The Nvidia Defect Forum

Hi, I think this is where i am to post regarding products bought from currys.

I bought an HP Pavilion dv9500 (9000 series) from currys on 10/09/07.
Over the last few weeks upon start up The screen will display multiple coloured vertical stripes then it fades black and White. The first few times his happened I shut the laptop down and restart. Eventually it would start normally. However, now everytime I start up the above problem is all I get. I have also noticed extreme heat and the engine really kicks in.

I started to research on my iPhone and through the magic of YouTube I eventually found out there may be an issue with the graphics card.

For some time The laptop has been recovering from a driver fault?? And when I tried to fix this with updates there is never a fix for it.

Err please ask for any details I will tryand provide them. I don't know the graphics card number, also, I'm currently typing this on my iPhone so if this seems a little disorganised it's because I'm typing on a really small screen at hyper speed. Many thanks in advance for any replies. Chris.

Hello Chris and welcome to our forum.

Sorry to hear that your laptop has failed.

The problems you describe do sound like manifestations of the defect.

If you can let me know the P/N from the white barcode label on the underside of the laptop then I will see if I can find any further information relating to your model of laptop.

Once you let me know that 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.

Here you are

p/n:GT430EA#ABU

Hello,

I did a quick check on the HP support website to see if I could find any further information relating to your model of laptop and found this:- http://tinyurl.com/3df85g9

This is the BIOS update page for your laptop. On the 25th March 2008, HP released a BIOS updated named F.51. The purpose of this update, according to the HP website, was:-



Looking further into the HP site it also states:-



This BIOS upgrade must have been released by HP in order to prolong the life of the Nvidia GPU by trying to keep it cool else why release an update that switches the fans on continuously to the detriment of the battery?

This will enhance your claim against the retailer as it further proves that there is an inherent defect in your laptop.

Please could you let me know who you purchased from and how you paid (cash/debit card/credit card) and I will advise further.

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.

I purchased from currys on hire purchase, the money coming out of my account every month via direct debit(which I strongly advise against anyone who's thinking of going that route).

Also, the battery that came with the product died a while back so I bought a non HP replacement. About a month later i got a letter saying there were faulty batteries but I didn't have the code they required as it was on the battery which I disposed of. Bit miffed about having to fork out for that too.

Hello,

It is great news that you have purchased the laptop on hire purchase as this means you are covered by the Consumer Credit Act. In other words, if you fail to secure a resolution from the retailer then you can make a Section 75 claim against the finance company.

The first thing you need to do is to contact Currys and to tell them that your laptop is inherently defective due to 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 Currys and not from HP so it is entirely Currys 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.

If and when they do please let me know as this is a service we provide.

Next you should contact the finance company and should tell them that your laptop has failed due to an inherent defect and you are in the process of a claim with the retailer. You should further tell them that they cannot continue to charge you for an inherently defective product. You should then tell them that you are in the process of obtaining an engineers report and that when you are in possession of this you will forward them a copy.

You need to make sure that they will cease to take payments for the laptop due to the inherent defect.

You should further advise them that in the absence of a positive resolution from the retailer that you may have to file a Section 75 refund claim.

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.

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.

If Currys offer to look at it without a charge should i take them up on that offer?

Also, I recently paid off the rest of the laptop about 2/3 weeks before the screen failures. So a bit gutted now you have told me this lol. Anyways as soon as I get a response from you regarding the possibilities of currys offering a free service I shall be ringing them and getting the ball rolling. Just want to cover my bases before I contact them because I'm not expecting much in the form of customer service. Again many thanks for your help Paul you are a saviour sir!!

Hello Estebansgoldencondor,

If Currys want to inspect your laptop then they will probably send you to the Tech Guys. or Know How as they are now known.

If they are prepared to inspect it free of charge then great, you should take them up on that.

The inspection should be just that, you don't want them to proceed with a repair until you are sure of the quality of such a repair.

Don't worry about having paid off the finance, the company is still responsible to you regardless of whether you still owe them money or not.

I hope the above helps.

Any questions 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.

ok i spoke to currys and they said they would take it away to have a look at it but it will cost me £50 which they will reimburse if they find out the laptop is defective. the customer advisor also said currys would either fix it and if it could not be fixed they will give me vouchers to the equivalent value of a similiar spec laptop. they said they would not give a cash refund, am i entitled to a cash refund?

knowing they will give vouchers up to a similiar spec laptop in todays market, what would an HP dv9752EA spec wise be worth??

will currys own engineers try NOT to find the fault? im thinking even if they did not find the gpu fault i would then say i will get an independent look at it?

what do you think my next steps should be Paul?

cheers

chris.

Chris,

Paul's on a well deserved holiday at the moment - although he is checking out the forum when he gets the opportunity.

Under the Sale of Goods Act there is a reverse burden of proof once an item is older than 6 months. Basically this means that it's up to you to prove that the laptop was inherently defective. Normally this is done by obtaining your own engineers report.

There are reports of some retailers identifying the defect as a failure of the main board in the laptop and saying that there isn't an inherent defect. I'm not sure if this has ever happened with Curry's.

If you do decide to take up their offer then I would make sure that you stick a big sign to the laptop stating that it shouldn't be repaired without further recourse to yourself - this way you can ask them to return it unrepaired and get a report from an independent engineer if they do just say it's a main board failure.

If they do offer to repair it free of charge then you should ask for a written guarantee that the parts used will be free from the defect (see Paul's usual wording).

They do have the option of a partial refund - this will be based on the purchase price of the laptop and reduced for each month you've owned it before reporting the fault to them based on a 6 year lifespan for the laptop.

_________________
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.