x1161 white spots, DMD issue, how do I get help?

dominicb

I have a X1161 projector, and white spots started appearing. After some googling, it looks like it's the DMD chip issue everyone is talking about. I've seen on this forum that the DMD chip issue should be covered for 5 years, and I am well within that threshold.

 

But when I call Acer, it says my product is out of warranty and they won't let me talk to anyone. Can I get a phone number, email, website, or form or anything that would allow me to take care of this? Searching around, it couldn't be harder to find a way to address this issue.

 

I know it needs to be sent in. Can anyone at Acer help me?

Tommy-Acer

---

dominicb wrote:

I have a X1161 projector, and white spots started appearing. After some googling, it looks like it's the DMD chip issue everyone is talking about. I've seen on this forum that the DMD chip issue should be covered for 5 years, and I am well within that threshold.

---

Can you please link to the location on this forum where it states it should be covered for five years, please?

dominicb

Here:

http://community.acer.com/t5/Acer-Monitors-TV-Projectors-and/My-ACER-x1161-projector-has-constellations-of-light-projected-on/m-p/4919/highlight/true#M97

 

Which I'm assuming is referencing TI's DLP chip warranty extension press release:

http://www.engadget.com/2008/07/05/texas-instruments-extends-projector-based-dlp-chip-warranty-to-5/

 

the link on that seems to be dead, but I found the actual release here:

http://www.projectorcentral.com/news_story_1167.htm

Tommy-Acer

None of those are a statement by Acer of extended coverage.

 

We would suggest contacting technical support in your region for further assistance with this issue.
Acer Service and Support

dominicb

I had been calling and submitting forms, but I wasn't able to talk to anyone because the original warranty was up.

 

Finally used the chat function, and they helped me out.

 

For the sake of other people who might come across this same problem, when I brought it up with the chat representative there were no issues whatsoever. I told them about the white spots, that it looked like the DMD/DLP TI chip issue everyone has been talking about, and they said that all I need to do is pay for shipping to send it out for repairs. Everything else will be covered by them. Seems like something they had done before.

 

They'll take a look at it, and once it's confirmed as the DMD issue, they'll send it back. If it's something else they'll call and talk about other repair costs.

 

I'll update everyone once I get it back.

keithinchorley

I'd be very interested to hear an update please

dominicb

Sorry about that! Thanks for reminding me.

 

I received my projector about a week ago. Everything is fine, and they covered everything except the cost to mail it to them. They shipped it back.

 

So, if you have the white spots: it's very likely that you have the DMD issue. It should be covered, because of the reasons I listed above.

 

You're going to want to chat with an Acer Support tech. But if you go to:
http://acer.custhelp.com/app/chat/pre_chat_launch

...and you put in your unit's SNID, you won't be able to launch the chat if your unit isn't under "normal" warranty. But it should be under the DMD-only warranty. In fact, you can't talk to Acer at all if your warranty isn't valid. Even though DMD is covered, they make it impossible to get in touch with them. So, how do you get in touch with Acer?

 

I call every number I can find, and combed through the site. It took forever, but I found this:

 

The chat link "Chat with a Support Agent" on this page looks exactly like the one above, but doesn't require you enter an SNID:

http://us.acer.com/ac/en/US/content/service

 

When you explain to the agent that you have the DMD issue, they will help you get the ball rolling. They will explain to you that you will only be covered for the DMD problem, and nothing else. You mail them the projector at your cost, and they take a look at it, and then ship it back ground. If it isn't the DMD issue, they won't fix anything and you have to pay to get it back.

 

But you know when it's the DMD. The tell tale white spots.

 

I've been using my projector for a week now, and it's been working great. So nice to not have those annoying white dots on the screen.

 

I'm happy with the repairs. It took around 7-10 business days all said and done to see my fixed projector again. But I have to say, I'm a little with Acer support. I don't know why it was so hard to get this link and find the proper contacts to get this to work. The support tech earlier in the thread didn't help, either. It almost seems like they would rather people wouldn't know about this. It's a little irritating.

 

They know it's an issue. Why don't they update the SNIDs for the particular items that have DMD issues? Or have a specific link somewhere for DMD returns? Or a blog post detailing how to do a DMD return when your normal warranty is expired? It's a little silly that I had to dig so long.

 

Hopefully this helps other people in the same situation.