This probably boils down to the flashing process, or the hardware used to flash it, or the process in doing so. It’s just super strange that it’s simply not detecting the second partition after the boot partition. This would mean that the hardware is functioning correctly, ie the fact that you can see something.
It shouldn’t make a difference, but try a 0.3 or 0.4 image.
I recall that I couldn’t view the boot partition on my Mac, without using EXTFUSE with the older images whereas now on 0.5 I can. On windows, I could always see the boot partition.
There might be something presumptuous windows is doing to the image upon writing it, flagging partitions, and thinking that the partition should be mounted. I have no idea what though.
One more thing. I’ve timed it myself, and checks with other users that the time it takes for the initial boot, and image expand is about 30 seconds. Have you let it stay black for that long?
Also, when it does turn off, does it just outright freeze, or shut off? If you push the power after the black screen, does it try to power cycle again? If that is the case, you’ve got a battery problem. Since it’s new, thoroughly check the cables and connection within the battery housing.