HP not fixing KNOWN dodgy laptops

bungee316

Hi,

So i'm on my laptop last night and all of a sudden I get the blue screen of death which I haven't seen since using Windows 98. I then cant get my laptop to reboot properly and no display on the internal display. So I connect an external monitor and finally get a picture. Cant get it to boot to windows but it will go to safe mode.

Without going in to the technical aspects, my brother who is a Dell tech support worker, checks his stuff with Dell and discovers that the graphics chipset has been found to be faulty and Dell have a policy to replace ALL laptops containing the dodgy nvidia chip (geforce Go 7600) whether they are in or out of warranty. I think they were actually extending the warranty to 5 years but kind of the same thing. So with my laptop being an Hewlett Packard, I assumed they would have the same policy.

So i log on to HP's tech support page tonight and firstly am shocked at the 8p a minute phoneline, so I drop them an e-mail which i'm sure i wont get a reply from until tuesday. I was fully expecting them to simply say yes we will fix it, especially, when on their site, as soon as you do a search for the model it alerts you to this known issue. It says on models of HP Pavillion DV90XX and DV92XX there is a known fault (identical to my symptoms) and you are entitled to a free repair.

So great my e-mail is sent and i'm happy. Then I do a bit of digging and when I look at specific product numbers mine is not listed. For anyone who is interested the product number is p/n RR362ea and the model a HP Pavillion DV9000. I then did some research and seemingly there are loads of people out there who are in the same boat and are being refused repairs by HP. The cost of the repair is around £260.

What I dont understand is why, when the actual model, the Pavillion DV900, is known to be faulty and nvidia have even issued a press release saying they know their chipset is faulty, will HP not repair all laptops of that model.

Second how can a company like Dell have such a different policy on exactly the same issue.

As yet I dont know what HP are going to say to me but on doing the research, and with my product number not listed on the HP site it doesn't sound promising.

I have read about other people getting an engineers report (which i can do through my brother) and then under the Sale of Goods Act threatening to take the retailer they bought the system from to court. In every instance the retailer has settled at the 11th hour. My issue with that is I bought the laptop from Comet in 2007 and as recently as 2 weeks ago was having a clearout after moving house and since it was nearly 2 years out of warranty i shredded the receipt.

Can anyone advise me on a course of action I might be able to take, because it really doesn't look good for me getting a free repair from HP

Fork86

We had the same problem with our HP DV6000 capitulating in under 2.5 years of use. After recently researching, I have also discovered that there is a common fault with the GPU on these motherboards. HP were apparently offering to repair any laptops that were less than three years old.

It is now over 3 years since we first bought the laptop, and is therefore just outside this warrany period. Unfortunately we didnt act quick enough.

It is quite annoying to find that Dell are offering a 5 year grace period as opposed to HP though...

Does anyone think there is a case worth pursuing under the Sales of Good Act as they didn't last 6 years?

tweeter

bungee316, perhaps you could get your checking account to give you the transaction information to prove that you had bought one.

davb

Maybe things have changed now, but last I heard, Dell were extending the warranty by 1 year on top of the one purchased with the machine - for that specific problem only.
I think Nvidia should take more responsibility for this as well, because they seem to have sidestepped nicely, and it's the customer that suffers in the end. I notice that a lot more new Dells are being offered with ATI graphics now - wonder why.

bungee316

What really gets me is I have worked all my life in jobs that rely on good customer service. And HP must know that if they choose not to replace or repair this system they will loose not only myself as a customer but the majority of my friends and family. Why risk a potentially embarassing public shaming over this and let their competitors get a 1 up on them. From what I hear from my brother and what Dell seem to do for customers they seem like a much more customer friendly company.

Brooker_Dave

bungee316 wrote: »

As yet I dont know what HP are going to say to me but on doing the research, and with my product number not listed on the HP site it doesn't sound promising.

They should have just stuck to making sauce....

Fork86

Well seeing as though we already have our replacement laptops, I have nothing to lose in trying a DIY self repair.

There is a pretty large consensus that the laptop these particular generation of HP latptops are prone to over heating, which in turn softens the solder on the motherboard to such an extent that it causes the components to detach, thus severing the connection.

(This explains why people usually have problems such as their Wifi not working before the black screen of death).

Now I believe the components themselves should still be in good working order if they are to be put back into use.

The following youtube clip shows a pretty straightfoward fix for the problem.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ctHTF3oNdxI (don't worry about it being a different model, they are all pretty much the same underneath).

In summary:

-Take out the battery

-Use a small phillips screwdriver and unscrew all the screws holding the back in.

-Remove the 4 screws holding the motherboard

- Locate the GPU (graphic processer, which in this case is the nVidia chip), and outline it's place with a pen onto some cardboard big enough to superimpose over the whole motherboard.Cut out the small square area of the GPU.

-Use foil to cover the whole cardboard except where the GPU area has been cut out.

- Place this cardboard foil over the motherboard, with only the GPU exposed.

- Apply heat through a high wattage light bulb, hair drier on hottest setting, or a heat gun till the GPU is uncomfortabloy hot to touch.

- Use a towel to press down firmly onto the GPU, so that it is being pressed into the mother board (do this on a flat surface). Apply pressure for atleast 10 minutes.


Now the above steps will ensure that the connection is reastibled between the motherboard the the GPU.

To ensure that the problem doesn't occur again due to over heating, a coin is placed over the GPU and fixed in place with thermal conducting glue (buy from maplins). This detracts heat away from the solder holding the GPU in place and prevents the GPU from detaching again.

Some others advise that you also apply the hairdryer over the rest of the mother board to make sure the other compenents have a better connection through the softening of the solder. I wouldn't if I wasn;t having any other problems.


I will be trying this in the following weeks, and will report back here if it is successful.

Mike_J

under UK legislation you have up to 6 years to claim for a product with an unherent fault. Given that the internet is stuffed full of articles regarding this problem and even the parties themselves have publically stated there is a problem, I think the "onus of proof" place on you as a consumer to show the item was inherently faulty can be satisfied. As regards Comet, they will have means of tracing your original purchase. I had a telly purchase traced when i was buying a "compatable" accesory so they culd check if it was (or maybe thats coz they were going to be get more money out of me).

bungee316

Cheers it looks promising, still no word back from HP for a free repair

boots1_2

Hi everyone

I have been having the same problem laptop just over two years old,researched it and found a website for all kinds of laptops affected by this problem,have just got my engineers report and forwarded it to PCworld today claiming under the sale of goods act so I will let you all know how I get on
I dont know if this is allowed but the website was www.nvidiadefect.com
they have been great.I am not technical at all but they have really helped now fingers crossed pcworld pay up !

Leopard

There's a whole saga about this one, which I've researched, too.

Apple authorised a dealer to replace the motherboard in one of my June 2007 MacBooks Pro last April when it failed with this fault. Mind you, it was still under three-year AppleCare warranty, anyway.

I'll write a comprehensive piece about this sometime next month, when I'll have the time, for the benefit of everyone affected (which, ultimately, will be thousands of people on MSE) but, in the meantime, to launch (or threaten) a claim under the six-year Sale of Goods Act rule you need THIS DOCUMENT in which nVidia confessed the design fault to the S.E.C. in America. Bookmark it, archive it and print it out.

Stay resolute and do not give in. You've got them nailed to the wall, legally, with this one.