Cracking Monitor Hinge - Page 26

I flashed, they fixed, they reflashed, OS wouldn't boot, reinstalled, all good.

Hey everyone I have a M6810 refurb I bought from tigerdirect.com about two weeks ago. Now I have about a 3/4" crack on the back left hinge. I haven't read all the posts in this thread, but from what I've gathered is there much point in sending it out to get repaired? Seems like people who get them replaced/repaired just have the same problem a couple weeks later. So what should I do...

1) Send it in to eMachines for warranty (90 day limited)?
2) Send it to tigerdirect?
3) Return it to tigerdirect and get a comple different brand?
4) Live with it?

1) WHo knows, they may have a fix now A couple of weeks is a bit of a stretch. i had mine repaired the first time not too long into the start of the fixing them. It lasted about 8-9 months. I will be sending mine in again if they will accept it again (I am out of warranty). I just haven't called yet.

2) They won't fix it, but they may send you a replacement. If the only problem with it is the cracked hinges, I wouldn't get another from Tiger. They are notorious for selling notebooks with bad LCDs and various other problems.

3) If you find something else that meets your needs, sure. These notebooks do have a few issues, but I for one have yet to find another series that gives what you get with this machine for the price. I have been lucky to only experience the hinge cracking problem. Others have had USB issues, GPU issues, and the dreaded screen flicker (I hate even typingthat for fear it will develop here).

4) Also a viable option, but you will probably want to put some type of strong tape or super glue on it to try and prevent it from getting worse. Some who have just left it alone have actually had chunks of the hinge cover fall off.

Don't you love ambiguity?!

anyone else have a reply to my post above? (#500)

lol no shouldnt be a problem. besides, there is an official BIOS posted on the eMachines website (0F08 which is the latest one and takes care of some other things like RAM compatibilities as some on here have reported), so obviously they know it's necessary to run SP2

Thanks for the response. I'm really considering just returning it to tigerdirect for a full cash refund, because I don't use it nearly as much as I thought I would. Also, is the crack purely aesthetic or does it hinder the performance of the LCD or hinge function?

Okay, so I just called eMachines and they were VERY helpful. I was holding for an operator for just 18 seconds before being assisted. They logged the cracked hinge in the computer and are shipping me packaging to ship the laptop to them. I'm going to see how that goes and if the problem persists then I will most definitely just return it to tigerdirect, if not, sounds like a keeper.

thanks anaconda, planning on sending it out monday so we'll see. Hopefully I won't have any problems. I will report on my experience when I get it back, hopefully in one piece, with everything in tact except for repair I am sending it in for.

Hey cyric, I bought an M6809 refurb from tigerdirect as well, and it clearly said on a label on the box that it could not be returned once it was opened, so you may not have the option of taking it back. Might want to check with tiger before sending it back them. I was going to live with the cracks on mine, but decided to send it in since it is a manufacturing defect. Be it only cosmetic, it's still a flaw and would like it repaired, especially since they know about it.

I bought it back on 4/16/05 so my 90 day warranty had expired, but when I called and told them the problem, the tech guy talked to a manager and had mine re-warrantied so I could send it in for repair, so far I am impressed with the service, but the proof will be in the pudding, so to speak, when I get it back. I only called yesterday and the box came today. It'll be interesting to see what kind of service we both get since we will be sending them back so close together. I just hope they do nothing but replace the required hinge defect. The rest of the machine runs perfect and I would hate to have them swap something and I end up being one of the horror stories. I'll be keeping my fingers crossed till I get it back and open it. Going to try and mark it somehow, to see if I get the same one back or not. Good luck with yours and let us know how it turns out.

I just thought I would give you guys an update on my experience.

My 6809 ran out of warrenty in April 2005. I had sent mine in for the cracks last year at about this time. Just like thunder, my repair was good for about 10 months.

Two weeks ago I noticed a hair-line crack. E-machines sent an RMA box with no problems, even though out of warrenty.

I sent it in last Monday and had it back safe and sound on Thursday with a pretty looking brand new case.

I had sent it in with the one gig of RAM in the hidden slot, and they did not bother it. They did not format my drive or flash the BIOS (I already had the 08). The only thing I noticed different was they changed my "Power managment" settings back to "E-machinces power managment", I just set it back to "Always On".

Everything went VERY well, both last time and this time I sent mine In.

I hope all of yours go just as well !!!!

I hope this time it lasts, supossed to be better material in the new cases.

Thanks for the info VonAir, makes me feel a little better about sending it in now, especially since I just dropped it off at the DHL drop off place about an hour ago, so it should go out tomorrow. I'll be holding my breath the entire time it's gone, also keeping my fingers crossed, and now I just need to find a block of wood to carry around with me to knock on once in a while until I get it back, just in case I can't hold my breath that long. .

Although as I was walking out the door I heard it crying out to me from inside the box. But I reassured my little laptop friend, that everything would be OK and that it needed a minor repair and would feel much better after it had it's little operation and that we would be back together real soon. Almost feel like part of me has been amputated. (not really, but all you laptop owners know what I mean )

I just shipped mine out this morning, hope to get it back by Friday. If not, no biggie. Hope both our laptops come back in stellar condition.

Good luck Cyric, hope it works out for ya. Make sure you keep us posted, you have to hold your own breath though.

When I tracked mine, it left here (Chicago area) about 10 pm last night (Monday) ,got to Emachines about 10 this morning (tuesday) so we will see how long it takes to get it back, as long as it comes back with the cracks fixed and every thing else in tact, I will be a very very happy camper. I'll post again as soon as I get it back and give it my official inspection and stamp of approval.

Well the FedEx guy came to my house today and brought me a little present. The cracks are gone, and it came back in tact, kind of surprising though considering how it was shipped back. I was really surprised to see how crummy the packaging was that they sent it back in. They send this foam filled earthquake proof box to ship it to them in, and send it back in a totally different box with absolutly no padding at all, just a cardbord frame on the bottom with a platic sheet supporting it and then the same thing on top. I wish they would have used the same box I sent it to them in. Sure would have made me feel better. Anyway I can breath again, it's all fixed I am a happy camper .

From what I can see they replaced the top of the case only, the inside bezel around the LCD appears to be the same and I know it's the same screen. But the hinge looks the same, so we'll see. But it is fixed and I also got the 90 day warranty on the repair, so hopefully this is a one time thing for me since it seems they have fixed this problem with a redesign of the faulty part. But time will tell.

My hat goes off to eMachines for the extremely quick repair and return, less than 72 hours from the time I sent it in till the time I got it back. Thank you eMachines.

Awesommmmmmme! I can only hope I get mine today (Friday) *crosses fingers* Glad to see the good service provided by eMachines. I'll keep ya posted.

lol when I got my notebook back from them (had to send it in for motherboard replacement for a defective video card), it came in a big box, but instead of all the big foam the original box had it had smaller pieces of foam arranged in some strange 3D puzzle that I could never in a million years put back in in the same way it was in before o_O

Yeah I was really surprised to see how it was shipped backed to me . Especially when they know that these packages are handled by people that don't care one bit about what's inside. Common sense would suggest, remove laptop from it's secure location in the foam filled box, remove from the static free bag, set box and bag on the side while the required repair is made, which couldn't have taken more than half an hour, then place the laptop back into the same static free bag, place back into the same secure location in the same foam filled box, secure box with new piece of tape, remove old shipping label or place new shipping label over the old one. Still puzzled about that one. Guess I should have sent along unpacking and repacking instuctions. Fortunately, it made it back in one piece and so far in the same working condition I sent it to them in. However, there is a very small paint chip on the front left side, right on the top corner of the new top. My guess would be, after seeing how it was packaged, the it happened in transit. Can't be 100% sure about that, but no biggy at all. Being this is a refurb, the new top in better condition than the old one anyway, so I have nothing to complain about ,unless the dreaded cracks reappear which, according to Mr. Anaconda (former eMachine employee ), they have rectified with the "correct" parts.

Again good luck to all who send theirs in, glad I found this thread and decided to send mine in, hope all have the same experience I did,except for the lousy return packaging mine came back in.

Hi guys, I have a Gateway 7405GX with a crack on the left hinge (very common right?). The crack started about a month ago (I've had the machine for about 8 months). Lately I've been observing the progression of the crack, from the inner part of the hinge to the outside. IMO the crack is propagated from the simple act of CLOSING the lid, using the top of the display. For anyone with a hairline crack that looks like it's starting to open a little, you can observe this by slowly opening/closing the lid. When you open it, you should notice that the crack will be pushed closed slightly. When you close it, you can see that the crack widens slightly - putting more pressure on it and forcing the crack to get bigger over time. I have noticed that if I grab near the bottom, around both sides of the LCD panel and close it from there instead of the top, it doesn't appear to put as much stress on the cracked area. I'm hoping this will keep the crack from spreading.

Does anybody want to guess what I'm posting from?

... that's right, my M6810! It was returned in the same box it came in, earthquake proof packaging and everything hehe. Crack is gone, hope it stays that way. They didn't wipe the hard drive, so I'm happy about that. I must say, this is by far the best service I have recieved from any company. Overnight shipping on everything, no problems, no hassles, everything is great. Thanks eMachines!

I sent an email to eMachines/Gateway regarding their lousy return packaging, hopefully they will take into consideration what I said and send out the repaired machine in a more well padded and sucure fashion. I doubt they will but who knows. Here is a copy of what I said in case anyone cares

"I currently do not have an issue with my laptop, but I did have the unfortunate problem of the cracked hinges, which is the reason for this email. First and foremost I would like to thank eMachines/Gateway tech support and customer service for the quick response in sending me the well padded box to send it in and the extremely quick repair time. I sent it in on a monday and had it back thursday of the same week. Thank you very much for the quick turnaround. But I do have one complaint. The box that was sent to me by eMachines/Gateway to pack and ship my laptop in was extremely well padded with lots of foam, a static free bag, and very clear instructions on how to pack and ship it securely and safely. When I shipped it out it was secured in place and very well protected. The machine would have survived the handling of a gorilla, like in that old luggage commercial. When it was sent back to me, a gorilla would have destroyed it. It was packaged in a different box, sandwiched between 2 cardboard frames with a plastic sheet gluded to a cutout in that frame. That was the only support and protection in the entire box. No foam protecting the outside of the laptop, no foam or any other protective material whatsoever. It was just suspended between those two frames, leaving it to slide around freely. It wasn't even in a static free bag. The box arrived with some dents and a crushed corner and if it were handled any more roughly than it was, it could have easily been damaged or even worse DOA. Then when I opened it and saw how it was packaged, I was wondering if it would even power up. That is not the first thing I wanted to think about when I opened the box, and that was exactly what my first thought was, not if the cracks were fixed. I would think eMachines/Gateway would want to make the customer feel secure that that their expensive and fragile piece of electronic equipment was handled with care, repaired with care and packaged for return shipment with care, not make the customer wonder if it will power up or not. Fortunately there was no damage and so far all seems well, but there very easily could have been. Why not just return it in the same well protected box and just put a new label on it? I would have felt much better seeing and opening that same box even if it did have some dented corners, because I knew how it was packed. The thought of powering up would have never even entered my mind. Well anyway, that is my only complaint and I am a very satisfied customer with the service I received, just surprised and disappointed in the way my laptop was shipped back to me, I did not get the feeling that it was handled with any care at all, though I am sure it was, I did not get that impression at all upon opening the return box.

One satisfied and slightly disappointed customer"


Made me feel better letting them know I was slightly disapppointed anyway.

glad to hear yours went well too Cyric, that is awwwsome, hope it is a long lasting repair for us and everyone else. At least yours was sent back in the earthquake and gorilla proof packaging though, unlike mine, obvioulsly we had different tech guys. Oh well, all is good now and a very happy camper I am.