The Nvidia Defect Forum

Hello Wes and welcome to our forum.

Your laptop contains an Nvidia 8400 GPU (GPU REV G86-630-A2) which is widely reported as being defective and is failing in huge numbers.

I have inspected quite a number of your model of laptop and they were all found to contain the defect so coupled with the problems you have described I would say that it is highly likely that your laptop is indeed inherently defective.

If you can let me know who you purchased the laptop from and the method of payment that you used then I will be able to advise further.

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.

Hi Paul
Many thanks for the swift response. I thought it sounded pretty much like the issue but the fact I could use the external montior connection made me think it was maybe the screen itself.

I bought from PC world (notice there seems to be quite a few sucess stories from them on your forum). I cannot remember if it was debit or credit card but I still have the receipt somewhere so I can check once I find it.

Regards
Wes

Hello Wes,

If you can find either the purchase receipt or a copy of the relevant statement that the laptop was purchase on then you are ready to start your claim.

You should contact PC World and should tell them that your laptop has failed due to what you believe to be an inherent defect in the Nvidia GPU.

They may tell you that your laptop is out of warranty and that there is nothing that they can do. You should tell them that the warranty status is irrelevant as you have six years from the date of purchase in which to bring an action against a retailer when the goods in question are inherently defective.

They may then tell you to contact HP. You should tell them that you purchased from PC World and not from HP so it is entirely PC Word's responsibility to resolve the situation.

See what they say. If they say they will inspect it for a fee you should refuse and say that due to the "reverse burden of proof" then you will provide your own independent engineers report.

There is a step by step guide on this forum that will help you reach a positive resolution and that is here:- post13.html#p13

If you follow my advice in that guide then you will be successful.

I hope the above helps.

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

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.

thanks, will follow this and let you know how it goes

Hi,

My boyfriend bought the Advent 5401 in July 2008 for £499 from PC World. In August 2011 the laptop started freezing, turning off randomly after 5-10minutes use. It will startup and display a split screen which is half white-half grey. Approx 1/10 times it will startup properly but then will only work for 5-10 minutes before freezing and shutting itself down. The fan runs constantly from pressing the on switch. When plugged into an external monitor he can carry out a system restore but this doesnt make any difference to the normal either grey / white screen split or it will start up and work for short period of time before shutting down.

We have called PC World who tried to tell us how to fix over the phone but could not.
We have sent the template letter as listed on this site to then receive another call from them attempting to try to fix.
We then visited the store it was purchased from and the Know How desk told us we would have to obtain an engineers report and then make a claim to Know How head office. (10th Sept)
Received a letter from Know How (16th Sept) asking for us to call them.
Called Know How (20th Sept) to be told that they can collect the laptop and carry out their diagnostic for £50, if the laptop has the Nvidia defect they will refund the £50 fee and offer money back for the laptop not lasting a long enough length of time. If it does not have the issue then they will quote for repair. I advised that I had heard that other people have had the defective chip replaced with the same & I would not be happy with this. The man told me that they no longer do this as they cannot guarantee the new chip will not be defective. He was not happy with the store telling me to obtain a report independantly as this has not been their process for the past 9 months. They will be calling me tomorrow to arrange collection and I would have to pay the £50 then I assume.

Just wanted to ask - do our symptoms sound like they will be the Nvidia defect? I am reluctant to pay for them to take it away if it could be something repairable as my partner would prefer to buy a new laptop than pay for repairs to this one.

Hello Tipsybub and welcome to our forum.

Sorry to hear that your laptop has failed.

From the problems you have described I would say that it is highly likely that your laptop is indeed inherently defective.

Your laptop contains an Nvidia 8400 GPU (GPU REV G86-630-A2) which is widely reported as being defective and is failing in huge numbers and so all the pointers are there.



Well I am really pleased that they have said that as it confirms what I have been saying all along.

I would let them inspect the laptop but would put a big label on the lid and on the screen that states "DO NOT REPAIR"

I would also make this known to them when the laptop is handed over.

I hope that the above helps.

If you require any help or 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 very much for the advice. Will get a big note stuck on the box, lid and screen and see what happens.

Very appreciative of your help as we too were of the thinking it'd be better to just throw away rather than fight for our right!

Hello Tipsybub,



You are most welcome.

I am glad that you didn't throw the laptop away and that we can help you fight for what is due to you.

This is exactly why I set this forum up. Too many people were throwing them away or worse, paying for them to be repaired.

I am not sure why but I never get a Christmas card from any of the retailers.

Good luck for the next stage.

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.

Positive update on our case.

The laptop was collected and I paid £50 for them to do so. I was assured it would not be repaired and they were simply going to do a diagnostic. The man who came to collect it told me 'they'll just replace the dodgy bit and give it back to you' I again phoned them and was assured it would not be repaired.
I had stuck a note on the top of the laptop and also on inside next to the mouse pad clearly stating 'DO NOT REPAIR'
I called the phone number after 5 days and was told that it had been assigned to an engineer so the likelihood was that I would hear back from them within another 5 days. I called again after another 5 days to be told that it had been unassigned and that they cant chase it as they have to give them 28 days for a reply.
Exactly 2 weeks after they collected it I received a call to say they are dropping it off in 20 minutes as it has been repaired. While waiting for the laptop to be delivered I called the KnowHow team again and was told that they had managed to fix it so were sending it back. Not the result we were looking for as I understood it couldnt be repaired. But a working laptop is what we wanted at the end of the day. After being on the phone for 30 minutes I managed to get the £50 refunded as they hadnt done as they were asked and just diagnostic it.

The laptop worked - yipee!

The next morning, we turned the laptop on and shockingly - it has the exact same issues. It had worked for approx 2 hours. I called the KnowHow team again and kicked off...unfortunately for them the same man answered as I had spoken to the day before so he knew I wasnt going to go quietly! He organised for the laptop to be collected again, this time I wasnt asked to pay the fee.

Yesterday, a week after they have had the laptop for a second time, I called to see what was happening. After being placed on hold for a long time the lady told me that the engineers couldnt fix it and I would be offered a partial refund - result! Although she had to get someone to call me back as this wasnt something she could do herself. I was told I would hear back that day as they would action as soon as they got the email. I never received a call.

Today I called them back and went through the story again, the man asked if he could call me back as he had to calculate how much they could offer me. 5 minutes later I received a call, I was expecting an offer of up to £200 but he surprised me and said 'We can only offer you £276.00' which I accepted. We were told we could either have a cheque through the post or payment via BACS - we chose BACS and the lady has just called to process the refund. Even better that we dont have to use a voucher in PC World again and can buy what we like elsewhere!

Thanks so much to this website, we didnt expect to get anywhere with the issue but are more than pleased with the result!

Laptop bought: July 2008 for £499.99
Laptop Failed: August 2011
Refund Received: Oct 2011 for £276.00

Definitely worth fighting for money back

Hello,

Well done on your success.

It just goes to show that their claims that they can repair the defect in these laptops are, on the whole, without foundation.

I am just pleased that it failed so quickly as it left them nowhere to go other then to refund you. It is obvious that they have simply performed a rework on your laptop rather than a repair. There is a big difference there as a rework is technically not a repair but another "band aid" fix.

I am glad that you found us and that we were able to help you reach this positive resolution.

Well done again and all the best for the future.

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.