MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - Tell us about your handheld repair stories

Bob Russell · 04-28-2006, 09:21 PM

Seeing the recent post about a broken Sony Librie reader screen leads me to ask the following questions:

Have you ever had a handheld device that needed repair?
If it was under warranty, how fast and easily could you get a replacement?
If out of warranty, what were your options?
Did you get it repaired or throw it away?

My only experience was with a refurbished Toshiba e405 Pocket PC that I bought on Woot.com. It stopped working completely. I believe it was completely unusable and would freeze up, but I can't really remember the details anymore. (You can probably find my complaints if you search the forums.)

I contacted the main number at Toshiba, and they were very nice about it, and it was still under warranty. Even though they had already exited the PDA business at the time, they were still very helpful. They sent me a replacement device, and a FedEx account number to use to ship the defective one back to them at their cost. They took my credit card number to guarantee that return.

It was almost just that easy. Almost. Everything was fine except that even after returning the defective device, they charged my credit card. It was a bit of a battle, but I finally got to someone that could help me, and it was finally resolved. Again, I don't remember all the details, but I do remember it was a pain in the neck. But all in all, I was very pleased with Toshiba's handling of the matter and I would consider them in the future for, say, a UMPC.

I also have a Treo 650 now with a finicky connector. Most of the time I have to wiggle it to hotsynch, and sometimes that's really annoying when on some days it's hard to get the connection. I'm tempted to get a bluetooth adapter for my PC to avoid that completely, but then I would have to end up turning on and off bluetooth just to sync (as I don't want the extra battery drain if that's all I'm using it for). I have a coverage plan with Verizon but I haven't checked yet to see if it covers this and how long I would have to be without a device. I'll have to check soon if that 700p shows up in May, because I may just be switching.

Other than that, everything has worked well for me. I did wear out the up/down switch on my old Clie from overuse, but it wasn't completely broken so I never did anything about it.

And I did have an SD card that stopped working from Lexar. I think it was caused by a bad USB card reader device, but I didn't figure that out until after it was replaced under warranty. They were very gracious and efficient about the whole thing, and simply asked that I return the defective SD card. Lesson: If you are using an older model card reader, make sure you have the current firmware upgrades.

So that's my story. Now tell us yours...

Note: The picture is from this poor fellow. But at least he had a happy ending!

04-28-2006, 09:21 PM	#1
Bob Russell Recovering Gadget Addict Posts: 5,381 Karma: 676161 Join Date: May 2004 Location: Pittsburgh, PA Device: iPad	Tell us about your handheld repair stories Seeing the recent post about a broken Sony Librie reader screen leads me to ask the following questions: Have you ever had a handheld device that needed repair? If it was under warranty, how fast and easily could you get a replacement? If out of warranty, what were your options? Did you get it repaired or throw it away? My only experience was with a refurbished Toshiba e405 Pocket PC that I bought on Woot.com. It stopped working completely. I believe it was completely unusable and would freeze up, but I can't really remember the details anymore. (You can probably find my complaints if you search the forums.) I contacted the main number at Toshiba, and they were very nice about it, and it was still under warranty. Even though they had already exited the PDA business at the time, they were still very helpful. They sent me a replacement device, and a FedEx account number to use to ship the defective one back to them at their cost. They took my credit card number to guarantee that return. It was almost just that easy. Almost. Everything was fine except that even after returning the defective device, they charged my credit card. It was a bit of a battle, but I finally got to someone that could help me, and it was finally resolved. Again, I don't remember all the details, but I do remember it was a pain in the neck. But all in all, I was very pleased with Toshiba's handling of the matter and I would consider them in the future for, say, a UMPC. I also have a Treo 650 now with a finicky connector. Most of the time I have to wiggle it to hotsynch, and sometimes that's really annoying when on some days it's hard to get the connection. I'm tempted to get a bluetooth adapter for my PC to avoid that completely, but then I would have to end up turning on and off bluetooth just to sync (as I don't want the extra battery drain if that's all I'm using it for). I have a coverage plan with Verizon but I haven't checked yet to see if it covers this and how long I would have to be without a device. I'll have to check soon if that 700p shows up in May, because I may just be switching. Other than that, everything has worked well for me. I did wear out the up/down switch on my old Clie from overuse, but it wasn't completely broken so I never did anything about it. And I did have an SD card that stopped working from Lexar. I think it was caused by a bad USB card reader device, but I didn't figure that out until after it was replaced under warranty. They were very gracious and efficient about the whole thing, and simply asked that I return the defective SD card. Lesson: If you are using an older model card reader, make sure you have the current firmware upgrades. So that's my story. Now tell us yours... Note: The picture is from this poor fellow. But at least he had a happy ending!