April 30, 2009
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I got my computer back
My current laptop is an HP Tx1320, a tablet, or touch screen, model. It was a pretty nice machine when I got it back in December 2007. The tablet function can be pretty nice to use, and it’s small and generally light weight. However, HP has some issues.
When I first got the machine, I already owned an HP Photosmart 3210 All-in-one printer/scanner/copier. You would assume that the two items, being made by the same company, would work well together. This was not the case. To have touch screen, a computer essentially uses the Windows Tablet Service, which is also used for actual drawing tablets. HP decided not to see if their scanner drivers were compatible with this. HP generally failed to acknowledge that this was an error on their part, and would tell its customers that it was a Microsoft issue. Way to go tech support.
After months of having to shut down the service to scan, which would remove touch screen functionality, and then have to reboot to get that back (you could not restart the service and have it work properly), HP silently fixed the problem in one of their updates.
Meanwhile, teh machine had issues of it’s own. At some point, I realized that I did not have wireless access. Not a huge problem, since i use a CDMA card to connect to Verizon internet service, but it was a small annoyance. After some searching, I would learn that this was a flaw in HP’s motherboard. Unfortunately, it normally hit people after their warranty was done. It wasn’t major, and if I really wanted to, a USB dongle would cost me $20.
Jump forward to a month ago. My touch screen suddenly didn’t respond to touch. I also realized that the fingerprint scanner was not working, and the camera stopped, too. Some searches would reveal, that this was also motherboard related, and was happening to a number of people with tx1000 series laptops. HP generally refused to acknowledge that this was a major problem, and never issued a recall or offered a warranty extention. However, though searching, I was able to find that if you sent an angry enough letter, you could get some help.
A few days later, I was phoned by an HP representative, and explained the issue. From my research, I already knew that they knew what the problem was. I just wanted it fixed. They offered to fix it for free, and I took that option.
It took them about a week to repair it, so I went into a depression at home. I would just walk over to where teh computer should be, as i to use it, only to realize that it was gone. It was a sad time. However, I got ready in the morning faster, so that was a plus.
When I got the computer back, I looked at the list of things they had done: motherboard replacement, heat sink replacement (the thing used to get hot enough to burn you), and they wiped my hard drive. I was upset about the last one, but I had backed up everything, so it didn’t kill me. It took me about a day to get everything just teh way that I like it.
The letter is essentially what I just described, but you can see it behind the hidden area if you really want to:
I purchased a TX1320us laptop a little over 1 year ago. Since having it, a number of problems have occurred with the laptop, a series that HP refuses to acknowledge has widespread motherboard problems.Initially, the HP laptop was unable to work with my HP Photosmart printer, due to a conflict between the HP scanner software and the windows tablet service (which is necessary to make the touch screen work). HP refused to acknowledge it as an issue, and calls to tech support said the issue was that the Windows OS service was the problem (rather than a program designed to run in that environment), but silently fixed it with an update last year.
Not long after having the laptop, the Wireless capability stopped functioning. A search for tx1000 series computers and “missing wireless” will show forums full of HP customers with the same issue. Apparently, it has been linked to a problem with the motherboard. Again, no official acknowledgment from HP. Wireless networking is not an option for me without spending cash on a third -party USB adapter.
Two days ago, my touch screen and fingerprint reader stopped responding. Again, a search for the model and “touch screen not working” reveals forums full of individuals having the same issue. It’s not driver related. It’s not software related. It’s the hardware.
I’d like some resolution to this most recent problem, since it is pointless to have spent the extra money on the touch screen capability, the main selling point of the model, and not have it usable.
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