dv9000z/HP PROBLEMS! Anyone else?

Well, I've had my dv9000z for about a month now, and from the beginning I've had a problem with the CD/DVD drive. Every time I want it to open, I have to press the button at least five times before it responds; sometimes it doesn't even respond after that, so I have to go into My Computer and press "Eject," and usually that works but not always. I called HP a few weeks ago and they had me uninstall and reinstall the drivers for the drive, but it didn't fix anything. I haven't called back yet, because I can't afford to send my computer away for a few weeks to get it fixed--I'm in school and I need a computer every single day. Plus (and this really makes me angry) I purchased the computer with Windows XP Home edition, because my school requires XP Professional, and they install it free of charge, so I didn't want to pay extra to have it put on my computer by HP. I purchased the biggest extended warranty possible, and now HP is trying to tell me that my warranty has been voided because I put XP Professional on my computer. Um..Hello! I paid about $400.00 extra bucks for that warranty, and now they are telling me it is useless! It did not tell me on the HP website that my warranty would be voided if I decided to upgrade my operating system. ERRRRG!!!

Anyway, I just pressed the button on my CD/DVD drive about 15 times, pressed the "Eject" in My Computer a few times, and nothing happened...

This is only my second HP computer; the first, a dv8000t, had to be returned after one week because the keyboard was screwed up. I just paid over $2000.00 for this computer, and now it's giving me problems.

Oh, and another thing. I have had some keyboard issues with this computer, though not NEARLY as bad as I had with the dv8000t. Every once in a while, the keys fail to type or start deleting random letters instead of typing them. But the problem usually resolves itself after a couple of seconds, so no biggie.

I have had so many Gateway computers in my life, and I've never had any problems with tech support or the machines. I WILL NEVER EVER EVER BUY HP AGAIN!!!!

And I think I'm done ranting....

 

Hrmm, is that right that your warranty is voided by upgrading the OS? I have a hard time believing that. Does that mean every HP owner who upgrades to Vista when it comes out will have their warranties voided too? Just doesn't sound right to me.

 

I upgraded to XP Pro but I never would tell that to the technician. That would give them further excuse to say it's a software or driver problem. Before they would accept it for warranty work, I had to wipe the hard drive and do a fresh install with the restore disks so that I had a fresh version of XP Home.

 

yeah call back again and tell them its under warranty.... backup whatever you need off it and reinstall xp home... reformat everything... and then 1) try seeing if it works and if not 2) send it in...

 

you have a right to use whatever operating system you want on that computer. they can't tell you otherwise.

 

It sounds like you have a bad optical drive, which is trivial to replace. See if HP will send you a new drive to swap in. Read the service manual for precise directions.

Before doing that though, just to be thorough boot the machine into the BIOS menu or hit F8 early during startup to get to the Windows mode menu (lets you select Safe mode, etc). See if the DVD drive will open correctly then. The point is to take Windows out of the loop in any convenient way. It will almost certainly still be broken but it's best to be sure.

 

Call them back again. They cant void a warranty for what OS you use. That would be like saying you cant install any software on your machine other than what they give you. If for some reason you get someone that doesnt want to deal with you, ask for their supervisor. If that doesnt work go on HPs website and email the board of directors. As corny as that might sound it does work. I originally had a ZD8000 that they couldnt fix. I spent 2000 with them and when they finally replaced my notebook they only gave me a $1400 one. Even though it had been more than a year I still felt ripped off so I emailed the board and now Im waiting on a DV9000t which is almost the same price as my original machine. You just have to know who to talk to to get them to do what needs to be done. Good luck.

 

Yeah, that's exactly what I was thinking, but the guy still told me that the warranty had been voided because I decided to upgrade the OS. He did tell me, however, that the warranty would be good again if I put XP Home back on my computer, but I definitely don't want to do that. It's complete BS, if you ask me. I will give them a call back, but I can't today because I have a paper due on Monday, and I'm sure I'd be on the phone for at least an hour...

Brainstetch, if I can convince them that my warranty has definitely not been voided and I get them to send me a new optical drive, wouldn't I have to get
a licensed technician to install it, unless I actually did want my warranty to be voided? I know I'd have to pay for that, but it might be better than sending my computer away for a few weeks...

 

I don't know. It's worth asking HP about. It's extremely trivial to swap drives (so long as you have a #0 Phillips screwdriver) so maybe they'll let you take care of it on your own.

 

Yes, it is indeed complete BS.
Do you have the warranty terms booklet ? Or can you ask them to point it out to you on their website? That specifically mentions this (voidiing warranty)?
I cannot believe that they would void the warranty due to an OS change. I really dont.
I mean they are retarded, but they cannot be THAT retarded.

Can you do us all a favor and ask them again ? And dont take "oh we'll do an exception in your case" crap. If they have a warranty voiding policy due to an OS upgrade, ask them to point it out.
If they cant, file a complaint online with the better business bureau (free); and then with the state's attorney, and also dispute your purchase with the credit card.

If they indeed have a warranty voiding policy, I shall ask the mods to put it in a sticky here, and also include it in my sig, and try my best to spread it over the ineternet.
If they dont, they you should file a complaint for being lied to.

 

I will most definitely give them a call back and see what they say. I'll try to get to it sometime this week, but it might be difficult because I'll be in school, and I don't exactly have 2 hours to be on the phone, but I'll try my hardest. They better tell me that the last guy I spoke with made a mistake or something, because I'll be so effing mad if upgrading the OS really did void the warranty... I actually already looked at the booklet, and I couldn't find anything mentioning that the warranty would be voided in the case of an OS upgrade, and I told the guy I spoke with that I didn't see it anywhere on the website...

 

Take your time, I have subscribed to this thread.
If you get that same crap again, also take down the CSR's id# (ask him/her).

Note that under normal warranty, its pretty standard for them to reformat the HDD and inistall the factory OS (yes they are retarded - they did this to a friend of mine whose laptop was not getting power from the adapter AND SENT IT BACK WITHOUT FIXING THE ADPTER CONNECTION).

And note that the cd drive is supposed to be functional before booting into any OS, so u'r not able to do that before it boots into windows (if u need time, go into bios menu to stall the boot, then press eject), then its a hardware fault.