Sorry to be Negative about HP's but..........

I currently own an HP DV9035nr notebook, approx. 2yrs, 3mths. old.
17" 1440x900
Dual 80GB HD
Core 2 Duo 1.66
2Gigs Ram
Nvidia 7600go 256 Dedicated
$1600.00 w/ tax

Approx. 4 months ago I started experiecing display issues. Screen became pixelated then finally went blank. Performed a system recovery, bios update and re-installed drivers...................to no avail !
After browsing the net, I come to find out there is a class action suit against Nvidia,Dell and HP ! Nvidia admitted to shipping defective gpu's to these companys and actually paid millions to them to fix this issue !
I am now contacting HP for the forth time, trying to convince them to repair my notebook and now heres the kicker.............They are repairing , notebooks like mine, "OUT of WARRANTY" that have a defective Nvidia gpu only if they are using an AMD cpu...................wth?
A defective gpu doesn't care what cpu is being used and there are hundreds, if not thousands having these same problems that are using Intel cpu's !
Doesn't really matter to me any longer as I recently purchased a real notebook, SAGER brand, and will use my HP as a paper-weight or door-stop !

Just though people should know ! Heres a link to HP's own forums, with people complaning about the above issue and getting no resolve !

http://forums11.itrc.hp.com/service...47626+1233066663517+28353475&threadId=1274587

And the class action suit:

http://www.wdklaw.com/main.cfm?acti...egoryKey=consumer&htmlID=10695&s=whatleydrake

 

Yeah I think the AMD ones were running hotter and had more gpu failures in the field. I'm curious to how much they said it would cost to fix your machine.. Probably not worth the cost being a fried GPU usually requires a new MOBO and that's expensive. Sorry about you troubles. I hope my 8400 does not fry after my waranty is up.

 

average life span of notebooks: 2-2.5years. (or less if you own an acer. lol)

Yes Nvidia shipped a pile of horrible GPU's, Yes HP got paid to support these machines, does that mean there was enough money to cover all of the machines? not likely, HP probably sees the money Nvidia gave to them as inadiquate and therefore only supports what that money will allow them to. in this case only enought for the AMD units.

2y3m? your not doing to bad, I have yet to have a computer usable after 1.5y

you will need a new motherboard to fix the issue, HP will have to do it, so if they refuse to fix it. buy a new notebook, replacing a motherboard will be very expensive.

 

I believe a recall was done last year for notebooks with this gpu and you had to respond within a window of time to get any fixes made.

I feel lucky if a laptop lasts two years, I abuse them so much it's all I expect to be honest. And after two years I'm more than ready to move onto something new

 

Either you are a very careless person when it comes to expensive electronics or the quality of electronics has declined considerably in the last few years. I am inclined to believe the latter; not only have manufacturers moved their manufacturing to China, but they have also shortened their standard warranties from 3 years to 1 year. Of the 3 laptops that I have owned in the last 4 years, one had a design flaw that made it unusable (Toshiba Satellite A70), the other fell under this very same warranty enhancement issued by HP (dv6424ca, Turion X2, Nvidia 7200), and the most recent suffers from motherboard flex due to the use of cheap plastics (Studio 15), causing damage to sensitive components.

Meanwhile, the IBM T42 that I have owned for more than a year has suffered absolutely no problems and has been my main computer while those inferior laptops have been added to the garbage dump...

 

Well personally I generally get allot more life out of notebooks. I dont' want my dv6500t ending life in the next 6 months. I don't think a newer machine would be noticiable better in performance or style at this point. There is allot of toxic chemicals in notebooks and cell phones and enviromentally speaking, its a shame how quickly most people just replace electronics gadgets. If my HP does fry it will only be because of the faulty soder that nvidia used and it will probably be too late for replacement by HP. I will never buy a laptop with a dedicated gpu again. Manufacturers for all these years still don't have a clue in heat management. With the BT and 8400 my battery life has always been crappy and it runs too hot for my tastes. I understand Andrews reasons for wanting to move on. Afterall, this site is about reviewing every new notebook under the sun and benefits from consumers who cycle into new machines every 1.5 years.

My next machine will be a desktop for a couple of reasons. First, they are easy for the user to work on and replacing a video card on a desktop is not a big deal whereas on a notebook, it could mean replacing the whole freaking thing. The other advantage to desktops is they run allot cooler and its easy to modify cooling systems. But I just don't get it how some people look at a fast core 2 notebook that is two years old as something that should normally just die or be replaced. I understand that many don't share this view and expect devices to only last a few years.. This is nuts since I have always expected and usually get much more life out of electronics most of my life.. Even older tube TV's would give me more life then two years service.

What really bugs me is when HP will pull drivers for older OS's on their printers etc.. when MS quits supporting an older OS. I mean whats the harm in just providing legacy drivers? Then you call them and they tell you to buy a new printer and chuck your old one in the land fill. I'm sorry but there should be some consumer protections and regulations when companies get this greedy. I actually figured out a workaround to get my 5P HP scsi scanner working under XP after HP told me to buy a new one. I don't like replacing perfectly good working devices.

 

Only reason I started this thread was to make people aware of this issue ,who were not aware of it !

Yes , the mobo would have to be replaced as the gpu is integrated, at a cost of $461.00 just for parts, now add shipping and labor.
It's not the point that this notebook lasted 2yrs. and 1 month, which for $1600.00 I expect a piece of electronics to last a little longer than that, the point is HP used "DEFECTIVE" parts..............period ! Now whether they knew that at the time doesn't matter ! Now as to why they're only fixing AMD based notebooks remains a mystery and if you notice, reading through the HP forum link I provided in the original post, occassionally, an out-of-warranty, Intel based notebook owner will get their notebook repaired. I guess that all depends on what case manager you speak to, on what day of a particular month and if he's having a good day or bad !

Anyways, this is the reason I will no longer purchase "NAME" brand computers or accessories , nor recommend them.
Just ordered a Sager 5793 with "USER UP-GRADABLE" gpu and cpu !

Good luck !

 

Well personally I generally get allot more life out of notebooks. I dont' want my dv6500t ending life in the next 6 months. I don't think a newer machine would be noticiable better in performance or style at this point. There is allot of toxic chemicals in notebooks and cell phones and enviromentally speaking, its a shame how quickly most people just replace electronics gadgets. If my HP does fry it will only be because of the faulty soder that nvidia used and it will probably be too late for replacement by HP. I will never buy a laptop with a dedicated gpu again. Manufacturers for all these years still don't have a clue in heat management. With the BT and 8400 my battery life has always been crappy and it runs too hot for my tastes. I understand Andrews reasons for wanting to move on. Afterall, this site is about reviewing every new notebook under the sun and benefits from consumers who cycle into new machines every 1.5 years.

My next machine will be a desktop for a couple of reasons. First, they are easy for the user to work on and replacing a video card on a desktop is not a big deal whereas on a notebook, it could mean replacing the whole freaking thing. The other advantage to desktops is they run allot cooler and its easy to modify cooling systems. Plus for whatever reasons, desktop LCD's just blow notebooks glass out of the water. But I did get lucky with my HP notebook and have a very nice LG glass. But I just don't get it how some people look at a fast core 2 notebook that is two years old as something that should normally just die or be replaced. I understand that many don't share this view and expect devices to only last a few years.. This is nuts since I have always expected and usually get much more life out of electronics most of my life.. Even older tube TV's would give me more life then two years service.

What really bugs me is when HP will pull drivers for older OS's on their printers etc.. when MS quits supporting an older OS. I mean whats the harm in just providing legacy drivers? Then you call them and they tell you to buy a new printer and chuck your old one in the land fill. I'm sorry but there should be some consumer protections and regulations when companies get this greedy. I actually figured out a workaround to get my 5P HP scsi scanner working under XP after HP told me to buy a new one. I don't like replacing perfectly good working devices.

 

The reason HP pulls the drivers, is they are hoping you go out and but a new HP printer.

My first call to HP, concerning the defective gpu issue, ended with this response from an HP case manager, " I'm sorry , your notebook is not covered by the extended warranty but, we have really great deals on new notebooks!"

I hung up !

 

Yeah but I had the last laugh.. I got my 5P scanner working under XP when HP told me that was not possible.. I let them know it too!! Still, if I had to buy again today it would be HP. I think their hardware is great for the buck.. your issue is probably more nvidia related and lots of people got burned because of nvidia. I'll never buy nvidia again simple because of how they are covering up the extent of their defective gpu's. I did briefly have a dell 1420 and compared to my HP it was a total, complete utter POS. Very grainy/poor viewing angle, dark screen, cracked lid, horrible speakers and the replacement was no better. HP has good hardware and crappy support. Dell has better support and crappy hardware. And as Bog said, both are built in China for North America.

 

All my notebooks has laster 3yrs+. First it was a NEC that laster 4.5 years, then a HP/compaq presario (pentium M) that last 3.5yrs and crapped out under some unfortunate circumstances partly due to me. And I expect my HP/compaq 8510p to last even longer.

As for those who are complaining about made in china products. Ask yourself why they are now made in China. The consumers demands lower prices , who doesn't like cheaper products? So the companies cuts cost and move manufacturing else where, and use cheaper materials, simple as that. No they are no built in Chine for north america, they are build there for the world. These cheaper products made computing possible for many people. And I am sure this includes the majority of this forum who instead of having to pay $2000 for a notebook computer, not can pay under $1000 for one.

 

Well, there is a bigger picture here that I am going to expand on. The reason that consumers need lower prices is because incomes have been driven down over the last thirty years through privatization of EVERYTHING. Pensions were canned since wall street wanted to use OUR 401 money in stock trades.. see what that got us? Lucky they did not privatize SS and they really wanted that too! In the sixties, seventies we had trade laws that protected our local markets.. and we even had a large manufacturing base and was the largest creditor nation to boot! I used to work for a large manufacturing company in the US (Cell phone company that had 85 percent of the market in the eartly ninities.. you should know which company) and I can say for a fact that our QC in our manufacturing processes were superior in every way compared to the china division that was all about numbers.

In short, there is a high cost for low prices.. which is also a name of a movie. For low prices we outsource most of our industrial base, shafted our pensions, and tripled our national debt and reduced our retirements. And to the average consumer, their dwindling purchasing power and job securities gives them no other options but to search for the lowest prices possible.

 

I know full well why electronics are made in China, and I can assure you that it's not just because of cheaper manufacturing cost. The lax environmental laws and lack of government regulation in the manufacturing sector in China allow laptop makers to increase profit margins as well as deliver cheap products the consumer.

My main complaint earlier was that, with this relaxation in manufacturing standards and cheap costs, you have products that a) are not tested properly (ie, lack of QC), b) suffer from a high rate of defects or design flaws and yet somehow make it to market, and c) are not reliable by any standard. We can thank the manufacturers for delivering an avalanche of cheap and crappy products around the world! Oh joy.

 

Agreed to both posts above. Product life cycles has also became shorter, new electronics are chunked out every few months. The time there for testing a product properly is pretty short. The manufacturers allow this to happen and the consumers then throw the blame to China, not that their regulations enforces any QC anyway. lol

The large corporations wants a large profit margin, the Chinese can provide that through several factors already mentioned. And their aims are no different, its all about the money.

 

Exactly. The US had viable/working trade laws that worked well for over 50 years. Then Reagon started the trend of privatization allowing corporations to determine national policy for Americans. The problem with this is the very top are the ones that gain. Speed forward today and its so exponentially unbalanced that you have CEO's that make 500X more then the regular worker. The ratio used to be 10 - 15 times more.. There also used to be taxes on personal incomes not to exceed over 2 million a year since it was proven that individuals that amassed huge personal fortunes in the early 1900's (robber baren days) could have influence over govenment.. Well Reagon and friends gave us a new tax code and here we are.. history about to repeat itself.

 

Given my experiences with 3 different laptops over 4 years, I think I would be more than willing to fork over extra cash for a competitor offering laptops made in the US.

 

Yes so would I...(not necessarily US, just not China lol, I am from Hong Kong myself haha). I would have bought a Japanese made SZ, but went for the HP in the end. Its been great so far. Many of the higher end fujitsu notebooks are still made in Japan.

 

Its not going to happen as long as we have to compete with China's sweat shops. Only if tariffs are put back can we bring manufacturing back. Sure it would increase prices but it would also reduce our trade imbalance, debt, and would increase individual purchasing power. The big problem is China already has too much leverage on the US for the billions invested in our debt. Its probably too late and I expect quality control to take a turn for the worse to produce even cheaper notebooks as the world slides into recession. I strongly suggest shoring up on extended waranties for notebooks.. especially those with hot running dedicated GPU's.

 

So far I have great luck with my HP too. For mainstream notebooks HP probably does a little better statistically speaking in the odds of "getting a good one" Its always smart to buy online and use that machine like hell for the first 30 days and burn test it as much as you can. If they have to open it up just send it back.

 

I think when one has a run of bad chipsets & gpus, all notebook brands are affected to some degree. After all, they all use the same stuff. Nvidia is Nvidia, no matter what chassis it's in.....

 

Not necessarily. Dell suffered a great deal more with the nvidia defective gpu (bad soder). Mainly the m1330 and 1420 with the 8400 gpus had really bad failure rate. HP IMO had better heat/fan management earlier on. But the m1330m was definitely designed badly by dell as far as heat. those suckers got up over 70c with many users and had a high defective rate of gpus. Earlier Dell bios should have had the fan running more even if nvidia had the proper soder. Those puppies got way to hot for any notebook. I don't have much faith in Dell engineering. Look at the headphone static flaw that the 1520 had.. that was pathetic and was widespread.

Many users resorted to doing their own copper mod on their m1330 since it was so poorly engineered.

 

Granted the cooling can differ between manufacturer designs, but a bad chipset is still a bad chipset. One might outlive another with better thermal management, but in the end it will still fail given time.

I have one of the very early '07 HP notebooks that was diagnosed with this problem. Many users on this forum had their units fail long ago, but mine is still going. One day it won't be though........

 

It's a shame, I really like HPs but the whole GPU cooking the mobo is becoming a recurring theme and was occurring when laptops from HP cost $2000 plus (Google ZD7000 class action).

 

Probably the only cool running Laptop HP made in the last 5 years is the HDX 9000.

Once the Pentium IV's came out, it was all down hill heat wise. Now thing are getting better, but not there yet.

 

Yeah, I am not sure If I'd drop $2000 on any HP consumer notebooks or any consumer notebooks as a matter of fact (except for gaming notebooks). Although my compaq did cost around the $2000 region back in 2004. Its cooling system was pretty bad, all cramped into a 15.4'' notebook weighting only 5.5lbs. As impressive as the weight is, I'd rather have had a better cooling system. Good job I found out about undervolting and notebook coolers al those years ago, lol. My HP8510p's cooling system has been great so far with CPU undervolting, using no more than 23.76W (T8300 are rated 35W TDP).

 

A few years ago, this bit of information would have put a higher-end Fujitsu at the top of my list (even if I had to sell a kidney)! But even kaizen (the Japanese philosophy of continuous improvement) seems to have fallen prey to the almighty profit margin.

Back in 12/05, I was shopping for a new car and narrowed it down to four models. They were all Japanese brands, but only one was actually built in Japan and shipped to the U.S. That's the one I picked- the Mazda3. Three years later, it's had the engine and transmission replaced (under warranty, at separate times)...things I never thought would happen with a car built in Hiroshima!?

Or maybe it was Soichiro Honda reaching out from the afterlife to punish me for straying from Honda/Acura.....