Please could you tell me if our HP dv6500 laptop is well and truly past redemption

katies_mum

A few days ago our old laptop started cutting out / turning itself off (lights go out) after a few minutes of being turned on . I have been trying to start it up this afternoon as it has a very old work program on it I really need, but its not playing also my daughter wants to get transfer all her photos etc over to the new one she got for Xmas.

Just wondering if you any of you experts might be able to offer any ideas or suggestions, I`m thinking its past it but Katie thinks it might just be the on/off button thats broken or stuck.

Many thanks as always

Browntoa

may be overheating , does the fan sound like it is working when it does work ??

check if all the air inlets/outlets are clear of fluff

may be the thermal paste between the processor and the heat sink thats failed , try running it with clear space underneath and a desk fan forcing air into it to see if it stays on longer

the files and pictures can be removed by taking the hard disk out and connecting it to another pc

fwor

It seems unlikely to be the on/off button - if it's stuck pressed in then most laptops will turn off after just 4 seconds.

If it were faulty, it's more likely to give problems turning it on.

It may be a problem with overheating, which would tend to show up after a few minutes if the cooling fan had failed.

Try entering the BIOS setup utility and see if it stays on there. The utility may also have a "Health" menu which will show you the CPU and system temperature.

gjchester

The DV6000 has a Nvidia graphics chip which is know to have issues. You may get it working by replacingt the motherboard, but it's probably a temporary fix.

All the details are here http://www.nvidiadefect.com/ and all you files are most likely recoverable if you put the laptops hard drive in an external USB caddy

katies_mum

Thank you all for taking the time to reply.
fwor I can enter anything to check as the screen is just blank, it lights up sounds like its powering up then just goes off very quickly (it is seconds and not minutes)
gjchester, thnk you for the link - makes interesting reading am going to read a bit more tomorrow as its late now. Don`t want to go to the expense of getting it repaired as it is 4 years old...but if its a known fault then might follow some of the advice on the link.
Browntoa I can`t see any fluff.
Bring back typewriters!! life seemed so easy then!

macman

You won't necessarily see the fluff, it'll be in the fan assembly and ducting. Access that (see the manual) and physically clean it. Blowing into the inlet and outlet won't shift it.

Lucero_2

The DV range of HP laptops you refer to is plagued by an overheating issue. However, it's not one that's easily fixed as it's the GFX (graphics) chip which overheats and melts the solder around the chip on the board. This is why everything appears to work except you can't see anything on the screen. It's truly a common fault, just youtube for multiple vidoes about the issue.

HP refuse to acknowledge anything was ever wrong and would only ever repair or replace those within warranty.

The fix was to stip down the laptop and reflow the solder around the graphics chip. Then, make a copper shim to sit on the chip so that it had a better contact with the heatsink.

This is obviously not suitable repair for your average or even fairly techy user.

My honest advice, get a new laptop in the January sales.

My other bit of advice, don't buy an HP laptop unless you can up the budget to their corporate range of laptops such as the probook or the elitebook. Their "home" user range such as the dvs and the pavillions are pretty junky and you'll get much better for your money from the likes of Dell.

shakeitright

I,d take an HP Pavillion over anything from Dell,had three pavillions and they are all still going strong,apart from a knackered battery on one.Dell aint what they used to be.

katies_mum

Thanks again everyone for replying....our daughter did get a new HP laptop from John Lewis for Xmas! I`ll be honest until recently its been fine for and run well for 4 years, then it started going slow, then it would lose internet connection, then it took to switching itself off more or less as soon as it had been switched on! we just wanted to keep it as a backup and for me to use for a very old work programme that comes on floppy discs (don`t laugh - also got another problem with that but will make another post!) It has for a while though become very hot.

shakeitright - I have HP desktop and or netbook is HP (just don`t like their printers)...I had a bad experience with a Dell.

Do you think its worth looking into defective Nvidia graphics chip or just putting it to bed?

macman

katies_mum wrote: »

Thanks again everyone for replying....our daughter did get a new HP laptop from John Lewis for Xmas! I`ll be honest until recently its been fine for and run well for 4 years, then it started going slow, then it would lose internet connection, then it took to switching itself off more or less as soon as it had been switched on! we just wanted to keep it as a backup and for me to use for a very old work programme that comes on floppy discs (don`t laugh - also got another problem with that but will make another post!) It has for a while though become very hot.

shakeitright - I have HP desktop and or netbook is HP (just don`t like their printers)...I had a bad experience with a Dell.

Do you think its worth looking into defective Nvidia graphics chip or just putting it to bed?

Why not just use a USB floppy drive then?
http://www.amazon.co.uk/External-USB-Floppy-Drive-Black/dp/B00095KY7U

Lucero_2

I would bin it personally, I've had about 4 of these come to me all with the same problem. Only one repair out of the 4 was successful with a replacement board. Whip the HDD out, and put it in a caddy so you can transfer all your old data off to your new laptop