Iconia W510 Screen Issue. Design Flaw?

I bought the Acer Iconia W510 from PC World in April, based on some positive reviews online.

I must say I'm mostly impressed with the machine and it suits my needs perfectly, except for one major flaw.

After six weeks there was a screen burn problem with the IPS screen. It was towards the bottom, about an inch in from the right hand edge. I took it in and it was sent to Acer to repair it. It returned two days later with a new screen.

After another six weeks the same fault occurred again with a screen burn spot appearing in the same place. It was repaired again by Acer replacing the screen, and I think it's more than coincidence that the spot has appeared in the same place.

IPS screens, according to other forums, will end up with bright spots on the display when consistently under undue pressure. On lifting and closing the screen with a white background (explorer open) I noticed bright spots temporarily appearing with the pressure on the back of the tablet, caused entirely by the hinge of the keyboard dock. It seems to me that the lifting and lowering of the tablet when connected (as you'd expect to do with a laptop) over time breaks the IPS screen.

This suggests to me a design issue. If such pressure was to be applied to the back of the unit, should the screen have been better protected from the back?

I'm now on my third screen and I'm expecting this one to go in the next six weeks, at which point I hope I can persuade PC World that the machine isn't good enough and be allowed to swap it for something else. It's no good having a laptop that needs a new screen every six weeks, especially as I'm now a few months into the 1 year warranty.

Has anyone else had this issue? I find it difficult to believe that a company would manufacture a device that was bound to have screen failures due to the design of the stiffness of the hinge, and not to have tried to solve the problem. It's a shame because I like the computer, but now I'm just waiting for it to go wrong again so I can get something without the fatal screen-breaking design flaw.

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padgett

I use a soft generic case/keyboard for my W510 and have not noticed any screen issues.

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Philman

NP for me too. Cross fingers.

I use my device more often with the keyboard and a mouse.

When i use it in tablet mode, i have a flip case protect (found on eBay).

englishgit

The reason I bought the W510 was because it came with it's own keyboard. I should surely be able to use the one that came with it without expecting it to keep breaking the screen.

Whenever I take it anywhere the screen is protected by either the keyboard dock (still connected) or a separate case that protects the screen. I wonder if Acer are even slightly interested in my discovering of issues with the keyboard dock, or whether they'll be happy to replace the screen every few weeks when the fault comes back.

englishgit

I had hoped that someone from Acer might see and respond to a post like this. I'm sick of buying equipment that is of such poor quality that it fails on me, and having manufacturers and retailers tell me how much they don't care now that they have my money.

Has anyone else been using the W510 with the keyboard consistently (opening and closing several times a day like a laptop) and has not had any screen issues? If so, it's my unit that's at fault. I know I'm not the only one to have had bright spots on my IPS display by other forum posts.

padgett

Keep in mind that while some Acer tech people monitor the forum it is primarily for users. If you want tier 3 support you need to cantact Acer support (support.acer.com) and will have to wade through tier 1 and tier 2 to get their.

Frankly I am not surprised there are some design flaws, it was the first ventless Clover Trail to market and cannot say about the keyboard because the keyboard/case for my G-Tablet fit just fine.

It just paved the way for the W3 so I could start integrating almost immediately and expect the same ease when the (W4/W6 ?) with Bay Trail T intro for the Christmas rush.

Meanwhile you could have bought a HP 900 or a Dell Tab 10 right ?

englishgit

padgett wrote:
Keep in mind that while some Acer tech people monitor the forum it is primarily for users. If you want tier 3 support you need to cantact Acer support (support.acer.com) and will have to wade through tier 1 and tier 2 to get their.

Frankly I am not surprised there are some design flaws, it was the first ventless Clover Trail to market and cannot say about the keyboard because the keyboard/case for my G-Tablet fit just fine.

It just paved the way for the W3 so I could start integrating almost immediately and expect the same ease when the (W4/W6 ?) with Bay Trail T intro for the Christmas rush.

Meanwhile you could have bought a HP 900 or a Dell Tab 10 right ?

I'm not looking for support at the moment. I was looking for comment on the build/design quality, which I thank you for providing.

My reason for opting for the Acer was the inclusion of a keyboard dock and the full Windows 8 OS, both of which are lacking from the HP 900 and the Dell XPS 10. The latitude 10 is Windows 8 but still lacks the dock. Dells are also unlikely to be an option as they are not typically supplied (in full) to PC vendors in the UK.

I thought I had chosen well, but the response, summarised as "I'm not surprised by design flaws...you could have chosen something else" isn't very encouraging.

I'm just upset that I bought what I believed to be a good quality tablet, only to have it fail repeatedly because of a design issue when used as a laptop from time to time. If a product needs to be repaired every six weeks liek clockwork then in my mind it's not fit for the purpose for which it was created and sold. I had hoped for better, and I could rant about general product quality these days, but I'll save that for somewhere else.

I'm now hoping the screen problem comes back, so I can return it to PC World and get something else, which I wish I had done in the first place.

If the screen continues to work perfectly then I'll be happy, but the strain on the screen (visible in the middle on a white background. ANyone else noticed it?) leads me to believe it can't last for very long.

padgett

What it says to me is that the dock needs a surround which can swing up and relieve the bending effect on the W510 mount. Since it must be able to twist, a simple leg wont work but a slip in frame would. Picture a U with the connector at the bottom the tab slides in Probably want a crossbar near the top to keep the arms from spreading.

I wouldn't hold you breath though.

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