The Nvidia Defect Forum

Hi Paul,

After reading through various forums and sites, finally I came across thios site and I believe that I am a victim of the same issue being discussed here.

To give a background, I bought the HP Pavillion DV6799EA which is a special edition of the HPDV 6000 series under DV 6700 line. Here are the product details

Model: HP Pavillion DV6799EA
At the back it says :
Product : HP Pavillion dv6700
Service Tag: dv6799EA
S/N - CNF8103S62
P/N - KQ179EA#ABU
Sticker on right hand top of the screen: dv6000
Purchase date: 04/07/2008

The laptop has the infamous nVidia 8400M GS GPU.

The problem:
The laptop was running alright for the last 20 months or so and in the last few months I noticed that is it becoming too hot. Then slowly noticed some random issues like
a. System shutdown on its own
b. The wireless adapter stops working. Had to restart few times to get it working
c. Turning really hot

I thought it could be software updates issue or the adapter issue. But it was last weekdn when it suddenly turned itsef off and after that it is refusing to turn on. I gave it a day and tried all normal troubleshooting lie taking out battery, holding power button for 30 sec and so on. What I am getting now is

1. The laptop power is fine as I can see the adapter point lit.
2. When I press the main power button it lights up for 2-3 secs and then dies. I hear some noise inside when it tries to turn on
3. Today I noticed that it turn on and some more noise is coming, the fan starts but slows dow and no image on screen and the laptop just remain like that. It does not get out of that state and fails to boot or show the POSt screen or any info on the screen. The powerplay and multimedia LEDs are glowing but it hags there. Since the sound LED and wireless adapter LED stays red forever, it is clear that the laptop is failing to boot.

I started looking for the fauly and noticed that most DV6000 users had simiar issues and came across this site and found that I might be having the same defective nVidia chipset 8400M GS.

Could you please let me kow if my unit appears to have the same fault and what should I do now to contact John Lewis for a refund / replacement?

I am really frustated with the issue and quite gutted if HP has put a defective pice of component in the laptop.

Look forward to your advice. Please let me know what to do now and if my laptop is part of the faulty batch of nVidia chipset.

Regards

Ani

Hello Ani and welcome to our forum.

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

Firstly the good news. If you take a look here:- http://tinyurl.com/36ee5zq you will see the BIOS update page for your laptop.

This update, name F.51 and released on the 25th March 2008, does the following:-



Reading further into the HP Support site it also states:-



So, this proves that as early as 25th March 2008, HP must have been well aware of the potential for the premature failure of your laptop due to overheating - otherwise why release a BIOS update that switches the fans on 24/7 to the detriment of the battery?

I note that you purchased your laptop AFTER this date, which, in my opinion, means that HP allowed the continued sale of a product they knew to could be potentially defective.

All the symptoms you describe are manifestations of the defect and I would say that it is highly likely that your laptop is indeed inherently defective.

With the information I have provided above you really shouldn't have a problem in reaching a positive resolution.

There is a step by step guide available in this forum that will help you reach a positive resolution and that is here:- post13.html#p13

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.
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Why you should not accept a repair
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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.

This is the reply I got from John Lewis. What should I do now? Appreciate your suggestion.

-----

Dear Mr Acharya,

Thank you for your email, I apologise that you have experienced problems with your HP laptop.

I have called HP to discuss the issues you raised and they have denied there has been any recall or inherent fault on your model of laptop. They advised you can contact them on 08443 690 369 to arrange an out of warranty repair.

Unfortunately I am unable to offer a replacement or repair as there is no extended warranty, please accept my apologies for any inconvenience caused.

Yours sincerely,
Alan
John Lewis Direct
------------

Hello Anibap,



How can HP deny there is a problem with your laptop when they issued the BIOS update to switch the fans on 24/7.?

Why else, other than for overheating issues, would HP do such a thing? They haven't released this update for all models of laptop so why yours?

Simple, your laptop overheats plain and simple and whether that is an inherent defect, a design defect or a manufacturing defect the results are still the same.



I bet they would love you to contact them to spend more of your hard earned money on a repair but you are seriously advised against this course of action.

I would now proceed to obtain an engineers report to prove the inherent defectiveness of your laptop.

For further information please take a look here:- need-an-independant-engineers-report-t62.html

Once you have this you should send John Lewis a copy along with a final letter before action.

This gives them a final seven days to comply. If, after seven days, you have not received a favourable response then you should pop on over to http://www.moneyclaim.gov.uk and file a small claims action against them.

If your laptop is indeed inherently defective then you really cannot lose.

If you have 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.

Hi Paul,

I just had a call with John Lewis and they have declined my request saying the since HP has denied the defect in my model and they can't take Internet based evidence as true evidence.

I am really angry now. I just sent them more evidence in the morning today which I noticed yestrday when I tried to boot the laptop. Yesterday it booted but the screen came jumbled up with vertical lines whichbecame dense and later became a blackish blue blotch kind of thing. This also matchs the description of the problem.







Following someone else's advice, I entered the BIOS setup and it comes fine as the GPU is not involved. The HDD and RAM diagnostics ran fine but the moment I tried to boot it, it came up with the same jumbled up screen.

Now, I have decided to send them an official letter before action and fight it out.

Could you please tell me from the problem described and the images above, what chance do I have to win this against John Lewis?
If I had to ge an independednt engineer's report where from can I get it how authentic it would be and if it would applcable as proper evidence in the small claims court.

Please advice me what to do now.

Thanks

Anirban

Hello Anirban,



Well, HP would deny it wouldn't they? How can they say that they "can't take internet based evidence as true evidence" when this "evidence" is from HP's very own support website? If you ask me it smacks of desperation.

Looking at the pictures it sure looks like you have the defect as I have seen that type of manifestation many, many times.

We can help you with an engineers report and have had great success both in and out of court with them.

They are a concise and detailed report and you should have no problems in securing a positive resolution - just look through the forum at some of the other member who have received a report from ourselves.

For more information on how to proceed with a report please take a look here:- need-an-independant-engineers-report-t62.html

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 Paul,

Thanks for your post . I am sending the first formal letter to them now.
Could you please let me know how much it can cost me to claim it in the Small Claims court in London? Any specific court?

If I can prove the laptop to be faulty from your report what charges can I claim from John Lewis?

Do I need any other evidence part from the Engineers report? Appreciate if you can explain this to me.

Thanks

Anirban

Hello Anirban,

Please find below answers to your questions.



This all depends on the amount of your claim though this amount can be claimed back from John Lewis.



You will be able to claim for a partial refund on the laptop, the cost of the engineers report, the court costs plus any other consequential costs that you may incur.

Also, if you paid for an extended warranty then you can also claim for the cost of this.



Well, the report should be enough evidence, but if you look through the following links you will see more evidence;- evidence-with-links-to-external-sites-t10.html

You should print some of those out to take to court with you.

If you have any further 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.

Thanks Paul. I have sent the letter...Let's see...

Just one more thing. I am sure the engineers report wil point out to the same issue but just in case it is different, what are my options?

Hello Anibap,

If I inspect your laptop and it is not the defect then I will quote you on the cost to repair.

If you decide not to proceed with a repair then all you would pay is £20 for the collect and return carriage and a £20 inspection fee making a total payable of £40.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

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.