The Nvidia Defect Forum

Two years ago I bought an Advent 5401 from PC World, Mahon Point in Cork, Ireland. At the start of this month, I was using it as normal, when all of a sudden the colours went insane. I was seeing green instead of black, and there was pink where there should have been white.

Luckily (for me), that evening, I was chatting to a friend, and it turned out he had had the same problem (twice) with his macbook. As a result, I was able to research what was wrong, and arm myself with as many facts as possible. Sidenote: it's just today that I've found this site.

I rang up PC World Customer Care, and was told to drop the laptop in as soon as possible for repairs. My friend had advised me not to agree to a repair, and I decided I wouldn't. I took the step of ringing CC in case i went into the store and was told not to come back until I'd done that (covering myself ^_~).

I then explained the problem to my father (Computer Engineer/ Systems Administrator for a University). His comment? Use an external moniter instead!

I then brought my laptop into PC World, for collection for the repair (this was saturday, wouldn't be collected til the following thursday, a week after the start of my problem). My father came with me, and when I asked about the possibility of a replacement, considering there was a clear fault, he stepped in and said that the repair would be fine. The PC World guy also said that regardless of the problem, my laptop would only be repaired whenever there was a problem, even if it was recurring. I reluctantly accepted sending the laptop away, as I was told that it would need the motherboard replaced. The fact that the repair is covered by my extended warranty (laptop is 2y, warranty is 3y ^^) is the only reason I didn't replace the laptop straight off.

Questions:

Any ideas how long this 'repair' will take? (currently three weeks since the fault, and two weeks since it was sent for repairs)
How likely is it that the motherboard and graphics card will be identical to what was in the machine?
How long, does anyone guess, until I have problems again?
If I get it back with the same graphics card, what can/do I do?

(if any other information is needed, just ask ^^)

Hiya!

Bad luck with the lappy, but you've come to the right place.

If you've got a 3 year extended warranty I'm going to assume that you've taken up the What Happens? plan. The standard plan aims to repair within 28 days, and the premium plan within 10 days, I believe.

I'm certainly no expert, but from the reading I've done in preparation for my own case the likelihood that a repair will use the same part numbers is pretty much a certainty. Therefore, you'll almost certainly experience the failure again in the future. How far in the future is anybody's guess, though anecdotal evidence for repaired machines sees many of them failing again within months.

How would that affect any future claim about being sold inherently defective goods? I'll leave that to those more knowledgable in such matters.

Best of luck, and hopefully you'll get it sorted to your satisfaction.

Andy

Hello Ladyshiva and welcome to our forum.

Sorry to hear of the problems you are experiencing with your laptop.

Please find below answers to your questions.



Well I would contact them tomorrow and ask them how much longer is it going to take. I would hazard a guess that they are awaiting parts from Advent but in my opinion unless you push them you could be waiting a while.



I would say that in order to keep within the law they would have to replace the mainboard with one of the same specifications as the one that is being replaced. It would contravene your statutory rights if they used an inferior board to effect a repair.



That is difficult to answer, it is a bit like asking how long is a piece of string.

It could last months it could last longer. The trouble is the 8400 GPU is one of the more prolific of the defective GPU's so how long it will take to fail is anyone's guess.



Well, to be honest not a lot as you have allowed them to repair your laptop without asking them for the written guarantee that I advise.

I always advise that customers request a written guarantee on the retailers headed notepaper that states that the mainboard being used to repair the laptop is 100% free of the Nvidia defect and that any recurrence of the problem will result in a refund or replacement laptop.

As you never asked for this and have allowed them to simply repair your laptop then you will have to accept the repair as it is.

However, when you get the laptop bac you should run some temperature tests in order to record the temperatures being reached. There are a couple of download available from this site that will help you with that and they are here:- tools-to-test-to-see-if-your-nvidia-gpu-is-about-to-fail-t57.html

I hope the above helps.

If you have any questions or if you need any help then please let me know.

Good luck and best wishes

Paul
The Admin Team

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Please note that I am not legally qualified and I only offer my own personal advice. You are advised to seek professional legal advice for formal clarification of advice I give.

With regards to contacting them, would that do any good, since the laptop had to be sent to the uk to repair? (and took a week to get there!). I'm considering leaving it until next thursday, and then going out in person to ask, and at that point it will have been four weeks since the problem started, and two days shy of four weeks since being dropped into the store.

With regards to how long it lasts...would running powerful games that the laptop ~is~ able to handle...affect it enough to cause problems? I know my laptop is capable of running games more taxing than what is normally on it, and even those are kept on low settings.

Thanks for the help, btw. It's very much appreciated.

Oh, and about the letter, is there any point in asking for something similar afterwards? (I'm really disappointed I didn't find this site sooner!)

Hello Ladyshiva,



Which country did you send it from?

I do think it will be good as they will have to give you an anticipated return date.

You cannot let this drag on for an inordinate amount of time and they need to be giving you a timetable to completion.



Well yes and no. The extra heat generated by running the games (and therefore stressing the GPU) will cause it to heat up, but it is not heat alone that caused the GPU's to fail but a combination of the heat and the power cycling that laptops go through. So, for example, a person who simply used their laptop for surfung the internet and sending/receiving emails would find that their laptop lasted longer than a person who was a heavy user and used their laptop to play demanding games.

If, when you get the laptop back, you experience more problems that are GPU related, then I would at that point demand either a refund or replacement laptop.

I hope the above helps.

If you have any questions or if you need any advice then please let me know.

Best wishes

Paul
The Admin Team

_________________
=======================================================
Calculate the minimum refund that you would be entitled to.
FAQ's
Why you should not accept a repair
Links to evidence
What is the Nvidia Defect?
Step by step help to getting a refund
Do you need an engineers report?
=======================================================

If you like what you see on this forum and would like to help then please post links to this forum in other forums or blogs. The more people we can help the better.


Please note that I am not legally qualified and I only offer my own personal advice. You are advised to seek professional legal advice for formal clarification of advice I give.

Thanks, Paul.

The time frame so far has been:

Aug 5th - Problem starts
Aug 7th - Dropped to store
Aug 12th - Collected by courier
Aug 18 - Centre in England receives or processes laptop

The TechGuys sent me a text to confirm they got my laptop, and I was told it should take three to four weeks. I've kept the text, and had my father next to me when the machine was being booked in, as a witness to everything that was said.

I'm keeping a close eye on dates, simply because it's hugely inconvenient being without my laptop. I'll also be keeping an eye out for problems. Testing the heat will definintely be one of the first things I'll do, as I always knew it got horribly hot, but as I'd not had much long-term experience with laptops, I didn't know how unusual that was. My bad, it seems. >.<

Hello Ladyshiva,



It is not your fault Ladyshiva, how were you supposed to know that your laptop was overheating?

You were lucky that you didn't receive burns as a result of using the laptop under such extreme temperatures.

I will keep my fingers crossed for you.

Please keep us updated on your progress.

Good luck and best wishes

Paul
The Admin Team

_________________
=======================================================
Calculate the minimum refund that you would be entitled to.
FAQ's
Why you should not accept a repair
Links to evidence
What is the Nvidia Defect?
Step by step help to getting a refund
Do you need an engineers report?
=======================================================

If you like what you see on this forum and would like to help then please post links to this forum in other forums or blogs. The more people we can help the better.


Please note that I am not legally qualified and I only offer my own personal advice. You are advised to seek professional legal advice for formal clarification of advice I give.