Technical quesiton before buying a laptop and using it in a country its not sold at

tom7792

Distinguished
Sep 27, 2011
12
0
18,560
Hey, so I live work and study (currently) in a country that doesn't sell the HP Spectre x360, although HP has a brand and a tech support here, they don't official support that model (the 15.6" one).

Basically they support all HP products or most of them, they also have the HP Spctre x360 13.4" here, but for some reason the 15.6" isnt officially imported.

When I called them, they basically said that they do respect the Warranty, however, should there be a technical issue with the hardware like a component that needs replacing, they may try to fix it here, if possible, order the missing compenent for replacement, and if neither are possible, I will manually have to send it back to the US or Europe whichever is cheaper and have their support center fix it for me, obviously ill have to pay for shipping.

All that isn't too bad, since the other option is the Dell XPS 15, which is 800$ more expensive than ordering the Spectre.


Now my question is, how busted must the laptop be that i'll have to send it a way ? isn't i7 for laptops something that will fit to any laptop or all they all custom made ? same with the power unit and stuff ? and the hardware difference between the 13" and the 15" HP Spectres too big to fit stuff from the 13" to the 15" ? (other than the display ofc)

I know I'm taking a risk, I'm just wondering how BIG it actually is.

Thank you!
 
Solution
Laptops are replaced by FRU units. Those are bigger assemblies like keyboards, motherboards(which will include soldered processors and ram), displays.
All such replacements are likely to not be needed, and it should be comforting that HP will at least try to help.
I think you have little to worry about.

geofelt

Distinguished
Laptops are not readily repaired in the field.
Usually, only the ssd is easily replaced.
If a laptop fails, it will usually be when you first turn it on, or shortly thereafter.

If you can test it out when you first buy it, and it checks out ok, then I think there is not much risk later.
 

tom7792

Distinguished
Sep 27, 2011
12
0
18,560


What do you mean by not readily repaired ? Just to make sure its clear :p HP does have a support center here, they will recieve the laptop and inspect it and try to repair it should it need repairing, its just its not officially sold in this country therafore replacement parts MAY not be available.. you are saying its unlikely anything will happen unless i literally smash it on the floor for, but lets say the power unit goes RIP, is it something that is going to require very specific parts that uniquely fit that model ?
 

geofelt

Distinguished
Laptops are replaced by FRU units. Those are bigger assemblies like keyboards, motherboards(which will include soldered processors and ram), displays.
All such replacements are likely to not be needed, and it should be comforting that HP will at least try to help.
I think you have little to worry about.
 
Solution

tom7792

Distinguished
Sep 27, 2011
12
0
18,560
I have another question, lets say the laptop still requires some sort of tech support that requires it to be sent abroad, anyone has any kind of idea what an estimated time will be ?