The Nvidia Defect Forum

Hi all

Would just like to say how glad I am that I found this website, as I was beginning to think my very expensive laptop would have to go in the bin!

In the last week my laptop has developed an odd fault; when I turn it on it invariably powers up but the screen doesn't come on (the backlight turns on but there is nothing on screen). After a number of attempts I have managed to get it to boot into windows and I intend to just leave it on until I can back everything up. I haven't noticed any display issues whilst the laptop is on, only the lack of image on boot up, but I have narrowed down the fault to being with either the motherboard or the graphics card (8600M GS). Does this sound like it could be the nVidia defect? I have always had issues with heat which I now presume was down to the GFX card?

The most frustrating part of this is that I bought a 3 year warranty with the laptop and that has only recently expired (purchased in September 2007) so I can't claim against it I was considering extending my warranty (as I thought that would be cheaper than a repair) but if my problem sounds like the nVidia defect then I will persue a free refund/replacement.

Any advice you can give me on what to do next would be very much appreciated?

Thanks in advance

Hello Cookiedude and welcome to our forum.

Sorry to hear that your laptop has failed.

The problems you describe certainly sound like manifestations of the defect. Couple this with the fact that your laptop has an 8600 GPU, which is one of the more prolific of the defective GPU's, then I would say it is highly likely that your laptop is inherently defective.

When pursuing the retailer for a refund of the laptop you should also pursue them for a refund of the extended warranty as they cannot charge you for a warranty on an inherently defective product.

I have a few questions to see if I can help you further.

1) Who did you purchase the laptop from?
2) How did you pay (credit/debit/cash?)
3) Can you prove purchase?

Please let me know the answers to the above and I will advise further.

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.

Thank you for such a swift reply.

I purchased the laptop through laptopsdirect.co.uk and I believe I paid with a debit card. I can easily prove purchase and I have saved all email communications with them as they proved difficult to deal with when I was trying to arrange delivery.

If there's any other information you need from me please let me know.

Thanks again.

EDIT: Just to add to this I have just been painfully reminded of another ongoing symptom; occasionally I will get a blue screen crash stating an unknown hardware error (thankfully it booted straight back into windows but not sure how long it will keep working!). I thought I'd try reducing the load on the GFX card but as soon as I opened up the nVidia control panel (showing the revolving 3D nVidia logo) my laptop crashed again, so I feel that's fairly conclusive proof that it is the GFX card at fault here. I've turned off Win 7 Aero and knocked my resolution down in the hope that this will ease the problem.

Hello Cookiedude,

Right, so your next step is to contact Laptopsdirect and to tell them that your laptop is inherently defective due to the Nvidia GPU.

They may tell you that you are out of warranty and that there is nothing they can do. You should tell them that the warranty status is irrelevant as you have six years to take action when the goods in question are inherently defective.

They may then tell you to contact Samsung. You should tell them that you purchased from Laptopsdirect and not from Samsung so it is Laptopsdirect sole responsibility to resolve the situation.

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.

Thanks Paul, you've been a great help.

Hi Paul, I have received a reply from the retailer asking me to get in touch with the manufacturer. Before I proceed further I just wanted to check one other detail with you; I have added new RAM and a larger hard drive to my laptop, will this affect my ability to claim against the defect? I still have the original hard drive so can put that back in but I don't think I have the original RAM anymore. I don't see how this would affect my claim but just wanted to make sure.

Thanks again.

Hello Cookiedude,



This will in no way affect your claim so don't let it bother you.

If the hard drive had failed then it would have had to be replaced. If you wanted a larger hard drive then the same would apply.

You cannot be penalised for this so no problems; though if you do have the original hard drive it would make sense to pop it back into the laptop.

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.

Brilliant, thanks Paul.

Hi CookieDude, just wondering what the current status is with your claim?

I have the same model (Samsung X65) and mine no longer boots at all (after showing the common symptoms of this defect)

Hi, who did you purchase yours from?

After waiting over a week I have finally received the contact details for LaptopDirect head office. This is an extract of their last message to me (thought people might find it amusing):

"Unfortunately the 6 year policy has not been passed through parliment so this is not legal as checked with trading standards."

I was 99% this was BS but just to double check I found a link to the "Consumer rights to return faulty goods" document (http://www.parliament.uk/briefingpapers ... -02239.pdf) which quite clearly states that in situations like these (where the fault was present when purchased) that I (we) have the right to claim a full refund (paragraph 2, page 3).

So my next step is to get in touch with their head office (and possibly suggest the representative from laptopsdirect I've been speaking to stops misleading customers!).