[ncinerate]

When I called the only option I was given was to send it in for repair.
No other choices were given even for the one that didn't need to be fixed, though has hairline cracks.

yeah... The free and and cases were being abused by people without cracks. I think HP caught wind of this and changed their policies.

[netwrkr9]

The cracks are cosmetic and small and will not travel into the Gorilla glass but if it keeps you up a night worrying about it and you are thinking of returning your TouchPad, I am sure that there are many developers in here that would love to purchase it from you to develop patches an apps.

[ncinerate]

I don't think the whole "send it in for repair" thing is unreasonable. If you have a crack, get it fixed. Why would you care about any other option? The case won't hide/fix a crack (it's near the speakers, where the case does -not- cover). Just send them the touchpad and get a new one sent out in a few days.

I had to do that a handful of times with my Pre-. It was annoying, to be sure, but in the end I had a decent handset that has held up ever since.

[TPwebOS820]

The cracks are cosmetic and small and will not travel into the Gorilla glass but if it keeps you up a night worrying about it and you are thinking of returning your TouchPad, I am sure that there are many developers in here that would love to purchase it from you to develop patches an apps.

I'm not so sure that the cracks are purely cosmetic. My screen developed flex/give over the speaker that has the crack while another TP I have has no give anywhere on the screen. Furthermore, that same area of the screen developed light bleeding through in three spots for about 1/2"

From what I could tell on my device it seemed that the more I was using it the more the screen flexed in that area causing more light bleed through. In time it could get very bad.

[Stamponephoto]

So I just got off the phone with a level 2 tech for HP who told me that they are no longer offering the Advanced Damage Plan (ADP) as a fix for speaker cracks! He said they "ran out" last week. I asked him how you run out of a service and he explained that for every ADP given out they have to put a hold on a replacement touchpad, and there simply are not any left. My cracks are not that bad at the moment so I don't really feel like sending it out yet. The tech assured me that they will definitely be able to repair my unit under the warranty right up until the 1 year mark. I obviously have my suspicions being that I don't know where parts are going to be coming from at that point. So I guess I will just have to wait and see.
Does anyone know, if you try to glue the cracks as some have suggested, does that void the warranty?

[kettlecorn]

If you get a skin for the HP Touchpad that covers the sides, or even a skin for the back cover, wouldn't that help a little?
It sounds like the Hp Touchpad's tiny little strip of plastic near the speakers and ports are giving due to the flex in the back cover, and most people hold in a way that bends it due to the weight of the device and over time, the weak part snaps.

If a skin that covers the full back cover and the sides are placed, it would be like "glue" that may allow for more cohesion? Just a theory, I have yet to try it. It's basically like taping up the entire touchpad's plastic and I think something that's taped up real tight is less likely to break or give because of the reinforcement than something not taped. Like taped ankles for injugries, wires, etc.

The Carbon Fiber VINYL skins are seriously some tough *** covers. They're extremely sticky and strong.

[kettlecorn]

those skins are very messy when you want to remove it after several months.... especially if you live in warm weather(anywhere that's not Iceland)... I learned the har way when trying to remove the stealtharmor carbon fiber skin off my previous iPad. during the first few weeks, it was possible to remove and reinstall it... but after a few months of use and levaing it occasionally in the car, the glue on the backing had deterioated, causing a big mess....

Interesting. I have this one http://forums.precentral.net/hp-touc...installed.html

Was yours 3m's "DI-NOC Vinyl"? I know 3m makes different vinyls but the heavy duty ones are the di-noc ones that they put on cars and stuff. But if it left a huge mess, that would suck. I guess the solution is to replace it with another skin or just use "goo-gone" to take the adhesives off, but still a pain in the A. I think it's better than having stress cracks that spread though..

I had one on a hp touchpad for a few weeks and the removal took a long time cause its so sticky but no adhesive came off.

[ribeyesteaks]

Shoots, too bad I can't add a second vote. My wife's Touchpad has no cracks and is overclocked as well.

[pistolingo]

Do'h I just discovered I even have 2 cracks. One at the lower edge of the top speaker going towards the screen (already ¾ of the way to the screen) and a smaller one (2-3mm) at the bottom speaker going towards the back of the TP :-(
Quite disappointing considering I only used the TP @home and never even dropped it an inch...
The lower crack bothers me most since there's a lot of space to expand to on the back of the TP :-/

[LiGhTFasT]

well after the left hand speaker cracking i woke up this morning put it on charge and when i got home from work the right side has developed a crack. Weird

[michaelahess]

I know what's causing the cracks!!!

Everyone is holding their TP's too hard in fear of dropping them from all the bad info coming out about the cracks!

OK, not really, but it's as good an idea as any at this point!

[LiGhTFasT]

i thinks when you hold it in one hand at the corner while you pick your nose. It puts alot of stress on that corner.

[Touchpaddle]

i thinks when you hold it in one hand at the corner while you pick your nose. It puts alot of stress on that corner.

A late night talk show host said "he was holding his tablet with his left hand,
while his right hand was busy at work" (the tablet they showed on screen
was actually the iPad 2) I think I'll just leave it at that.

[LinuxKoss]

I know what's causing the cracks!!!

Everyone is holding their TP's too hard in fear of dropping them from all the bad info coming out about the cracks!

OK, not really, but it's as good an idea as any at this point!

Reminds me of that post about TP rear case bending when pressed hard. Then everyone went and did that, then came back and complained about it.

Also reminds me of the Oreo issue with the Pre's. Everyone starts twisting their poor phones over and over to keep checking if they are developing the issue or not for this week.

[pistolingo]

thx now almost broke my TP in half while trying to bend the rear cover xD

[clmbngbkng]

My 32gb has a crack near one of the speakers but it is a very thin crack at the moment.

Has lived in a HP case since day one and hasn't been dropped.

[tribestros]

It's funny; I never noticed the crack until I read this thread and looked. So it's no big deal; I'm not going to freak out over it, especially since it's heading towards the screen. Just frustrating that HP made such a terrible product. Luckily it was only 99 dollars.

[cgutz]

I fixed my crack with a very small bit of superglue as I kept catching my hand on the crack and was afraid I would break a chunk of plastic off. It has held for a couple weeks use now.

[brum]

Is yours being down through NCSS | Project Management and Deployment, Onsite Maintenance, Back To Base Repairs, Linux Transition and Support ?

EDIT: where are you located? I'm in QLD.

I'm in Sydney, got a literal courier "swap out" with a brand new box. Had to give mine back boxed, but I kept the charger . I had to send emails with photographic evidence.

Is this something unique to HP Australia?

In the US, I've never heard of HP or any other electronics manufacturer coming to consumer's homes for a tablet/laptop or any other small electronics.

I do feel special.

It would be interesting to know what Brum put in his email that caused this phenomenon.

- I spoke with Butler support at length for a number of reasons

- my TouchPad had 2 hairline turned major (with use) cracks at the speakers and also had a bright pixel.

- I spoke with support about a card related issue and accessories on multiple instances.

- I took solid notes with date, details and name (asked to spell out mostly) accountability is important to avoid getting screwed around or at least lay the blame directly for multiple different stories and information.

- I was polite but firm, I paid them money (albeit $150) and they are entitled to offer the experience they sold me.

- After a while - I ended up calling up and asking for the call centre supervisor straight away. We had some fun chats while waiting for software to load. He was genuinely helpful and understanding.

- It was processed as a DOA (dead on arrival) unit

[coolhandslondon]

Well just for balance I dropped my touchpad on day one of opening it (it's always the way, isn' it). Onto oak flooring in my front room (off the table so 3 feet?). Anyway just checked carefully after reading this thread, and there are no cracks anywhere.

So maybe it's to do with heat or something that makes the plastic expand and crack at stress points? I'm in the UK so not too hot here....but maybe some of you live in hot places?