tc1100 tablet pc dies before i've even set it up

[nudone]

the tale of the HP tc1100 tablet pc...

bought on ebay for £180.

took 3 weeks for the seller to send me the machine and then he forgot to post me the power supply - had to wait a couple more days for that.

used it for about an hour - just messing about.

thought i'd try windows 7 on it - plugged in my external DVD drive (via usb)

alarming POP! sound from inside the tc1100.

now the machine is dead.

wonderful.

i may just smash the unit it up so i'm not tempted to waste time on it trying to get it to work.

(at least, i can be thankful it wasn't an iPad - but then, i wouldn't have been able to plug an external DVD drive in would i.)

[mouser]

very sorry to hear that.. the pop sound does indeed sound like you've got a serious hardware problem.

it could just be a burned out capacitor that you can spot and could be easily replaced by a hardware hacker, but i'm not sure it's worth the money to try to get professionally repaired (definitely one of the risks of ebaying).

assuming it's not still covered by warranty, you might be best off just writing this off as a learning experience and sending it to someone with some hardware hacking skills, or selling it as broken on ebay, but i'm not sure it's worth the trouble.

you could also write the original seller and see if they wouldn't be willing to give back all/some of your money since obviously this isn't fair to you.

[Stoic Joker]

I've found that shotguns work wonderfully for that type of "repair".

[nudone]

i'm more inclined to put it down to a learning experience. the person i bought it from kept "forgetting" to post the machine out to me - or so it seemed with the very feeble excuses he gave me. so, i won't be wasting time any further with him.

the truth is. it was a spontaneous buy - something i always regret. i did want to see how well the machine performed as a "sketching" device. and, it wasn't too bad with Alias Sketchbook installed.

but, it did demonstrate to me just how good the Wacom Cintiq is that i've got. image quality wise if nothing else.

i thought the tc1100 would be good because of its portability - the Cintiq requires a pc to connect to. it's all wishful thinking, though, as i'd never use the machine much if i'm honest...

...the simple truth, is that a pencil and paper are about 100 times better than these electronic sketching machines - but they have the problem of smudging the paper when you apply "undo" (that's about the best feature of electronic drawing, mistakes just disappear instantly like they never happened.)

anyway, i'll look at the tc1100 when i dare. maybe it's something trivial. if not then i'll post it to any DC member that wants it - maybe someone can do something worthwhile with it.

[superboyac]

Man!  I'm really sorry to hear that.  Especially since I'm considering buying their newer version of that very very soon.

Maybe someone here at DC will volunteer to try fixing it.

[nudone]

I've found that shotguns work wonderfully for that type of "repair".

i wish i had a shotgun. i'm sure it would be extremely satisfying to blow holes through it. not that easy to get hold of in the UK though.

[nudone]

looks like other people have had the same problem (well, similar problem) with the tc1100, i.e. no LEDs or power, just a dead unit. some have had success by removing the battery and power supply for a period of time - i doubt i'll be that lucky.

the bigger question is: do i throw the external DVD drive away - this is partly to blame for the "pop" sound. the external drive has always been fine in the past (of course) but i can't really risk plugging it into another pc and hearing yet another "pop" after that.

i guess i've answered that one myself - to the dump it must go (sorry, i mean recycling depot).

[wraith808]

Sorry to hear that.  I haven't posted my experiences yet, but I've been doing quite well with mine (other than the fact that the external I got with it didn't work- thankfully for me, I also purchased the dock).

If you purchased it off of ebay, and used paypal, I'd say contact him... then dispute if he won't do anything about it.  I'm not sure of the outcome, but I've gotten some pretty good resolution once I hold the dispute hammer over someone...

[nudone]

well, it seems unfair to blame the seller. i've had the tc1100 for a few days, turned it on and off several times - installed a few programs after transferring stuff with a usb memory stick.

so, it's not like the machine was faulty.

perhaps the battery wasn't perfect - this was the first day i'd attempted to charge it fully (at about 50% charge when everything died). but, until then the o/s had provided a message, a few times, about how the battery could be "old" or "damaged".

i guess, i could push this with PayPal and claim the battery wasn't good enough - but it seems i'm just finding someone to blame. the machine was fine until i put the external drive into it - that killed it. no idea why, just one of those things - something wrong with the DVD drive maybe???

maybe it will work tomorrow - who knows. if not, i'm really not bothered about it. i just wish i knew why it did it - then i can try and stop it happening again with another machine.

[rgdot]

Sorry to hear that. As long as this doesn't push you a tad towards Apple it's not all that bad  
Of course the money lost and stress are bad

[mouser]

well, it seems unfair to blame the seller.

i agree with this completely -- i'm not suggesting the seller is at fault -- the problem clearly wasn't something that was happening to him since it is a catastrophic total failure.

but the issue really isn't blame -- i'm not suggesting he refund your money 100%.  im just suggesting that (likely no fault of his), the device was not in good shape, and that he might be willing to refund half of your money as an acknowledge of that fact.  i would.  he may not.  can't hurt to ask though.

like i said, i don't think this is an issue of someone being at fault -- i would just explain the situation and see what he says.

[nudone]

Sorry to hear that. As long as this doesn't push you a tad towards Apple it's not all that bad  
Of course the money lost and stress are bad

heheh, i will never turn to the dark side.

[wraith808]

well, it seems unfair to blame the seller. i've had the tc1100 for a few days, turned it on and off several times - installed a few programs after transferring stuff with a usb memory stick.

so, it's not like the machine was faulty.

Ah... I misunderstood.  I thought that perhaps the combination of connecting the drive and the machine caused the difficulty.  I just can't see connecting a drive causing such a catastrophic failure on its own, so assumed that it was the machine.

[4wd]

Ah... I misunderstood.  I thought that perhaps the combination of connecting the drive and the machine caused the difficulty.  I just can't see connecting a drive causing such a catastrophic failure on its own, so assumed that it was the machine.

Actually, connecting the external drive could have nuked the tablet - it depends how much power was drawn by the external through the USB port and whether or not the USB ports are protected from over-current situations.

It might be that a fusible link has suffered catastrophic failure due to an over-current condition, (hence the *pop*), and could be easily replaced by the technically inclined.  Or given the age, an electrolytic capacitor has failed - still easily replaceable.

Without knowing more about the equipment involved it's hard too say.

If you feel up to it nudone, why not disassemble the tablet and post a couple of hi-res pics somewhere we can look at them?

PS: Next time perhaps try this ?

PPS: What type of external DVD drive was it, (eg. slimline with/without separate PSU, 5.25" HH in external case, etc) ?

[nudone]

4wd; that sounds like exactly what has happened. the usb ports had been fine when using a memory stick. and the pop sound happened exactly on making contact between the external dvd drive cable and tablet's usb socket.

the external drive is quite "basic". it's actually just an empty case that you put your own drive inside. the power unit is inside the case - not that there is much to see. i'll upload a photo if you like.

as for "next time". i think i may just avoid using external DVD drives completely. it has always been the sort of equipment i'd use on other people's computers - if they don't have a DVD drive. so, in one way, i've been very lucky that i've only broken my own machine - i could easily have blown up someone else's computer by the sounds of it. from now on, i'll just use a memory stick.

i'll have a look inside the tc1100 and take some photos. it's not like i can hurt anything now...

edit:
forgot to mention: i've contacted the original owner/seller. he says we could claim about £50 from the company that delivered it to me - if i show them a damaged parcel. i'm not doing that. he also says that he'd plugged lots of external devices into the tc1100 and it was fine - and that he'd had the machine on constantly for several days showing a screensaver.

[4wd]

4wd; that sounds like exactly what has happened. the usb ports had been fine when using a memory stick. and the pop sound happened exactly on making contact between the external dvd drive cable and tablet's usb socket.

the external drive is quite "basic". it's actually just an empty case that you put your own drive inside. the power unit is inside the case - not that there is much to see. i'll upload a photo if you like.

That sounds more like a short in the USB cable, (or interface board inside the external case), or the external had become faulty and was feeding voltage back down the cable - unless your willing to test the USB cable itself or check the USB port on the external for shorts/voltage then I would suggest putting it aside and not using it.  Or possibly there's something wrong with either the USB cable 'A' plug or tablet socket that allowed the 5V power to contact either the metal shield or one of the data lines.

Otherwise, if you want to test it I suggest going to Poundland or similar and buying a cheap 4 port USB hub to act as a buffer.  Plug the powered external DVD into the hub first, if it doesn't go bang then plug the hub into a PC and see if it is recognised.  If it does work, always use the external through the hub in future - just in case.

as for "next time". i think i may just avoid using external DVD drives completely. it has always been the sort of equipment i'd use on other people's computers - if they don't have a DVD drive. so, in one way, i've been very lucky that i've only broken my own machine - i could easily have blown up someone else's computer by the sounds of it. from now on, i'll just use a memory stick.

It could happen to anyone, I've a Sony DRX-S70U-W slimline external DVD that I use all the time, along with a couple of external 2.5" HDDs.

i'll have a look inside the tc1100 and take some photos. it's not like i can hurt anything now...

It'll be interesting to see them and hopefully it will be something simple, (eg. protection diode, fusible link), albeit possibly a pain because it'll most likely be surface mount.

[nudone]

i'm going to put a quick end to this. if i don't, i'll end up wasting more time/money/stress trying to get it to work - or wondering if it ever will work again.

so, to anyone that wants the machine - i'll post it to you. no conditions attached. if you can get it to work, keep it - you will be welcome to it. i'll be happy that someone salvaged it.

if there are no takers by the end of the week then it goes back on eBay as spares. if there are no takers on eBay it goes in the bin. i really don't want it in my possession - i've other stuff to get on with and can't have this object eating away at my time.

here's a photo of the insides - i wouldn't know where to start to look (after removing even more panels) for the problem. i've read online that several people have required motherboard replacements after similar dead machines. i'm not going down that path.



as for the external dvd drive - that's going to the dump (and the usb cable). i suspect that the tc1100 power supply doesn't work either. not sure if the light only came on on the unit when it was powering the tablet - i've replaced the fuse as that had blown.

so, 4wd, do you want the machine?

[4wd]

I'd take you up on your offer except I'm on the other side of the planet so postage would be a bit exorbitant I think, thanks for the offer.

You could say I'm an incurable romantic when it comes to the notion of fixing things and putting them to use for myself, (for others I'll do it a lot faster) - truth is it would probably sit around here for years before I thought to get around to doing anything with it.

So do yourself, (and me ), a favour, put it on ebay and see if you can salvage some money from it.

[nudone]

heheh. okay. i'll stick it on ebay.

i've already moved on and completely forgotten about the tc1100. there's a tablet (that i knew nothing about) called a Motion LE1700 that has the features that are lacking with the tc1100, i.e. wide viewing angle, larger screen, longer battery - and up-to-date hardware like core duo.

the thing is. it's a great deal more expensive too. it might even be more sensible to just buy another tc1000 on eBay or pay for it to be repaired. but, i suppose, it's better to buy a machine that does what you really want - rather than compromise and never be satisfied with the "bargain" purchase.

[nudone]

okay, i'll admit that i'm a very annoying person that can't make up his own mind...

i've seen another tc1000 on eBay. cheaper (3/4 of the price) than what i paid originally, but with half the RAM. i could get that, stick my extra RAM in and then sell the dud machine as spares.

the issue is: is this a better idea than getting a Motion tablet, a machine with modern hardware and specs but costing nearly £800 second-hand (over four times the amount i paid for the tc1000).

i may never use either machine - as both may be too much trouble - so, the cheapest option sounds like the best idea. just for me to have a bit of fun until i get bored of the device.

[wraith808]

If you may never use either machine... I'd say go the cheaper route.  That's one of the reasons I started down this road- I didn't know how much I'd use the machine.  And I'd suggest getting a dock... they're pretty cheap on ebay, and several come with an extra adapter (and you'll get around that whole plugging a drive into the usb port thing)

[Stoic Joker]

Go forth cheaply, and with spare parts...

<Yoda> Cheaply forth you must go with spares!

[nudone]

yeah, i agree, wraith808 and Stoic...

cheap is good - spares are good. it's a done deal. i'm hitting the "buy now" button.

[nudone]

aaaaaaaaargh.

someone has just bought it before me. i give up.

[4wd]

<Yoda> Cheaply forth you must go with spares!

I would have thought:

Cheaply forth you go, spares you have!