No. Augh! No! NOOO!

[Danny Fekete]

Originally Posted by Shaggy

Have you heard anything back about whether it would still be covered under warranty?

Yes, actually. iRex has asked me to return the reader and stylus for them to investigate, and if they decide that the fault for the flaw lies with them, it's been impressed upon me that optimism could be appropriate. I'll be writing back with the results.

[Sweetpea]

Ohhh, we'll hope for you!

[Shaggy]

I've seen them be pretty good about that kind of thing in the past, so I would keep my hopes up. The way I would look at it is that the original scratch should be covered under warranty, so they would have been replacing the screen anyway. The fact that you accidentally broke it further trying to get pictures for them shouldn't invalidate the warranty replacement for the scratch.

It'd be nice to find out how your story ends though, so keep us informed.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Shaggy

I've seen them be pretty good about that kind of thing in the past, so I would keep my hopes up. The way I would look at it is that the original scratch should be covered under warranty, so they would have been replacing the screen anyway. The fact that you accidentally broke it further trying to get pictures for them shouldn't invalidate the warranty replacement for the scratch.

The only thing that makes me slightly doubtful is that the scratch was on the outer plastic screen, which is a part of the case, and entirely separate from the eInk screen, which the camera broke.

[Shaggy]

Originally Posted by HarryT

The only thing that makes me slightly doubtful is that the scratch was on the outer plastic screen, which is a part of the case, and entirely separate from the eInk screen, which the camera broke.

That wasn't my impression. I thought they said it scratched the outer layer of the screen itself, not the surrounding case. Maybe I should go back and re-read the original post though.

Edit: It says they scratched the middle of the screen, doesn't seem to have anything to do with the case.

[Danny Fekete]

Did you mean, Harry, that there's a replaceable surface on the screen separate from the pigment capsules and electronics?

[HarryT]

There is an outer layer of clear plastic which is on top of, and entirely separate from, the "real" eInk screen which lies below it. It's purely there for protection. You've scratched the "outer" plastic screen, but fractured the "real" glass screen which is under it.

[Danny Fekete]

Originally Posted by HarryT

There is an outer layer of clear plastic which is on top of, and entirely separate from, the "real" eInk screen which lies below it. It's purely there for protection. You've scratched the "outer" plastic screen, but fractured the "real" glass screen which is under it.

Huh. It's separate (and separately replaceable) from the rest of the screen? That's unfortunate for me, but it'd be handy to know for people whose screens get scratched up and could be repaired relatively cheaply, at least.

Where did you find this out, Harry? I've been googling and the most explicit resource I could find was this 2007 article from iRex. They describe the three layers, the topmost of which is the Front Plane Laminate, though from what I read, it seems to contain the pigment cells.

Edit: Oh, is it the PET layer, shown here?

[HarryT]

I don't know that it's specifically true for the DR1000, Danny, but it's certainly the way that the other eInk devices are constructed, and I really don't see any reason that the iRex ones should be different. That's why I say that the outer plastic screen is really a part of the case rather than a part of the eInk screen itself. I may, of course, be wrong, but that's certainly the way that the Sony, CyBook, etc, are all constructed.

[Shaggy]

Yes, the screen is made up of multiple layers. However, I do not believe they replace them separately. I'm pretty sure that if you damage the top layer that they would replace the entire screen.

In theory, they could take the screen apart into it's component pieces and rebuild it with a new outer layer, but I don't think they really do that. That would be too much labor and take too long. From what I've seen, if any part of the screen gets damaged they just replace the whole thing.

After they've completed your warranty replacement, they may take your damaged screen and send it back to their manufacturer to take it apart and re-use the "good" parts in a refurbished unit later, but I don't think they go through all of that for a warranty repair.

[Shaggy]

Originally Posted by HarryT

I don't know that it's specifically true for the DR1000, Danny, but it's certainly the way that the other eInk devices are constructed, and I really don't see any reason that the iRex ones should be different.

Technically, you're right. But in practice they don't take the screen apart and replace individual layers. They just swap the whole thing out.

[Danny Fekete]

Hi, folks. I wanted to let you know that after a few weeks of spare-part limbo at iRex, my reader has been shipped back to me with a new screen and nib in the Professional Stylus, which (after my paranoid hesitancy was overcome by my frustration at using only the arrow buttons to navigate with) seems to be working without any problems. As a point of interest, when I got them back, the screen and stylus were smeared in a few spots with a weird gluey goo that I was able to buff away with a soft cloth and my breath. Any ideas?

I'm awfully happy to have this thing back, and I've been using it for at least four hours a day since it arrived. Thanks, everyone, for your earlier support.

[Shaggy]

Glad to hear it all got taken care of.

Regarding the glue, I have no idea. A guess would be someone got a little sloppy during assembly of the screen. Since it came off without any problems I wouldn't worry about it.

[yingwu]

Originally Posted by Danny Fekete

Hi, folks. I wanted to let you know that after a few weeks of spare-part limbo at iRex, my reader has been shipped back to me with a new screen and nib in the Professional Stylus, which (after my paranoid hesitancy was overcome by my frustration at using only the arrow buttons to navigate with) seems to be working without any problems. As a point of interest, when I got them back, the screen and stylus were smeared in a few spots with a weird gluey goo that I was able to buff away with a soft cloth and my breath. Any ideas?

I'm awfully happy to have this thing back, and I've been using it for at least four hours a day since it arrived. Thanks, everyone, for your earlier support.

Have you paid any money to repair it in Irex?

[Danny Fekete]

Originally Posted by yingwu

Have you paid any money to repair it in Irex?

Nope; it seems to have been covered under warranty. They mentioned that I'd need to pay additional duty if it was being shipped back to a different country than the one I bought it from, but that didn't apply (and probably doesn't in most cases). Shipping, repairs, and shipping back were all paid for by iRex.