The Nvidia Defect Forum

Hi, my name is kyle, firstly i would realy like to thank whoever decided to create this page it is extreamly healpfull and infomative!!!

on to the problem though, a few days ago (monday) my laptop decided to crash, which happened to be the same day i started my new newtorking course at college(great timing), i recieved a notification that the video drivers had crashed and recovered... or something to that extent followed by the comp crashing alltogether and restarting with the display split horizontally in 2 and off centre to the left (this happens from the bios at startup)... so ive managed to get logged on the device manager is recognising the graphics card as nvidia 8400gs though it was stopped it as there is a problem.... i am unable to change any of the display properties and have tried different drivers etc....
the laptop has had a history of overheating and turning off though has been better behaved since i started cleaning out the vents
i have attemped to connect an external monitor to the vga port WHICH WORKED, so this has made me wonder whats up (although still device manager error no properties etc)

furthermore the laptop has been pretty unstable after this happened often crashing while loading up windows.
my laptop:
acer aspire 7720g
nvidia gefore 8400m gs

if this is the case of the inherant defect how do i go about sorting it out ive been looking into maybe replacing the card as its quite urgant as i need it for college work and dont permanently have access to an external monitor. oh and finally i bought it from play.com just about 4 years ago i wudent imagine i still have any sort of guarentee :s


I do appologise if this has been covered on here before with my model but i cant spend too much time looking about the split screen is realy doing my head in lol

thanks in advance for any help i also hope by posting all this it may help other folk in a similar situation

Hello k.dubzy and welcome to our forum.

Sorry to hear that your laptop has failed.

The problems you describe are exact manifestations of the defect and considering that you have one of the more prolific of the defective GPU's, the Nvidia 8400, then I would say it is highly likely that your laptop is indeed inherently defective.

The good news is that you have six years from the date of purchase in which to take action against the retailer. This is afforded to you under the Sale Of Goods Act and the Limitations Act.

You should now contact Play.com and should tell them that your laptop has failed due to what you believe is an inherent defect with 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 Acer. You should tell them that you purchased from Play and not from Acer so it is entirely Play's responsibility to resolve the situation.

They will then probably request that you provide an engineers report which confirms your claim.

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

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 is helpful.

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

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Calculate the minimum refund that you would be entitled to.
FAQ's
Why you should not accept a repair
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Step by step help to getting a refund
Do you need an engineers report?
=======================================================

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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.

cheers Paul and thanks for the prompt reply ill get an email sent away to them tonight and ill keep you posted on what theyre saying.

thanks again kyle

Yep, sounds like you have the defect. My computer frequently got those video display driver crash messages with the first and second failure.

Hey Paul, so ive been talking with play.com (i have to say theyre not exactly prompt in replying however) but eniway first thing they told me was to contact supplier... told them that I ddint buy it from them etc... they replied with the following:

We are sorry to hear of the problem you have had with your order. Whilst we would be happy to help you resolve the matter, under the Sale of Goods Act if an item is more than 6 months old it must be independently established that the fault is a result of an inherent manufacturing defect in the product. This is generally achieved by obtaining an engineer’s report, detailing the fault and its likely cause.

Once you have obtained a report, please forward it to us for review and we will look to assist you further.

so it looks like im going to have to get a report could you tell me a bit more about whats involved in your report process, and how i would go about obtaining one from yourself?


cheers, kyle

Hello Kyle,

Well that is good news and it means, at the very least, that you are moving forward.

In order to proceed with an engineers report please take a look at the following:- need-an-independant-engineers-report-t62.html

That will take you step by step through the process.

The retailer is responsible for refunding the cost of the report as it is a consequential loss.

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.

hey guys a quick update....

so after sending them the report, play have finally got back to me with some goodish news, they have offered me £175 plus asked how much the report was so i guess theyll pay that aswell.... In fairness over 3 years depreciation that probably works out right, though im pretty dissapionted as im going to have to buy a new laptop now and to get one a similar spec to the one i got just now is gonna no doubt cost me alot more then that...

Do you think ive got any right to ask for a replacement rather then the cash (they said in their e-mail they didint have any simmilar age models to replace it with)

Hello k.dubzy,

Whilst it is positive news that you are moving forward and that you have had an offer of a refund, their current offer is a little low.

Based on the six years that the Sale Of Goods Act and the Limitation Act allows I have calculated that the minimum that they should be offering you is £243.05.

This is calculated by dividing the purchase price by 72 and then multiplying that figure by the number of months unused usage; In your case this amounts to 35 months.

I would contact Play.com and would explain the above and the fact that this is the formula that other retailers, manufacturers and the courts use.

I would further tell them that this is the very minimum that you would accept in order to settle your claim.

You should also ensure that they also refund the cost of the report plus any other consequential losses that you my have incurred.

I hope the above helps.

Any questions please let me know.

Best wishes

Paul
The Admin Team

I hope the ab

_________________
=======================================================
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.

Hey Paul, so they've got back to me (a week later) with a slightly imporved offer of £200 and stated that that will be their final offer,im not too sure what to do :s i feel a bit robbed taking their offter then having to spend more of my own money to replace it, which seems a bit unfair seeing as its not my fault its broken. what do you reckon ive not got back to them yet.....

Hello,

Their offer is still around £43 short of the minimum one would expect to receive.

I would ask them to show you how they calculate the refund that they have offered.

You should also show them how you are calculating the refund that you expect to receive and that is as follows:-

1) You paid £500 for the laptop
2) The refund should be based on the 6 year limitation.
3) 6 years = 72 months
4) £500 / 72 = £6.94 (this is the monthly rate)
5) You had 37 months use of the laptop
6) 72 months - 37 months = 35 months unused usage
7) £6.94 * 35 = £243.05

If you show them that and state that this is how you calculate the minimum refund that they are offering.

I would also tell them that if this were to proceed to court then you will show the judge your calculation and that you have attempted to be reasonable in your request.

What do you think?

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.