HP ZBook Firefly 15 G7 - casing has rather sharp edges. Anything to be done about it?

[gkline]

A short while back, I received my HP ZBook Firefly 15 G7 back from service. They replaced the keyboard, battery, and RAM.

The casing is made of metal and has rather well defined edges. But I don't remember them being this sharp. The upper bezel outer edges seem to extend down a little below the bottom casing, rather than meeting flush. So running my fingers around the perimeter of the casing, I feel a distinctly sharp edge on it.

My first thought is that maybe when they serviced my ZBook, a gasket was left off. But I looked at the service manual and there's no gasket part shown. I reviewed the work order and it appears the entire top bezel was replaced (as it may be the keyboard is riveted to the bezel and can't be replaced alone). Is it possible that the replacement part is slightly out of tolerance from the original part, hence the fitment discrepancy?

I rechecked the bottom and it looks like the top and bottom halves are aligned properly. Is this just something I'm going to have to live with?

[Dragon-Fur · Accepted solution]

@gkline 

Welcome to the HP Community --

A quick Internet search indicates laptop "sharp edges" is not an "HP"-only phenomenon.

One solution I saw -- quickly squashed by the owner (fear or dislike of the idea) -- carefully file the edges.

Not sure whether HP would respond to your distress -- you could certainly submit a case request, explain the issue, and ask about options.

What else?

I did not pursue this beyond reading a few entries -- there might be a product to wrap around the edge of the case.

What?  Well, considering sharp edges are apparently a "thing", some enterprising individual or company might have a product to fix it.

True - purchasing the smaller Zbook version might mean you are sensitive to the total weight -- it makes sense that wrapping anything about the edge, even were it to solve the problem, would also add a little weight.

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[gkline]

My apologies for the late reply. I didn't see a notification of a reply and it was only now when looking up a different issue I spotted this response.

Apparently there's a bit of "imprecision" with regard to the casing. When you take off the bottom lid and install it again, it can sit in place very slightly off. In my case it was just enough to expose the raw edge from under the top panel frame. After reseating it, the sharpness isn't quite as prominent. It's still not great, but I think I can live with it. Thanks! 

If the issue does arise again, I think I may try smoothing the edge as you suggested. There are some very fine grades of micromesh that are amazingly effective at smoothing metal without removing much material.

[Dragon-Fur]

@gkline 

Ah, Interesting - exact fit is something I'd expect but it would only take a tiny amount of mis-alignment to create the issue you described.   Glad it's fixed.

I'm a fan  - 

"If it is broken, doesn't fit, you don't like it, or it 'bugs your trip', then fix it, make one, and force your will on the offending item."

I love my Zbook -- the Fury is the monster big-brother to the Firefly - no sharp edges.

Of course, the Fury weighs as much as a first-edition, hard bound encyclopedia, so there is that.

Smiling.

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[gkline]

Yes, I had seen from photos how the ZBook Fury has a thicker casing, so I imagine the casing parts are different. Good to hear you don't have sharp edges. The Fury is impressive... but I went with the Firefly because it was enough to suit my needs at a very good price (half that of the equivalent equipped Fury, though with slower CPU). My Firefly came with 3840 x 2160 resolution support and it looks amazing!