Well, HP just got done with a class action lawsuit from users of Compaq R3000 line of laptop computers for faulty power plugs on the motherboards of those laptops. On that particular lawsuit, you could either send it to them and get it repaired, get it repaired somewhere else and they'd reimburse you up to a certain amount, give you a $50 coupon on SELECTED HP products at the HP Store, or do nothing. The coupon was the kicker because half the items someone might want aren't in stock. The other half are something that nobody needs, like a rolling suitcase for your laptop. How lazy we Americans are getting... Of course considering how heavy laptops were back then (4 years ago) it probably would have been wise to get one.

Anyway, my brother's dv2718 isn't on there, so he had better just hope for the best. I'd still like to see HP put out a BIOS update to any laptop that might be affected, just to maybe prevent problems. But, I won't hold my breath.

thesoundman

I have seen that list for a while... but it doesn't list my DV2700 which does have a 8400M and was part of the "if not 8800 then failure is probable" type thing from the article.

awdark

Yup, while I didn't know that that HP actually had a site stating the affected computers, I had my own computer repaired using that... "plan" or whatnot. The wireless card "disappeared" from my computer one day, so after a week of troubleshooting, I called them up. I had my laptop for exactly one year and one week, 'til that point.

It all went smoothly, and I got my computer back in a week or two. I did all the troubleshooting steps before calling HP, so now I have a spare wireless card around the house. :/ It still is pretty sad to see my computer on a defect list.

ImpulsiveTurnip

My laptop was on the list. That service announcement went out months ago. After my PC began exhibiting the symptoms, I called HP tech support, and they refused to repair my computer.

Their explanation for what was wrong with my computer was that static electricity was building up on the motherboard, causing the computer to crash after more than a few hours of use. To fix it, they prescribed taking out the battery and AC charger and holding down the power button for 2 minutes.

They refused to repair my computer under warranty, because the static electricity buildup was "normal operation" for this model.

They said that the only computers that were being fixed were ones that were not booting, and if their service techs found out it was not the graphics card, they would charge you for everything.

Needless to say, this limited warranty thing is simply to cover their asses from any potential lawsuit, not to actually help any customers.

alienshards

few, my laptop's not on the list

kyel57

They refused to repair my computer, too. I ended up throwing it out since it was useless. What can I possibly do now?

pastrychef

Yeah, now we need other manufacturers to start admitting the same. I own an ASUS F3SV Series notebook, with a 8600M GS, and even though nothing has happened to it yet, I am afraid that it will soon.

There have been several attempts so far by other ASUS owners to contact ASUS support, only to get unfair arguments, leading ASUS to be "always right". They also claim that the batch that they received of 84M/86M's were not affected by this issue, which I believe to be complete BS. People are having these issues, addressing to support, and ASUS just chooses to ignore the situation.

xAnarChisTx

I'm confused. Mine's on the list, but I've not had any of the problems listed - mine just runs hot enough that it looks like I used Nair on any part of my legs I let it sit on. Should I run the BIOS update or leave it be?

GodzillaDad

@alienshards: Static electricity building up on the motherboard?!?!?!? That is a plie of crap. For static electricity to build up the grounding of the system would have to be all screwed up which would make it very difficult for the unit to pass FCC and Safety regulatory certifications. The guy fed you a line of bullshit.

Rand

I'm pretty sure that my ThinkPad T61 will be affected. I've already had the motherboard replaced once under warranty (didn't boot), but I didn't think anything of it at the time.

My T61 has a Quadro NVS 140m (effectively the same as GeForce 8400M).

One thing is for sure: I'm getting the extended warranty.

bsoft

Can't wait for Dell to release a list like that. I want to know if my 1520 is on it (I assume so, since I have the 8600M GT.)

ackthbbft

@Rand:

I know this. They kept feeding me their bullshit excuses trying to figure a way to not fix my computer.

This was during final exams too, so I didn't have time to deal with it. Had to drive back home and borrow my dad's laptop for finals.

Tried again multiple times during the summer. Same lines of bullshit- same story.

"sorry sir we cannot fix your computer. We are only servicing computers that completely do not boot at this time. If you send your computer in, tech support will get your computer to turn on, then send it back to you and charge you for the postage."

My sister bought the same model as me. hers has the same problems.

They won. I got a new computer. And will never buy and HP again.

alienshards

I bought a Compaq V3019US in August 06, gave it to my brother and it died this Feburary, it did run extremely hot.

My brother just called HP yesterday after hearing of this and they are sending him a "coffin" for a free repair, he's quite excited. : )

ninjakamster

So now I know what caused my laptop to melt down. The video flaked out about two months after I bought it. I sent it in to HP and according to the repair report they pretty much replaced everything (motherboard, RAM, DVD drive & hard drive) with no explanation as to why this happened.

I would say they gave me back a nice shiny new laptop except that the f*ckers scratched the shit out the outside cover behind the LCD. It's a DV200 series with that Zen garden-ish swirl pattern embedded in the black and silver painted areas of the LCD cover & keyboard area.

Jrsy