[specter]

I bought my TP on the 20th and noticed when i held the TP in portrait mode that the right top and right bottom corners were slightly sunken in about a 2 mm below the plastic housing. Didn't pay much mind to it because I loved my new device.

About the 28th or so I noticed a hairline crack developing by the top left speaker (Still in portrait orientation here). Still didn't bother me too much because my baby just hit 1.7GHZ on both cores!

Two days later it cracked all the way through like so many other and is protruding up. I called/chatted with HP. They knew about it and presented me these offers:

1. TP Case worth $50 for Free

2. 1 Year Accidental Damage worth $80 for Free (Starts after my warranty ends)

3. Advance Replacement, they send me a refurbished TP, 2nd day Air, and I return my TP through their return box. There is a $60 Fee, but they offered to waive it for me. BUT they need my Credit Card for a $365 hold, which would be released when I return the defective one. They would not waive this. Even spoke with manager.

4. Repair Box, they send me a shipping box 2nd day air, I return it, they repair/replace(if not repairable) for 5-7 days and expedite it back to me. $30 for the faster expedited shipping and repair, but they waived the fee. Otherwise it would be regular shipping plus 7-10 days repair.

I was ok with the hairline crack and thought I could deal with a little blemish. So I scored a free hard to find case! YA! but....

Fast Forward until today, about 18 days since I pulled it out of that vacuumed box. The crack is still there and very annoying because your finger is right on it. The top right and bottom right corners have sunken in about a good 4 mm. The entire left edge of the glass screen is lifted. All this didn't happen over night but rather gradually of a week ever since the crack fully broke through.

But here's where I drew the line. The "lift" or "tilting" of the screen eventually caused some very light grayish haze spots on my screen. It's only noticeable when reading text at a slight angle (for now at least). Kindle, web pages, precentral forums, all on the same spot. and when I scroll the page the words will be dark black lettering, turn grey as it passes through those spots, and black again as it exits. I can't notice it with movies or pictures, only text so far and at a 45 degree angle.

So back to HP, and 30 mins later, they are sending me a box for repair.

Little experiment:
http://forums.precentral.net/hp-touc...ment-poll.html

[jordo44]

while putting a sticker on the back of my white 64gb, I saw what looked like a scratch near the bottom of the top speaker(in portrait mode). Closer inspection revealed its a small hairline crack. I Googled "crack on the back of my touchpad ", and found this thread... W.t.f. Hp?! I've had this thing for 5 days. I'm officially disgusted with HP. I'll be calling tomorrow, and I won't be accepting a refurb...I'll most likely get the added warranty and hang onto to this one until it gets worse..but according to what I've just read on here, it may happen in the next 5 days. This is pathetic quality control on HP's part. Seriously,,,was this touchpad made by the same people who made my 6 pre minuses?

[ncinerate]

Seriously,,,was this touchpad made by the same people who made my 6 pre minuses?

Um.........

Yes , sorta.



5 pre- here btw. 5th time was a charm for me!

Although my 5th pre- currently has a crack at the USB door that ALMOST extends into the screen area. At least it hasn't shattered the touchscreen from the center button like my last 4 freaking phones, lol.

I've had my touchpad in a case almost from the get-go, I'm hoping it helps prevent any cracking, although I can't help but notice that the speaker part of the touchpad is -not- covered by the case (like, the whole area all the way across the bottom is cut out, not just the area physically around the speakers). We'll see if it holds up, that speaker crack is pretty well documented here and seems to have a pretty damned high chance of occurring.

[atg284]

I see a lot of post about cracking. I, for the life of me, cannot find one on mine.

I do have a question though. Are the cracks there from the factory or do they develop? If they develop over time is it because of wear or do they come out of thin air. I can understand them if the devise is handled rough or there is a drop involved.

I'm just confused because it sounds like they are appearing out of thin air which I have never heard before. Something has to be causing them.

[andrew025]

Something has to be causing them.

Bad quality/construction design is what it seems like.

[atg284]

But wear is causing them no? Light wear as it may be.

[crucialcolin]

seems like it is more of a wear issue as most people have reported it over time with use.

[SKYLARKBOY86]

a little (LITTLE!!) super glue goes a long way

[ncinerate]

But wear is causing them no? Light wear as it may be.

I cannot speak for the touchpad (yet) since mine hasn't cracked.

But speaking from my experiences with the Pre-....

My first pre- shattered it's internal touchscreen while sitting quietly on my desk charging overnight - within just a short few days of buying it.

The subsequent 3 broke in various -COMPLETELY SAFE- and undropped/undamaged situations (my pocket, the seat of my car, my desk).

It was of course a manufacturing flaw (something to do with the touchscreen's proximity to the center "button" on the pre- and I believe battery-charging may have had something to do with it as well from my experiences).

Similarly, I have had cracks at my USB door on a couple of these devices as well with absolutely no reason for their existence. They just "happened" without abuse or dropping the device.


Point is, spontaneous cracking/breaking of a device can easily happen if there is a flaw in the design. That's what it sounds like is happening on touchpads at the speaker area, perhaps caused by some flex in the casing near the very thin walls of the cutouts that surround the speaker-holes. Don't assume every single one of these was dropped or otherwise used and abused. Hell, devices like the touchpad shouldn't crack their casings within a week of use even if they ARE abused.

[crucialcolin]

yeah in the Apple world there is a term for this sort of thing a "Rev A product" were you often have design flaws in a brand new model. Its always good to wait to buy such a product until when the second generation comes out as they usualy iron issues such as this out by then. Unfortunently In the case of the TP we're probably just going to have to live with the flaw.

[jordo44]

checked my gf's 32gb and its crack free, for now...imo its gonna happen to a lot of them because of the way its assembled and held.there's gotta be a defect or design flaw,maybe a bad run of backs?... Mines had less than light wear, havnt even left the house with it...and I take care of my things ...after reading through these threads , its obvious to me that its a quality issue, not a user issue...

[kamran9558]

just noticed this morning that my 32 GB TP has a crack on top of speaker, i am so annoyed, should i contact hp or use the super glue ???/

[arcticrobot]

a little (LITTLE!!) super glue goes a long way

pfffftchh. Duct tape is our everything.

[roundruler]

I bought my TP on the 20th and noticed when i held the TP in portrait mode that the right top and right bottom corners were slightly sunken in about a 1/3 cm below the plastic housing. Didn't pay much mind to it because I loved my new device.

About the 28th or so I noticed a hairline crack developing by the top left speaker (Still in portrait orientation here). Still didn't bother me too much because my baby just hit 1.7GHZ on both cores!

Two days later it cracked all the way through like so many other and is protruding up. I called/chatted with HP. They knew about it and presented me these offers:
.

Do you have a picture of the crack?

Thanks!

[specter]

Well I can't really blame it one wear over time because I've only had it for about a week. And knowing they're not going to make anymore I babied the TP. I guess that's wear the first "irk" came from. HP told me that this is a manufacturer defect, and they are aware. Hence all the pre-planned options of repair.

DO NOT USE SUPER GLUE! This may void your warranty.

Funny though, I call them last night after I posted this thread, and this morning a ups return box is sitting in front of my house yay! The return label says next day air.

Sorry I don't have pics because it is boxed up and ready to go. but if you search the forum, it's exactly the same crack others are having.

[OldSkoolVWLover]

yeah in the Apple world there is a term for this sort of thing a "Rev A product" were you often have design flaws in a brand new model.

Same thing I ALWAYS tell people about buying the first year of a new/revised model car.

[mmm5288]

1. TP Case worth $50 for Free

2. 1 Year Accidental Damage worth $80 for Free (Starts after my warranty ends)

3. Advance Replacement, they send me a refurbished TP, 2nd day Air, and I return my TP through their return box. There is a $60 Fee, but they offered to waive it for me. BUT they need my Credit Card for a $365 hold, which would be released when I return the defective one. They would not waive this. Even spoke with manager.

4. Repair Box, they send me a shipping box 2nd day air, I return it, they repair/replace(if not repairable) for 5-7 days and expedite it back to me. $30 for the faster expedited shipping and repair, but they waived the fee. Otherwise it would be regular shipping plus 7-10 days repair.

After reading this at least I know my options because yes there is indeed a crack by my speaker as well after only 2 weeks of very light usage.

I can live with the crack for now (as long as it doesn't affect my screen) but I'm worried about the long run. I plan on having this for atleast 2-3 years maybe more. I still have my Pre-that runs good.

This is obviously a manufacturing defect so what good would a repair do? Same thing will just keep happening. Thats making me look more into option #2. Keeps me with a TP in tip top shape longer.

[jdlyall]

just noticed this morning that my 32 GB TP has a crack on top of speaker, i am so annoyed, should i contact hp or use the super glue ???/

I now have a crack on the top of the upper speaker. Super glue for me. I did get an official HP Palmpad case from Amazon. Good case, will probably prevent more damage.

according to another post HP will send you a free case if you complain.
I have a second 32gig coming from the small biz store to give to my sister. For a Skype tablet.

[starburst]

For those with cracks, is this just the 32 GB model? Or do people with the 16 Gb version have the same problem?

[OrionAntares#CB]

Same thing I ALWAYS tell people about buying the first year of a new/revised model car.

Make sure you get the 7 year/100k mile bumper to bumper extended warranty???