Blue Pocket Pro finish already coming off

[RWood]

Originally Posted by Morlac

My guess is that won't happen.

(a) Assuming that it was actually a factory mistake, they may require the faulty units be returned to China in order to verify the number of affected units to determine how they compensate Astak.

(b) Given that image counts for quite a bit, Astak would be very ill-served by selling those flaking units at any price. Out in the wild, they will represent the line badly when showing them to others. Alternatively, the owners may be embarassed by how shoddy they look and be less likely to show them off or evangelize about them.

(c) Assuming that the fix is labor intensive but relatively straightforward (disassemble, strip the bad paint, repaint properly), it would still most likely be more profitable to do that and be able to sell them as "refurbished" at a 15% discount than just drop the price by 50% and sell as is. And that's assuming they chose to sell as refurb instead of simply saying they're new. (Especially any that legitimately never shipped to a customer but were caught at Astak after the story broke and they started inspecting their inventory.)

My guess is that they will not resell them at the moment or return them to China, that is a lot of shipping for the money involved. They may donate them to schools, etc to spread the word about electronic reading.

Think of it as some units are pre-punked by the factory for your enjoyment.

[SDRebel]

Originally Posted by wayamauro

It may be surprising but actually that's the least they should do, to pay for the shipping. That's what most companies do today if they want to be in the market. Also I would hope free shipping for any other issue, except refund.
Actually the ones that should be thankful are Astak for you guys not asking for a refund instead and still being able to trust them. But yeah, I am glad they are paying for the shipping.

I agree. I had to send mine in a brick-state after less than two weeks and I had to pay to ship it to them. That makes me unhappy

[frozennorth]

Originally Posted by Solicitous

I wonder what they are going to do with the returned units with peeling paint? Will we see them offered at a discount price or shipped back to China for replacement? If they offered to sell one for 50% of the retail price I'd buy a second spare one without a thought of blemished paintwork.

I think the case is easy enough to replace and probably pretty cheap. So they most likely will just have new cases made up to put on the readers.

And those pictures are just awful.

[rling]

Day 2 of ownership -Ruby red unit. Just noticed blistering on right margin next to screen. Can be smoothed down easily, but would reappear. 8-(

[UchihaNaru]

Seems like RobertB isn't very honest when he said that 'The color is molded into the plastic' and that it will last for the life of the device. Hrmmm...

[Jane A]

Is there anyone here with a colored PP who is NOT experiencing a problem with the finish? I am curious!

I caved and ordered the purple PP (PPP?) on the 17th before I read this thread. It arrived yesterday. It had a blistery spot on the back about the size of a thumbprint. This AM it has a small blister on the previous page button on the left side. I can live with the marring on the back, and even with the tiny blister on the front. But not if the finish further deteriorates, which it seems likely to do.

I'm very torn about this! I've been very happy with my ebookwise and my ipaq, but my eyes do get tired reading and I thought perhaps the eink screen would be a good solution. I've never been attracted to the Sony or other devices for various reasons but I liked what I read about the PP. And what can I say? I must be shallow because the purple color pretty much decided it for me. I understand we can return the unit for another but it seems every colored unit is likely to be defective, so our choice would be black or white, which I don't really want. Like I said, I'm shallow....

[SDRebel]

some keep asking this, and I cannot answer for the white one, but at least the black one I have doesn't experience this issue as I believe it doesn't any any extra paint coating like the colored ones.

So for some of you that like the device but don't like that is happening with the colored ones, they you might request an exchange for a black one, or white one if it is the same as black

[theducks]

Originally Posted by UchihaNaru

Seems like RobertB isn't very honest when he said that 'The color is molded into the plastic' and that it will last for the life of the device. Hrmmm...

I am willing to give Astak the benefit of the doubt. They may have been told by Jinke that ALL colors were molded into the plastic.

The Blue is the color of the (Bezel and Button) body material on mine.
The coating is a Matte blue and is blistering coming off exposing a shinny blue of a similar color. As of now, the Bezel area is where I am seeing the peel (I use my case)
I can't answer for the other colors

[kennyc]

My Black one has no issues with the finish what-so-ever for the few days I had it.

[brecklundin]

Originally Posted by theducks

I am willing to give Astak the benefit of the doubt. They may have been told by Jinke that ALL colors were molded into the plastic.

The Blue is the color of the (Bezel and Button) body material on mine.
The coating is a Matte blue and is blistering coming off exposing a shinny blue of a similar color. As of now, the Bezel area is where I am seeing the peel (I use my case)
I can't answer for the other colors

so how does that account for when he said he had sample cases IN HAND in "the big thread" a couple-three months ago? Also, he spun this as Customs "requirement" already so the suggestion that it was a "mfg" issue has holes BobbieB already shot into it below the water line....

Still for people who are happy with theirs or like the features, I would stick to the black or white versions...but be aware of the battery issue as well.

BTW, what was that BobbieB was saying about the "cheap build" (lower grade displays, etc...) of the Cool-er devices in "the big thread"?

[griffonwing]

I agree. The Black, White devices, from what I have read, do not have the soft paint covering, and as such, I am willing to bet that the colour samples that Astak were given a month ago were also the same hard plastic colour, without the skin.

Going by this assumption, Astak was being truthful in stating what they said. As for why Jinke put the skin coatings on the coloured devices, I don't know. I've heard a few guesses about chemicals, possible toxins in the plastic, etc.. But i don't know for sure.

I'll most likely just peel off the matte skin here soon. I'll then try and see if there's a way to take the case apart, and remove the eink display and parts. Once I do that, I'm gonna sandpaper the plastic casing and give it a good paint job.

I'll also look into seeing what the price would be for black PEZ buttons.

[Morlac]

Originally Posted by brecklundin

so how does that account for when he said he had sample cases IN HAND in "the big thread" a couple-three months ago? Also, he spun this as Customs "requirement" already so the suggestion that it was a "mfg" issue has holes BobbieB already shot into it below the water line....

Still for people who are happy with theirs or like the features, I would stick to the black or white versions...but be aware of the battery issue as well.

BTW, what was that BobbieB was saying about the "cheap build" (lower grade displays, etc...) of the Cool-er devices in "the big thread"?

As one of those who preordered the blue, I am not the happiest of campers.

However, I will be even less happy if we drive Astak away from the forums with continual accusations of conspiratorial misdeeds. I believe that those who own or are thinking of owning an Astak device are far better off having the company listen to us and speak to us, rather than writing off this forum as a place filled with hostility where they get insulted.

Yes, there's a huge problem with the paint -- when paint wasn't even supposed to be there. Robertb and Astak acted quickly to reassure us that they were looking into it and want to exchange problem units at their expense.

On the other hand, so far as I have seen, one person (SDRebel) has had a truly bad experience both with what sounds like a faulty battery combined with an unsatisfactory customer service experience (having to pay to ship it back to Astak). So far other reports and questions about the battery seem to be mostly of the "hmm, not sure if this is the way it's supposed to work, gonna keep an eye on it" variety. That does not necessarily add up to a "battery issue."


Sorry for the rant. I just don't believe that it's ok to be repeatedly snarky to others on the forum, regardless of what direction one thinks they are spinning things. And while I may appear to be directing this at brecklundin, it's a general rant. I have nothing but respect for brecklundin -- he's said lots of wonderfully insightful things that I've quite enjoyed reading.

For what it's worth on the paint issue, I believe as others have suggested that if you are unhappy with the peeling paint, do NOT exchange for another colored unit. Go for a black or white one instead if you opt to exchange rather than return or keep. No matter what the colored paint looks like as it sits on a table in Astak HQ, once it's actually in your hands getting daily wear, the odds would seem high that it's going to chip, scratch, and flake. I base that on what various people have said about their machines looking OK at first, but blistering as time goes on.

[Solicitous]

Originally Posted by brecklundin

Still for people who are happy with theirs or like the features, I would stick to the black or white versions...but be aware of the battery issue as well.

I havent ordered mine yet and am still keen on getting a PP. I do realise the apparent issues with the battery. What would make me feel easier is if we could get information on exactly where to buy a replacement battery and the price. RobertB said they were cheap and available, but how cheap and where? A google reveals the Hanlin V3 clone nokia batteries, but not the V5 clones.

[tamzilla]

My white Pocket Pros definitely has a rubbery feel, which I assume is a separate coating that is bonded onto the plastic case. I don't know how you can achieve this type of finish otherwise. It's just not coming off like the coatings on the custom colors are, probably because black and white are Jinke's standard colors, so whatever problems they would have had with production of those have long been taken care of.

While I would be upset if I had gotten a unit with a messed up paint job and would definitely send it back for a new one, I think the blame that Robertb is getting for this is a little uncalled for. If Astak is to be blamed for anything, it would be for not taking a closer look at the devices and catching the problem before sending them off, not for the finish being messed up in the first place.

[Jane A]

Unless someone chimes in later, it looks like no one has a colored unit that isn't having problems. I have to say, I'm far from upset with Astak, in fact I'm feeling pretty sorry for them right now. I can only imagine how hard it is for them being excited about their new product and then have this big issue with the paint happen. I don't think Robert "lied" about anything and though he may tend to get a little over-enthusiastic I do think his intentions have always been good.

Anyway, I've been using the PP today and I am getting along really well with it. I have had absolutely no battery trouble, or any locking up issues. Though I haven't figured out a lot of the details, I've been using it, and the eink screen is a very pleasant reading experience. It definitely reduces my eyestrain. I'm going to contact Astak tomorrow and ask what our options are regarding getting a colored unit replacement vs a black or white one.

As far as SDRebel's problem, I would suggest that he/she(?) ask Astak to pay back the return shipping fee that was incurred. I think it's likely they would be willing to do that, assuming the unit is defective.