I have the Ipaq blues :(

..I should correct that and say stylus holder. The little button that ejects it isn't what it used to be.

If unit came back in worse state then when you sent it in for repair, I would contact Compaq direct, maybe their customer service dept. Did this here in UK, and they were most helpful.Ipaq's are not cheap to buy, I would expect a suitable replacement.

Ian (Furan) here at Stardock sent his in for repair, and it came back better than when he sent it in. Is it under warranty? If so, they need to send it back in better condition than you sent it in. they should have fixed what was wrong with it, and cleaned it for you. For no reason should they send it back in worse condition. I would contact them and make a complaint. Keep us posted on how things turn out. I'm always interested in how companies perform customer service.

Well I did call Compaq of course. I don't know if my battery issue is fixed, I'll need to test this further, but the digitizer is fixed.. which leaves a much worse dust issue than I originally had, and a bad stylus button that worked well originally ...and scratched case. Also the CF sleeve doesn't "click" into place anymore, but it still works. I need to investigate that further to make sure there aren't bent pins or something.

Anyway, Compaq called me back and offered that if I sent it in one more time and it still came back in bad condition, that I would get a new replacement unit. Yes, it's under a year old, but it's getting up there in age. By December it will be out of warranty.

I suppose that's fair. I'm not trying to get something for nothing. I will get in writing the guarantee to replace it if it comes back a lemon again, so they can't try to wiggle out of it. I'm gonna keep it for about a week though to see if there are any more issues they should know about. Sucks though because that will mean I'll be Ipaqless at school.

Doesn't it just suck when you're stuff doesn't work right?

ps - This has sucked from the beginning because Juni called the same day.. UPS was faster with him, and Compaq cleaned behind his screen and fixed all problems, and UPS was faster returning it.

Can I cry now?

You should cry... I'd cry..... Ian got his back in record time and they cleaned behind his screen, too. He had a battery issue,too. Maybe they have a battery problem.

Plainsong for something like this, I would have them not try to fix it again, but rather REPLACE the whole unit! tell them you refuse to wait "again" for it to be repaired and insist it be "replaced" that you don't have time to waste you need it for work and skinning! hehe
and if you get a nasty tech. hang up and call back again usually 2-3 calls will getcha a nice human being

btw when I sent mine out to Leonard for the internal upgrade he "Sealed & cleaned" my unit so dust will "never" be an issue for me under my screen again!

Heh Doreen, that'd work in the US, but not in good ole Finland. I'll give you an example of this.. Juni's dad bought a new Sony tv... brought it home, and it simply didn't work. The store didn't have to take it back and didn't.. but they are required by law to get it fixed, and that's exactly what they did. Sony fixed it up, but he had to wait a week for something that shoulda worked out of the box.

It's very difficult here to get a company to replace hardware outright without fixing it first, and the further from the purchase date it is.. the harder.. no matter that it's still under warranty. I'm surprised that he actually agreed to give me a new one if the next fix doesn't work. He wasn't required to do that. It's just a customer service issue.

But then again, once I agreed to those terms, it's a binding contract, they are required to give me a new one if they screw up again.

And btw - my battery life is now exactly one hour.

Unfortunately, not everyone has those 'lemon laws' protecting the consumer.
The US motor industry may have them....but then Ford just ships the lemons to Australia....Louisville prime-movers are a wonderful example....

If I'm out and about and need a quick charge and theres no plugs around I just make sure I have those disposable bats at Comp USA
and I just got this in my e-mail today, something about solar bat power... (off to read it now myself)
http://www.pocketpcpassion.com/General/SolarCharger/PocketPal.htm

BTW does anyone know if the new IPAQs are out yet? These are the ones with 64 megs of RAM.

I was at the Microsoft store in S.F. a few months ago and they said they thought had some in stock at one time. But I'm not entirely sure if the new units are indeed released (assuming you could event get your hands on one).

yes they are but they you have to special order them through either Circuit City or Comp USA
(atleast that is what someone mentioned to me)

why buy that if you have an old ipaq you can do an internal upgrade to "128 megs" here at...
http://www.pce2000.com/pocketpc.asp

I had the 64 done and he does excellent work

I'd have that done in a heartbeat myself if there weren't two strong cons against it..

Firstly, international shipping takes forever, but at least it's expensive...I don't wanna pay duties on my own Ipaq!

But I suppose even that would be worth it if I didn't know something about myself.. I'm gonna get the next newest device as soon as it hits the shelves.. I can stand here and say I won't all I want... but I know I will.

As for consumer laws, or lack thereof, the sad thing is that most businesses here are of the opinion that consumers have enough protecting them as it is. Right...

Doreen, I don't have an IPAQ yet. I just go "ooohhh and aaaahhh" at the stores where they have the 32 meg version I almost bought one last spring but decided to hold off til the newer ones were out.

I'm not sure what the newer ones offer over the 32 meg ones beyond the increased memory. As you say, you can upgrade 'em to 64 megs anyways.

I'm happy w/ my ipaq as is right now
though I keep up w/ all the newest stuff coming out etc. mine will get the job done for a long time for me now

I do want that Merlin OS though when it comes out I will get that upgrade, but that is about it for me...

I'm sure the IPAQ will eventually transform into a duel unit/cell phone "all in one" next.
that "might make me squirm" alittle

Chris they offer "nothing else" not even the newest ROM =/ (that is what I was told)
all ya get is the 64 megs and the same exact thing the older IPAQ's have w/ maybe an exception on the 1-2 added software freebies "maybe"
but the OS will be the same until Merlin comes out so just wait alittle longer if you can, cuz then you can get it all

oh and Chris you can upgrade to "128" now NOT just "64"

and IPAQ does not even sell IPAQ's w/ 128 megs of ram
hehe

Cool! I wasn't aware of that. Uhmmm, whazza Merlin? (Other than an Arthurian wizard who moves backwards through time).

Here's the links

128 meg upgrade
http://www.pce2000.com/pocketpc.asp

Merlin OS
http://www.brighthand.com/html/editorials/merlin.html

Thanks Doreen.

Hehe! "network share support"! Finally