HE300 Digitizer failure

[ericd91]

I've got a HE330 in June 2001.
It has been replaced under warranty e February 2002 for a screen flickering problem, a power consumption issue, and a broken stylus holder. The exchange cost me about $90 because of UPS taxes, premium service, and shipping.

For the past two months I've had constant problems with graffiti writing. After a hard reset and prior to install any app, I noticed that graffiti didn't work reliably anymore in the graffiti area. Even when slowly drawing a straight line in this area, the echo follows the pen but with big glitches messing up the character recognition, mostly in the lower half of the letter area.

I contacted the HANDERA support and below is the answer I've got :
>In either case, the unit out of warranty, since the replacement
> continued under the original warranty, expiring in June.
> Therefore, I am unable to cover under warranty.
> We can still replace the unit with a reconditioned one for a
> special price of $100, however, so you don't have to pay the full
> retail price for a new one.

I have paid already $450 to working a unit, and I am not ready to pay an extra $100 plus shipping and possibly taxes because of a hardware failure 6 months after getting a replacement unit.

Do you have any suggestion to get it fixed ?

[DrMud]

Your problem could be as simple as a loose connection between the digitizer cable (the surface you tap on) , and the mother board.

Take the stylus out. And take the four screws out of the corners in the back. Pry the back off gently and you will see a wide cable going to the circuit board. Push it toward the mother board; firm and even pressure. (NO HAMMER REQUIRED). Put the back on the screws in and see if there is an improvement.
DrMud

[ericd91]

After the answer I got from HANDERA, I decided to open the unit.
I checked all internal connections, wires, and wide cables.

Nothing changed anything.
I just have a bad digitizer and would need to replace it.

Considering the poor design and reliability of the HANDERA HE330, I just don't want to pay $100 for something that is certainly going to screew up in a few months.

For $160 you can get a brand new Palm, and for $399 you get a brand new color Sony pda.

I just think that HANDERA should stop making pdas. That's not their business. I just hope they do better in other area sif they want to stay in the electronic business. Just a personal thought from an electronic engineer....:(

[DrMud]

I agree with you about the HandEra. It seems to be a sad turnaround for a once high potential company.
As regards SONY they seem to have a lot of problems as well. I post on this board and two others and there is no shortage of SONY problems. There does seem to be a shortage of SONY support. Both Palm and SONY hire third party tech support. Technicians that have no technical background and in all too many case they do not even own or desire a handheld computer. My real concern with SONY has to do with the pace at which they spit out new models and drop old ones. It is very hard for me to keep up and the tech support people can not possible build a personal knowledge base.
Just a few thoughts.
Doc
PS: If you think my statements beg the question, "Is Palm any better than SONY?" I believe the answer is YES, if only because Palm has fewer models.

[JohnKes]

HandEra has been busy doing other things:
http://www.handera.com/services/Projects/PalmPartners.htm

Surprised me too.

[DrMud]

Thanks JohnKes, for the update info on HandEra. My experience with them in the past was excellent. I was surprised when the digitizer issue reappeared in the 330 model as the development team had made a concerted effort to avoid the problem by rerouting the cable.
Doc