Some Nexus 7 Already Plagued With Hardware Problems
Two mechanical issues have already popped up, plaguing the Nexus 7 launch.
If the inability to meet consumer demand at launch wasn't bad enough for Google's first-party entry into the Android tablet sector, many consumers lucky enough to have already received their Nexus 7 tablets are now reporting manufacturing defects. For the "thousands" of customers still waiting on the front porch for their coveted Nexus 7 tablet, take heed to the following report.
For the record, the Nexus 7 unit we covered earlier this week currently does not have the reported issues. However many owners are complaining that their tablets' displays have begun to come apart from the bezel -- the adhesive seemingly isn't working correctly. Affected users are thus complaining to Google but are having difficulties getting anything resolved.
That said, a do-it-yourself technique has appeared online via the XDA-Developers forum. Yet as of this writing, it states that people are reporting that after a few hours, the separation issue has returned, thus it's assumed that something else is the cause other than bad adhesive.
"So rather than sending back my Nexus 7, I decided to give something a try," states the DIY's author. "I removed the back casing, which is very easy to do. I used a small flat screwdriver where the "leather" meets the plastic and gently wedged it in. The case popped right open and was easily removed. I then tightened all of the small Phillips screws around the outside of the board on the back of the screen. This immediately cleared up the creakiness and play that i was experiencing on the left side of the screen. I tightened all screws and not just the ones on the left side."
The step-by-step instructions can be found here, yet be extremely careful. As this user discovered, the screen can crack if stressed when putting the tablet back together. That said, it's probably not a good idea to take the tablet apart, and simply return it for a new unit.
The second issue with the Nexus 7 is dead pixels. Owners are reporting that these black spots appeared after first boot, or shortly thereafter. Obviously there's no real fix for that, so customers who purchased the tablet directly from Google will find info on returns and exchanges here. The company will ask affected users to contact device support here.
According to Google's returns page, customers only have 15 days to send it back. As for those who purchased the tablet from Staples, GameStop and other retail outlets, take it back and exchange it for a new one before the 30-day return window expires. Then again, retailers are having a hard time keeping these tablets in stock even for those who pre-ordered the device, so it's no wonder owners are taking matters into their own hands.
The same is true for Apple fanboys, Nvidia fanboys, AMD fanboys, Intel fanboys, etc. etc... Do you see a pattern here? It doesn't matter who a fanboy is a fanboy for because they are still fanboys.
Right, hello employee. Don't forget to worship Steve Jobs!
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The new iPad may costs 2.5x as much, but Apple will actually accept my money.
Of course, to Google we're not customers, we're the product so it's hardly suprising.
Right, hello employee. Don't forget to worship Steve Jobs!
Well, to Apple, we're just a resource, so it's not like they're any better in how they view us.
The same is true for Apple fanboys, Nvidia fanboys, AMD fanboys, Intel fanboys, etc. etc... Do you see a pattern here? It doesn't matter who a fanboy is a fanboy for because they are still fanboys.
Good luck.
Seriously its probably either not happening at all or its happening here and there to a handful of people. Asus has made many different tablets before. This isn't their first rodeo, so its unlikely that they'd screw up the adhesive on the production runs. Dead pixels sounds sketchy too unless they used their time machine to buy some panels from 2007.
It wasn't made in the USA. You're think of the Q.
DOH!!! My bad. Totally right.
Realizing now it's an asus product, I wouldn't be surprised--my original transformer tab has had no hardware functionality issues, but their user support is god-awful.
It's still an issue for Google considering it's built specifically for them. Also, claiming that anything built in China or Taiwan is of shotty quality compared to anything in the U.S.A.... Compare any car built here to those built overseas. /end argument.
Besides that blatant fanboy comment, overall I'm curious to see how Google handles this. Microsoft, after much flack, owned up to their RRoD issue. Sony didn't own up to their YLoD issue. Apple didn't own up to ANY of their issues. So Google, I'm not MS fanboy but you should really take queue from them in this regard.
Interesting to read the reactions in the forum
actually thats a crappy argument since that hasnt been true for at least the last 5 years. American made cars are holding their own again any foreign manufacturer. There is a reason kia and the rest have 100k mile warranties....they need them.
+1, the American car companies have really been getting their crap together over the past 5 years. The argument that American cars are junk doesn't really hold up anymore.