The Nvidia Defect Forum

My Dell laptop has decided to deal me a really nice Happy New Year present!

Working on my tax return on 31st Dec 2010 screen went suddenly blank, had to hard reset and the boot screen now shows blue specks. Computer would no longer boot to windows 7 showing a BSOD with a "Page_Fault_in_non_paged_area". Managed to get windows working via safemode, remove the gfx drivers and reinstalled basic Standard VGA Graphics Adapter which appears to be working for now.

Laptop is a Dell XPS M1710 with a Geforce Go 7900 GFX (512MB)

Originally shipped in Apr 2006, warranty ran out Apr 2009. Tried calling Dell today to extend the warranty but they would not extend as it's over 12months since it ran out.

I've read about the class action in the USA and obviously found this does not help:
http://www.nvidiasettlement.com/

Dell very kindly offer a 12month extension to the original warranty but this again does not help:
http://en.community.dell.com/dell-blogs ... ement.aspx

So next stage is to try the helpful guides on this website to try and get a replacement / repair.

Have there been any successful cases with Dell?

Thanks in advance

Tom

Hello Tom and welcome to our forum.

Sorry to hear that your laptop has failed.

Other than the BSOD have you experienced any other manifestations of the defect?

Have you tried to perform a system restore?

The error message you have experienced is not necessarily linked to the Nvidia defect so it could be unrelated.

In the first instance I would try a system restore to see if that resolves it.

If not then please pop back here and let me know and I will advise further.

Any questions please let me know.

Best wishes

Paul
The Admin Team

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Hi Paul,

Thank you for your kind welcome.

Only other manifestation of the defect are the strange blue specks on the boot screen....



The photo is taken from a user on overclockers.co.uk but is identical to what I'm seeing so as his issue has been diagnosed as the Nvidia GPU issue I believed that my laptop too had suffered the same fate.

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showth ... t=18194778

As you suggest I will try a system restore and report my findings back.

Thanks, Tom

Hello Tom,

If what you are experiencing is identical to the above then don't bother with the system restore as that is definitely a graphics problem which a system restore will not cure.

I would say that it is now highly likely that your laptop is inherently defective. I didn't realise at first that you were experiencing corruption on the BIOS screen.

You are now in a position to pursue the retailer.

If you ave 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.

Paul,

Thought so - just tried the system restore and it's a no-go.

Will start the procedure detailed in your step-by-step guide.

Thanks Tom

STEP 1 (06/01)

Called Dell to explain that my laptop is inherently defective due to the Nvidia GPU issue.

Operative stated that laptop was out of warranty and could only forward me to the Expired Warranty Support line. I explained that the warranty status is irrelevant if goods are inherently defective, unfortunately no-one available so they will call me back.

STEP 1 (06/01)

No-one called me back so I called 0844 444 4712 [2], transferred to Expired Warranty Service, they offered to repair the GPU but would cost me.

I explained the situation that this was unacceptable due to the inherent defect but Operative could offer no further options.

Requested HQ address, operative stated this was on the dell support website.

I have now drafted a letter to dell and will put it in the post recorded delivery tomorrow.

Hello Tommy,

Well done so far.

Remember, persistence is the key to success.

Don't let them fob you off and don't give up and you will be successful.

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.

STEP 2 (07/01)

Letter sent recorded / signed for to Dell giving them 7 days to replace or refund!

Dell contacted me today and left a msg with my wife saying they'll repair free of charge.

They're going to call me back tomorrow but until they can confirm 100% that the repair is free from the Nvidia GPU issues I am not going to accept.