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#43 - 22/06/1999 07:22 Warranty
dionysus
veteran

Registered: 16/06/1999
Posts: 1222
Loc: San Francisco, CA
I've posted this once, but haven't received a reply so let me post again: What can we expect in terms of warranty for this unit?

-mark

-mark
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#44 - 12/07/1999 10:52 Re: Warranty [Re: dionysus]
CHiP
enthusiast

Registered: 08/06/1999
Posts: 345
Loc: New Jersey, USA
Hello? Hugo....?

What's the Warranty??? Why is no one answering this question?



-CHiP
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#45 - 12/07/1999 12:10 Re: Warranty [Re: dionysus]
altman
carpal tunnel

Registered: 19/05/1999
Posts: 3457
Loc: Palo Alto, CA
Didn't see the original post (can't see it now either) - warranty is 180 days in the US, 1 year in the EU. We have a US setup so people in the US don't need to get units back to the UK for warranty repairs/upgrades.

Hugo


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#46 - 12/07/1999 20:29 Re: Warranty [Re: altman]
CCampbell
new poster

Registered: 11/06/1999
Posts: 3
Loc: Phoenix, AZ
No offense but the US warranty sucks! I could see not wanting to guarantee something subject to user stupidity/misuse like a hard drive but at the very least it should be a year for the mainboard. Especially since there is a Florida depot for repairs and nobody has to spend major $$ on shipping. Perhaps a 1 year MB warranty & 180 days for HD? And what about the manufacturers warranty on the HD. Surely it is longer than 3 months?!


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#47 - 12/07/1999 21:16 Re: Warranty [Re: CCampbell]
CHiP
enthusiast

Registered: 08/06/1999
Posts: 345
Loc: New Jersey, USA
It would be nice to have an extended warrenty. I wouldn't mind paying an extra $100 or so for a 3 year warrenty on parts. What if the buttons wear out?


-CHiP
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#48 - 12/07/1999 23:31 Re: Warranty [Re: CHiP]
lumpy
new poster

Registered: 12/07/1999
Posts: 5
Loc: USA
YIKES!
I'm re thinking my purchase now... 180 days?? a mis-soldered chip on the mainboard wont be discovered that fast (season change from summer to winter) as for the HDD, I could care less, the manufacturers of most HDD's give 3-5 years, why the huge difference in warranty? Us units expected to fail more-often because of shipping? or is it that the US doesnt have as stringent warranty laws..

If it's 180 days for my unit... I dont want one risking $1000.00 for an item that the manufacturer will not stand behind is not smart.
This tells me that you guys dont expect it to last more than 6 months. and what about us that would put the unit in a sports car or a show car? I install it in the fall, store the vehicle, next spring I have a dead unit that is out of warranty? No thanks!



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#49 - 12/07/1999 23:41 Re: Warranty [Re: CHiP]
duranike
journeyman

Registered: 20/06/1999
Posts: 84
Wow
Im getting a little scared myself. What is this 180 day warranty. Plus may I ask, how much will it cost to fix the empeg. Will I have to shell out another $1000 in like 3 months. Geez, who am I Bill Gates! hmm, now that I think about it if I was Bill Gates I would buy out empeg and take over the world!!!!! muahahahahah
Oh, sorry, too much crack... i mean sugar

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#50 - 13/07/1999 01:13 Re: Warranty [Re: altman]
bryan
journeyman

Registered: 25/06/1999
Posts: 57
Loc: New Zealand
1 year in the EU, 180 days in the US. Does that imply that those of us in the rest of the world (New Zealand in my case) get no warranty?



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#51 - 13/07/1999 09:38 Re: Warranty [Re: altman]
dionysus
veteran

Registered: 16/06/1999
Posts: 1222
Loc: San Francisco, CA
That warranty really does seem unreasnable.. maybe 3 months to the us repair depot, and after the 3 months send back to UK?

-mark

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#52 - 13/07/1999 10:02 Re: Warranty [Re: bryan]
altman
carpal tunnel

Registered: 19/05/1999
Posts: 3457
Loc: Palo Alto, CA
The rest of the world is 1 year - basically, it's 1 year if it comes directly back to us, but the company doing the support in the US does 180 days.

Hugo


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#53 - 13/07/1999 10:08 Re: Warranty [Re: lumpy]
altman
carpal tunnel

Registered: 19/05/1999
Posts: 3457
Loc: Palo Alto, CA
Missoldered chips aren't an issue - these would be discovered during the soak test. The warranty difference is simply due to the fact that the US is serviced by a US company, and the rest of the world is covered by empeg in the UK.

No, we're not expecting them to only last 6 months, otherwise we wouldn't have a long warranty elsewhere: I'm not the person who dealt with the setting up of the warranties, but I believe the differences are down to legal systems in the various countries.

Hugo



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#54 - 13/07/1999 10:13 Re: Warranty [Re: duranike]
altman
carpal tunnel

Registered: 19/05/1999
Posts: 3457
Loc: Palo Alto, CA
It's impossible to say what a fix would cost - none of our units have gone wrong - but the worst case out of warranty would be a mainboard swap, as these are more expensive than even the biggest HDDs. Switches and so on can be changed if they wear out, and this isn't an expensive task.

Hugo


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#55 - 13/07/1999 20:03 Re: Warranty (3 questions for Hugo) [Re: altman]
CHiP
enthusiast

Registered: 08/06/1999
Posts: 345
Loc: New Jersey, USA
ok, i have 3 questions then....

1. If i need service after 6 months, can I ship to you in UK after my 6months (i live in US) and would you service the unit, or do you have agreements with the US offices?

2. Main Board - if the main board does go bad, how much do you think it would cost, and how long will you keep them in stock. If i need a new board in 3 years from now, will you still have them and be able to sell me one?

3. Does the warranty cover labor or just parts?

Thanks for getting back to everyone.

Chip


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#56 - 13/07/1999 21:08 Re: Warranty [Re: altman]
gjmulder
new poster

Registered: 10/07/1999
Posts: 9
I think it would be good if you published a full statement of the UK and US warranty. Something stating the cost of replacing the mainboard, hard drive or display out of warranty would be nice as well.

The hard drives are of special concern to me as they are mechanical and (as was stated somwhere on the empeg site) not easily user serviceable. At a MTBF of 300K to 400K (taken from Western Digital and Seagate's specs) a one drive system has about a 1 in 15 chance of failing in 3 years, a two drive has a probability of (14+14+1)/225 => 1 in 8 chance of failing in 3 years.

Gary.


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#57 - 14/07/1999 01:27 Re: Warranty (3 questions for Hugo) [Re: CHiP]
altman
carpal tunnel

Registered: 19/05/1999
Posts: 3457
Loc: Palo Alto, CA
1. After warranty expiry you should still deal with the warranty agent in your country.
2. I can't say how much parts will cost: we will keep an adequate number in stock, and the warranty has the usual "repair/replace/refund" type clauses - under warranty you'd probably get whatever the latest unit was if it totally toasted itself. As with all consumer electronics (and PCs!) 3 years is a long time and by then it may not be economically viable to repair - just like an old P166 mainboard or a 16x CD-ROM.
3. Labor, parts, and shipping (shipping isn't included if the unit is found not to be faulty at the time of arrival at the service depot)

Hugo


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