HP Support - Exchange or Warranty

[swatpup32]

Well I ordered a custom Mini 210-3000 from HP earlier this month and have been pretty happy with it. However, today I found out that the free PCI-E slot is dead, nothing I put in it is recognized. So I guess I'll have to send it. My question is, for those who have had support thru HP before, will I be able to exchange it for a new one, or will it go thru warranty service? I ask because I've only had it for 10 days and I already have a problem with it.

[zuvieltext]

a free PCI-E slot? Are you sure it really is a minipcie slot, because nowadays certain laptops also have a mSATA "bay". The msata connector looks like a minipcie slot but no minipcie card will work in it.

[swatpup32]

Nope, It's a mini PCI-E, says so in device manger. The manual designates it for WWAN, but regardless it's a PCI-E and should read my broadcom card just as it would a wireless wan card.

*edit*
Well from what I've gathered from my informant, google, it appears that the hp BIOS contains a whitelist and only products on the whitelist can be installed in the slots. So I guess this puppy is going for a refund. Thanks for the help though.

[zuvieltext]

Nope, It's a mini PCI-E, says so in device manger. The manual designates it for WWAN, but regardless it's a PCI-E and should read my broadcom card just as it would a wireless wan card.

If the bay is designated for a WWAN card, then it might be the case that only the USB part of the minipcie slot is connected and not the rest as well.

Well from what I've gathered from my informant, google, it appears that the hp BIOS contains a whitelist and only products on the whitelist can be installed in the slots. So I guess this puppy is going for a refund. Thanks for the help though.

As far as I know, the whitelist only affects which card you can put in the WLAN minipcie slot. However, I agree the best thing you can do is to get a refund and buy from a different vendor.

[SoMeAm]

Well I ordered a custom Mini 210-3000 from HP earlier this month and have been pretty happy with it. However, today I found out that the free PCI-E slot is dead, nothing I put in it is recognized. So I guess I'll have to send it. My question is, for those who have had support thru HP before, will I be able to exchange it for a new one, or will it go thru warranty service? I ask because I've only had it for 10 days and I already have a problem with it.

Hi swatpup32,

If you purchased from HP Shopping they have a 21 day return policy. If you need any assistance with returning the device please email me at psgsocialmedia@hp.com with your contact and order information. Please include in the subject line Attn: Veronica-NBR.

"he views expressed in my contributions are my own and do not necessarily reflect the views and strategy of HP"

[dlleno]

Well I ordered a custom Mini 210-3000 from HP earlier this month and have been pretty happy with it. However, today I found out that the free PCI-E slot is dead, nothing I put in it is recognized. So I guess I'll have to send it. My question is, for those who have had support thru HP before, will I be able to exchange it for a new one, or will it go thru warranty service? I ask because I've only had it for 10 days and I already have a problem with it.

I'll add my advice here-- during the 21 day return policy, you can test and inspect the laptop and the criteria for sucess is defined by you. after the 21 day period is expired, the laptop is covered under warranty but the criteria for success is defined by HP.

if both you and HP agree on the criteria for success, that is nice but then the question becomes what is in your best interest. almost always, it is in your best interest to send it back and get another one, and avoid the repair route, because:

1. repairs will take as long as the time to ship a new one

2. a repair may require that HP tear into the laptop and R&R something. that means it isn't a new laptop anymore it is a repaired one

3. the 21 day clock keeps ticking while the unit is under repair, so it becomes more difficult if not impossible to return it later.

now then, a combination of the repair and the return approaches is very attractive. for example, I was able, via the repair process, to obtain a case manager and get that person to convince the sales team to give me the replacement laptop for the same price as I had earlier paid (my webcam was DOA). This can be important if you can't find the same discount coupons now as you did for the origional order. right now for example -- no 30%off coupons are active.