HDX 16t issues with HD ST9500420A​S

Question

I purchased my HDX 16t 1200 back in late June 2008. It (currently) runs Windows 7 Professional 64bit and has 4GB of RAM and has anIntel P7450 2.13ghz processor. From the very beginning I had issues, the keyboard suddenly freaked out on me as well as the touchpad and I had to send it back for replacements on both those parts. Then pixels in the middle of the screen died, but not enough to warrant a return for a replacement. Then the hard drive inexplicably began to fail and I had to get it replaced. The replacement I received as a 500gb, 7200rpm ST9500420AS. For a few hours it worked fine but then I began to notice a sequence of clicks and beeps coming from where the hard drive is placed. This happens randomly but if I am doing graphical work, playing a game or watching a video when the clicks occur there will be a visible hang:
"Click" -Game/video stops moving or Word Processing stops recording what I type- "Click" -Back to normal-. Sometimes I also hear beeps coming from the drive. The drive has passed all the regular tests, SMART and both Short and Long DST. But the problem persists.
I've already called into HP support and they will be replacing the replacement drive and I asked that they test the replacement before they send it out to me - which they agreed to do.
Now I did a bit of research on my own as to this issue and I found that the click-lag-click (and beeping) issues are extremely common with the replacement hard drive's model. Seagate is aware of the issue but has not released anything to fix it. So far only Apple users have a fix, direct from apple. My concern is that my replacement's replacement will be the same model or will have the same issue. This "top of the line" laptop has really been more trouble than it's worth and I don't have time to keep switching parts in and out. Is anyone else having this issue? If so have you found any fixes?
Message Edited by AvalonWitch on 12-03-2009 04:20 PM
Message Edited by AvalonWitch on 12-03-2009 04:21 PM

Answer 1

The clicking has become incrementally worse and I was assigned a Case Manager with HP. However I have been waiting a week and a half just to speak with them (they called me as I was heading out the door and I gave them hours during which I could be reached: "anytime after 1:30 pm pst). I have not been called. I was told by someone who works at HP that there was no way I could simply return this laptop for a refund and that the best I could hope for was that they would send me a new laptop. However none of HP's curren laptops have what I need, they either lack a full size keyboard, a backlit keyboard, dedicated video or sound cards, or a high-def display at 1080. I am considering just contacting my credit card company and a Lawyer specializing in lemon law as this is literally the 5th replacement done to this laptop in the last 6-7 months and things keep malfunctioning. I would really prefer just to return this laptop for a full refund and be done with it but no one has gotten back to me either here or on the phone.
Also: The CD drive is now shaking wildly and I'm outright not using the laptop anymore - Using the HP Desktop I had to pay to reformat/replace the harddrive on myself when it got out of warranty.