MSI Wind broken hinge - what are the odds the warranty will cover me?

[MichaelD]

I (used to) love my MSI Wind; I was very happy with it until recently. I discovered a severe design flaw...the hard way. D:

The hinges mount to the upper and lower halves of the case. The metal hinge screws to a metal captive nut that is held in place by little plastic parts of the upper/lower case halves. When moving the screen all the stress is placed on these teeny little plastic protrusions that hold the captive nuts in place.

On my Wind, on the right-hand side, the little plastic pieces snapped off completely; one of them completely disintegrated, the other broke into three pieces which I foolishly attempted to crazy glue together and fix. Didn't work.

Obviously, I have opened the case and attempted a repair. The notebook itself works fine...just the screen/case is all wobbly and bent out of shape. I did not drop/bang/abuse it in any way...it just broke.

I'm still within the warranty period; what are the odds MSI will cover me being that I opened it and tried to glue the piece back? ()

 

[corkyg]

That was a mistake, but maybe you can talk your way out of it. All you can do is try.

 

[BTA]

Try some good epoxy instead of super glue if you decide to try to fix it again. Thats what I did with my HP which had a similar issue and it holds well.

 

[MichaelD]

Thanks for the replies. I was thinking "You know, I probably shouldn't try to fix this" but being that I had already "voided the warranty" by installing another 1GB of memory I figured "What the heck." :hmm:

MSI puts a "Warranty void if removed" sticker over one of the case screws. The overall consensus in the Wind community (through talks with MSI CSRs) was that adding more memory won't void the warranty. So I did. ()

I'll shoot them an email...we'll see what they say.

 

[MichaelD]

I finally got around to filling out a tech support/RMA request; no answer yet though. I was as honest as I could be. Explained that I opened it and why (possibly was an easy fix...loose screws).

We'll see what they say. I really like my netbook; for what I bought it for (quick emailing and surfing while on the road) it's perfect. But...if they don't honor my warranty (or at least meet me halfway...say I pay for shipping both ways or something like that) I probably won't buy another netbook.

AFAIK, they're all basically made the same way. Which means even if I buy another brand the same thing's probably going to happen, right? A new 15" lappy may be in my future. We'll see.

 

[MichaelD]

OK...tech support said "Contact the RMA dept." and that's all they said. So I log in to my MSI support account to do so and it shows that my warranty expired at the 1 year point. I'm a bit confused b/c MSI's site shows that their notebooks have a 2 year warranty...unless they are not considering the netbook a notebook...I guess that's what that means. Of course, my warranty expired exactly 24 days ago. Go figure.

I filled out an RMA request anyway, explained my situation and politely requested assistance. Again, we'll see what happens. Just wanted to update the thread.

 

[corkyg]

A netbook is not a notebook. Because of the lower price level, a short warranty is definitely possible. But - you must try.

 

[MichaelD]

A netbook is not a notebook. Because of the lower price level, a short warranty is definitely possible. But - you must try.

Yep, I lose nothing by asking...though they're probably going to tell me to go get bent. I.E. out of warranty, you messed with it, too bad.

I'd be very happy if they sent me a new bottom part of the clamshell and said "Put it in yourself." :sneaky: Heck, I'd gladly pay shipping for it too.

 

[corkyg]

Check out E-Bay. You may be able to buy a complete MSI Wind for less than the repair cost. You could use it for parts.

http://computers.shop.ebay.com/?_from=R40&_npmv=3&_trksid=p3910.m38.l1313&_nkw=MSI+Wind&_sacat=58058

 

[MichaelD]

That's a really good idea, Corkyg. I'll keep an eye out for a "dead one." Thanks for the suggestion.

And...I may just be doing that b/c MSI told me to go get bent. According to MSI's RMA department, my netbook is out of warranty and that's that. They suggested I call their service center and arrange for out-of-warranty service. I'll give them a call to see if they can give me a ballpark figure on how much it will cost to fix.

*sigh* My next portable computer will not be an MSI Wind, I know that much.

 

[MichaelD]

Well, the number that the RMA dept gave me for the service center doesn't exist (get the three-rising-tone thing from the phone company and "The number you have entered is not valid...)

So...I called MSI's main number in California...got the machine "press 1 for..." and I tried all the departments including Sales. After being on hold for 10 minutes for each one...and getting disconnected automagically by half of the departments I said "I'm fed up with this tomfoolery!" and gently hung up the phone.

I didn't exactly say that...or gently hang up...I said some other things which I won't repeat here. ()

*sigh* So it's a Samsung N110 or an EeePC of some variant...still shopping. Hopefully I can use the 1GB PC5400 stick I bought for the Wind in whatever I buy.

*edit*
To my eyes, the EeePC seems to have the exact same hinge design as the Wind. I know that Asus OEMs their own PCs...I think MSI does too. What gives here? I wonder if they are the same case? The Samsung appears to have a different hinge design (looks like the Acer One to me). I'll probably go that route.

 

[Decembermouse]

Yeah, they tend to avoid people who use the word "tomfoolery"

 

[MichaelD]

I bought an EeePC netbook today. Aside from the 1.3MP (vs .3MP) camera and (alleged) 10-hour battery, there's nothing special about it. Camera was important to me so I can Skype with wife and kid while on the road. 160GB HD is more than enough for OS/Office/AV and tons of MP3s. I also bought a 2GB stick of RAM for it...the additional memory really helped the Wind...POS that it was. Hope the Asus lasts a lot, lot, LOT longer than the Wind did.

It was a difficult decision b/t buying the cheapest thing possible (keeping with the "email only" nature of the netbook) and not spending $500+ dollars on a really tricked-out netbook. It's hard to find a middle ground w/these things. I figure since Asus invented netbook (in it's current form...no Amiga talk or whatever IBM did 20 years ago, please) that they'd probably be the best bet for longevity.
I'll continue to keep an eye out on EBay for a dead Wind; all I need is the bottom part of the case. The Wind still works...but no one would give a fair price for it given it's current condition. I'm stuck with it. *grumble* Stupid cheap MSI plastic...*grouse* and time-bomb netbook cracks open like and egg 24 days out of warranty...*grumble*...stupid MSI..............

And that's that.

 

[SilverTrine]

The older EeePC had a case and plastics that were much higher quality than the Wind. I know because we had both in our home. From what I've heard the new Asus netbooks have much lower quality plastics. This EeePC I used was a 1000ha.

 

[MichaelD]

Well, I'm really hoping that the EeePC (1005HA) lasts awhile. I almost bought the Samsung, then the Acer, but settled on the Asus based on reviews/specs and the thought that "well, they invented the thing...should be good to go..."

I've got my fingers crossed, believe me. What pisses me off most about the Wind was that i treated it with kid gloves. I was gentle as heck with the thing and look what happened. My 5-year old Acer laptop gets moved around and banged everywhere...thing's a tank. Go fig.

 

[john_v]

Michael,
I registered here specifically to respond to this thread. I found it by googling the problem I had with my Wind U100. I had the exact same thing happen this morning. Screw mount busted into multiple little pieces. I went ahead and took the back off since I knew I was out of warranty.
I wonder if we can find others that this is happening to, and get msi to acknowledge some kind of manufacturing flaw.

EDIT: I was also almost the exact same number of days out of warranty also. Reading your post was spooky.

 

[Nixem]

Michael,
I registered here specifically to respond to this thread. I found it by googling the problem I had with my Wind U100. I had the exact same thing happen this morning. Screw mount busted into multiple little pieces. I went ahead and took the back off since I knew I was out of warranty.
I wonder if we can find others that this is happening to, and get msi to acknowledge some kind of manufacturing flaw.

EDIT: I was also almost the exact same number of days out of warranty also. Reading your post was spooky.

I had the same damn thing happen to me. I have an awesome desktop and bought the wind book only to look up assignments online when I am at school. About a week after the oem warranty expired a piece of plastic in the hinge snapped which made the case pry open whenever I tried to use it. This got significantly worse the more I opened the case (had a few emergencies where I needed it). I knew this, I knew I was out of warranty, and I was planning on sending it in for repairs because I figured it wouldn't be too much for a plastic hinge. However, the damn screen went out a few days before I was going to ship it. F MSI, this is the second product that has taken a shit on me (1st was a graphics card). They may look pretty and have good specs, but MSI uses cheap parts that wont last!!!:twisted:

:thumbsdown::thumbsdown::thumbsdown::thumbsdown::thumbsdown:



Edit:
p.s. I think I am done with netbooks. I am probably going to get a cheap Intel i3 laptop in the $500 range. Gonna part out my Wind >.<

HP G62-144DX $549.99 at BestBuy of all places.
Acer Aspire AS5740-5513 $599 no tax free shipp at B&Hphoto

 

[RyanGreener]

Among the Wind Community, the hinge issue is well known, but not known for "completely breaking and disintegrating". They just say you need to tighten them every once in awhile. Although this could specifically be an MSI U100 thing. I have a U120 and I hope this doesn't happen to me. Been using various MSI stuff and they've been good to me....

 

[Emulex]

i had a total failure on a hp mini - support was terrible took 3 hours to get a box shipped to me - online chat - thankfully i was multitasking - sent me back a nicer model than i sent them WTF? but with a virus - lol.

that is substandard service imo - sounds like msi is even worse - service does matter to me - time is money. 3 hours wasted on a $200 netbook - i can make more money than $200 in 3 hours but it was principle.