The Nvidia Defect Forum

Hi

About 3 weeks ago my laptop just stopped working and I had the white screen with multi coloured lines fading to white and grey.

I brought it into work as I work in IT (I'm in purchasing so not overly technical) and had one of the Tech guys look at it, he didn't even open it up just said there are loads of issues with the Nvidia and it look like this is the issue.

Have dug out all the paperwork from purchase and called PC World today, been allocated a claim number and told to take it to my local store for a preliminary screening.

Bit confused here as they said it was unlikely to be the Nvidia issue and a standard repair would be £229, but then said they would issue a voucher for this or the tech guys in store may say it is irrepairable and they will take it from there.

So off to PC World tonight in the hope someone will look at it.

Details are

HP Pavilion DV9500 (this is on laptop bottom) DV9689 (this is on receipt)
Purchased 30/04/2008 from PC World
Purchase price £947.97 (still paying for it on HP)

Wish me luck

Just an update, if they offer me a refund or a replacement at any point during this process how do I stand given that I have outstanding finance on this laptop?

Regards

Hello Thwaitv and welcome to our forum.

Sorry to hear that your laptop has failed.

Your laptop is most certainly inherently defective and your model of laptop is one of the more prolific of the defective laptops.

I did a quick search on the HP Support website and found the following:- http://tinyurl.com/3y6sc3e

This is the BIOS update page for your laptop. On the 25th March 2008 HP released an update for your model of laptop. The purpose of this update, according to HP, was:-



This proves that as early as 25th March 2008 HP must have been aware of the potential for your laptop to overheat - otherwise why release an update that switches the fans on continuously to the detriment of the battery?

This adds weight to the fact that your laptop is indeed inherently defective.

If you have a finance agreement on this laptop then you need that terminated forthwith as they cannot charge you for finance on an inherently defective laptop.

Let's see that PC World say when you take your laptop to the store and then I will advise further.

Any questions please let me know.

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.

Hi Paul,

Many thanks for the update below.

Have just returned from PC World where on arrival the laptop started up no problem, but to give the tech guy his dues he continued to work on the laptop, updated the bios and ran the system for sometime to allow it to heat up.

After turning it off and back on the default kicked in and there was no display only the coloured lines followed by black and white shading.

He contacted the resolution department and advised them that the fault was unrepairable and they have offered us £420.00. I advised that this was brought with finance and they said we would need to continue to pay the finance and be issued a voucher for the £420. But they needed to check this with the line manager, I requested they call me tomorrow to confirm this offer.

I have looked at alternative current models on the market while in the shop, considering this pc is used for gaming and has a 17" screen and the defective graphics card, I could not find a similar model for less than £700 in store.

Where should we go from here, ask for a larger amount to cover a replacement laptop, or ask for the remaining finance to be paid off along with the £420 offered?

Many thanks

At least getting them to admit liability was easier than I anticipated, so a semi victory to begin with.

Hello Thwaitv,

Please do not cash the refund just yet as that would be seen as acceptance of their offer.

They cannot tell you that you have to continue paying the finance, why would anyone in their right mind pay finance on a laptop that was inherently defective and doomed to fail prematurely from the day it left the store?

May I ask how much is outstanding on the laptop?

Please let me know 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'm not 100% sure, it was for 48 months so still 12 months to pay and is approx £30 per month, but would be less for a settlement figure.

I will call them in the morning for a settlement figure and to advise of the issues.

Hello Thwaitv,

I hope you didn't mind me telling you not to cash the cheque, it is just that I don't want to see you out of pocket and encashment of the cheque would constitute acceptance of their offer.

When you contact the finance company I would tell them that you are currently in dispute with the retailer as the laptop in question is inherently defective and that you want a hold placed on any payments until such time as the dispute is resolved as you shouldn't have to pay for an inherently defective laptop.

Any settlement figure that they want or expect should be met by PC World so please do not pay them a single penny towards this.

Let's see what they say when you contact them.

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.

Thanks Paul

Didn't mind at all, wanted to weigh up all the options before I accept any offer.

My husband has spoken to the credit company this morning as they won't speak with me as the agreement is in his name. The gave a settlement figure of £388.42. After speaking to 3 different departments he managed to speak with someone who although still claims they have no liability, agreed that we have to request PC World contact them directly and we have to prove that they were aware of this issue prior to the fault occuring, at this time we should be entitled to a full refund of all the money we have paid and the agreement cancelled.

I have also spoken to consumer direct the government agency for impartial advice, they advised that both PC World and HFC the credit company are liable, under the Sale of Goods Act 1979 and Consumer Credit Act section 75 respectively.

Basically it is now all down to negotiation between us and them, they advised that we proceed with this in writing to keep an official record.

So I will write a letter detailing the case and will use the evidence below to argue a known fault prior to us purchasing the unit.

All advice gratefully recieved.

Thanks

Have had a further call from PC World now offering £444.00.

Have said that this would barely cover the outstanding finance and that it doesn't seem fair that I should pay for an item that I is unuseable, or that the figure they have offered would not cover a laptop of the same spec i.e. 17" screen, dedicated graphics card etc.

They have gone to speak with a team leader, to see what they could offer further and what laptops of similar specs they have available.

Not sure what to do, should I continue to pay the finance if they offer me a laptop of the same spec (around £700 by my estimate) or should I ask for cash and pay of the finance leaving a little towards a new laptop.

Ok, so they have come back and offered £525, if I paid off the finance this would only leave me £137 and no working laptop.

They said they have no similar spec laptops to offer, I know this is another HP but it's an ATI graphics card are these more reliable - HP Pavilion dv7-4045ea, I may go back to them and ask for one of these as replacement?

Thanks