Article by: Greg Gaub

(The following is a truthful account of my experience with this problem, including my opinions based on physical and circumstantial evidence. Believe who you want, but I recommend you believe me, and not Palm, Inc.)

I sit at my dining room table, typing away on my PPK connected to PalmVx. "Why?" you may ask. Because Palm, Inc. killed my desktop machine.

As you may be aware, The PalmV and Vx devices have an aluminum casing. They also have a cradle with, in my opinion, a design flaw that does not dissipate static electric charges that travel from a person (holding or reaching for their PalmV) into the cradle, and on into the desktop computer's motherboard via the serial connector.

Late Saturday evening, the 10th of February, 2001, I was sitting on my couch checking out some new stuff I just installed on my PalmVx. After I was sufficiently tired, I walked across the room to place it on its cradle for the night. As I did so, a static electric charge shot across the closing gap between the serial/HotSync connector on my PalmVx to the complimentary connector on its cradle. This shock was big enough that I actually saw the bright-blue arc of electricity pass between the connectors. Although I had experienced small zaps before, this one was particularly big. To my horror, my desktop computer immediately shut down without so much as a whimper. I knew this was bad, but tried to be optimistic. Well, my fears were realized as I attempted to reboot my computer. It would not start. We're not talking about errors and beeps, we're talking nothing happening when I press the power button. Zip. Zilch. Nada. Nothing but the distinct smell of burnt electronics coming from the computer.

To the left you will see a photo of the fried chip on my motherboard. This was the chip on the board right next to where the serial port cable (to a front mounted port) connected. I'm no electronics technician, but it's pretty obvious to me that the chip is toast.

I pointlessly tried cycling the power on my power strip (with spike protection, for all the good it did me ;-), and pushing the bower button over and over. As my heart sank, I tried to remain optimistic, and decided to let my computer "rest" overnight. As you can guess, when I came down in the morning and tried to turn on the machine, nothing happened.

There was no question in my mind that the static charge that traveled through my PalmVx and into my computer had effected its damage, and that I would have to do more than just cycle the power to my desktop machine to bring it back to life. At the very least, the static discharge was the catalyst for other causes of damage inside the computer.

I had decided the night before that if the computer didn't work in the morning that I would be contacting Palm, Inc. for some kind of resolution. So begins my adventure into Palm Buck Passing.

The first thing I did after deciding that my computer was not going to come back to life on its own is call Palm Inc support. Good thing I still had their number in my Palm address book. Interesting how these shocks have no effect on the PalmVx itself. I guess the designers thought of that, huh? Well, lo and behold, support didn't open for another hour. I had some breakfast, and then called again.

After some number pressing and waiting for a rep to take my call, I spoke to a kind gent named Jason. After I told my story to Jason, he put me on hold so that he could refer to a memo he recently received on this very scenario. His memo told him that the problem was NOT with the cradle, but with the motherboard. Something about not having the right kind of resistor connected to the right number of points. Essentially, Palm, Inc. was passing the buck to the computer manufacturer. He told me that Palm Inc. had agreements with certain PC manufacturers, including Hewlett Packard (my computer's brand) and Dell, among others. This agreement somehow states that I should have the repairs made by my computer's manufacturer, and that they would then bill Palm Inc for the costs. At least, that's what Jason said. If anyone's curious, or works at Palm and wants to check this out, Jason gave me my Service Request number, which is 1-4175738.

My next call, of course, was to HP service. After speaking to a rep who had no idea what I was talking about, being on hold for several minutes as he spoke with his supervisor, and then being told that they know of no such agreement, and that I should call Palm again, I asked to speak directly to his supervisor. I then spoke to a guy named Joe West, a Quality Case Manager for HP computers. He assured me that there was no agreement with Palm on this problem, and that since my computer was no longer under warranty, that he couldn't have it repaired for free even if he wanted to. He sympathized with my situation and suggest that I call Palm back, and ask to speak with one of their quality case managers. Again, I am told that it's not their problem, and to go talk to someone else.

I wonder if Palm's initial brush-off was in the hope that my computer was still under warranty and that the manufacturer would fix it for free, leaving Palm Inc out of the picture entirely.

After getting the boot from HP, I had no choice but to call Palm support again. This time, I spoke to a guy named Chris who gave me the number of Palm's Customer Care (or something) line, and that they'd be the people to talk to.

uh-huh...

After speaking to Ozzie at the number I was given (888-956-7256), and confusing him as much as everyone else, I was passed off to Ozzie's manager, Lyneigh (no last name, because she's the only one ;-). Lyneigh first told me that the problem is something that is taken care of before the Palm leave the factory, and that there are no faulty cradles on the market. A little miffed, I asked her to pass me off to someone with whom the buck will stop. Unfortunately, Lyneigh returned, and told me that their license agreement states that they are not liable for any damages to the desktop computers that Palm devices are attached to.

Needless to say, I got a little upset. She was ready to give me Carl Yankowski's e-mail address, but I stopped her, since I couldn't send mail without my computer. "Oh. Yeah." was her response. In hindsight, it's good that I didn't get his address, as I would have been likely to send him a pretty nasty letter... or, it would have been a generic address that someone ELSE reads before forwarding important things on to Carl. Instead, Lyneigh gave me Palm's "Corporate Escalation" phone number. To no surprise, I found them to be closed, and I had to leave a message. They will supposedly call me back, but I think I'll call them again tomorrow (Monday).

Does anyone else find it interesting that this has gone from a problem that they know of, and will foot the bill for repairs, to one that doesn't exist, and isn't their problem even if it does? Suffice it to say that I WILL receive satisfaction on this problem, as it was CLEARLY the fault of the PalmV cradle's inability to dissipate static discharges that caused the early death of my computer. Out of warranty or not, it's their responsibility. If I don't get satisfaction, and Palm won't even acknowledge the problem, there will be an extensive dissemination of this story to the news, and to Palm and tech sites all over the internet.

Well, I just got off the horn with a "Customer Care Escalation Help Line" representative. Her name was Ruth-Theresa, and after listening to my story, and telling me that it's not their problem several times as I became more and more upset with her and Palm, Inc., the conversation essentially ended with the statement that it's not their problem, and that they have nothing to do with it. Since my PalmVx is functioning properly, and "that's what Palm sells" then anything that happens to my desktop because of their device is none of their business.

Wrong.

Ruth-Theresa did give me an address to send correspondence to. Of course, as far as anything immediate, the buck stopped with her, and she pretty much stonewalled me. For anyone interested, here's the mailing address she gave me:

Palm, Inc.
Bldg 14
533 Betsy Ross Dr.
Santa Clara, CA 95952

Since it's painfully obvious that I won't be getting any restitution for the problem their device has caused, it is now my mission to make the internet fully aware of this problem, and Palm, Inc. complete lack of support for it.

To Jason at Palm tech support, here's some advice: Next time, just tell the truth. And if you were telling me the truth, then I hope you don't believe anything Palm tells you for a very long time because they lied to you.

I'll give the guy at HP another call and help him make sure their computers stop getting fried by Palm's negligence.

I decided to give Palm another call. I had heard of people with this problem (well, at least the static thing, not necessarily a completely dead computer) getting a new cradle, or an adapter of some kind. I spoke to Ruth-Theresa again, and asked her about the adapter. Apparently the adapter was made for another reason, but that it did seem to take some of the charge out of the serial line. She said that she thinks the adapter was made because of some problem with newer computers that don't have some kind of "chip" that would usually take care of the static charges. This sort of agrees with what Jason said, but they still aren't admitting any fault. If anything happens to my new computer, even with the adapter, it's still not their problem, but she's sending me this adapter. I'm tempted to get an IR accessory of some kind, and use my cradle for charging only, and sync via IR, though I really don't want to. The next day, Tuesday the 13th, I received the adapter. I had a feeling she'd overnight it. ;-)

While my computer was down, I did manage to check e-mail. Since the PalmVx itself was fine (as they foresaw the possibility of static shocks, and safeguarded it against them), I was able to connect my Palm through the serial cradle, a bunch of cables, and a null modem adapter to my old SupraSonic 33.6k external modem. It was really nice to connect to the net on my palm at more than 9600 (which I usually got over my GSM mobile phone). Actually, I got better rates with that modem than my desktop's internal Riptide modem. It was nice to keep up with e-mail, but not nearly as nice as on a desktop machine.

I had to leave a message with the guy at HP, and he never called me back. I guess it's not important for them to safeguard their computers against damage from PalmV's. Why should they? They can charge people lots of money to fix them. Hell, I had to pay $150 for a replacement motherboard. Fortunately, that's all I needed, as after I swapped all my parts to the new board and plugged it in, my computer worked fine, as if it were never broken. I'll give HP props on that. Also, I ordered the new board on Wednesday the 14th, and it arrived on Friday, two days later. I was happily surprised by that.

Now, before you click the e-mail link below to send me a scathing "no duh" message about how static kills computers, you need to understand that I already know all about it. This is not an instance of me being careless about static and computer components. This is a case of normal use of my PalmVx. I didn't open up my computer and touch the motherboard. I didn't even touch an exposed serial connector. I simply placed my PalmVx into its cradle. By simply doing as Palm, Inc. suggests, to synchronize information with my computer, I have damaged my computer. Is it such a difficult thing to ask of a hardware company to possibly include some kind of protection from such a supposedly common, and decidedly dangerous occurrence?

Anyone who would like to help me spread the word about this problem, and link to my story is encouraged to do so. I want to make sure that all other current and potential Palm users are aware of the potential for damage to their computer, and how serious the damage can be. Not through carelessness or stupidity, but through normal and encouraged use of their device.

Read the conclusion to this story here.

Greg Gaub
flux@snapbag.com

PS: I've already gotten plenty of hate-mail on this topic. Numerous people out there feel that I'm an idiot for not touching something to ground myself before putting my palm in the cradle. They are very quick to blame me for acting like a normal person, instead of obsessively touching things in an effort to avoid something that the most amateur computer technician knows is a problem. Instead of calling me names for making this an issue, or placidly accepting what is logically a foreseeable and preventable (by the product/device manufacturer) problem, why not ask yourself what's so hard about designing a product to prevent this from occurring? What is so difficult about including the appropriate electronics in a device, or its connection to a computer, to prevent a static charge from passing through, or to dissipate it entirely? Why do we have to simply accept this and buy new equipment every time we forget to touch a doorknob or desk lamp before grabbing our Palm? If you decide to flame me, please be so kind as to include answers to the above questions.