You should get what you pay for.

Blue Web Studios, LLC
Laptop: R3000Z

 

I bought my zd8000 from HPshopping.com a couple months ago. It had one dead pixel. I called them and told them I wasn't satisfied with the laptop and wanted to return it. They gave me a RMA #. They said they would have FedEx pick it up but I told them I wanted to take it to FedEx myself since I work during the day (I'm not going to take 3 or 4 hours off from work just to wait for the FedEx guy). They emailed me the label. I printed it out, sealed the box, attached the label and took it to the FedEx center here. I then called HP and reordered the laptop. In a couple weeks I had my brand new laptop. Luckily there were no dead pixels this time. I was worried that I'd be charged for shipping but I called another HP customer rep and he said that I wouldn't be. I looked at my new statement and they didn't. I'm pretty happy with HP service. I guess that wouldn't work since you bought the lappy through Office Depot. I would just recommend ordering straight through HPshopping.com. It's a pain to wait for your customized laptop but worth it in my opinion.

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by Mateo1041

 

That sounds like terrible quality control to me. Would you buy a brand new laptop in the store with broken pixels? There is no reason for them to sell you subpar merchandise just because it doesn't happen to be point of sale.


Blue Web Studios, LLC
Laptop: Compaq Presario R3000Z