Before I noticed the crack on mine, I really didn't think the screen was too tight. Now it creaks some when opening and closing it and also I notice a slight bit of play in it when it is open (like it is loose). It doesn't feel as tight when closing as it does to open it. I do have the BB waranty and I plan to take it in this week to see what they will do. I hope they will swap it out with a new one but I have had it for 2 months so I don't know what they will do. Also, I hope, if they do give me a new one, I can swap the drives so I don't have to go through and reinstall everything yet again.

And here I thought my comments would probably be an isolated instance only to find a thread on this issue growing like a weed! I've had my 6805 about 2 weeks now and recently took my laptop back to BB after finding developing cracks on BOTH hinges. The dude at BB Customer Service told me he had a Dell that had the same problem on 2 or 3 of his laptops. While mine was the first instance he'd seen on the eMachine, he wasn't completely surprised. He left to show it to Tech Support and came back with a new one fresh out of the box to swap. No problem.

I should mention some BB bozo walked up and seemed to insinuate that maybe I was responsible by offering "You KNOW that can happen when you leave a pencil on the keyboard before closing it!" Like I don't have better things to do with my time than drive 4o miles to a BB and exchange a 2 week old laptop...get real!

Apart from this issue, I'm pretty stoked to have the machine. Thoroughbred stuff!

As a matter of fact, cracking hinges is a common issue with laptops period.
What I don't find this just coincidence is the fact that most of us here had the left hinge cracking, which leads me to believe eMachines had a faulty assembly line.

I took my second one back to Best Buy last night and had a long discussion with a few of the representatives there. We bought the PSP they offer so they will continue replacing the laptop every time we bring it in, no problems there. Unfortunately, they were out of the M6809 model in that store and in every store for 200 miles, so I don't get a new one until Wednesday.
The rep looked a bit skeptical about us bringing in a second laptop after three weeks of getting one replaced for the exact same problem... until he went to look for a replacement. He was about to box up the floor model and give us a discount... then he noticed that it has a crack identical to ours.

To answer a previous question, the lid never felt any tighter on this than any other laptop I've ever used, never creaked or resisted when being opened or closed. Also, the crack does not start small and gradually appear. You start with a perfectly good laptop and BAM there's suddenly a 1-inch crack in the hinge.

I have exchanged a 4 month old m6805 with a left side hinge crack.

I wonder if there is something we can do to the hinge assembly to lessen the chances of the almost certain cracking.

I'd say run the poll for two weeks, just to make sure we don't miss anyone on vacation, etc.

It's clear eMachines has an issue. It would be nice if they came out with a statement regarding this, but of course, that probably won't happen. They'd save themselves a lot of headaches by coming up with a solution and letting everyone know they can return the unit, free of charge, to get "the fix." Otherwise, people are going to be constantly swapping them out. I predict that eMachines will stop Best Buy from swapping them and force a repair situation once enough of this happens.

Hey, I'm with you! You can almost predict it, huh? The one person that pointed out the heat exhaust below the left hinge might have something. It can get warm there before the fan kicks in.

Okay, when do we begin this poll? If it's up to me, then here goes. My issue involved BOTH hinges with cracks beginning from outside travelling inward about 3/4 across hinges and situated on top (lid closed). Since I've really babied this 2 week old laptop and looked it over numerous times from top to bottom getting acquainted with it's features, I think both cracks occurred very suddenly (possibly simultaneously) because I don't think I'd have missed it otherwise.

So there you have my input. So who's going to keep track of this blog?

I started a new thread in the Photo Gallery for anyone to submit pictures of their laptops with cracked hinges.

I have no crack yet since its less than a week old, but i just looked at it tonight. Looking at it from the top with the monitor closed, there appears to be a bulge forming on the actual case just below the hinge. Not the actual hinge and not the case, but the strip of plastic that sits between these two that forms the keyboard top. Its as if something from the motherboard is pressing up against this piece and it probably gets more aggravated once you close the lcd. I dont notice the similiar situtation on the right hinge. The actual hinge doesnt give when I open and close the lcd.

this post was enough to have me running for an R3000.

if you can live with your graphic card and harsh touchpad and miss the -dvdrw and maybe some other features which i cant recall, then you well done

i liked the same compaq you bought while i was in cc, but once i read about its gc i run away

i suspected about the heat as well, but it has nothing to do with it (i am talking about the power cable input side where i have mine cracked (i will assume this is the left side and hence i poll left side crack) as it is far away from getting heated (the right side is more closer to the heat which it is still not cracked with me)

doesnt arima manufactures the m6809 and other m680x series? if arima uses the same specifications for other laptops brand then it would be interesting to know which are they and check with their owners if they have the same problem, otherwise it might be possible that arima building according to emachine's specifications and to keep the cost low they used some cheap materials

it would be better if we run another poll asking who owns emachines m680x series so we can find out how many users out of total have their hing cracked

Is this just an asthetic issue or is the lcd actually getting play when you open and close it?

like i said before...there should be a petition or something like to start a RECALL....of this type of defecTs....how many problems are needed before one is started??? i just hate using my computer and thinking there is a crack on the hindge!?!?! i bet im not the only one

I got my 6805 the week is was released and have no cracking, nor start of cracking. This has been cross country, and it gets used daily.

EDIT: Mine cracked....lol This sucks. So weird that i was just looking at it 2 days ago really closely, nothing, and now today there is about an 1/2" crack on left hinge. Doesn't affect anything other than looks. Being that i have a bright red dead pixel right dead smack in the middle of my screen, i would take a chance on a new screen