[Ozric]

As part of the exercise in frustration that applying the Invisible Shield was, I ended up with a crack in the glass screen of my Zune 80

Apparently the Zune pad is somehow connected with the glass inside the case, because when I applied a little too much pressure on it to smooth out air bubbles under the IS piece on the pad, the screen cracked.

Does anyone know whether I can recover some money? Microsoft is certainly not going to fix it. It still works fine and is protected by the IS

 

[tstarn06]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ozric /img/forum/go_quote.gif As part of the exercise in frustration that applying the Invisible Shield was, I ended up with a crack in the glass screen of my Zune 80 Apparently the Zune pad is somehow connected with the glass inside the case, because when I applied a little too much pressure on it to smooth out air bubbles under the IS piece on the pad, the screen cracked. Does anyone know whether I can recover some money? Microsoft is certainly not going to fix it. It still works fine and is protected by the IS

Wow, and I thought mine cracked easily. I had a small scratch in my Zune80 screen, and one day I inadvertently applied a little too much pressure with my thumb and bam, the screen cracked. If you google "Zune screen cracks" etc. you'll see that this is an ongoing issue, with some folks claiming their Zune30 screens cracked due to pressure created by charging the battery.

When I called MS with my problem (3 months after I bought the Zune80), they said tough luck, but did add that they are "collecting data" and may someday "support" the screen cracking issue. When, if ever? Who knows?

Anyway, someone here and my wife both suggested I contact Amazon, which I did, and they made a "one time exception" and refunded me the full $249 for the Zune80 after I sent it back. Of course, I immediately ordered a new Zune80 from Amazon (but this time I bought a protective plastic case as well). The glass screens are fragile, no doubt about it. I think they are pressurized, and a slight amount of stress cracks them. Sounds like a product defect, but I doubt MS will ever cop to it.

 

[Ricardo Dawkins]

though luck, guys.
Zune 30 (already sold) and Zune 80 here. the 80 is getting protection by using a silicone case coming soon since the TADO design is scratching badly.

Screen doesnt show a sign of scratches or cracks...but the silicone cover comes with screen protector just in case.

Ozric...
Your Zune Repair and Parts Service Center
Rapid Repair: iPod Repair, iPhone Repair, Batteries, LCD Screens and more!

 

[Hanafuda]

Got the same experience with my 15yo's Z80. My Z30 is fine, but his Z80 looks like crap with the cracked screen. I sealed it up with some clear plastic laminating sheet just to keep it safe, but I was amazed that Microsoft has no facility in place to repair the device, regardless of warranty. I was willing to pay for a repair or exchange for a refurb, whatever. I believe Apple would accommodate this, but I'm not sure about that. I expected the same kind of deal that Nintendo has with out-of-warranty Gameboys and DS's. With them, there's a flat 'repair' fee of about 70% of buying a new one, but they don't actually repair it, they just send you a refurb and you get a fresh warranty out of the deal.

Anyway, Microsoft hasn't heard of that idea yet. And how convenient for them that a cracked screen = voided warranty.

 

[soozieq]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tstarn06 /img/forum/go_quote.gif I had a small scratch in my Zune80 screen, and one day I inadvertently applied a little too much pressure with my thumb and bam, the screen cracked.

Tom, where did you apply the pressure? On the screen or pad?

I ask, because Ozric said: Quote:

when I applied a little too much pressure on [size=x-small]it[/size] to smooth out air bubbles under the IS piece on the pad, the screen cracked.

. . . and I wondered if you were both referring to pressing on the pad too heavily, or if you actually pressed on the screen itself. If the screen, no problem since I don't need to actually touch it. But the pad... well, I can't really avoid it, I mean it's a "touch" pad.

 

[Ozric]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tstarn06 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Wow, and I thought mine cracked easily. I had a small scratch in my Zune80 screen, and one day I inadvertently applied a little too much pressure with my thumb and bam, the screen cracked. If you google "Zune screen cracks" etc. you'll see that this is an ongoing issue, with some folks claiming their Zune30 screens cracked due to pressure created by charging the battery. When I called MS with my problem (3 months after I bought the Zune80), they said tough luck, but did add that they are "collecting data" and may someday "support" the screen cracking issue. When, if ever? Who knows? Anyway, someone here and my wife both suggested I contact Amazon, which I did, and they made a "one time exception" and refunded me the full $249 for the Zune80 after I sent it back. Of course, I immediately ordered a new Zune80 from Amazon (but this time I bought a protective plastic case as well). The glass screens are fragile, no doubt about it. I think they are pressurized, and a slight amount of stress cracks them. Sounds like a product defect, but I doubt MS will ever cop to it.

Thanks for your response. I ordered from Amazon (need to see if I still have my receipt), and will see if they refund the cost. I saw that amazon has sold out of the Zune 80s.

Otherwise, the link that Ricardo posted looks good. They replace the LCD for a fairly low cost.

 

[Ozric]

Quote:

Originally Posted by soozieq /img/forum/go_quote.gif . . . and I wondered if you were both referring to pressing on the pad too heavily, or if you actually pressed on the screen itself. If the screen, no problem since I don't need to actually touch it. But the pad... well, I can't really avoid it, I mean it's a "touch" pad.

I pressed down on the right edge of the touch pad, but admittedly a lot firmer than you would normally touch while using it for navigation, because I was trying to get the IS to sit without bubbles. Suddenly I heard a crrrack and the lower right side of the glass had a clean crack in it.

 

[soozieq]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ozric /img/forum/go_quote.gif I pressed down on the right edge of the touch pad, but admittedly a lot firmer than you would normally touch while using it for navigation, because I was trying to get the IS to sit without bubbles. Suddenly I heard a crrrack and the lower right side of the glass had a clean crack in it.

That's just ridiculous. You'd expect it to survive pressure on the pad. Who would think there was even the slightest chance a screen could crack by not even touching it directly???

P.S. Those shields are strips of pure evil! I broke my sat nav screen when I was trying to push the bubbles to the edge. There was a large 'bruise' in the centre of the screen (murdered pixels) and it never healed

 

[tstarn06]

I applied some pressure with my thumb on the screen itself for some silly reason, and as I said, there was a slight scratch in the screen (much like a ding in a windshield). I heard a strange sound, and suddenly, there was a large crack running the length of the screen (well, about 3/4s).

I also found places that would repair it for $115 or so, but that seemed excessive. Anyway, I got lucky with Amazon. Oh, and they didn't say I had to buy another one, I just did because I like the Zune on balance. Sad to see they are out, but I can say that I will never buy anything of value from anyone but Amazon again, all things considered (and they sell whatever it is I am buying). Oh, I already had a deep history of Amazon orders, and am an Amazon Prime customer, so that helped.

 

[Ozric]

The irony is that I've only just loaded about 50 gigs of great tunes / videos to take on the road (Zune is only 2 weeks new), with a near-perfectly applied shield, and this crack ruined it. Actually with the LCD on the crack is barely noticeable, because the IS still kinda protected it. I wish I could take pics but I'm really busy and about to leave on a trip.

 

[chimpanZ]

Wow these Zunes sound terrible. Thanks, I know what not to get now. Hopefully they get fixed quickly like the first gen Nanos.

 

[Ozric]

Well I just went to best buy today and bought a new Zune 80

I just really like the UI and sound. But definitely I think its time Microsoft looked into this glass fragility issue real quick. And oh the software too

 

[HipHopScribe]

You would have to press down pretty hard, but it doesn't surprise me a whole bunch of pressure on the pad could crack the screen, you stressed the whole outer case as well as the components inside, and it's a large glass screen that takes up most of the front of the device. And of course pressure on the screen itself could crack it. I don't know how much is the glass being unusually fragile or just the nature of the material itself, how strong can such a thin piece of glass be?

 

[Ozric]

Agreed, the pressure was pretty hard, but I thought, the button ought to be able to withstand it (and it did); it's just that the glass buckling was completely unexpected, especially because it was already covered by a freshly applied skin. Maybe I should have just left that damn bubble alone for the next 12 hours

 

[soozieq]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ozric /img/forum/go_quote.gif But definitely I think its time Microsoft looked into this glass fragility issue real quick. And oh the software too

The software is dire. I've had to disable the Zune from being allowed to do anything of its own accord! I do everything manually to avoid all the issues I've had with its schizophrenic personality.

I know how to tag files correctly, and yet despite using dbpoweramp's tag editor, id3 tag editor AND wmp's tag editor (and triple checking the information is identical in all of them), I still have problems transferring stuff. Half the time, the album transfers as 'unknown' or the artist is 'unknown, or it doesn't transfer at all. Then when you rename the album/artist in the Zune software, it immediately reverts back to unknown again.

There's nothing left for me to check, as all the tags are already correct! I just have to keep dragging them on and off for what seems like forever, until it finally caves in and accepts them. This proves there's nothing wrong with the tagging, it's just a matter of waiting till the Zune decides yay or nay! I find the software really hard going. It actually makes me miss SonicStage

And often, when I check what's on the device through the Zune software, (like when I'm checking if updated artwork went through), I can see it's been applied. When I unplug the Zune, the artwork displayed is NOT what was showing on the device through the software! So I'll delete it from the Zune AND the software, (if I don't, the Zune won't accept the artwork), then I transfer it over again as many times as it takes to accept it, which it does - in the end.

But it really shouldn't be such hard work. I love the sound quality and I don't miss having eq in the slightest, but I've found it very stressful to use. And as for the 'reset' tool - well, it screws up most of the artwork as tstarn06 has also noticed. A reset tool that screws up artwork? Why??? If the next firmware upgrade doesn't improve on some of these bugs, I'm selling it, cutting my losses, and getting the new 16GB Sony.