Hardkernel Shopping Direct Limited Warranty

It’s all starting to remind me of an old Queen song

“We are the Champions” ? :stuck_out_tongue:

and another one bites:
https://forum.odroid.com/viewtopic.php?f=181&t=37245

Their warranty is 4 weeks, since it expired, they will let you RMA to be checked (shipping costs on you). Refund is not something they’d do once the so-called-warranty has expired.
e.g : No HDMI signal SD Boot CoreELEC - ODROID
You can try posting for support there, sometimes it’s something simple like bad cable or OS issue etc, sometimes it’s a possible hardware issue, and unless you can do your own tests, you’ll have to send it back to be looked at, and hope for the best.

After doing abit of Googling I’m pretty sure I’m best to cut my losses and just add odroid to the list of manufacturers to never purchase from again. i havnt read a single case where anybody has managed to get a replacement or a repair and shipping to China will cost more than a cheap replacement box will. I’ve also learnt that it’s actually a much much more common problem than i had realised with multiple reports of failure across multiple forums and different os’s all with the same fault. Some people seem to think this is to be expected as they are cheaper than say a vim3 but I have a s805 stick a s905 and a s912 box All “unbranded” and all cost less than £30 each and have been used, abused, dropped, thrown, left on for months at a time and they all still work perfectly. Something else which annoys me about it is new users of Coreelec who may not have had any experience of CE or just enough os’s before buying a CE edition of the N2 are going to automatically associate CE with poor quality products which obviously isn’t the case. I think CE should make it clear that they have no involvement or association with odroid hardware. It’s not fair that the CE name should be tainted because of this especially when they don’t profit from it

You make valid points.
I think the fact this isn’t specifically a media box but more of a dev/DIY product, allows makers to follow the no-warranty standard that apparently is rather common in this sector.
A lot of people use this device and are very happy with it. I don’t know exactly in what volumes those boards are made but maybe some of the runs have been not as successful as others, maybe QC is non-existent.

I agree a warranty on a device that’s more than likely going to be modded by the end user is complicated but khadas manage it and the warranty wouldn’t even be a issue if the boards were built to a standard where they would last a acceptable amount of time. I think if odroid wanted to restore its customers faith and restore their name they should offer some kind of repair/replacement program specifically for the HdMi fault. It’s so common that surely by now they are able to identify and distinguish between a board broken during modding and one with the hdmi port fault, by now they must know the root cause.

I agree.
I bought it strictly for use as a media player. I wish I had any knowledge as to what to do with it instead but I don’t. For me it was for 4K use which proved too annoying under windows, and Kodi is something I’m familiar with and used for the last decade or so (when it was still XBMC).
My N2 still mostly work as long as I don’t try to play in native 4K resolutions, but I can do that in windows too, so it defeats the purpose I got it for. It is it quite temperamental with 1080p too, but for now I use it till I get what I ordered to replace it.
Obviously, I have no idea what the issue is, the only HK diagnose I found on the various forums in regards to HDMI AV issues, was the one posted by OP on the first entry on this thread.

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Hey happy new year,https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uk8T1s6ufnM. Expensive emulator system with instructions in odroid magazine on how to convert HDMI to CVBS as a display output .

and another:
https://forum.odroid.com/viewtopic.php?f=181&t=37252

I’m not sure this can be dismissed as 1 in 100/1000 anymore, though I don’t know what volumes this board sells at.

I don’t think you can speculate usefully either. People with working board simply remain quiet.
Its actually quite difficult to find report of failed N2’s

Shoog

Same procedure as every year.
A few N2 failed and now it will be reportet and repeated in some forums.
Same in car forums, one report about engine damage and it will reportet all over the world and some people believe all engines are faulty

It’s quite easy. Just go to the issues section of the hardkernel forums.

Your analogy is flawed.

Cars are sold in vast quantities and the manufacturing process is far more complicated, likely increasing the chances of issues.

Where serious ones are identified, a process of recall is instigated, at the expense of the manufacturer and in the light of full public gaze, with great numbers often affected.

I know of nowhere where I would purchase a new car and not have a rather long warranty to further give confidence to my purchase.

When a manufacturer also shows little in the way of real desire to identify and fix quality control issues, instead falling back on the excuse that fiddling with such a device is likely to result in damage, then it should come as no surprise that it will be reported.

A product of the very same type and usage, the Raspberry Pi has not suffered in the same way, despite being advertised and sold primarily as a device to fiddle with.

If one can provide a product of sufficient quality, backed up with an appropriate warranty but another cannot do the same for exactly the same kind of item, then it naturally flags up quite reasonable scrutiny and constructive criticism.

I’m afraid that trying to defend the undefendable only increases criticism and suspicion.

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No one said all the N2s are faulty. This thread is purposed to raise awareness to the lack of warranty given for those boards, and as of recent, that there is an option to get it with one from certain vendor/s.

I know the 4-weeks warranty is stated to begin with, but not everyone pays attention and/or chooses to ignore it given positive reviews and the relatively low price tag.

Forum response from droid/HK on HDMI issues"
https://forum.odroid.com/viewtopic.php?f=181&t=37255&p=276377#p276347

We’ve shipped over 20,000 N2 boards from April and we have received near 25 HDMI RMA returns.
When we tested the returned devices, some of them had no HDMI issue.
But I have to agree that HDMI defective rate is much higher than other ODROID boards and there must be some compatibility issues at least.
We need a more serious investigation.

Also a detailed instruction set on how to check the issue yourself given on a different post:
https://forum.odroid.com/viewtopic.php?f=181&t=37245#p276346

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So the UK distributor is still only advertising a short warranty regardless of our consumer regulations.

Where should we be buying from to protect our consumer rights?

I can only see it for sale via eBay and even then its imported from the US. :thinking:

Aren’t they obliged to follow the warranty laws regardless?
You can buy it from ameridroid in the US and pay for an extended warranty. They have a few warranty plans. It’s not a lot ($8-$10) and certainly worth having one.

They should which is why I’m surprised they’d openly advertise such a warranty.

I’ve convinced myself I want the N2 but also want to purchase in my home soil.

Then I guess you need to contact them and ask about that. I would not buy it again without having a proper warranty.

If it is the law in your country to have 6 years warranty (omg, thats great), then i would just buy it and in case the n2 dies, i would contact a lawyer when they deny it.
The problem is, when people do not fight against unethical/wrong behaviour of companies!