Help with a dead tablet

DogBiscuit_2

Morning everyone.

I'm after a bit of help and advice please. I bought a Linx tablet from Sainsbury's in April this year, just to see if it could act effectively as a laptop replacement. And it worked pretty well until one day last week...when it just wouldn't turn on. I'm a fairly comfortable PC user (built my own desktops, upgrades for friends) and I've been through the troubleshooting advice with the manufacturer. But it's still dead....nothing....not even a backlight.

Sainsbury's policy (quoted by both the store manager and the help desk) is to provide a refund in return for the broken unit, which is all well and good, but I'm loathe to hand over the tablet with all my data (presumably) still stored on the hard drive. I'm worried that someone could get the unit up and running again, and have access to all sorts of personal data.

I was wondering if I had any other options apart from hand the tablet over for a refund, or keep the broken unit and not get any money back?

Thank you!

AndyPix

Hmm, its a tricky one that.
I dont really see what options you have if you want the refund ..


There is certainly no way of getting your data off a tablet that wont power on, and no way to factory reset it if it wont turn on either.


I presume you had a password of some description on the device, so in the grand scheme of things i couldnt see anybody going to the bother of trying to crack that even if they did get the device running they would probly just factory reset it anyway .. It would be a MASSIVE pain in the @ss for someone to crack it and they would have to be very incentivised to do this, ie if they knew what data was on there and specifically wanted it.
No one would bother to do this speculatively


My advice would be, unless you are an MI5 agent, or have some data on there that you really really REALLY wouldnt want someone to get their hands on then just hand it back and get your refund.


Hope this helps a bit
Andy

Jivesinger

DogBiscuit wrote: »

I've been through the troubleshooting advice with the manufacturer.

There's usually a key combination to do a 'hard' power-off. Not sure what it will be on a Linx, but probably something like hold down the power key and one of the volume buttons together for several (like 20 or 30) seconds

I take it you've already been through that with no result?

S0litaire

Sometimes if the battery get too empty, the tablet charging circuits might "refuse" to charge or power on.

So you have to leave it plugged on to the charger for a few hours before it will start charging.

If that does not work then sometimes you need to open the tablet. disconnect the battery for a few hours, reconnect it, then let it charge overnight. (take it to a local PC repair shop to do that)

DogBiscuit_2

Thanks for the replies everyone.

Been through the hard power off option. Been through the battery too empty scenario. I'm definitely not an MI5 agent....but then I would say that, wouldn't I?!

The tablet is password protected. So maybe I take my chances and go for the refund. I was wondering if I had a 'right' to a partial refund and keep the tablet. I've read the articles on consumer rights on the moneysavirngexpert website, but there's nothing that covers my situation.

Thanks again,

Mark

Johno100

Does the tablet have the ability to be 'trickle charged' via a USB connection on a PC or similar device? Sometimes that method of charging can bring seemingly dead tablets back to life.

Johnmcl7

You can have a look here to see if there's an encryption key stored for the tablet which would mean the tablet was encrypted:

https://onedrive.live.com/recoverykey

John

prosaver

I heard if you charge a battery and switch the plug of and on quickly a few times, it makes the battery chargeable again. It worked on my drill battery. .. google it ,worth a try.

Fightsback

Expose the tablet to a high neutron flux before return, just make sure that Sainsbury's don't check it with a Geiger counter before you get an exchange or your money back

:cool: Wear ray-bans while while carrying out this procedure as blindness and/or sterility may result.

Children, don't try this at home.

FootfallsEcho

If you haven't already visited the site, there is an 'unofficial' forum for linx users : linxtablet.co.uk Spomeone on there may be able to help.
Regards

cookie365

This may be a stupid question, but are you sure it's not powering on, and it's not simply that the screen's dead? Have you tried connecting it to a PC just in case the file structure's accessible?

Failing that, it might be a corrupt OS - do a google on your tablet's model number to see if you can power it into bootloader mode.