Help! Mysterious Broken Screen!!

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by xharekx33

ok, but some arent made from plastic that bends and allows for misterious screen breakage

If you have any hard data which shows that the Sony Reader suffers from fewer screen breakages than the Gen3 does, I'd love to see it. Exerting pressure on the screen of a Sony is going to break it just as surely as on a Gen3 - what the case is made of won't affect that!

[xharekx33]

Despite your stubbornness to believe us, some of us are positive that now pressure was applied to the screen.

I didnt carry it in a bag, always in my hand, nor put anything on top of it. 2 weeks isnt a long time to have a hard time remembering (that's how long mine lasted) and I was in full "i love my brand new cybook" mode. So I was indeed paying attention.

Therefore the only possible way I can think of it breaking in some way, was by some kind of weird twisting (which i cant fully understand how it could happen either)


What really matters, is that I no longer care. I'd rather pay a bit more to get a new Sony Reader, made out of aluminum instead of flimsy plastic, than to try to repair the Cybook and risk it breaking again. I loved my cybook, but I wouldnt recommend it to anyone now.

If my Sony reader happens to break in a similar way, trust me, I'll admit that something must be wrong with my way of holding the damn thing or something like that... but until then, I'm putting my blame on the Cybook's plastic case not being protective enough

[HarryT]

Let's wait and see then. Good luck with your Sony - I used to own one, and it's an excellent machine.

[zed01]

Just to follow up my previous note.

I have sent a few photos to bookeen (see attached pictures) and they replied immediately:

Sir,

The backplane of your display is seemingly broken; fractures radiate on the screen.
This could be due to a shock or a pressure.
We invite you to send us your device. Our technicians will then be able to determine the exact nature of the issue.

For your own information, broken parts are not covered by the warranty and the display is the most expensive component of the device.
If you wish and if needed, we can propose a display replacement.
This operation costs 120€ (parts and labor included) + shipping.

If you are interested, here is the Return Merchandise Authorization (RMA) procedure to follow…



I'm a bit sad. I would prefer a product which fit better for its purpose: carrying around and using everywhere.
It was still worthy for it's money as lasted for 6 months and I read over 18 books on it what I acquired for free.

[SandySchwab]

I know we've already discussed this several times (and probably to death) on these boards, but still, it's worth repeating.

Originally Posted by zed01

For your own information, broken parts are not covered by the warranty

Well, broken parts might not be covered by their warranty, but they're certainly covered by the 2-year guarantee Bookeen has to grant you. And according to the European Customer Centre,

Within the first six months of purchase, any lack of conformity or defect shall be presumed to have existed at the time of delivery, unless proved otherwise

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by SandySchwab

Well, broken parts might not be covered by their warranty, but they're certainly covered by the 2-year guarantee Bookeen has to grant you. And according to the European Customer Centre,

What makes you think that Bookeen "have" to grant you a 2-year guarantee? There may be an EU directive saying that, but EU directives have to be implemented as law by national governments before they have any legal authority. I don't know if that particular one has been made law in Germany, but it hasn't been in the UK.

[peterbbb]

Ohhhhhh

Really sorry to hear about the broken screen problem.

But, would you do an experiment along the lines of how much weight does it take to break the screen?

Gently put weights onto the screen to see when it cracks. This might seem silly but coke cans, full of coca cola, would be great. Static weight, not dropped, just piled up one on top of the other. How many before it cracks again?

Get the first can as close to the middle as you can.

My guess is three cans before it breaks.

Peter

[bbusybookworm]

Originally Posted by SandySchwab

Well, broken parts might not be covered by their warranty, but they're certainly covered by the 2-year guarantee Bookeen has to grant you. And according to the European Customer Centre,

Reading what it says on the link you posted, the relevent section is

any lack of conformity or defect shall be presumed to have existed at the time of delivery, unless proved otherwise. After the first six months, it is up to the consumer to prove that the lack of conformity existed at the time of delivery.

It refers to an inherent defect in the device, not broken parts. While it could be argued that the product itself was defective if the screen broke, you're going to have a hard time convincing them without spending a lot of money on lawyers and a very slim chance of success.

[tompe]

Originally Posted by bbusybookworm

It refers to an inherent defect in the device, not broken parts. While it could be argued that the product itself was defective if the screen broke, you're going to have a hard time convincing them without spending a lot of money on lawyers and a very slim chance of success.

What is an inherent defect? If an electronic component breaks inside 2 years it is pretty clear that it is an inherent defect. And that was also the intention of the law.

[Monteagle]

One of my friends at work and I have been using e-paper devices. His screen died twice on the Sony Reader in the last 15 months. We didn't think either one looked like damage. (Unfortunately, we didn't keep pictures.) Sony was good about replacing the first one, but charged something like $250 for the second one, which I think was out of warranty by then.

I personally use the Cybook (since March) and had an SD card slot problem with it. Bought that one from BooksOnBoard with their accidental damage plan. Sent it to them and received a brand new one back in 3 days. I'm sure my significant other broke the slot trying to force an SD card in upside down. Because of the policy - which isn't cheap but worth the peace of mind to me - no questions were asked other then to ask to what address the new unit should be shipped. That's worth something.

Limited sample, I know, but it looks like the e-ink screens are just very fragile. The screens, as pointed out elsewhere in this forum, are all manufactured by the same Taiwanese outfit, but final assembly is apparently done by different companies. Kind of a typical early adopter hardware issue where things are not as robust as we'd like. BooksOnBoard actually sends a big warning in the package that tells you the screens are very fragile. I've heard they carry the Cybook as a convenience for their customers, but that they're not crazy about it because they pride themselves on good service, and the e-ink screens don't make that easy. That being said, they did give me good service on it and I only had to pay shipping one-way within the US - cost $9 US Postal Service in a well-insulated box. (I started by trying to contact Bookeen, but received no response over a week; BooksOnBoard was back to me within an hour. They seem to use the same support team that supports the ebooks themselves. As confirmed in many forums here and elsewhere, that team is very friendly, responsive, and world class. With eBook software and e-ink screens, they're likely to have good job security. Hope their management's smart enough to take good care of them.)

[bbusybookworm]

Originally Posted by tompe

What is an inherent defect? If an electronic component breaks inside 2 years it is pretty clear that it is an inherent defect. And that was also the intention of the law.

The point is that its not as cut and dry as you say.

Inherent defective can mean a lot of things in the law, but usually means that is not fit for its purpose or has a defect in the workmanship.

Now as you said it could be a inherent defect that lead to to it breaking, but the argument against that is that it does not cover accidental damage.

I.e. it was meant to prevent shoddy workmanship, not hold the manufacturer libel for misuse or damage caused by the user. Most electronics have to treated with care, otherwise you risk damaging them.eg. dropping and breaking a mobile phone or laptop does not mean that its is defective, it means that it was not used properly or within the products limits.

Similarly Breaking the screen on the Cybook could be argued as misuse by the user. While It could be a problem in the design as you said,its not simple as stating that, you are going to have to prove that the defect was in the design and not "user error" in a court of law.

While I do not think all the problems, were caused by users, or that Bookeen is very responsive, the situation is not that simple.

Best option would be to contact the Consumer protection agency / Better Business Bureau of your county and talk to them about this. They\ll be able to advise you on your rights on this.

[JSWolf]

We already know that if you put enough pressure on the gen3 screen, it will break. That's a fact. That's not a flaw or defect. It's inherent in the screen. Now, what we really need to know is what sort of pressure around the visible part of the screen needs to applied and where/how before the screen will break. We have mysteriously breaking screens. But are they really or is it maybe a flaw in the design of the plastic case surrounding the screen? We don't rightly know. If Bookeen would do these tests, then they would know and could tell us. But until then, we'll just have screen breaking without known cases and customers will be pissed.

[tompe]

Originally Posted by bbusybookworm

Inherent defective can mean a lot of things in the law, but usually means that is not fit for its purpose or has a defect in the workmanship.

Now as you said it could be a inherent defect that lead to to it breaking, but the argument against that is that it does not cover accidental damage.

I.e. it was meant to prevent shoddy workmanship, not hold the manufacturer libel for misuse or damage caused by the user. Most electronics have to treated with care, otherwise you risk damaging them.eg. dropping and breaking a mobile phone or laptop does not mean that its is defective, it means that it was not used properly or within the products limits.

In Swedish courts the stated intention (i do not know if there was any real case) from the justice department was that if for example a TV set breaks inside 2 year it was defective from the beginning.

And it is relatively easy to see on electronics if a problem is caused by external force or not. I really do not believe that the internal functioning of an IC can be broken by external force for example. And a correct soldiering is very hard to break also.

My Cybook have now broken totally and it is the screen controller problem so we will see what happens.

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by tompe

In Swedish courts the stated intention (i do not know if there was any real case) from the justice department was that if for example a TV set breaks inside 2 year it was defective from the beginning.

Ok... what if the picture tube cracked. It wasn't there initially? How can you prove you didn't hit it with a frying pan? How can the manufacturer prove you did?

BOb

[tompe]

Originally Posted by pilotbob

Ok... what if the picture tube cracked. It wasn't there initially? How can you prove you didn't hit it with a frying pan? How can the manufacturer prove you did?

Obviously for some thing like that you can show things since you have empirical data about tube cracking. But you prove things like you always do by presenting evidence. If you suspect a frying pan induced cracking you look for witnesses and so on.

The problem was that something broke because it was faulty from the beginning but shops tried to weasel out from their responsibility and customers that did not know how to argume with them and did not know things about electronics suffered. Therefore we got this statement from the justice department and the shops started to sell insurences and they also gave a warranty (that is stronger) for one year which eliminated a lot of the problems. Then the EU laws was changed to this 6 months/3 year thing instead. And since most problem occur inside 6 months I assume that it is not a big problem with shops not being honest about their responsibility.