The Nvidia Defect Forum

My laptop suddenly stopped working last week. It worked in the evening, but by the morning it wouldn't boot.

The laptop turns on, but it fails to boot, the screen doesn't turn on at all (no pci express error message) and the hard drive light on the front flashes but fails to boot. The fans run as normal.

I opened up the inside of the laptop and noticed that part of the heat sink that sits on top of either the CPU or GPU (I'm not 100% sure which) has a burn mark on it. Whether it was new or not, I don't know.

All I know is that the laptop has no bios and no boot at all. All my files on the hard drives are safe and work perfectly well.

Could this possibly be the nVidia problem? And if not, is it a problem that I could still be refunded for? I paid £2,100 for this laptop 3.5 years ago. I can't afford to buy another laptop of the same standard and know that the problem isn't due to accidental damage of any kind!!

Many thanks,

I forgot to mention. I previously had a problem with the laptop (I can't actually remember what with) and the motherboard was replaced under warranty. However, this was within the first year of having the laptop.

Thanks


EDIT: I remember now. The laptop was constantly overheating... Perhaps that was the Nvidia chip back then, and now it is something else.

Would it still be possible to get an engineer's report to prove that whatever the fault is through bad hardware? As the laptop hasn't been dropped or anything, it worked perfectly.

Thanks

Hello Moneyballs and welcome to our forum.

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

It is very difficult to be able to state definitively that your laptop has the defect from the information that you have given, though the fact that your laptop was overheating and coupled with the fact that your laptop contains one of the more prolific of the defective GPU's, then I would say that it is likely that your laptop could well be inherently defective.

You stated that the mainboard was replace 3.5 years ago. Are you sure they replaced the mainboard? The Nvidia GPU in your laptop is on a PCI Express card, which means that the card can be removed from the mainboard unlike most Nvidia GPU's which are integrated onto the mainboard.

If you were to send your laptop to me for a report and if I were to find that the problem was not the Nvidia defect then all you would pay would be the cost of the collect and return carriage, which is £20.

I have to say though I have worked on a number of Toshiba G40's and they were all found to contain the defect so fingers crossed that your laptop has failed because of this rather than just wear and tear.

Saying that though if it isn't the defect then you may still be able to take action against the retailer on the basis that it has failed after an unreasonable period of time.

What do you think?

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.

I'm quite sure that the motherboard was replaced, as I was surprised as the only problem I was having was with the fans and overheating. This was around in August 2008.

As for the now problem, I suppose it's worth sending it off to you to look at, as at the end of the day, a £2k laptop should last more than 3.5 years! (Originally purchased in August 2007)

If it was found that it wasn't the Nvidia chip causing the problem, would you still be able to diagnose the problem and compile a report? As I don't think I can settle for 'wear and tear' being the cause, the laptop was used a lot, I admit, but only for just over 50% of what the sale of goods act states.

Also, if I were to send to you, would you require the hard drives also? As I am currently using both of them in a docking station with another computer.

Thanks

Hello Moneyballs2

If, after inspecting your laptop, it was found that your laptop had failed for a reason other than the Nvidia defect, then I would investigate whether this was due to premature component failure.

If there is evidence of this then I would be able to produce a report based on my findings.

As I stated previously, £2K for a laptop is a huge amount of money and one would expect at least six years use out of it. If you don't then there could be a form of recourse.

If you do send the laptop to me then I do not need the hard drives.

If you have any questions 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.

Hi,

I've submitted the job onto the lapcure website.

Would you require the sending of the power lead as well along with the computer?

Many thanks,

Hello Moneyballs,

Please would you pack the charger with your laptop as I do not have that particular charger in stock and it is non-standard.

I have now sent you an email with further information.

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.