HP Envy 17T laptop hinge design defect (17M-AE111DX)

[Shogmaster]

 #1

Long story short, I bought HP Envy 17T (17M-AE111DX) laptop earlier this year that has HUGE problem with the hinge, and IMO a clear design defect.

The hinge is really stiff, which is understandable given the size of the screen (17.3"). The problem is that the super stuff hinge and it's metal assembly is mounted simply onto the 2~3mm thick ABS plastic bottom case without any bracing or support. So as you open and close your LCD trhough daily use, you are putting tremendous stress on the screw mount points on that ABS plastic bottom case lid.

It took about 8 month of use but it finally busted the screw mount point for the right side (as you use the laptop) hinge. There are only 7 screws holding the bottom cover together, and only 2 of them are used for securing the hinge to the bottom cover. This is the most incompetent design I've seen for a laptop hinge.

I called HP support and they asked me which side the hinge was broken. Then they told me they don't do any warranty repair on broken covers. If they don't do warranty repairs on broken covers, then why did they asked me which side broke first? They told me it will cost me $380 to fix it. I said the cover probably costs $50 from HP site. They basically said because the cover was physically broken, the warranty is void. 

Anyone else have this kind of issue with the 17" Envy laptops?

[Cheron-Z]

@Shogmaster

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