Impossible to Open up Spectre X360 for dust cleaning/SSD upgrade

[CaiusF]

Hi everyone,

I would hugely appreciate a bit of help here.

I have tried to take off the rubber feet nearer to the back of the laptop however I'm greeted with an actual glass covering of the screws. How am I supposed to get to the screws so as to open up the laptop??

In the technical manual of this exact same model (13-ae005na ) there is no mention whatsoever of a glass cover. This model was purchased in the UK directly from the HP student store.

Any help would be hugely appreciated.

Many thanks!

[Huffer]

where is the glass cover? Inside the rubber feet channels?

The rubber strips have a kind of paper backing on the underside and if you do not manage to get the whole thing out of the channels it will leave kind of a clear plastic strip over the screws inside the channels. More like thick Saran Wrap than glass. 

I just take my pointy Phillips screwdriver and poke through. No harm as you are going to cover it up with the rubber feet again anyway. 

[CaiusF]

Thank you very much for your reply!

I really do not think it is possible to take out as the rubber feet are taken out.

I tried poking around it a bit with a screwdriver but it really does seem far too hard to not be transparent plastic. I haven't managed to get through it by applying a reasonable amount of force.

It looks exactly like plastic/glass but I assume it is plastic. 

Could you please confirm that this would not void my warranty if I do pierce through this plastic bit to open up the laptop? I am sure that consumers are entitled (by EU law if not by HP policy) to open up purchased electronics. However in a recent email wtih HP I was told that even just scuffed screws can lead to the voiding of warranty.

Thank you so much for your time and help!

[Huffer]

I am not going to give legal opinions here on warranty issues. Its my lay understanding from having hung around here for longer than I want to admit that you are entitled to open the case to upgrade or perform routine service and the warranty cannot be revoked as a result. But we do occasionally hear stories of warranty denials over seemingly trivial things so my best advice is to tread lightly as I  am still not sure what this barrier you are encountering really is. Can you post a picture of what you are seeing?

[CaiusF]

I see, thank you very much.

Although I do think it could be easily sorted with a bit of minor claims court action as they'd likely not be able to provide any reason for denial of warranty. I have heard of multiple instances of consumers winning these as the burden of proof lies of course on the manufacturer.

Please find below the picture I've taken:

[CaiusF]

From my poking it, it sure seems to be a hard cover of some sort, and not some mushy tape.

Anyone else have any idea?

[CaiusF]

What kind of unit has HP sent me if I can't even open it up because no one's heard of its issue?

Is there really no one that knows about this?