Does HP cover obvious manuf. defects when out of warranty?

[Snowlock]

So here is my problem, I got my little sister a compaq laptop for Christmas 2008. (which means it is about 7 months out of warranty now). She doesn't use it alot and what she does use it for is at the most using MS Word, surfing the web, or the ubiquitous solitaire.

I got a call from her saying a huge spark flew out of the laptop and it wouldn't work anymore. Knowing her for some exaggeration I took a look at it. This is what I found...

Under the keyboard... Hmm.. seems slightly more likely she wasn't exaggerating

Farther along and something definitely looks toasty....

**bleep**. WTF

Another view

So, I feel its pretty obvious this is a manufacturing defect. How often do you have caps blow for no reason in a laptop?

But I can't seem to get anyone from HP to listen beyond the whole "out of warranty" statement I give to them. Does Compaq / HP really not cover this type of problem?

[Mumbodog]

Unfortunately HP is not obligated to do anything when it is out of warranty, sometimes they do extend the warranty period if they have serious issues that affect a large number of PC's, but it does not happen very often.

Nice macro pictures by they way.

[CherylG]

Nasty looking little blowout there. What model is this laptop? Locating Model Number

[Snowlock]

model CQ50z

[Kalt]

I was assume it was damage from a surge, as it looks similar to blown modems I've seen.

**as a side note, you've already disassembled the unit beyond what HP allows so the warranty would have been voided anyways.

[martkay]

it seems hp dont help when in warranty