Chromebook repair options.

[randomness]

1) Mail the chromebook to Acer's national service center in Temple, TX. All warranty repairs must go through that center. Take my chances with shipping, and with Acer's decision about whether the backlight failure is covered by its limited warranty. (Reports online say this is a crapshoot, as some claim that Acer has a blanket policy of claiming screen problems are wear and tear, and thus not covered by warranty.)

Turnaround will be a couple of weeks. If they agree to cover it under repair, I will only have to pay for postage and packing.

2) Take the chromebook to MicroCenter, an authorized repair center within a short drive. Their estimate is about $165, between parts and labor. They can do the repair within a day or so once the part arrives. That usually takes a week or so after they order it.

3) Drive to Acer's national service center and present the chromebook in person. This is only a reasonable option because I have a trip to Austin planned. Austin is approximately an hour from Temple. This saves shipping costs and time and adds the possibility of immediate feedback from Acer as to whether they will deny my warranty claim, so I can if necessary withdraw the request and go with 2) or some variation.

Problems with 3): no one at Acer over the weekend is empowered to tell me whether an in-person delivery/pickup is even permitted; my trip to Austin won't be happening this week, so I have to wait longer before my machine is repaired.

I'm thinking of just throwing money at the problem and doing 2), but 3) appeals to my somewhat odd sense of humor.

Comments

[donnad.livejournal.com]

For me convenience would win out. $165 is not a lot to pay for the ease and speed involved. You could always just buy another Acer, they are pretty inexpensive and eventually get the old one repaired via #3, and keep it around as a backup.

[whitebird.livejournal.com]

I'm partially with donnad, but I'd get a new one and see how much the part is through eBay or iFixit or wherever and replace the screen myself. Check iFixit to see how difficult it is to tear them down.

[r-ness.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I just went and had it repaired. One of the problems is that I need a working machine soon, so fixing the existing machine at MicroCenter turns out to be faster than ordering another one.

The machine this Chromebook is a stand-in for is a MacBook Air, which I never ended up ordering because Apple couldn't get me one configured with more memory soon enough. The same objection still applies because MicroCenter can fix my Chromebook faster than Apple can build me a new machine and get it to me.

Oh well, at least this way I'll have a working machine to take with me.

[r-ness.livejournal.com]

It doesn't seem too bad, but since most of the delay is getting the part, I let MicroCenter do it this time.

Ultimately (as I said to donnad) I plan to replace this machine with a MacBook Air, but that's slower than getting this Chromebook fixed.

[whitebird.livejournal.com]

You can probably pick one up with the full complement of RAM from the Apple store at ... Cambridgeside? Err, that mall thingy in the Boston area that has an Apple store!

Or at the nearest New Hampshire one, as well. If you're into that whole tax dodgy thing.

Glad your machine is back up and glowing.

[r-ness.livejournal.com]

Sadly not. I checked all the Apple stores nearby.

[whitebird.livejournal.com]

Bah humbug, that is unfortunate!