stripped wifi screw & accidental damage

Does anyone know if my accidental damage warranty will cover a stripped screw on the wireless card? I went to upgrade from my Atheros wireless to the Intel 4965AGN on my X61s tonight, and apparently someone with superhuman strength tightened these things. I managed to get one loosened by pressing basically as hard as I could, and rotating my screwdriver with a pair of pliers. The other one just stripped the head.

Yes, I'm using the proper M2 screwdriver.

Obviously I'm less than thrilled, and I've given up on getting through to support for the night. Does anyone know if this will be covered?

 

I would think so, but don't have any firsthand knowledge. Generally the WiFi card is considered user upgradeable.

 

oh boy, lucky that you have the accidental warranty.

 

It's been a while since I messed with the wireless screw in my Thinkpads, but I've had to do it with an HP I was working with. It had a thick enough screw that a needle-nose plier was able to get the screw out.
I assume you've tried this already?

 

Yeah, there's about half a millimeter above the PCB, if that. It's all kind of crazy, I can't believe they do this.

 

Obviously the person whom tightened the screw was too into his job (probably worked in the car industry before)........

 

I never thought I'd have to use my accidental damage warranty for something like this (hell, I've swapped motherboards on much more difficult laptops than this), but hey, they are going to fix it. Here's hoping something goes horribly awry, and they have to replace it with an X200s

 

You probably will get your wish fulfilled, they will most likely change your motherboard. Since they can just remove the motherboard no problem and replace that whole.

 

It would be great and all, but if they don't have the proper motherboard, I can't imagine them not trying to drill out the screw before replacing my entire machine. Though I've kept it in excellent condition, so I suppose there's an off chance they'd decide it's not worth the risk to the motherboard instead of just refurbishing the machine for someone else. And that all hinges on them not having any last generation motherboards, which I would tend to doubt considering they tend to have new machines a couple generations old for big corporations who don't want to validate new machines every generation.

Still, it would be great. I've been wanting an X200s for awhile now, even better if they give me an opportunity to pay the difference for upgrades like the 1400x900 screen and Intel 5300 wireless.

 

if they are going to replace it, you probably can choose which ever configuration you like and don't have to pay the price difference.