The Nvidia Defect Forum

Hey all, I had all but given up hope until I just stumbled upon this forum and my hopes are renewed.

I too have suffered the nVidia defect (Shock-horror!): failed defective on-board graphics card seems to have died and the laptop just keeps power cycling itself. Originally it died about september 2009 and I thought it was just one of those unlucky things, knowing I was out of warranty I googled for the system board to replace it (came up with astronomical prices!!!) and I came across some info about a battery recall on similar models.

The battery died within 6 months of use, but I thought it was just because it was used a lot. It became obvious to me that my battery was defective as well. 2 strikes - defective battery and defective graphics card.

I found that a few other people online had complained of a dead laptop with the same symptoms, so armed with this info I called Compaq tech support to try and get concrete evidence of a fault and see if they would repair/recall my laptop. However, they just pointed me back at PC world.

I called the PC World customer service as I bought the laptop from their website and they said I could send it off to be repaired at my own cost due to out-of-warranty, they advised I go to a PC world store. I took it into a PC World store and gave them my details and the laptop details, they too said it could be sent off for repair and they quoted me in the region of £279 to fix (can't remember whether this was ontop of a diagnosis fee).

At that point I almost gave up but searched for MoBo replacements to see if there was something around the £100 mark, but there wasn't. The laptop has been on my shelf since and I picked it up today and tried turning it on in the hope that it would "just work"...

It didn't, so I thought I'd google for the MoBo again, or a damaged but working "donor" laptop, but to no avail.

Following the same route as others in the forum, is it worth me writing letters etc. to PC World ? Am I too late to be able to get some money for a replacement laptop?

Thanks in advance,

TheHighlander

Hello TheHighlander and welcome to our forum.

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

The good news is that the warranty status is irrelevant as you have six years to take action against a retailer when the goods in question are inherently defective.

The other bit of good news is that HP have, in part, admitted to the fault in your laptop and that can be verified here:- http://tinyurl.com/22o5ldf

This is the BIOS update page for your laptop and the purpose of the update is:-



This update was released on the 14th December 2007 and it appears that the only place that this information was posted was on HP's support website.

Why would HP want to switch the fans on in your laptop 24/7? Well, the obvious reason is to try to keep the GPU cool..

Note the words they used:- "reduce the likelihood" - well, in your case, as in many others, it didn't work.

The fact that your laptop is not on HP's wholly inadequate "list of affected models" is also irrelevant.

I would click on the step by step link in my signature and you will find advice on the steps needed to reach a positive resolution.

Don't let the retailer fob you off with the "sorry sir but you are out of warranty" line or the "You should contact HP" line - the retailer is the one responsible and so it is them that should resolve the situation.

If your laptop is indeed inherently defective then you really cannot lose.

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

Please keep us updated on your progress.

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.

Many thanks Paul,

I'll follow your "Step by step help to getting a refund" and let you know how I get on.

What is the "6 years" based upon? Something like the consumer right's act? Is this also possible due to something in there about not being able to knowingly sell defective goods?

Kind Regards,

TheHighlander

Hello TheHighlander,

The six year rule is part of the SOGA (Sale Of Goods Act).

The important parts of the SOGA are that:-

1) Goods should be free from minor defect
2) Should be fit for purpose
3) Should be durable

Your laptop, along with hundreds of thousands of others certainly doesn't meet this criteria.

I don't think that the retailers knowingly sold defective laptops, but I do think that the manufacturers could have allowed their continued sale. After all, when HP released a BIOS update to switch the fans on 24/7 models that contained those affected mainboards were still being sold.

All that the BIOS update seemed to do was to push customers laptops beyond the 12 month warranty period. This "fix" did not remove the inherent defect, it merely postponed its manifestation.

I use the word "fix" in quotations because it didn't work!

Your laptop is testament to this and so if the retailer states to you that your laptop is not on HP's list I would just refer them to the BIOS update page I mentioned and then ask them if they think that HP are aware of a potential problem in your laptop.

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.

Paul,

Many thanks. I see your point about the BIOS update. All it was designed to do was spin the fan for longer and faster than designed to push faults outside of warranty period, then placate customers with the excuse that it is outside of a covered period. Clever fallout mitigation technique, can't blame them for trying, it has probably saved them a fair bit of cash.

With your posted help in this forum, and a little luck, I may be able to get a replacement laptop eventually instead of using a 7yr old spare-part-built duron based PC

Kind Regards,

TheHighlander

Hello The Highlander,



There is no doubt that you will get either a replacement laptop or a refund, be it partial or otherwise.

We are here to help so 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.

Highlander,

Follow Pauls step by step guide and you can't go wrong.

An interesting point here will be the how the date the laptop failed is calculated. As you initially notified PC World in September I would say that this is the date to be used - I can near enough guarantee that PC World wont' agree with this and will want to use this month

I can see this getting interesting when it's getting towards settlement stage!



When my laptop failed I spent a couple of months using a Pentium II 300 based system followed by a P3 600 based one .

It was so nice when I finally got a new laptop a few weeks ago

Good luck with your claim

_________________
Please note: I am not legally qualified and therefore any postings I make are just my own personal opinion based on my experience of working for a number of years at a busy County Court.